Reported Hands-On with Potential iPad 3 Prototype

With spring 2012 approaching fast, anticipation for an iPad 3 unveiling is building up. One person now claims to have had a hands-on experience with a potential prototype.

It’s not unheard of to gain access to prototype parts of an upcoming Apple product, but according to iLounge, this new iPad was fully assembled and looked almost identical to the current-generation of Apple tablets.

Jeremy Horwitz says it’s useless to post any photos of the thing as there is nothing to be seen. The next iPad is an upgrade from the iPad 2, much like the iPhone 4S was to the iPhone 4, he claims.

According to his contacts, the new iPad’s body is only slightly thicker than the iPad 2. On first inspection, the change was unnoticeable, he said.

Horwitz believes “a roughly 1mm increase will barely be perceptible to users” and that he’s heard that the only accessories that might pose compatibility problems are those that have been designed to fit the iPad 2’s rear shell perfectly.

“On the rear, the camera in the upper left corner has become bigger—noticeably so when placed alongside the iPad 2,” he observed, “but not so huge that anyone would think they were different at a distance.”

The author specifically points out that “The new camera hole is silver-ringed, and does in fact look the same size as the iPhone 4S’s much-improved rear camera system, minus the LED flash.”

iLounge had previously learned that Apple was going to deploy a third-generation iPad with improved cameras, and had issued a report which now appears accurate.

Every manufacturer Horwitz talked to seemed to think all of the above claims were correct, “apart from [a] possible screen size tweak, which remains uncertain,” the author wrote.

The iPad 3 is believed to boast an IGZO display with a 2048x1536 pixel count (Retina-grade).

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