New iPad 4 reportedly in the works -- perhaps a 128GB model
Apple is readying for release an additional new fourth-generation iPad -- with maybe as much as 128GB of storage, sources tell 9to5Mac.
Are you ready for an iPad with beefier memory?
A new fourth-generation iPad with Retina display -- and perhaps as much as 128 gigabytes of memory -- is being readied for release, sources tell 9to5Mac. The upcoming slate would not be a new design but rather an addition to the current fourth-generation line, with the same color and wireless combinations as the iPad 4, these unnamed sources say.
Pricing is unknown, but the new model is described as a "premium SKU" (stock keeping unity) that would join the current lineup of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB iPads. A source at a large U.S. retailer provided 9to5Mac with what is purportedly a new SKU listing for iPads that includes a fourth model labeled as "Ultimate" to join its current lineup
CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
9to5Mac suspects the new model will have 128GB thanks to code found in the iOS 6.1 beta 5 that references a compatibility with 128GB iOS devices. The discovery was first noted yesterday by @iNeal on Twitter.
We should be seeing 128GB iDevices soon. iOS 6.1 beta 5 has 128G system partition key in BuildManifest.
— Neal (@iNeal) January 27, 2013
That tweet led Jeff Benjamin at iDownloadBlog to extract the iOS 6.1 and compare the System Partition Padding values found in old iOS 6.x firmware. What he found was an additional field for 128:
9to5Mac notes that if this purported iPad is in the works, it might be not be intended for the general consumer but rather perhaps for government or even retail use.