How do you like your iPads? Slim? Incredibly slim? Even incredibly slimmer? You’re in luck: word from part suppliers in Taiwan claims that the battery for the iPad 3 points towards a tablet even slimmer than the current 8.8mm model.
The leaked battery pack is said to be noticeably slimmer than the one found in the current iPad, which should allow Apple to shave off precious millimeters in terms of overall thickness. What’s more impressive still is that the battery is said to last longer than the current one, despite its size.
Extra power from a smaller frame doesn’t come cheap, though, and Taiwan Economic News predicts that these batteries will set Apple back around 30 per cent more than it’s paying for the iPad 2 battery. It’s unlikely that this extra cost will filter down to the customers, though – Apple sell the iPad 2 at a loss as it is, hoping to make the money back through the App Store.
Despite rumblings to the contrary, the iPad 3 is likely to be announced in February or March 2012, following Apple’s annual launch cycle. Does the iPad’s thickness bother you? Let us know on the Gadget Helpline Twitter feed.