To keep its customers in a frenzy of demand, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has a major new product release about twice a year. The last one was the iPhone 4S. It was such a success that it helped Apple sell a total of 37 million iPhones in its last reported quarter.
The turn is about to turn to the iPad according to rumors. Apple has enough competition from Samsung and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and its Kindle Fire that it is time for Apple to show its prowess again. The iPad 3 will probably have a more powerful processor and will work on superfast 4G wireless networks–something no Apple device has done so far.
As for the next-generation iPad itself, sources say it will be pretty much what we’ve been led to expect by the innumerable reports leading up to its release: A device similar in form factor to the iPad 2, but running a much faster chip, sporting an improved graphics processing unit, and featuring a 2048×1536 Retina Display — or something close to it.