iPad 6 To Feature 12.9 Inch Display
Rumors about a bigger iPad resurfaced at the beginning of this month when a Chinese website claimed that Apple has a new iPad in the works and the company will release it next year, with Foxconn (a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing) being hard at work in the research and development phase of the upcoming iPad, which is said to feature 2K or 4K display resolutions.
A recent report suggests that the Cupertino based giant is prototyping no less than five different iPad models with a 12.9 inch display. The report claims that Apple could release an iPad with a 2K display resolution during next year’s first six months. The same report claims that a few months after Apple will release the iPad with a 2K display resolution, the company will also release an iPad with a 4K display resolution.
The report is based on anonymous sources that also mentioned that the iPad with a 2K display resolution could be released in April 2014 and the iPad with the 4K resolution could be released during the company’s usual iPad update cycle in October 2014. It seems that besides the aforementioned updated resolutions (the 2K resolution and the 4K resolution), the report did not actually offer any particular display resolutions for the bigger iPad models. As you know, the newly released fifth generation iPad, the iPad Air, comes with a 9.7 inch Retina display capable of a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, being a 2K display.
It is also worth mentioning that Apple did not include the industry standard 16:9 aspect ratio in its iPad line (instead using the 4:3 aspect ratio), nor full high definition resolution; the rumored two new iPads could be the first iPad models to include a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9 and a full high definition resolution. The 4K resolution could also offer the rumored iPad a pixels per inch density of around 400, which would translate in extreme sharpness.
In November, a report from The Korea Times claimed that a local Apple parts supplier official said that a “first tier display supplier” was developing a new iPad model that will be equipped with a 12.9 inch Retina display. Earlier this year, in May, South Korean web site ETNews reported that the upcoming 12.9 inch iPad from Apple could be named the “iPad Maxi”. At the time the rumor was dismissed as there were no sources behind it, it reappeared two months later at the end of July when the Wall Street Journal confirmed ETNews’ report, claiming that Apple requested display designs measuring a little under 13 inches from its suppliers; the report confirmed these display designs were for a new iPad model.
