Rumor: Qualcomm 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip likely for iPad 3

Now that Apple has its full holiday lineup for this year, rumors of next-gen products should start heating up. One such rumor follows a press release from Qualcomm, which makes the 3G chips in iPhones, saying that it seems likely that its 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip is destined to be included in the iPad 3.

"Embedded modules based on our new Gobi 4000 technology are designed to give consumers an uncompromised mobile connectivity experience, both in terms of download speeds and flexibility," said Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

Though Apple was not specifically mentioned in the press release as a partner for the new chip, Qualcomm did list several of Apple's competitors in the mobile space including Windows and Android, and noted that the Gobi 4000 API is perfect for personal computing as well as tablet and e-reader operating systems.

Of course, Apple has not released any official specs or plans for the iPad 3.

In fact, a release date, though widely expected to be sometime this spring, is still unclear. If the iPad 3 is made available before the next-generation iPhone (presumably the iPhone 5), it will be interesting to see if Apple will make the jump to 4G with the iPad 3 first.

While it seems likely that Qualcomm's chips will be used in a future iPad, I am hesitant to believe that Apple would add 4G to the iPad before the iPhone. If that is the case, I wouldn't expect to see a 4G-equipped iPad until 2013, assuming the spring release schedule for iPads continues.

Do you think Apple should include 4G on the iPad 3 or wait until it is included in the next-gen iPhone? Let me know your opinions in the comments!