iPad 3 Rear Shell Reveals its New Features

As a tech giant, even though Apple didn't attend the CES 2012, its powerful influence hasn't waned.

Jeremy Horwitz, the editor-in-chief of iLounge, reported, Tuesday or the day CES 2012 officially kicked off, some possible features and changes of the highly expected next generation iPad, dubbed iPad 3, after he put his hands on its rear shell and other components.

iLounge is an independent Web site reporting about Apple's iPod, iPhone, iPad and the related iTunes software.

According to Horwitz, the iPad might boast of a slightly thicker body, much-improved camera, but will look almost the same as its predecessor iPad 2 did.

In fact, the two devices will be so similar that the users only will be able to sense it when placing them next to one another.

It's reportedly that the body of iPad 3 will be thicker than iPad 2. However, the thickness will be increased by about only 1mm and when holding them on the hands, the customers might barely be able to discern the difference.

If you look at their backs, you might regard the iPad 3 as the previous one, because its case is precisely contoured to fit the iPad 2’s back.

However, the cameras of the next generation iPad will be better - the camera in the upper left corner has become bigger, but not so huge that anyone would think they were different at a distance.

More specifically, as Horwitz revealed the new camera hole is silver-ringed, which looks identical to iPhone 4S's rear camera system without the LED flash.

As many rumors suggest, the most striking change in the new iPad might be its screen and it has become the focus of the rumors. One company even claimed that the screen will be smaller than the iPad 2's. However, Horwitz didn't agree. According to the front glass bezel he saw, he confirmed that switch, button, speaker and other elements located on the side edges look similar to the the previous one's, as well as the headphone and Dock Connector ports.

But Horwitz clarified that the device also might be “iPad 2S” or “iPad 2HD” because the changes are very modest.

Furthermore, the rear shell he saw seems to have been produced more than half a year ago, which means Apple might change the design in the next few months.

iLounge also revealed the photos of the iPad shell on the first day of last year's CES. Later, it was proved that it was nearly same as the final iPad 2 shell, except tweaks to the bottom speaker grille and side switch.

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