Taiwan Economic News reports (via BGR) that Apple has contracted with suppliers Simplo and Dynapack for a thinner and lighter battery for the iPad 3, either opening the door for a thinner design or making room for a potentially thicker high-resolution Retina display.
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According to the report, the new batteries will cost Apple 20-30% more than the current iPad batteries and are said to offer a greater service life and increased safety.
With the upcoming iPad 3 to feature a thinner, lighter battery module that is widely believed to be priced 20-30% higher than iPad 2’s, Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp., both Apple Inc.’s contract suppliers of iPad and Macbook battery packs, will hence secure a surefire profit drive for the near future.
Institutional investors pointed out that the battery pack for iPad 3, scheduled to be massively produced in the first quarter of next year, has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter with a longer service life than iPad 2 edition’s.
Initial deliveries of the new batteries are said to be set for the fourth quarter of this year, with mass production beginning in the first quarter of next year.
A number of rumors had suggested that Apple might be trying to release the iPad 3 before the end of this year, but recent reports have claimed that Apple and its partners are continuing to refine the Retina display rumored for inclusion in the device, pushing the iPad 3's launch to early next year.
Top Rated Comments
:p
They aren't going to make 2 models of the iPad (pro and nonpro_ and then have to make 3 versions of each (16,32,64) and then 3 more versions of each (wifi/3G).
There is no market for a Pro version of it. Period. End of story.
They are just going to make the iPad 3 and it's going to have the better screen.
It's
Called
Product
Evolution
and
Innovation
Apple has the #s to get those displays and batteries down to prices where they can charge the same basically as the current iPad. The last thing Apple is going to do is make a pro iPad and charge more. These aren't the laptops, they are the iOS devices.
Agreed. At least someone understands.
When was the last time Apple actually increased a product's price? The iPhone came down in price. The MBAir came down in price. Same with the iMac and so on.
There is NO WAY Apple is going to charge more for the iPad 3. Especially since competitors are finally starting to come into the area (they still cant compete but there is no way Apple will give them a way in with a price point).
NO
WAY
Disagree. You could have made roughly the same argument before the iPad 2 was released. No competitor was comi g close, so why bother improving on the original? Things haven't changed that much. The iPad 2 is still selling like gangbusters, so why discontinue it?
Because Apple likes to push the competion even further behind, that's why. By early next year, MAYBE Samsung will be close to an iPad 2 competitor. But before they can get any traction with it, Apple will force them back to the drawing board with a thinner, lighter, faster, higher-res iPad 3. And Apple is the only tablet maker that can buy cutting-edge components in such bulk that they can still make a nice profit on each one. Everyone else has to wait for prices to come down, but by that time they aren't cutting-edge anymore.
This is one of the reasons the Touchpad, original Galaxy Tab, and Xoom failed so badly. They were competing with the iPad 1, but Apple had already moved on to the iPad 2.
Yeah, I thought the iPad2 was just a fluke and they would get back to making each successive generation bulkier and heavier.
If you're going to flatly reject my reply, at least have the decency to tell me why.
And unless you are a doctor, you do not have patients. Anyway, I have to run, because I DO have patients.