Is the iPad 3 in Your Future? A Gear Chat

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Yes, it is that time of year. The annual iPad announcement and release is likely on the way and, with it, the flurry of rumors are in full force. Moreover, as we have seen in recent year, these rumors are often accompanied by slightly blurry spy shots of various components. We saw a supposed back plate for the iPad 3 and today the supposed hi-res display has emerged. We do our best to stay away from rumor and innuendo (although sometimes we just can’t resist) but that does not mean we aren’t thinking about what we want in the iPad 3. Here’s what the team had to say about it

I asked: What do YOU want in the iPad 3 (that is also actually possible) and are you buying? Why or why not?

Michael Anderson: First, I AM buying one unless something really unexpectedly bad is released (or a non-release like the iPod Touch last year).

Here are my hopes: Quad core, or next-gen dual core, even better graphics core for enhanced gaming, higher-res screen, at least double the RAM (I get ‘low memory’ messages too often on a beta test game I’m working on) and Siri integration. I would like 4G/LTE but I’ll “settle” for 3G. A better camera set would ‘be nice’ but isn’t a driver one way or another for me. eFinally I would love it to go to 128GB version and be under $1000.

Not demanding, am I? 😉

Bryan Eley: Ditto on what most of Mike said…
Retina display, larger screen…16:9 maybe? More storage…128 or 256GB? While keeping the price point consistent with prior model pricing. I’m not a Mac user, but maybe include Thunderbolt in the iPad 3

Michael Anderson in reply to Bryan Eley: I *assume* they won’t mess with the aspect ratio … and I really hope they don’t. There is so much great software running on the current system that would be totally screwed up if they did.

Bryan Eley in reply to Michael Anderson: True. I was thinking purely in terms of movie formats, though you are precisely correct that a different aspect ratio would royally screw up app scaling and such.

Travis Ehrlich: I’d like to see: a retina Screen, a faster processor and RAM, Siri,
and improved camera and the ability to easily use through a projector for us educators!
I would also love to see the ability to add it to my iPhone account for data! I cannot afford a separate account for another device. I know this one won’t happen, but a boy can dream!

Michael Siebenaler: The Kindle Fire works fine for our needs right now. Our other family media options (e.g. Netflix through PS3 and Wii, etc.) fill in any void. The only reason I would get one is for work, but they won’t even partially reimburse us…yet. I would use a iPad 3 for iMovie if possible, then could work on my family video projects if the internal storage allowed, but would want to burn to DVDs as well, so not sure if that would transfer or not. Overall, they come out with them so fast, I might wait until they hit the $199 barrier any way. 🙂

Doug Moran: I would like a retina display, a zippier processor, and more memory. I have an iPad 1, so I’ll almost certainly get one.

As for me, I would love to see a better camera and screen but the driving force for me and the main reason to upgrade would be Siri integration. Then again, who am I kidding, I’m getting the new one regardless.

So how about all of you? What do you want in the iPad 3 and will you be getting one when it is released? Why or Why Not? We want to know! (And please join in answering the poll following this post.

 

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

2 Comments on "Is the iPad 3 in Your Future? A Gear Chat"

  1. I have an iPad2. All it would take for me to upgrade is a great camera like the iphone and maybe a retna displat. However; I would get really excited if Apple improved the exchange of data with external storage devices that use the camera connection kit. The current methods are klunky and limited in file management.

  2. I don’t have an iPad – I was resisting until you could buy one and set it up without connecting it to a computer first. Well, we are there now, but by the time iOS 5 was released, the iPad 2 was a bit long in the tooth, and I may as well wait for better hardware.

    As for specs, it doesn’t much really matter – just better than what the iPad 2 has. Cameras are not that important to me – just front facing would be used for video chats. I’d just want one that was speced well enough to last reliably for, hopefully, three years. I see the iPad being used more as our travel computer than for anything else. Maybe for lazy couch surfing and e-mailing as well. I’d only want LTE if there was an easy way to turn it off (to save battery).

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