Straight from Asia we find out that Apple would have discussed with some of its partners and asked them to prepare to start the production of the tablet iPad 4 in 2013, the product due to reach the market in the middle of next year. It seems that Apple intends to simplify the design of the tablet, one of the changes having to do with the reduction of the number of LEDs from 84, as the iPad 3 has, to an unknown number for now. Considering that iPad tablets usually arrive on the market in March, it would not be hard to believe that Apple is already talking with its partners about starting production in January of next year, with the launch taking place by April.
While Apple is adjusting the design of the New iPad, the vendor has told its suppliers that they will have to prepare for a next-generation tablet model in the middle of 2013, with the number of LED chips used in backlighting expected to be reduced from the 84 used in New iPad, according to sources with Taiwan-based supply chain makers. The sources said the next generation iPad will remain its same 9.7-inch size but will simplify its components to give the device a simpler manufacturing design, such as the amount of LED lights that are used. The sources said the New iPad uses one-chip packages for its LED backlight units (BLUs), but the next-generation model will adopt two-chip packages, the sources added.
In general, Apple prepares the products many months before they go into production, talks with the partners in advance and gives them details about them, and by December we should already see the first sketches of the iPad 4, the first accessories and of course the first components/cases .
