back to article Apple will not kill iPad 2 at iPad 3 debut

Apple is ordering fewer 9.7in, 1024 x 768 IPS LCD panels but it hasn't cut out the part entirely. That suggests it does indeed plan to continue selling the iPad 2 after the LTE-equipped iPad 3 has gone on sale in March. According to whispers from the Asian display supply chain, the Mac maker asked for 1m 9.7in, 2048 x 1536 …

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  1. Mondo the Magnificent
    Devil

    So....

    ...this could be the long term iPad2 killer?

    About bloody time!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Won't kill the ipad 2?

      Just in case the iPad 3 fails in use, they need a back up.

    2. GotThumbs
      Linux

      Big Deal.....Not a surprise to anyone.

      If Apple can sell an IPADI or IPADII, even after replacing it with the 3rd generation....they will. Simple fact is that Apple has no problem selling older hardware to anyone willing to buy it. Apple has just started selling its reconditioned hardware ...and still it's more expensive over many Android tablets. Anyone wanting to buy an Apple IPAD (Any version)...that doesn't currently have one...will be satisfied with old technology...just to have their own Apple IPAD. Apple doesn't play favorites...even clueless people can buy their products. :-)

      Apple also likes to -re-sell to its current customers. Those willing to give thier money to Apple...again and again and again. If Apple was a decent company, they'd give a trade-in price and then could resell used IPADS for a more reasonable cost. They're NOT any different from any other company out there. Just amuses me when people think they are.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    4:3

    If Apple can put a 2048 x 1536 in a pad why can't I buy a screen anywhere near as useful as that in resolution and aspect ratio in a 13 or 15" business laptop?

    1. jubtastic1

      Because its only 9"

      Which is way easier to do than 15", and they paid up front for the factory to make them, and because resolution independence isn't widely* supported by operating systems and Applications.

      * Windows has better support for RI than Mac, but there is still loads of unaware software that's going to render as a postage stamp on a high res display.

      1. Peter 48
        WTF?

        eh?

        What are you talking about? I have a whole Windows desktop full of software and there isn't a single item that struggles with different display resolutions. The only limitations I have ever come across is with some websites where all the graphics had been designed for 800x600 displays about 10 years ago. If anything laptops and desktops are infinitely more flexible at running such high resolutions compared to the iOS eco system. Even android is designed to scale to some degree (see the high res transformer prime for example)

    2. JaimieV

      Because Apple are buying up almost all the production capacity

      (points at rumours of double-resolution MacBook series laptops)

      Whether your work considers those business laptops or not is another thing entirely...

    3. Gordon 10
      Stop

      because its massive overkill on a laptop.

      And also because of the RI issues mentioned. Most OS'es do 1:1 pixel mapping and a desktop in 2048x1536 would be unreadably tiny on an 13-15" screen.

      Frankly that Res will be of little functional use on an ipad but be more likely to drive percieved quality rather anything qualatitive.

      1. Antidisestablishmentarianist
        Go

        What?

        Little functional use for the hi res? Eh? After looking at the dottlessness of an iPhone 4 screen (and similar) the cruddy res of my ipad2 is glaring. Take Octane magazine on NewsStand. It's basically a PDF, but showing a full single page in portrait the text is barely legible due to the bad res - it can't handle all the serif fonts used. I have to pinch and zoom all over the show. Higher res would fix that. Can't wait.

        1. werdsmith Silver badge

          No functional use at all. Seriously. My iPhone4 display is no more useful than my old iPhone 3G one was. What I mean to say is, I could read my old iPhone 3G screen perfectly well and it didn't suddenly become unreadable when the iPhone 4 arrived. There is virtually no practical difference on 3.7". I can understad hi-res on 17inch screens and higher but on a 9.7 inch pad? It's just willy-ware.

          Oh dear! If I look really hard it's a bit dotty. Can't possibly read that!

          1. Antidisestablishmentarianist

            Look really hard? Eh? I'm sitting here with my iPad on my lap and I can see the dots with ease. Yes I do have torso and no I'm not one of the little people......

          2. Giles Jones Gold badge

            It's perfectly simple to see why they're doing it. The iPad's resolution is not the highest on the market now and if Apple increase the resolution by two then they can do doubling.

            On a computer doing X times 2 is a lot easier than X times 1.1234234 then smoothing all the jaggies out to make it look less ugly.

    4. Giles Jones Gold badge

      It's uneconomical in a laptop. The more pixels the more chance of pixels that don't work and the public have made it perfectly clear that they don't want screens with any defects.

      So a high res screen of a large size ends up giving a poor yield, so the price goes up massively and the company gets lambasted for producing so much toxic waste.

  3. jubtastic1
    Holmes

    Called this last year

    Not that it's not obvious, as should be the iPad3 selling at current pricing, leaving the iPad2 as a 'budget' tablet, $399 seems likely, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was lower.

    Basically the same strategy that's working so well with the iPhone, I think they're quite determined to remain the number one player in this market.

  4. Jedit Silver badge
    Holmes

    "Mop up excess demand, or don't restrict buyers to the more expensive model"

    I note that the article does not suggest that Apple may release the iPad 3 at the current cost of the iPad 2 and discount the older model. But then, El Reg hacks don't just make things up out of thin air like they do on some other sites.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LTE Equipped Ipad3

    Unless I've missed the big un-veiling then no specs are out yet.

    Come on, rumours on top of rumours now???

  6. Ed Cooper

    Considering

    they're still selling the iPhone 3GS after what seems like decades, I doubt they're going to stop flogging the iPad 2 all that soon, it'll just be a bit cheaper.

  7. Velv
    Flame

    Maybe they need the older screens as spare parts??? Maybe there's a wide scale failure of iPad2 screens just around the corner

  8. Morri

    No mention of I Pad 1,are they still going to sell(joke I think)?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    iPad could be £0.00 and i'd still avoid it.

    I don't want anyone thinking I'm a brain dead nork by being seen with out of those.

    1. VeganVegan
      Facepalm

      Knee jerk much?

      I hear that it is purely a spinal reflex, no higher brain functions involved.

  10. John Tserkezis

    Sigh. It's because people buy numbers.

    People don't CD,DVD or BD players, phones, computers, tablets, toasters, they don't buy cars, trucks:

    They buy numbers.

    If this tablet has a higher resolution than THAT tablet (or laptop), then it's *obviously* better.

    That class of resolution is arguably not going to be any more productive to a lesser (read compared to the closest competitor) box, but that doesn't matter anymore.

    But the numbers are better, so that directly translates to better everywhere. Obviously.

    1. pete23
      Trollface

      Disagree. For a device which has largely replaced books etc for me, the noticeable pixellation on the iPad is quite annoying, especially as I have the iPhone 4 to compare. It's not about "more productive" it's about quality of experience.

      If people buy numbers, how do you explain the near-total Apple dominance of the tablet market? I imagine there's an Android tablet that improves on it for pretty much every number...

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