Unverified iPad 3 Rumors: Price List Suggests Price Hike Over iPad 2, Shipments to U.S. En Route?

[MacRumors]

Over the past several days, several unverified rumors about the iPad 3 have been showing up on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, offering tidbits of information about Apple's plans for the device.




One post seems to depict a price comparison between the iPad 2 and iPad 3 possibly revealing a price increase for the iPad 3. The headings are labled left to right: "Apple iPad Model", "iPad 2 US Price", "iPad 3 US Price", "iPad 3 RMB equivalent price". The final column is calculated on the exchange rate.

The iPad 2 prices are in U.S. dollars at the present pricing, which starts at $499 for the 16GB+WiFi model. The iPad 3, meanwhile, is listed at a starting price of $579 for the $16GB+WiFi model and goes as high as $899 for the 64GB+WiFi+3G model. According to the chart, the iPad 3 costs $80 more for the equivalent Wi-Fi models, and $70 more for the equivalent 3G models.




A second post from Sina Weibo [via Apple.pro] shares an apparently now-removed image from WeiPhone depicting what is claimed to be details on a series of high-security cargo flights from Chengdu, China, where Foxconn has iPad assembly plants, to Shanghai. The six flights, which are taking place between yesterday and March 9, are said to be part of itineraries moving iPad 3 units to the United States, with three flights ultimately headed to Chicago's O'Hare airport, two headed to Los Angeles, and one headed to New York's Kennedy airport. A separate flight on March 5 appears to be planned to position units through Tokyo's Narita airport.




9to5Mac also posts a photo of what one Sina Weibo user claims is iPad 3 units being loaded onto a cargo plane for transport.

With all of the reports coming from WeiPhone forums and Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, it's hard to tell if they have any credibility. But it seems reasonable to believe that Apple might be preparing to stage supplies of the iPad 3 at various locations in order to be ready for a quick launch following an introduction as rumored for March 7.

On the pricing front, Apple is believed to be upgrading the iPad 3 to a 2048x1536 "Retina" display, which could account for some price increase to the iPad 3. It's also not clear if the usage of "3G" in the chart means that the iPad 3 will be 3G-only, or if it was just used for the price comparison. The iPad 3 has also been rumored to be getting LTE (4G) data on both Verizon and AT&T in the U.S.

Article Link: Unverified iPad 3 Rumors: Price List Suggests Price Hike Over iPad 2, Shipments to U.S. En Route?

[osx11]

If this is true, iPad 3 must have retina display.

[ChrisTX]

Not liking the idea of a price increase.

[balamw]

If that's the case I would definitely expect the iPad 2 to live on in some capacity at a lower price point (though still above the Kindle Fire/Nook Tablet).

$399 for a 32 GB iPad 2 Wifi?

B

[dethmaShine]

Originally Posted by ChrisTX

Not liking the idea of a price increase.

'Retina Display'

[borgqueenx]

no 128gb? thats just sad
oh well then 64gb it is....

i just hope this is false

[Lesser Evets]

Pisser.

Rumors this crappy must be true. I'd consider the price hike fine if they doubled the memory. The meager memory is going to get cramped with HD video stored on there. Guess they want iCloud to be used more.

[akm3]

Why WOULDN'T they increase the price? They don't have credible competition yet and people are buying them as fast as they can make them. I'll bet supplies of the increased resolution display are constrained anyway, so make as much as you can.

I would.

[AbSoluTc]

Not a fan of the price hike either if it's true. The iPad3 better have some nice little feature adjustments to quantify the cost. I hope the retina display makes up for it or something. Otherwise it will be a bust.

[zoetmb]

I wonder how much of the retail price comprises the air shipping charges. All this air shipping has got to be quite expensive. I wonder what percentage of Apple's units come to the U.S. (or Europe) by air as opposed to boat.

A few months back, I needed another Apple Express and ordered from Apple. The unit was individually drop shipped from a Chinese address to my New York address. That can't be very efficient.

[appleguy123]

I don't have an account for the chinese site, but isn't it likely that Apple is raising prices in china and not the US? The dollar has been doing pretty well on the currently markets.

I might have totally misconstrued what macRumors meant though.

[iBaloney]

price hike = deal breaker

[MasterHowl]

Oh no I've been saving for ages for an iPad 3 (sold my iPad 2 and everything) and I thought I had enough!

Damn it Gonna have to find another £80 or so from somewhere...

[atomicbloke]

Given that the iPad has been such a spectacular failure, Apple would be wise to just drop the product. Or else it could lead to an unmitigated disaster on the future of the company.

Apple should concentrate on the iPhone, which has the potential to be a successful product.

In fact I strongly feel, that the March 7 event, will be an announcement that Apple is dropping the iPad, and introducing the next model of iPhone.

[ThatsMeRight]

A higher price is a no-go for me. If that's the case, I'm sticking with my first generation iPad. I'm not going to buy a new iPads that's drastically more expensive.

If these prices are correct, than at best I might buy a refurbished iPad 2 at $399/$419.

I can't believe Apple is going to do this, even with the retina display. If they can't keep prices down, than do not change the cameras for example.

$499 is really the maximum. It's considered expensive, but acceptable.

[Eidorian]

Other tablet makers are targeting price points in the $249-399 arena along with "premium" models in the $599-699. This is not really that surprising.

[jamesryanbell]

I can deal with a modest price increase (although I don't prefer it of course). What I'm kinda bummed about is the fact that no 128GB model was listed.

"You really thought there would be a 128GB model?"

I *expected* it...not just "thought there might be". It's time to upgrade storage specs - and yes, that's even with iCloud.

[PeteJames]

Horrible news. Especially with a $100 android tablet being released in China recently. Apple is such a rip off. I wish I didn't like their stuff so much.

[CapnJackGig]

LOL. I'll just buy a laptop and have access to the full internet instead.

[r.j.s]

Originally Posted by PeteJames

Horrible news. Especially with a $100 android tablet being released in China recently. Apple is such a rip off. I wish I didn't like their stuff so much.

There is no way a $100 tablet can compare to an iPad, and Apple doesn't even try to please the market segment looking for tablets that cheap.

[SandboxGeneral]

I sure hope the iPad 3 price increases truly are rumors!

[Small White Car]

We're used to there being multiple-priced iPhones, now there will be multiple-priced iPads. Everyone's expecting this, but we all assumed that $499 represented the 'high' price. So perhaps we're wrong and $499 is the 'low' price?

Oh well. That's sad, but that's our problem for making the wrong assumption. We had no reason for that assumption. It was just a guess.

[borgqueenx]

Originally Posted by jamesryanbell

I can deal with a modest price increase (although I don't prefer it of course). What I'm kinda bummed about is the fact that no 128GB model was listed.

"You really thought there would be a 128GB model?"

I *expected* it...not just "thought there might be". It's time to upgrade storage specs - and yes, that's even with iCloud.

yeah well it looks fake. the plane photo...everyone can take a pic like that. then in excel make a price schedule. make yourself sound new, important, and everyone will listen...
I hope its just a false rumor. We neeeeeeeeeeed 128gb! Especially with a MB-sucking retina display.

[pajamma]

I have a feeling when people see the display in person, $80 more will seem like a bargain.

[Macopotamus]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

Rumors this crappy must be true.

LOL, unfortunately I tend to agree with you.

I'll be disappointed if they up the price, it will shut out more users than bring them in, maybe the iPad 3 will be aimed at the 'pro' market and iPad 2 will get a price drop and minor spec bump?