As expected, Apple on Tuesday announced an event to show off the company’s next generation iPad. The invitation, sent to me by Apple, says the event will take place at 10:00 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
While nobody knows for sure what changes the iPad 3 will have, it is widely expected the device will have a faster processor, improved graphics processor and a Retina Display.
I will be at the event and will publish a live update on The Loop.
aaaand, let the pixel peeping begin.
Lets see 🙂
Well that debunks that CNBC report pretty quickly.
I expected a sharper screen. But the Maps and the Keynotes icons are very blurry.
Has anyone analysed that image to compare it with an iPad3 screen’s resolution?
Do I see a lack of a home button?
could be in landscape
To answer my own question – I just pulled out my iPad2 and compared the image above with it’s screen and from a similar angle and distance my device looks a lot more pixelated than the above photo. That’s got to be a photo of a retina display iPad.
The device *could* be in a landscape orientation…
Good Point!
It’s called “shallow depth of field”, dude.
Could also be called “sarcasm”
Or photoshopped… No iPad does illuminate a finger like this from the given perspective ;D
Wonderful. It will be bittersweet without Jobs, but I really do look forward to these. Pour myself a nice stiff drink and read the liveblogs-
Unless of course Apple decides to grace us with a live stream! They did them for the “Back to the Mac” and “iPad2” announcements, then stopped.
That’s just a narrow depth of field either from the camera’s lens aperture, or an effect to emulate a narrow DOF applied in photoshop.
Unless you’re joshing and I’m not getting it.
anyway remember it takes a lot of shots to make “an Apple shot” and the picture focus is just the calendar icon and the finger ,so its hard to tell, i’m so excited :3
you sound like a lot of fun
Just checked on my phone, if I turn up the brightness it does illuminate my finger just like the photo.
I’d expect that the focal point on the camera was pointed directly at Calendars. Making a macro shot like that would blur the other icons.
According to my calculations, the iPad pictured has a resolution of 3256×2500, far in excess of even the most ambitious estimates for the iPad 3. The iPad in the picture must be an iPad 4!
Yea you can really tell on the word Wednesday! Can’t wait! Apps like Avid studio and photoshop Touch are great but would better themselves immensely from a quad core processer!
Steve would have said this invitation looks like shit, and they would have redone it. 🙂
Shhhh… be real quiet… wait for it… do you hear the deafening silence of hundreds of knockoff tablet factories grinding to a halt? On Wednesday, you will be able to hear the faint trickle sound of their CEOs wetting themselves.
Sorry…are you serious? The icons are blurred on purpose so the focus of the image is the calendar icon and the finger pointing at it.
You know, I totally missed that he could have been joking. My bad – I apologize.
Based on software performance on my iPad 2, the icons wouldn’t be that close together if it were in landscape. This could be a feature of new software, however.
Interesting to see only 3 app icons. Here is my interpretation:
Maps – Apple is cutting the Google cord.. They have their own Maps database. And they will demo the Maps using New York as a location – thus confirming the CNBC story.
Calendar – highlight the date and maybe some iCloud stuff
Keynote – new version of iWork for the iCloud..
You gotta read into the pixels…
That’s more likely good photography–specifically skillful use of artificial lighting–than photoshopping.
My kremlinological analysis notes the combined presence of a black iPad with a white hand operating it. Therefore, I predict a new zebra-striped model will join the lineup. Q.E.D.
Or there are more than 4 apps on the bar. Why do people look overly too far into everything?
That’s not depth of field. Look at the knuckle right next to it. Totally in focus. It’s actually Photoshop- intended to draw viewer focus exclusively to the date of the event by blurring the others a bit.
Considering you can’t see any hint of pixels being present, I’m pretty much positive it’s because it’s not an actual photo of the thing, but a computer generated image. Retina Display-ifying this would halve the pixel height, and seeing as though you can very easily see them from that distance on the iPad 2, you would be able to at least notice them from this distance, especially as seeing ~12 inches is the distance for the iPhone’s Retina Display to look pixel-less, and this would be less pixels per inch, i.e not as sharp as the iPhone’s at a given distance.
Nice manicure!
Looks exactly like the resolution on my iPad.
Sent from my iPad.
Landscape icons are spaced further apart.
Or:
Map: Be there…
Calendar: …on this day…
Keynote: …for our presentation!
You can’t argue with logic like that! 🙂
Where did the home button go?
That picture looks shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.
I’ll let you know after I have my cataracts removed.
(Joking.)
Leaked features of iPad 3. a faster processor, improved graphics processor and a Retina Display + your iPad 2 sucks.
You have expressed my suspicions before I could. We’re both prescient, or wrong, Mr. Godse.
The iPad could also be in portrait upside down, for a cleaner photo.
This. It could be landscape orientation with 6 apps in the dock.
Water/Splash proof?…water droplet wallpaper a clue?
Seriously, if anyone is giving the examination of the invite more than 1 minutes thought, you’re beyond help …
Awww. I missed the Photoshop bickering. Can we talk about the hand model’s manicure now?
Really wondering what is coming up.
