Apple

Purported leaks claim that the follow-up to Apple's popular iPad 2 (pictured) will offer a higher resolution display than its predecessor.

As we get closer to the first week of March — which is when the iPad 3 is expected to be announced — rumors and leaks related to the next-generation device are appearing everywhere. The latest batch includes details about what might be the new Apple tablet's display, guts and casing. It'll make you feel like you're suffering one big, bad case of deja vu. 

The information, images and purported specs in this most recent rumor rainstorm come from several sources (including a variety of forums) — but a website called M.I.C. Gadget had rounded them up and added details from its writers' own (unnamed) sources. Now while M.I.C. Gadget is known for plenty of silly antics, such as attempting to sell Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs action figures — before being stopped by Facebook and Apple, respectively — it also has a decent track record in the hit-and-miss world of Apple rumors, particularly when it comes to iPad details.

So with that in mind — and with some grains of salt prepared — here's what might be coming, based on images and information M.I.C. Gadget has compiled.

Photos taken at a manufacturing plant show that the iPad 3 will have high-resolution "Retina Displays," which fits with prior reports by Bloomberg. Additionally, M.I.C. Gadget suggests, the next-generation iPad will have a narrower bezel (an attempt, perhaps, to resolve the light leak issues experienced by some iPad 2 owners).

Based on these display details, M.I.C. Gadget assumes the next-generation iPad will at least offer a dual-core A6 processor (though it believes a quad-core chip could be a possibility). This theory, of course, also fits with prior reports, though Bloomberg's sources sounded quite certain there would be a quad-core processor inside the iPad 3.

Images of what may be the iPad 3 casing show a larger camera lens opening than seen on prior generations. This is interpreted to mean that a higher resolution rear-facing camera will be built-into the device. The casing also appears to be several milimeters thicker than that of the iPad 2, with no further major differences other than slightly more tapered edges. This fits with reports from iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz, who claims that he had the opportunity to see "what's supposedly the next-generation iPad" at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Are you noticing the pattern? All the details provided to and gathered by M.I.C. Gadget match what we've heard before. And, as my colleague Wilson Rothman remarked when he rounded up iPhone rumors a while back, Keyser Soze's Law tends to apply when it comes to Apple gossip: "A rumor's not a rumor that doesn't die."

The most persistent rumors tend to be the ones that turn out to be true.

Related stories:

• Report: iPad 3 to be announced in first week of March
• Verizon and AT&T to offer 4G LTE version of iPad 3?
• iPad 3 rumors: What, when and how?

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