iPad 3 Will Have LTE On AT&T And Verizon, But Only 3G Internationally [Report]

By

ipad3

It’s looking more and more likely that the iPad 3 won’t just be getting a Retina Display tomorrow, it’ll be getting LTE. The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky is now reporting that their sources indicate LTE iPad 3s will ship in two flavors for both AT&T and Verizon’s network.

Noting that there’s “no question” that the iPad 3 will have a Retina Display, Topolsky says:

There have been rumors flying that the iPad 3 would be LTE capable, and we’re told that it will definitely be announced for both the Verizon and AT&T networks tomorrow. To be clear, that would mean two distinct, separate versions of the LTE tablet (one for each network). In addition, there’s a third international model which does double duty on 3G; a CDMA / GSM model using a similar radio chipset to the iPhone 4S (a Qualcomm Gobi chip). That’s a little odd considering LTE chipsets from Qualcomm can be utilized on those same bands, but there may be reasons (cost for instance) that Apple would want to separate the hardware.

Topolsky also notes that a 1080p Apple TV will be announced tomorrow, and that the iPad 3 will use a dual-core A5X SoC instead of a quad-core A6 (which is being held back for the iPhone 5). It’ll also reportedly have 1GB of RAM, which is a no-brainer: it’ll need that amount of RAM to just push the Retina Display’s pixels.

It’s worth noting that as reputable as the Verge is, Topolsky has been very wrong predicting iPads before. For example, he claimed ahead of the iPad 2 that it would have a Retina Display, then rather comically ret-conned the story to indicate the Retina Display had been pulled “at the last minute” (impossible, given that the displays necessary for a Retina iPad 3 didn’t exist until this year).

Still, all these reports seem to be lining up at this point. LTE, meet iPad 3.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.