What the iPad 3 Looks Like

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Posted by samzenpus on Monday February 13, 2012 @05:25AM from the take-a-look dept.

redletterdave writes "If you were expecting a radically different-looking tablet from the iPad 2, prepare for a minor letdown. In the same way Apple upgraded the iPhone 4 into the iPhone 4S, the exterior of the iPad 3 mirrors that of the iPad 2, despite completely renovated and upgraded innards. iLab Factory reportedly provided Sharp with the necessary parts to build the high-resolution iPad 3 display, and in a company blog post, various iPad 3 components are displayed alongside those of the iPad 2 for quick comparison. In addition to a new camera mount that will reportedly match or improve upon the 8-megapixel camera system in the iPhone 4S, the post also revealed that the iPad 3 will be approximately 1 mm thicker than its predecessor to house Apple's upgraded components, including a bigger battery, an improved camera, and a dual-LED lit system to make the 2048 x 1536 display even brighter."

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Re:Far more likely to be 1.5x not 2x by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-02-13 05:56 · Score: 5, Insightful

Anyone who has ever written iOS software knows that the UI scaling is done by float, and can easily take a value of 1.5.
It can technically be done, but results will look like crap, because scaling of bitmaps does not look well if you don't use an integer factor - either you get some pixels larger than other, or you need to use interpolation, resulting in an altogether blurry picture. There's a reason why Apple did 2x upscale with iPhone 4, rather than going for the then industry-standard-already 480x800.
Besides, from TFA, it looks like they have already identified the specific LCD screen that looks like it's tailor made for iPad 3 in dimensional terms - and it's 2048x1536.
Re:Why does Apple/iPad get so much attention? by Dzimas · 2012-02-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

Like it or not, Apple basically defined the tablet market, and their hardware + iOS ecosystem is incredibly profitable. Like it or not, Samsung is perceived as a major clone maker -- the 21st century equivalent of Compaq in the late 1980s.
Re:2048 x 1536?! by timeOday · 2012-02-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

A lot of the issue why it doesn't seem your new PC isn't that much faster then your old one is basically because your new video card can handle higher resolutions and you attach larger resolution screens to it
That was once true, but desktop and laptop screens have regressed over the past few years towards 1080p (high-def TV) resolutions. There are only a few 2560x1600 desktop displays now - Apple for example no longer sells one. 1600x1200 screens were available on laptops for some time, too, but no longer.
With that resolution and dual backlights, I bet the new iPad screen will look fantastic. Now give me a 'retinal' 30" display for my desktop, please.