This story is kinda strange. Brain Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners, is sharing some inside knowledge on the next iPad. Not the iPad 2, necessarily, but it could be a mid-cycle refresh for Apple. The headliner of new features for this “next iPad”, is that it will be a “World iPad” that will have both GSM and CDMA radios. Uh, does Mr. Blair know that CDMA bands are mostly an American oddity?
Since GSM is the global standard, the “Global” moniker is usually attached to Sprint and Verizon devices (both CDMA carriers) that carry a backup GSM radio with a SIM slot – for international travelers to pop in a SIM and use a local carrier. Since the iPad 3G already uses GSM bands, it makes NO sense that they’d add CDMA and then call it a “World iPad”.
Adding CDMA does make since though. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg confirmed that the two companies are working together and this year we saw Verizon start selling the iPad with a MiFi hotspot device to get internet access on the go. Definitely a clunky solution (and very un-Apple, if we say so), so it’s possible that Apple could come out with a CDMA iPad in the future.
Blair goes on to report that the “new iPad” will be “thinner than the existing model and is essentially made from one piece of metal with no pins needed.” So, basically, Apple is going with a new unibody construction like they’ve done with the MacBooks. Recent rumors have pinned the shell of the new iPad being made out of carbon fiber – not metal. Nobody said that a carbon fiber chassis can’t be built with unibody construction though (ask BMW).
What do you think about the odds of this “World iPad” being real?