“And touch.” – could this be a tactile feedback display? Or just an even smoother surface…
Why does EVERYONE in the tech space insist on constantly thinking about specs when it’s the LAST thing that sells the device? Why is that? Anyone?
I think it may be the new Apple surface table.. errr. Now everyone make sure to post serious comments about this!!! 😀
Maybe Apple will finally be able to compete against the Android Tablet juggernaut.
Because tech minded folks enjoy specs. Marketing and social trend minded folks would be more interesting in what makes the iPad sell so well.
Home button seems to be up for discussion in the interwebs this afternoon. Thoughts?
I’m just sad there’s no hope of the 8″ iPad Jr. appearing this month, or the iPad E (for e-ink screen), so that the battery lasts two weeks and they can cut the weight in half. Or both!
The 4S ‘retina’ screen is superb, but HD movies already look great on the older iPads. Where is our motivation to upgrade?
I don’t need more speed, I need to be able to hold it for an hour without my hands getting tired. I need to be able to see the screen outdoors as well as inside.
6 apps won’t look proper in portrait mode. This is definitely showing the bottom view in portrait mode with no home button. If it was the top view, it would show the FaceTime camera.
The font on that iPad is Helvetica Neue, not normaly-aspirated Helvetica. They switched from normal to Neue when they upgraded iPhone4 to Retina display, so…draw your own conclusion here.
Damn smart this guy!
Gentlemen, clear your credit cards!
Not only that! There’s an arrow moving around the picture. There! It moved again. Just like someone using a mouse. The iPad 3 comes with a mouse!
Oh, wait…
Or upside down.
hmm those 3 icons. I feel like:
a keynote on Wed, Mar 7 about Maps.
can’t wait for free navigation system from Apple.
These have been some of the most retarded comments I have ever seen!
Either that is a child’s finger, or that is not an iPad. The button looks huge compared to the finger: http://dhm.me/3y
if only there was a USB slot, that would be fantastic and the best product Apple has ever made 🙂
A new Calendar app?
I know … there’s no HOME button –(0)(0)–
I believe what is shown on the invite is rather a TV set.
Andrei
Just because you don’t see a home button doesn’t mean it’s lacking…
wow!! and all this commenting and speculation on the invitation pic ALONE!!!!!
We may not see the home button because the iPad may be sideways on landscape view.
I don’t get it. Is the floppy drive on the other side? It’s useless without a floppy drive. Unbelievable, Apple!
He’s on to something. There is no way on the iPad to get the icons that amount of distance from each other in landscape mode. You can do it in portrait, but if you did and took this picture, the home button would be visible. So, either this pic is a not-accurate mock-up photoshop, or…..
TV set
That is clearly a sharper screen than iPad 2. The Calendar icon does not look like that on iPad 2.
Notice the caption “… that you really need to see.” That is because the old style display that you are currently using is not capable of showing you what the Retina Display looks like.
Clearly that is the message. “Wednesday, March 7” is the most important content in the whole invitation. This is not just a photograph of an iPad, it’s an iPad-themed invitation. We are obviously meant to focus on the date.
where’s the home button ???
Check against a current iPad and you’ll see that the proportions of the icons and spacing between them doesn’t match landscape orientation.
Pretty simple, it’s the 3rd installment of the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever, that has single handedly ended the reign of Adobe Flash as king of internet video, smashed the hopes and dreams of netbook manufacturers, and caused a sea-change in fortunes of Windows as “the” dominant OS.
That’s with only 2 versions sold so far. I would say that it’s likely this is one of the top 2 or 3 events in computing and electronics for the entire year.
ooh, I want to play the parsing game.
The invitation says “…really have to see. And touch.” It’s two separate sentences. (Well, one sentence and a fragment.)
My prediction:
Apple is giving us two upgraded devices. The first is the AppleTV which will gain apps like other iOS devices, opening channel options to begin to rival Netflix. The second is the iPad 3.
Look at the size of that icon! Look how small the finger is next to it! I think we have the iPad 15 inch right here. Why was I the only one that noticed this?
no home button…am i right?
How did they transport the iPad to the future to get that shot of Wed the 7th?
That looks like a macbook dock on an iPad screen
Obviously none of you have ever taken a college level marketing class. This is NOT a representation of the new product, but a carefully crafted AD. Notice how your eye moves on the ad and follows the curve of the finger on the date icon, down to the right and then down the shadow of the finger to the written copy….
What in the invite says it’s a new iPad?
في الانتظار ومتوقع انه جهاز بموصفات رائعه
Finally! A cogent comment.
HAHAHAHA
It’s called Macro
I Can’t Wait ^_^
Its the Apple TV! Look there is no Middle button! So its not a iPhone, iPad, Or iPod! it has to be something new!
Its the Apple TV! Look there is no Middle button! So its not a iPhone, iPad, Or iPod! it has to be something new!
oooor, it’s just an iPad in landscape….
Plz post as fast as possible from your laptop
I am very eager n excited about the features of the next iPad !!!!!!
Me to!!!!
hi all fans…. from hk
ipad3. gogogo…….
btw i like the name ipad3 more…..
foofah
whaaaaaaaaaaat?
Hey, Guys WHATEVER gets announced, Tommorrow Will Be The “Product of The Year.”