iPad 3 will have 4G LTE networking
The same source that originally told iMore Apple would be holding their iPad 3 event on March 7 has now let us know that the announcement will include 4G LTE networking. We'd heard previously that 4G LTE would be coming to iOS in 2012 …
Context & Ripple Effects
The LTE claim upgrades a rumor iMore has been building all year: its February report had the March 7 announcement pegged alongside a quad-core chip and 'possible' 4G LTE, and a production-start report last October meant the radio decision was already baked into shipping hardware. A November rumor out of Japan separately placed an LTE iPad in mid-2012.
The timing matters because Apple has kept every iPad on 3G since the original model launched with cellular in 2010, even as the device became the dominant source of tablet web traffic — confirmed at 97% in October 2011. An LTE iPad would also land ahead of the LTE iPhone MacRumors reported was due in 2012, reversing the usual phone-first pattern.
First-order effects
- If confirmed on March 7, Apple's tablet line moves onto next-generation cellular overnight, and the carriers whose LTE networks have lacked a marquee tablet gain the device that already generates more web traffic than the iPhone.
- Wi-Fi-only positioning stops being the default for premium iPads, forcing buyers choosing between storage tiers to weigh data plans at the point of sale.
Second-order effects
- An LTE iPad arriving before an LTE iPhone pressures Apple's handset roadmap to follow quickly, validating the 2012 LTE-iPhone timeline its suppliers were reportedly preparing for since September 2011.
- Rival tablet makers, who have shipped LTE Android devices into thin demand, suddenly face the traffic-dominant tablet matching them on network speed — their differentiation window on connectivity closes.
Third-order effects
- Cellular radios shifting from optional add-on to expected feature in high-end tablets pushes the industry toward always-connected computing, with carrier data plans becoming a structural complement to tablet sales rather than an upsell.
- As Apple moves its highest-margin device family onto LTE at scale, chip and modem suppliers gain a second anchor customer beyond smartphones, accelerating LTE base-station and chipset investment across the supply chain.
The trend: Apple's product cadence is pulling LTE from early smartphone adopters into the mainstream tablet market, making carrier network rollout the pacing constraint on its hardware roadmap.