Side by Side Photos of iPad 2 and iPad 3 Casing Shows Gradual Taper and Slightly More Thickness - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Side by Side Photos of iPad 2 and iPad 3 Casing Shows Gradual Taper and Slightly More Thickness

MICGadget posts a roundup of circulating iPad 3 rumors, and also includes a few better side-by-side shots of what is believed to be the new iPad 3 back enclosure and the iPad 2 one.

taper
Seen on top of each other, the iPad 3 does appear to have a more gradual taper to the edges than the iPad 2. The difference in size, however, is said to be minimal but seems exaggerated in this shot above due to the staggered positioning of the casings. The next shot shows that the difference in thickness is only 1-1.5mm, with the iPad 3 enclosure being slightly thicker than the iPad 2.

thick
MICGadget also confirms that the iPad 3 camera lens hole is "noticeably larger", suggesting that there has been some improvement in the camera quality, though they seem to question whether or not it will make it all the way to 8 Megapixels as claimed by one publication.

These same iPad 3 enclosures have been seen in the hands of many sites now. It's not uncommon for parts and enclosures to leak out of Apple's supply chain as production of new products ramp up. The iPad 3 is believed to be in manufacturing at this time with an expected announcement date on March 7th.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPad A16 Colors

Here's When to Expect an iPad 12 With Apple Intelligence

Friday May 1, 2026 8:21 am PDT by
A new entry-level iPad 12 with Apple Intelligence support likely remains months away, based on a comment shared by an Apple executive this week. On an earnings call on Thursday, Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh said that the company's iPad revenue in the March-June quarter will face a "difficult compare" due to the the launch of the entry-level iPad 11 with the A16 chip in March 2025. Parekh is...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...

Top Rated Comments

macse30 Avatar
186 months ago
Meh. Backside does nothing for me. Full frontal please.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
I dont care if its substantially heavier. The important thing is whether it will play flash content :D

----------



:rolleyes:

Flash? This isnt a thread from 2010. I thought we got rid of you? lol
(I am just joking)
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ImperialX Avatar
186 months ago
I don't care about whether or not it's thicker than an iPad 2. The important thing is whether it's substantially heavier.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arn Avatar
186 months ago
How has Apple not killed off everyone involved in the theft of the casing yet? Clearly things have changed since Jobs' passed away...
I guess cause millions of these things are rolling off assembly lines in China. Hard to keep track of every one.

And it's not a new phenomenon.

arn
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
I still don't see what I would do with a big paperweight that can't do crap without connecting it to iTunes on a real computer.

You might want to check out iOS 5. I never connect my devices to iTunes on the computer anymore.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
Get the facts

I still don't see what I would do with a big paperweight that can't do crap without connecting it to iTunes on a real computer.

Before firing off an ignorant comment like that, you may want to get the facts. In iOS 5 you can use an iPad without a computer or iTunes at all.

Thanks for paying attention.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)