Apple's 'Year of iPad 2' doesn't necessarily mean no more iPad updates in 2011
Apple could likely keep most of the iPad 2's internal hardware the same, shove a Retina Display into it in September, and still call it the iPad 2 (or iPad 2 HD, if you like). With the iPad 2's graphics hardware providing up to nine times the performance of the original iPad, quadrupling the number of pixels on the screen isn't going to be too much for the A5 processor to handle. Other hardware, such as system RAM, would likely need to be boosted to drive such a display, which could constrain production of a Retina Display-equipped iPad and drive up costs; however, to address those concerns, Apple could easily continue to offer the current iPad 2 alongside the iPad 2 HD model, positioning the Retina Display model as a "pro" iPad at a higher price in order to maintain margins.
So as became apparent this week, I was wrong in my suggestions that Apple may hold off the launch of iPad 2 until June, bring it in line with the iPhone release and its launch closer to the more profitable Autumn season for Apple.
A lot of people, me included, assumed that Apple's statement at the keynote on Wednesday that "2011 was the year of iPad 2" meant we wouldn't be seeing any other releases this year. However TUAW made some interesting observations yesterday that John Gruber's earlier suggestion that we may see a iPad 2.5 later in the year may not be quite so wide of the mark.
With the increased graphics performance of the iPad 2, Apple could easily stick a higher resolution screen on this and offer it alongside the existing iPad as a Pro or HD option, something they already do on their Macbook line. This would allow Apple to keep the $499 entry point while heading off some of the higher resolution options that will surely be out from competitors during the year.
How likely is this? Well I don't have a great track record on predictions but lets hedge our bets and go with 60/40 that we do see something in the Autumn
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