Our good friend, the real Nostradamus of the modern era, Ming-Chi Kuo, once again reports important news from the Apple world. This time, he predicts that Apple will update its tablet computers in the 4th quarter of this year. He received such data thanks to his good connections among suppliers of components for the iPad.
In an analytical note, Kuo notes that the start of production of the 5th generation iPad will begin at the end of the 3rd quarter of this year, iPad mini 2 — already in the fourth quarter. However, both the large iPad and its smaller counterpart will appear on open sale in the 4th quarter. According to the Korean analyst, this excludes the possibility of presenting new iPads at the next Apple event on September 10.
Ming-Chi Kuo associates the slightly belated update of the iPad line with the fact that the new iPad will receive a design in the style of the iPad mini. Such changes directly affect production. In addition, the analyst predicts that the iPad 5 will support the TDD-LTE standard, an exotic cellular communication protocol used by China Mobile.
As for the iPad mini 2nd generation, here Ming-Chi expects to see a Retina display (which is good news) and an A7X processor, which will also be used in the iPad 5. In his opinion, the new mini needs such powerful hardware in order to ensure the normal functioning of the high-resolution screen. To be honest, the option of using the A7X in the iPad mini 2 looks less plausible than, say, the A6X, which was used in the iPad 3. After all, Apple needs to keep the cost of the tablet within certain limits. But let's see how things turn out in practice.
Kuo believes that Apple is deliberately shifting the release date of the iPad mini 2 to combat competitors using high-resolution displays. It was originally planned that the iPad mini 2 will be released in 2014.
The analyst also insists that next year we will see a budget version of the iPad mini — yes, even more budget than it is now. To cut costs, such an ultra-budget tablet will use all the same components as the current iPad mini, with the exception of the processor, which will be replaced by the A6.
It is also interesting that, according to analyst estimates, the iPad 2 will not go anywhere from the Apple lineup. Apparently, Cupertino wants to repeat the history of the MacBook Pro and divide the iPad into Retina and non-Retina models.
Production of the new iPads will be concentrated at the Pegatron and Casetek plants. It is assumed that the share of Pegatron in the production of iPad mini will grow from the current 70-75% to 80-85%.
Kuo believes that the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 will enter the market at the end of the year, but there are options here, so we will wait for more accurate information from him about the start of sales of new tablets from Apple.
