Apple iPad 3 Rumours: from Feasible to Far-fetched

KOMPAS.com - When it comes to rumours, Apple is currently unmatched by any other consumer electronics brand in the amount of hype and speculations its products generate.

And it can be argued that the iPad and iPhone are the top devices when it comes to spawning Apple rumours, many of them never panning out to be true and many conflicting with one another along the way - no wonder Apple always declines to comment on speculation.

With the iPhone 4S now a few months old and a next-generation iPhone (rumoured to be called the iPhone 5) not expected until later this year, most of the hype over the last few months has been focused on the expected iPad 3 and the possible iTV project underway.

Here's a rundown of the current iPad 3 rumours that have been popping up around the web recently:

Retina display

The longest standing rumour about the next iPad, which many believe will be called the iPad 3, is that it will feature a high-resolution screen that will put the tablet on par with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S' retina display.

So, what's a retina display? That would be any screen that has a dpi (dots per inch, which is a measure of how many pixels can fit in a square inch) of 300 or greater. The name retina display is used because such a dense screen should allow pixels to be indistinguishable from each other to the human eye at a distance of about 10 to 12 inches (25.4 to 30.4 centimetres) away.

The first-generation iPad and the iPad 2 both feature a 1024-by-768 pixel resolution touchscreen. In August, the Wall Street Journal reported the rumour that the iPad 3 would have twice the resolution of the first two models, upping the ante to 2048-by-1536 pixels with a 326 dpi.

It should be noted that the iPad 2 was, before its launch, at one time rumoured to be outfitted with a retina display as well, but that didn't pan out.

Industry analysts have gone on to make the retina display prediction for the iPad 3 as well. Of the rumours out there, this one might make the most sense for Apple as its rivals are releasing tablets with higher resolution screens and the retina display on the iPhone 4 and 4S has been met with widespread approval by critics and consumers.