Parts suppliers reportedly prep for iPhone 5, iPad 3 assembly
Digitimes is reporting that the suppliers for the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 are gearing up to provide components for the next iterations of both of those devices. That in and of itself isn't really surprising -- of course Apple is working on new iterations of all of its devices. But what is interesting about this little leak is the timing. We first heard that Apple was lining up suppliers for the iPad 2 back in November of last year, which the benefit of hindsight now tells us was just about four months before its eventual release in early March of 2011.
In other words, hearing about the iPad 3 suppliers starting to turn the gears now could mean, assuming that Apple is still on the same manufacturing schedule, that we're going to see another new iPad as soon as four months from now -- sometime before this coming holiday season. Would Apple release two iPads in one year? Blogger John Gruber has already suggested that they'll do exactly that, and certainly the timing of this leaked announcement supports that idea.
As usual, nothing is confirmed until we hear it from Cupertino officially. But you can at least add another log to the fire of rumors that we may see the iPad 3 before 2011 has left us behind.
