As fall steadily approaches, the Apple rumor mill is heating up with a number of interesting rumors regarding upcoming Apple products. Most recently, Digitimes research analyst Mingchi Kuo shed some light on the next-gen iPad along with yet another rumor regarding a CDMA version of the iPhone.
As fall steadily approaches, the Apple rumor mill is heating up with a number of interesting rumors regarding upcoming Apple products. Most recently, Digitimes research analyst Mingchi Kuo shed some light on the next-gen iPad along with yet another rumor regarding a CDMA version of the iPhone.
Kuo writes that the next-gen iPad will come with a new ARM Cortex A9 based processor along with 512MB of RAM. Though the speed of the iPad might suggest otherwise, the current model only comes with 256MB of RAM. In line with Apple’s seasonal release schedule, the iPad v.2 will reportedly go on sale early in 2011.
But this time around, there will reportedly be two models to choose from. Echoing reports from a few weeks ago, Kuo notes that Apple will also be coming out with a smaller 7-inch iPad that will also make use of the Cortex A9-based processor. Much like the iPhone 4 and the current iteration of the iPad, the smaller iPad will also come equipped with IPS technology which allows for generous viewing angles. The device will reportedly sport a resolution of 1024×768 and is rumored for an early 2011 release as well.
While refreshed and new iPads are certainly nice, one of the most discussed and intriguing Apple rumors in recent memory has centered on the question of when, exactly, the iPhone will come to Verizon. It’s not entirely clear when AT&T’s exclusive right to sell the iPhone is scheduled to end, but it’s largely believed that the deal will have run its course by the end of 2010.
And on that note, Kuo notes that mass production on a CDMA (read: Verizon friendly) iPhone is scheduled to begin in December 2010 and that Verizon will begin selling the device in January 2011. Interestingly enough, Kuo expects (perhaps based on rumored order sizes), that the sales ratio of GSM to CDMA iPhones in 2011 will come in at 65:35. It’s remains unclear, though, if this ratio applies to iPhone sales in the US or to worldwide sales of the device.
In any event, this news, if true, is certainly music to the ears of anyone currently struggling with AT&T or unable to switch carriers at the moment. I should also point out that TechCrunch reported just a few days ago that Apple “submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December.”
Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have been popping up for years now, though they’ve all proven to be fruitless. But with a number of varied sources now seemingly singing in harmony, the odds of a Verizon enabled iPhone hitting stores in the next few months seem as high as they’ve ever been.
