Retina Display iPad 3 Due Next Spring

Apple is apparently on track to introduce the iPad 3 early in 2012, and the updated multimedia tablet will sport a substantially higher resolution display compared to the iPad and iPad 2. The Retina Display iPad will include a 2048 x 1536 resolution instead of the 1024 x 768 resolution used on current models.

Retina Display iPad 3 next year, says WSJRetina Display iPad 3 next year says WSJ

The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources “familiar with the situation” as saying Apple already has parts on order for the next generation iPad. Those sources also say Apple will stick with the current iPad’s 9.7-inch screen size.

Production of the iPad 3 is expected to ramp up before the end of the year in preparation for its 2012 launch.

Apple launched the original iPad in early 2010 and iPad 2 in early 2011, but rumors began circulating that the iPad 3 would roll out before the end of 2011 based on speculation from Daring Fireball’s John Gruber. If Apple were to release the iPad 3 this fall, there would be only months between the two tablet rollouts.

The WSJ report claiming the iPad 3 won’t hit store shelves until 2012 seems more plausible since it fits with the release cycle has followed for both iPad models that are already in customer’s hands.

Apple hasn’t commented on the iPad 3 launch window, or any of the tablet’s rumored features.