iPad 3, iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion Rumoured At Apple Event

Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held from 6 June through 10 June in San Francisco, at the Moscone West convention centre. At the five-day event, Apple plans to unveil “the future of iOS and Mac OS”, it said in a 28 March statement.

It’s widely expected that Apple will share details about Mac OS X Lion, the newest incarnation of the Apple operating system, which Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced in October 2010, along with the newest line of MacBook Air notebooks. Apple is also expected to focus on iOS 5, the newest version of its mobile OS. However, while Apple is expected to release an iPhone 5 this summer, which presumably would ship with the new iOS, a new report says iOS 5 will instead follow behind it, not becoming available until the third quarter.

iOS 5, iPad 3

Citing two “solid sources”, Tech Crunch reported on 26 March that Apple’s plan is “to wait to launch iOS 5 until the autumn”, breaking its tradition of introducing new software in the spring and launching it during the summer with new hardware.

Still another rumour, circulated in February, is that Apple is planning to surprise WWDC attendees with the introduction of an iPad 3.

What’s for certain, however, is that developers at WWDC 2011 can expect more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers; access to more than 1,000 Apple engineers offering code-level assistance into “optimal development techniques”; and to be a part of one giant opportunity to mingle with fellow iPad, iPhone and Mac developers from around the globe.

Apple will also present its Apple Design Awards to developers of outstanding iPad, iPhone and Mac applications.

“If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a 28 March statement.

Tickets are priced at $1,599 (£1,000) and seating for the event is limited, according to Apple.

On Friday, 25 March, Apple began shipping its iPad 2 to an additional 25 countries – a rollout pace quicker than it pursued for the original iPad, despite analyst predictions that the recent catastrophic events in Japan are likely to hurt component availability. (BlackBerry maker RIM, for example, in its most recent earnings statement, explained that it had offered a wider than normal guidance, due to the risk of disruption to its supply chain.)

iPad 2 sales healthy

Ticonderoga Securities Analyst Brian White, in a 28 March research note, wrote that he expects Apple to benefit in the June quarter from a healthy demand for the iPad 2. So healthy, in fact, he’s anxious for news of new milestones.

“Last year, Apple sold over 300,000 iPad 1 units on the first day, 1 million were sold in 28 days; 2 million in less than 60 days and 3 million within 80 days,” wrote White. “Given the faster launch this year, continued serial stock-outs, limited competition and the increased legitimacy of the tablet category, we expect big iPad 2 numbers from Apple, but when will the company begin to release these milestones?”

As with WWDC, the curious will have to wait and see.