Meet the new iPad, now with Retina display! It's a little thicker and heavier, but no one cares about it. Part of the fun, we rarely see Apple “walk backwards” as happened with the third generation iPad. Of course, to improve on one thing, we need to sacrifice others (you win on the screen, you lose in thickness / weight; you win in graphic processing, you lose in the battery). It is an eternal assessment of what is worthwhile or not.
However, according to Raymond Soneira, president and CEO of DisplayMate Technologies, the person responsible for a huge (positive) evaluation of the gadget's Retina display and with a lot of support in the area, was not quite what Apple envisioned for its newest tablet. According to the executive, this was Ma's “plan B”, which he expected to be able to use Sharp's IGZO screens, which we have already commented on here (1, 2), which possibly allowed an iPad equal or thinner than the second generation.
In summary, IGZO technology would use smaller transistors and circuits, allowing more light to pass through, thereby decreasing the number of backlighting, making the device thinner. However, Sharp was unable to get the technology ready in time, and Apple then put “plan B” into practice, using two LED bars to handle the lighting.
Speculation or hot information? This one, I think we won't know, but if Apple's “plan B” was this #EpicFAIL, imagine “plan A”
(via CNET News)
