“Is this Apple’s next iPad?” Boy Genius Report asks, then supply their own answer in an update mere hours: no, it jolly well isn’t. At least not technically. But when March 2nd rolls around, it’ll probably end up being something pretty close.
This morning, Boy Genius Report was sent the image of the iPad 2 you see above, featuring a thinner design, flattened back, a visible rear speaker and a rear-mounted web cam. Unfortunately, they were punk’d: it was just a high-quality render of the iPad 2 by the Apple fan.
That said, we’d be willing to put money down that on Wednesday, you’re going to see an iPad 2 very like the above render. The case-manufacturers all agree upon the broad outlines of the iPad 2’s external redesigns. So we probably will see an iPad 2 that looks identical to this come Wednesday, with the only real question mark being that rear-mounted webcam. Everyone agrees the iPad 2 will come with FaceTime, but that only depends upon a forward-looking webcam.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
14 responses to “This Isn’t The iPad 2, But It’ll Probably End Up Being Close”
I looks ugly. Not the iPad.
I looks ugly. Not the iPad.
If I know Apple, the speakers will be pumped through invisible laser or water-jet carved holes in a large portion of the case.
Facetime uses both the front AND rear-facing cameras. In order to fully integrate it should have both. Yes, I know the Mac version only has one camera supported, but the iPad is much more of a mobile device, and there’s really no reason NOT to include a rear-facing camera.
I am willing to bet the iPad 2 will not look like this render. The guys on Macbreak Weekly said that their sources at case manufacturers (even the big ones like Belkin) have said that they are often in the dark just like as everyone else until apple unveils their new products.
Besides Apples new look is angular and crisp with subtle curves (iPad 1, iPhone 4, iMac, etc) not this dated looking wet bar of soap. And Ives always hides ports and speakers along a skinny edge.
I think it will look very similar to this, hopefully minus the ugly plastic piece at the top of it.
It looks hideous on the first iPad, and even worse on this thing.
But there are. 1) It costs something. 2) It takes up space. 3) It adds weight.
It doesn’t cost very much, it doesn’t take up a lot of space, and it doesn’t add much weight. But for a user like me, who still haven’t *tried* facetime after six months with an iPhone 4, the device would actually be very slightly better without the extra camera.
All in all though I think there are enough users who do think it matters to make the decision an easy one. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t come with two cams.
Interesting and informative post
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