Edible Apple

The Wall Street Journal, which Apple has in the past used as an unofficial mouthpiece, reports this morning that the iPad 3 remains in the product pipeline and that Apple plans to release it in early 2012 as it attempts to stay ahead of the growing field of Android-based tablet competitors.

Earlier this week reports surfaced that Apple was initially aiming to release the iPad 3 sometime this Fall but had to delay things following poor yield rates on the devices 9.7-inch retina display screen. Further, because of the iPad 3’s high density display, the device requires a larger backlight source with a single edge light bar being insufficient. And as we wrote earlier in the week, Apple’s “insistence on a thin form factor and a sturdy design conflict with the panel’s technology restrictions.”

But apparently Apple will have addressed these issues by the time 2012 rolls around as the WSJ report confirms the device will sport a retina display.

The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display – 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 – and Apple’s suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.

One component supplier the WSJ spoke to claimed that Apple had already placed orders for 1.5 million iPad 3s.

“Suppliers will ramp up production and try to improve the yield rate for the new iPad in the fourth quarter before its official launch in early 2012,” the component supplier said.

via WSJ