Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Friday:
The 20% Rule: You may have heard that the iPad 2 that comes out Friday — not even a full year after its predecessor. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) managed to sell 15 million iPads in 2010, which is a remarkable success for a new product that is both expensive and shares many functions with other Apple devices, particularly the iPhone. Even though the iPad 2 isn’t a dramatic upgrade, a significant number of early adopters are expected to move to the new tablet. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky believes that 15% to 20% of current iPad owners will purchase an iPad 2 over the next year. He also expects Apple to sell 500,000 iPad 2s on Friday alone — and 28 million tablets during 2011.
iPhone 5 Going Wide?: Website iDealsChina posted on Friday what it alleges are “mold engineering drawings” of the iPhone 5. The most significant difference between the iPhone shown in the drawings and the currently available iPhone 4 is that its screen extends to the edges of the device’s face. Volume buttons and camera positioning appear to be identical to the iPhone 4. The sketches reinforce previous rumors about upgrades coming to the iPhone 5, including a 4-inch screen. Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 5 later this year, possibly in June when it has traditionally debuted new iPhone models. It’s also predicted that the iPhone 5 will be a 4G device compatible with AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) LTE networks in the U.S.
Headphone Patent Suggests Smaller iPhone/iPad: A hallmark of portable technology evolution is shrinkage; the smaller the device gets, the better it is. Apple’s devices are no exception. The most dramatic improvement in the iPad 2 is that the device is thinner and lighter. One hurdle that Apple has had to clear repeatedly when streamlining its devices is the standard 3.5-mm audio jack necessary for almost every pair of consumer headphones. A Friday report from Cult of Mac has detailed a series of patents that would actually allow Apple to make its portables thinner than their respective audio jacks. There are three designs, each of which would have the sides of an audio jack’s cylindrical housing bulging from the surface of its host handheld. The short version: Get ready for an even thinner iPad 3 in about nine months.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
