Apple Targeting Third-Generation iPad for Doubled Display Resolution?

The back-and-forth debate about whether Apple will seek to double the resolution of the iPad's display to 2048 x 1536 in the second-generation model continues, with PC World reporting late last week on comments from IDC analyst Tom Mainelli claiming that Apple is seeking to make the jump with its third-generation model, presumed to be released in 2012, and not the second-generation model expected to be released in the relatively near future.

"I think the Digitimes story probably got the resolution right, but the iPad version wrong," Mainelli told PCWorld via e-mail. "Our sources say Apple has requested that manufacturers begin work on displays with that resolution for the iPad 3."

"I don't believe anybody is ready to produce that resolution in volumes at this point. And Apple is going to require huge volumes for the iPad 2," he added.

Double-sized images found in Apple iPad applications had led to speculation that the company might be planning to double the resolution of the device's display in the forthcoming revision, but sources have indicated that such a change is unlikely.

Adding to the confusion has been speculation about the possibility of Apple still being able to offer a "Retina" display on the iPad while increasing the resolution by less than a factor of two, with observers arguing that the fact that an iPad is typically viewed at a farther distance than an iPhone would allow for an iPad "Retina" display at a lower pixels-per-inch than found on the iPhone. But others have argued that anything less than a doubling of the pixels in each dimension would cause significant problems for existing applications by not allowing them to be simply and sharply scaled up using pixel doubling methods.