Apple has placed orders for high resolution Retina Display panels for the iPad 3, according to supplier sources, with a projected launch date of early 2012.
So, that'll be around the same sort of time as normal then, given that the original iPad launched in April and the iPad 2 in March, going against the many rumours that we'd see it launch before the end of the year.
Anyway, the exciting news is that it looks as though we will get our Retina Display iPad at last, with Apple reportedly testing suppliers' current shipments of 2048 x 1536 resolution 9.7-inch displays.
Much ado about nothing
One component supplier told the Wall Street Journal that Apple has already placed an order for parts for around 1.5 million iPad 3s in advance of ramped up production for the launch.
The iPad 2 was weighed down by supply problems when it launched in April of this year; no doubt Apple hopes to avoid these issues with a bigger stockpile of slates ready to go.
While any article titled "Apple developing new iPad" serves more to remind us of Reuters' "scoop" "confirming" the existence of the iPad 2 as if it were in any kind of question, we're inclined to trust the Wall Street Journal and its supplier sources.
So it looks like we won't be getting an iPad 3 in time for Christmas after all; the elves are no doubt sighing with relief.
From WSJ
It may not go on our Christmas giftlist, but we do have a wishlist of things we'd like to see on the next iPad; check it out below:
