There’s a new iPad coming in March. And if one rumor proves true, it could be the first iPad with a 4K display.
On Wednesday, 9to5Mac broke news about Apple’s plans to release a new iPad in March, which will likely be the successor to the iPad Air 2 from 2014.
On Thursday, China-based news site Digitimes, which has a mixed track record but claims to have sources within Apple’s supply chain, is now saying Apple’s next iPad will will be able to push 4K resolution.
Digitimes also claims this iPad will come with 4GB of RAM for improved multitasking and offer better battery life overall. The iPad Air 2 currently gets about 10 hours of battery life, so expect maybe an additional hour or two at best.
Digitimes' report says this iPad won’t feature a 3D Touch display like the iPhone 6s, but there are other Apple products on the way that will feature the technology. Digitimes might be referring to the 4-inch iPhone 5se, which will apparently look similar to the iPhone 6 but share the dimensions of the three-year-old iPhone 5.
Like we mentioned above, Digitimes isn't always the most reliable news source — it's incorrectly predicted aspects of several past Apple and Samsung products, for example — but it's also been accurate at times, correctly predicting Apple would release two new iPads in late 2012 (the iPad 4 and iPad mini) and the Retina iPad mini a year later. So, take this report with a grain of salt.
We're skeptical of this rumor since we doubt Apple would put 4K on an iPad at this juncture. Right now, Apple only has one true 4K product, and that's the the 4K iMac, which starts at $1,500. 4K displays are expensive, and given how iPad sales have been nothing spectacular, we doubt Apple would invest so much money into making a quad-HD display for a tablet most people hold so close to their face. Granted, the newest iPhones can shoot 4K video, so maybe Apple would want to let people edit that 4K content on their iPads. But generally there's a lack of 4K content online, so it would be surprising to see Apple upgrade this aspect of the iPad.
We’re expecting to learn about this iPad, as well as the 4-inch iPhone 5se, at Apple’s March event, which will formally introduce both products as well as some new Apple Watch bands (a black Milanese loop and a new line of high-end leather Hermes bands are both on the docket).
