New Micro SIMs Arriving At AT&T Stores: Will The iPad 3 Be 4G?
by Brent Dirks
February 10, 2012
Arriving shipments of LTE-enabled, micro SIM cards to AT&T retail stores may be shedding light on whether the upcoming iPad 3 will support the next-generation data network.
While the iPad 3 is purportedly set to be announced by Apple early next month and appearing on shelves in a few weeks after that, questions still remain on whether the tablet would be LTE capable. At this point, a Retina quality 2048x1536 screen, A6 quad-core CPU, improved cameras, increased memory, and various other refinements are said to be a lock for the new, flagship tablet.
But an anonymous tipster provided to Phone Arena, internal screenshots detailing information about the new SIMs. The site suggests the SIMs could be more likely destined for the upcoming Windows Phone-powered Nokia Lumia 900, which is scheduled to launch on the AT&T network in mid-March as an apparent iPhone competitor.
BGR also recently reported that the iPad 3 would be sporting LTE options as well. That makes the timing of the new SIMs is interesting to say the least.
While 4G data speeds have been mind-boggling, battery life has been a major concern and problem for Android phones and tablets with the capability. On the other hand, Apple has always prided itself on battery life being a major selling point for both iPhones and iPads.
Beyond the battery life concerns, 4G is just beginning to take off with Verizon, and AT&T's support is in only a handful of major American cities. Sprint isn't even turning on its LTE network until later this year.
How excited are you about the prospect of an LTE-powered iPad 3, or will you be happy with just the other rumored changes? Either way, March can't get here soon enough.
