Report: Next-Gen iPad to Include 3-Axis Gyroscope

By

@Gizmodo
@Gizmodo

Apple next-generation iPad is rumored to appear later this year or early 2011. Along with a smaller form-factor, the new tablet may include some technology already unveiled for the iPhone 4, such as 3-axis gyroscope.

Apparently, an iPad prototype included a gyroscope, but Apple decided to use that technology in its new iPhone handset. That’s the word from a company that tore apart an iPad and poked around inside.


“It seemed strange at the time that a product like the iPad would have been designed to not include a gyroscope but an iPhone 4 that was being designed around the same time would,” mused Steve Bitton, product manager for UBM TechInsights.

Bitton found an empty slot in the iPad beside an accelerometer. That accelerometer from STMicro is also used in the iPhone 4. That empty slot requires 24 pads – the same as a three-axis gyroscope from InvenSense.

Another interesting bit of detective work: The traces on the iPhone 4 between the A4 processor and the three-axis gyroscope is similar to the path used between the iPad’s process and the empty slot on the tablet’s board.

In order to reduce the development time, Apple may have decided to wait until the next version of the iPad to include a gyroscope, suggests Bitton.

[9to5Mac]

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.