iPad 2 rumor: New screen leaked, not Retina

By Andrew Couts February 2, 2011

ipad-2-screen-leaked — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Among the most speculated details about the inevitably forthcoming second-generation iPad is how Apple plans to upgrade the screen. Will it be Retina, like the iPhone 4, or something else entirely? Perhaps something made out of pure magic?

Well, you can stop holding your breath, because 9to5Mac.com claims to have gotten their hands on the iPad 2 screen, straight from a source in China. And no, it’s not Retina.

“We have been able to acquire what we believe is an iPad 2 LCD, fresh out of China,” writes Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac. “At this point, we cannot tell if the resolution is higher (or ‘Retina’) but it is definitely higher quality in terms of its build.”

Gurman points out that the allegedly next-gen iPad screen is lighter and slightly thinner, with a “smaller surrounding frame.”

The “new” screen is labeled with the parts number “LP097X02-SLN1.” Using this data, a 9to5Mac reader was able to pull up some additional details about the screen, after the initial report went live. According to the site’s commenter “King,” the purportedly new iPad screen is a 9.7-inch XGA 1024 x 768 H-ISP display.

If this really is the iPad 2 display, the new screen’s resolution would fall far short of the 2,048 x 1,546 resolution — which is double the resolution of the current iPad — that was rumored only last month. At that time, citing the same source that spilled on a licensing deal between Apple, Imagination Technologies, and Samsung back in 2008, AppleInsider claimed that the upcoming iPad will feature double the resolution, and an enhanced version of Apple’s A4 chip that will significantly enhance its graphics and video-processing capabilities.

Of course, Apple has not confirmed that this is truly the touchscreen for their next iPad, so remember to keep a healthy dose of skepticism in your voice when you tell your less-informed friends about it.

That said, some of the details — that it’s lighter and thinner, and not Retina — do match other rumors that have been circulating around the Web.

But unless someone accidentally leaves an iPad 2 at a bar, we probably won’t know the accuracy of this report until Apple unveils its final product, presumably later this year.

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