iPad 3 unveiling to take place in New York, report says

Apple might change up its habit of announcing new products in the San Francisco Bay Area, choosing New York as the spot to unwrap the iPad 3, according to CNBC.

Josh Lowensohn

February 28, 2012 8:38 AM PST

The scene of the iPad 2 unveiling last year. — The scene of the iPad 2 unveiling last year in San Francisco. James Martin/CNET

Update at 9:16 a.m. PT Soon after this post was filed, Apple sent out invites to an iPad-related event taking place on March 7 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. See related story for more details.

Apple could go off the beaten path in unveiling its next iPad, holding a special event in New York instead of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a new report.

Citing anonymous sources, CNBC sent out an alert on Twitter this morning saying Apple would be unveiling a "quad-core iPad 3 with 4G LTE" next week in New York. That venue would differ substantially from years past, where the company has chosen the San Francisco Bay Area as its go-to location for presenting its newest products.

ALERT: Quad-Core iPad 3 with 4G LTE to be unveiled in New York next week. -Sources
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 28, 2012

Apple has had news briefings in New York before, most recently its education event last month where the company debuted a new version of iBooks and its iBooks Author software. It's also been the home for events like the unveiling of the Verizon version of the iPhone 4, and for years before that it was the site of the Macworld conference where Apple was a keynote presenter.

Despite these things, the company has stuck to its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, or two nearby locations in downtown San Francisco--the Moscone Center and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts--when it comes time to unveil new hardware.

Apple is expected to send out invitations to its event sometime this week. Last year it sent out invites to the iPad 2 event the morning of its annual shareholders meeting.