iPad 3 to Gain Improved Cameras? iPad 2 to Carry On at Lower Price? - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPad 3 to Gain Improved Cameras? iPad 2 to Carry On at Lower Price?

ipad 2 cameraiLounge offers a new series of notes sharing information from a source about Apple's plans for the iPad 3. Among the most interesting notes is the claim that the next-generation iPad will carry significantly improved cameras on the front and back, moving to a FaceTime HD camera on the front and a higher-resolution iPhone-like camera on the rear.

The source also reiterates iLounge's earlier claim that the next-generation iPad will be slightly thicker than the iPad 2 while retaining the same general form factor.

1) A few next-gen iPad notes, ahead of the show. Both cameras are getting upgrades. Front goes HD, rear becomes iPhone 4/4S-like (bigger).

2) Body of the next iPad is, as we previously reported, getting just a little thicker to accommodate new parts - little = 1mm give or take.

3) Curve radiuses on the body will change only a little to accommodate the added thickness, not dramatically. Think iPad 2 Pro, not a redesign.

iLounge's source also follows some other current lines of thinking in reporting that Apple will continue to offer the iPad 2 alongside the iPad 3, dropping the price of the current model in order to tackle increasing competition from lower-priced competitors such as Amazon's Kindle Fire. Horwitz offers a $399 base price for the iPad 2 as a possibility, although that number appears to be pure speculation.

Finally, the iPad 3 is said to be in line for another March release, similar to that seen with the iPad 2 last year.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: iLounge
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...

Top Rated Comments

firestarter Avatar
186 months ago
Improved cameras.

Shouldn't this be filed under 'obvious'? :confused:
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
Not sure if they will go as high as 8MP for the back camera, but I think we all are expecting improvements in both the front and back cameras. They are mediocre at best right now.

The article did say the camera would be iPhone 4/4S capable so if true, at the very least it will have a 5 Mpixel rear camera.

As a side note, I'm actually more interested in what type of CPU / GPU Apple will use in the iPad 3.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coder12 Avatar
186 months ago
I call BS on this one.

I call SARCASM in your comment!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
186 months ago
These rumors seem so random. Honestly, its hard to imagine what great upgrade the iPad is going to get this year other than a Retina Display.

1) Assuming the A6 processor ready, then we should maybe expect a Cortex-A9 quad-core in the iPad 3 with improved graphics (probably obvious)

2) Bumping the resolution for the cameras is obvious, but by how much? Historically Apple has realized that only very strange people use their tablet as a point-and-shoot camera (though I did witness an iPad 2 being used this way at Disneyland in December -- the owner looked very silly snapping a shot of her daughter dancing with Disney princesses using her iPad 2 -- As an aside, I also witnessed a couple with his-and-her iPad 2s walking around the park with the iPads held just below the chests and their eyes on their screens instead of where they were walking -- very silly looking indeed especially with the crowds of people you could easily bump into -- yet some people are trying to use iPads like most would use an iPhone).

3) Apple could easily bump the RAM from 512MB to 1GB, but its kinda hard to tout this because they don't advertise the RAM in the iPad 2. Sure it could be filed under "faster". I know the iPhone 4S has RAM that can transfer data twice as fast as the iPhone 4, so perhaps this will be used at the very least.

What else? What more is Apple going to do with the iPad 3? They could make Siri available on it and exclude the iPad 2. They could add Thunderbolt to it, but if its really "PC free" then how much will this matter and how many have Thunderbolt PC's anyway?

It seems to me that the next iPad could be screaming fast with a beautiful screen and slightly to vastly better cameras. While the Retina Display is a huge deal for reading, I think the next great leap is when they merge the MacBook Air and the iPad into some kind of hybrid device that can run both iOS and Mac OS X. I believe Lenovo is attempting this with a Windows/Android hybrid and I think an OSX/iOS hybrid its something that many Apple users would want.

Personally, I am sitting back and waiting to see what Apple might do to surprise me on this one. Currently the iPad is the clear tablet market leader, but I'd like to see them keep raising the bar especially with Windows 8 on the horizon.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SuprUsrStan Avatar
186 months ago
Dropping it to 399 or even lower would put it in line to compete with the kindle fire and other low end android devices. It'll put the squeeze on the more expensive tablets as well.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Adidas Addict Avatar
186 months ago
i also hope it's quad core, then i can read books faster.
;)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)