Even as we await word on when the iPhone 5 will be released, some people are wondering when Apple might launch the third version of its highly successful iPad tablet. Today, Digitimes reports that a manufacturing plant in Brazil is getting ready to start production of the iPad 3. The report claims that the first shipments of the iPad will begin in December with Apple actually launching the tablet sometime in early 2012.
The plant in Brazil is owned by Foxconn, a company which has a long history with Apple, making its products in Chinese factories. This new plant is a joint venture between Foxconn and the Brazilian government. This new plant is apparently going online faster than originally planned. It was supposed to start operations in the first quarter of 2012.
Little is known about what new features Apple will put into the next version of the iPad. Many believe that it will have a higher resolution screen than the current iPad 2 and that it will contain the A6 processor which will have four processor cores compared to the two core based iPad 2. AppleInsider reports that some prototypes of the iPad 3 might already be circulating among its parts supply companies. That same article quotes financial analyst Mark Moskowitz with J.P. Morgan, who says that Apple should be in no rush to release the iPad 3. He says, "The other tablet entrants have stumbled so far, and that trend-line could persist deep into 2012."