If Apple are saying they are too expensive, even as an option...
They must still be really expensive.
Don't expect an iPad 3 with a "retina display" this year: Apple's screen supplier(s) - LG and Samsung - can't make enough 9.7in, 2048 x 1536 panels to ship the tablet before 2012, it has been claimed. Making such a screen is no small technological achievement, and there's a price to be paid for being at the leading edge: low …
There will still be some kind of schedule, either explicitly communicated or anticipated, and even if the current version is selling well, retailers wedded to selling Apple gadgetry would probably like to know what Apple will be coming along with as its competitors release several iterations of their own products in the meantime. Apart from litigation, that is.
You really don't understand business then?
A business wants to design something, get it built and then sell it on for a profit. If an iPad 3 cost £700 instead of £429 then it doesn't make much sense no matter how good the screen is.
While the margins seem high on the hardware this profit has to recoup the cost of:
1. Hardware design.
2. Software (boot code and any device specific code in iOS).
3. Prototyping (samples often cost money).
4. CE and other compliance testing.
5. Product design (packaging).
6. Marketing and advertising.
It's strange how people claim the iPad is expensive when the competition seem to be incapable of producing anything with similar specs at a cheaper price. At launch all competitors seemed to be the same price or in some cases more expensive and it's only recently, having realised that they aren't shifting any, that they are lowering prices.
So Apple may not be cheap when it comes to desktop or laptop computers, but it seems that they are very competitively priced for tablets (assuming similar specs).
@AC 19:46 GMT
Wrong. Many of the Android tablets - the ones from Asus and Acer for example - came at $399 price point, compared to the iPad 2's $499. Same specs: 16 GB memory, 10" screen, Wi-Fi. Actually they are better specced when considering USB ports, card readers, video out.
The fact that Samsung and Motorola priced their tablets at the same price or higher means that they want to make more money, not that the production price is higher.
The key phrase in your comment is "similar specs". Looking at the Apple closed system with integrated vertical management and "take it or leave it" features, we do not find a similar spec to, say, the Tab currently at issue, or more open alternatives to Apple. You may argue that what is really a premium price for what you get from Apple is worth it ("it just works" (for you), ineffable "cool" factor, etc.), and I would not (could not, since it is a matter of opinion) argue with you, but then that is a different issue.
Amazon's android based tablet is likely to launch soon (possibly in various form factors) and might cut the legs from under the iPad. That will be interesting to see though I suspect it will be as proprietary and tied into Amazon's service as an iPad is into Apple's. I truly think that the reason Google has been so coy about opening the Android 3 source code is because they don't want Amazon to lay their hands on it.
I've certainly "noticed" the iPhone 4 screen and I dislike using the missus' 3GS now, because the screen seems unreadable by comparison. The poxy 1024×768 (132 ppi) resolution is the only thing that has prevented me from buying an iPad so far. If they can double that for the iPad 3 then I'll snap one up.
Once you get to a point where you can't really distinguish individual pixels then the whole eMagazine concept really starts to make a lot more sense, because the text on screen becomes (almost*) as easy to read as print.
* (okay, maybe apart from the backlight, but it will do fine till cheap true-colour high-res eInk displays are available).
I was going to get one when it comes out and because of the resolution. A lot of photographers now carry iPads around with them too (and I'm sure would welcome the resolution).
The resolution of the current iPad is like looking at a photograph printed with an Epson FX80 dot-matrix printer. If you want to review / show photographs, you need more resolution. When people look at a photograph, they rarely look at the photograph as a whole; their eyes move over it and hence the old calculations about the resolution needed for viewing moving pictures on a TV are flawed IMHO.
Samsung
'so what you are saying Mr.jobs is that you need this part in a hurry. . .
I am sorry Steve the entire management team appear to be OOTO. . '
JOBS,
'when will they be back, this is urgent and directly impacts my magical awesomeness'
Samsung.
'Your call is important to us. please leave a message after the beep'
> "There comes a point that it doesn't matter anymore."
Yep, but that point has not been reached yet.
It will be reached when you can no longer distinguish individual pixels and you don't notice any further increases in screen resolution. We're not there yet (tho the iPhone 4 screen is pretty close IMO).
Apple has NEVER stated that an iPad 3 would be released this year. In fact, they have NEVER even used the term "iPad 3" or discussed future iPad releases.
What we have here is one rumor disputing another rumor, in a long chain of rumors about a rumored product.
There is no point in getting caught up in all of these rumors. In the end, Apple will release its next generation iPad only when Apple releases it... not when rumors say it will.
Apple has NEVER stated that an iPad 3 would be released this year. In fact, they have NEVER even used the term "iPad 3" or discussed future iPad releases.
What we have here is one rumor disputing another rumor, in a long chain of rumors about a rumored product.
There is no point in getting caught up in all of these rumors. In the end, Apple will release its next generation iPad only when Apple releases it... not when rumors say it will.
2048x1536 = very nice, but on a semi-small screen the size of a tablet? Hmm, how about starting off making that resolution in a 24" PC monitor? Might be a bit easier / cheaper than trying to squeeze everything down so small too.
We used to have 1200 line monitors but now we seem to be stuck at a mere 1080 lines because apparently "HD" resolution is better than any other resolution.
Sadly PC monitors are kind of stuck at their current pixel density because historically Windows expects the monitor to be 96dpi. So if you had a PC monitor that was actually Retina-resolution (326ppi) then all the text would be tiny on it. (i.e. 10 pixel high text is quite readable when the pixels are large, but pretty unreadable when they are tiny).
Obviously modern Windows lets you change the DPI setting - but you'll find that many apps (especially older legacy apps) will either not respect this setting, or their UI will completely break down and look awful.