With the iPhone 4S already shipping to customers, it’s no surprise that the next major rumor cycle to begin focuses on the iPad 3. According to DigiTimes, and some ‘unsubstantiated’ sources, the iPad 3 won’t make it to market until the summer of 2012, shortly after the traditional spring release we’ve seen with the last two models.
Also mentioned in a different report from DigiTimes, Apple could be gearing up to completely overhaul their entire lineup (iMac, iPhone, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro), minus the Mac Pro, which is pretty suspicious given the current rumors that Apple could be thinking about shelving the Mac Pro entirely.
Some thoughts on the matter
We’re on the fence about all this ‘overhaul’ jazz we’re hearing about today. Sure, the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Pro devices haven’t had much of an aesthetic update in a long time. We expect that the MacBook Pro will eventually look like the Air, given the comments from Apple management over the last couple of years, but other than that, we’re not sure when we’ll be seeing major changes.
Apple’s iOS tendency to date is to keep the same iPhone design for two models before switching up their design: there was iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, then the iPhone 4 and now the 4S. We’ve gotten two iPad designs now, albeit slightly different, so should Apple carry on with their pattern, the iPad 3, and iPhone 5 for that matter, could carry new designs. Other than that, there’s no real foreseeable timetable for when Apple could change up their Mac lineup.
Image Credit: Ed Schramm
