A couple of clues are making the rounds this week that point to a March release for Apple's new iPad.
Citing unnamed sources, AllThingsD reported today that Apple will hold an event in the first week of March to announce the next-gen tablet. The event will be hosted in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple's location of choice for big announcements, AllThingsD said.
Additionally, Cult of Mac tipped a clue identified by YourDailyMac that says the iPhone's carrier profile suggests iOS 5.1 could roll out on March 9.
"We today discovered that Apple published 11 new profiles for various iPhone operators," YourDailyMac wrote. "These files are compatible with iOS 5.1 and are set for release on March 9. This could indicate that iOS 5.1 will be released around that date."
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Pervasive rumors about the iPad 3 include a form factor similar to that of its predecessor, an upgraded resolution that will give the device a Retina Display or something very close, and faster performance.
Earlier this week, iFixit offered some predictions about the next iPad, which it said won't be called the iPad 3 but something like "iPad 2 HD."
IFixit, a site that has predicted features in Apple products with a fair amount of accuracy in the past, also tipped a Retina Display and the possibility of a high-res camera in the iPad 3. On top of that, it claimed the tablet will probably have an A6 chip, but it might not go quad-core just yet. AllThingsD had similar predictions.
While Apple will presumably launch the third iPad sometime this spring, any forecasts about the features, specs, or announcement date are just guesswork at this point. There have been other suggestions of a March launch, but we'll have to wait and see.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the iPad 2 and the slideshow below.