By Alex Brooks This week Apple will announce the results of its fiscal third quarter of 2012. The results come amidst Apple’s competitors reporting not such impressive news and the International Monetary Fund talking of slowing economies around the world including Apple’s key growth markets: Brazil, China and India.
Last week Microsoft announced a quarterly net loss of $492 million following a $6.2 billion write-down for the value of its troubled online unit. During the same quarter last year Microsoft made a profit of $5.87 billion. Nokia also delivered lacklustre news although the market took it well, selling 4 million of its Lumia smartphones, running Windows Phone 7, a number double that of the previous quarter. However Nokia did report a $1.7 billion loss during the quarter. Then there is RIM, the maker of Blackberry handsets, who reported a 33% drop in revenue and announced that its upcoming operating system will be delayed until early 2013.
Compared to this rather biased look at Apple’s competitors Apple should give an impressive quarter. Estimates on the market range from $35 billion to $46 billion in revenue. The consensus is around $41 billion for revenue for the quarter on an EPS of about $11.5.

Apple’s quarterly revenue with company’s own Q3 estimate
The third quarter which ran from March 31 until June 30 included the company’s anticipated revamp of its MacBook lineup towards the end of the period which included a refresh MacBook Air and Pro as well as the new Retina MacBook Pro. Whilst the MacBook Pro with Retina has been constrained by stock through the quarter Apple’s popular MacBook Air should have sold in good volume.
Mac sales are expected to come in at around 4.5 million for the quarter.
The iPhone likely had a strong quarter but compared to Q2 when the iPhone launched in China sales may show little quarter-over-quarter change. iPhone sales will likely land below the 30 million mark with the consensus sitting around 28 million. Fortune’s Apple 2.0 blog highlights that these estimates often discount the role of China which saw 3G subscribers increase by 118% year-over-year in June.
The iPad will continue to be Apple’s strong performer with sales around the mid-20 million mark representing year-over-year growth in excess of 150%. The new iPad was released in China on July 20th, outside of Apple’s Q3 period but mixed with the back to school period in Q4, expect a blow out results session in October.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks 7.85-inch iPad mini with third generation iPad and iPhone 4S (to scale)
We know for sure that whenever it arrives it will be accompanied by some sandpaper. That is if Steve Jobs’ quote from October 2010 is anything to go by when he stated that Apple had done extensive testing on the screen sizes of tablets and concluded that 10-inches is the minimum size for a tablet “unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size.”
However one could assume that whatever Steve Jobs says isn’t going to happen usually does, at least that applies to Apple’s entrance into the mobile phone market and how video became available on the iPod shortly after Jobs described that as somewhere Apple wouldn’t venture.

This week has seen rumours of a 7-inch iPad reach fever pitch but it’s not the first we’ve heard of this device. Some could speculate that Apple has been spurred on by the entrance of Google and Microsoft into the tablet scene, particularly the former with its 7-inch offering. Historically though Apple is not reactionary to changes in the market and simply releases products when it feels they are ready.
Wall Street Journal wrote in February that Apple was “working with Asian component suppliers to test a new tablet computer with a smaller screen”. It was noted that the device had a screen size around 8-inches but similar resolution to the iPad 2 (1024 x 768). Then in April John Gruber weighed in saying “I do know is that they have one in the lab, a 7.85″ iPad that runs at 1024 x 768. And it’s just like the 9.7-inch iPad shrunk down a little bit.” Although just five days ago Gruber tweeted a revised size of 7.7-inches.
7.85-inch iPad mini with iPhone 4S (to scale)
iMore kicked things off firmly with a report in May stating that Apple was tracking for an October release of a 7-inch iPad priced in the $200-$250 range. The move is said to be reminiscent of what happened with the iPod in the mid-2000s when Apple began targeting cheaper markets to compete with growing competition. With both Google and Amazon now in the 7-inch tablet space, this could well be the case.
This week Bloomberg weighed in citing “two people familiar with the plans,” who stated that Apple intends to release this smaller iPad before the years end—possibly in the October timeframe. Bloomberg agrees on the details too, saying that it will “have the same number of pixels as those in the iPad before it was upgraded to the so-called Retina Display earlier this year”.
The Wall Street Journal has today thrown its weight behind these rumours again although this time stirring my own pessimistic mind. Agreeing once again on the details the WSJ pinpoints a device with a display slightly smaller than 8-inches. However the WSJ adds that “component suppliers” are preparing for mass production in September, for a release later this year.
MG Siegler has commented on the idea of an October launch, which would coincide with the release of the iPhone. MG believes, as do I, that such a timeframe would not be particularly Apple like. Apple is a company that enjoys delivering a very clearly focused message at events, launching both a new iPhone and whole new iPad either at the same event or within close proximity to each other seems highly unlikely.
Matthew Panzarino’s tweet earlier today (who incidentally has a good analysis from May on the potential 7-inch iPad scene) spurred me on to suspect that whilst the iPad mini is definitely on the cards it won’t see the light of day in October.
Take for example the next iPhone, we can’t be sure that they are genuine parts but we’ve seen a steady stream of parts leak from the supply chain over the last few months. It’s clear that manufacturing has begun of the next iPhone and it will be released in October. Where are the parts belonging to the 7-inch iPad? If the WSJ believes in its statement of manufacturing beginning in volume in September then this iPad won’t see the light of day until November or even early next year.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks MacBook Pro with Retina Display running Final Cut Pro
In early May I wrote about how Apple was going to make use of Intel’s latest processors in this years generation of Macs. At the time no Macs had been updated during 2012 and the iMac amongst others was looking long in the tooth, although that was nothing compared to the Mac Pro. As WWDC approached it became clear that other than a focus on software Apple would give some significant attention to the Mac.
Notably missing in my piece on Ivy Bridge Macs was any discussion about the direction of the MacBook Pro and any predictions about Apple’s use of Retina displays in Macs.
Now WWDC has passed we can see how Apple’s Mac roadmap is shaping up and whilst Apple certainly surprised me with some of the the updates they delivered the majority of the news out of San Francisco earlier this month was in line with expectation. I wrote up the details of Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Retina Display after the keynote and the minor changes to the rest of the MacBook Pro lineup and the MacBook Air, I’ll cover that briefly and then move on.

MacBook Pro with Retina Display running Aperture
Starting with Apple’s new Mac known officially as the MacBook Pro with Retina Display (MBPwRD) or far more colloquially called the Retina MacBook Pro. The headline feature of Apple’s new high-end portable Mac is of course the display that rocks in at 15.4-inches with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels for a total number of pixels exceeding 5 million.
Inside Apple spared no engineering prowess and made the first MacBook Pro with a fully flash-based architecture. Rocking Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge quad-core processors and NVIDIA’s Kepler graphics, all models come with SSDs (up to 768GB), no optical drive and as standard 8GB of RAM (configurable up to 16GB). The speed improvements continue outside the machine as well with two Thunderbolt ports, a HDMI connection and for the first time in a Mac USB 3.0 ports—two of them.
This was the machine I avoided talking about when I was writing my predictions for this year’s Macs. I suspected that if Apple was to move in this direction then it’d take the whole MacBook Pro line that way not simply add to it—although product numbers are unchanged with the demise of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Apple has clearly decided that cost is a factor with this new machine and that it’s too soon to not be able to buy a Mac notebook with an optical drive and a 1TB hard drive.
Additionally I couldn’t work out how Apple would keep the raw power of the MacBook Pro lineup and cram it into a smaller enclosure without some serious heat issues. It’s still a bit early to tell how well Apple has dealt with the sheer heat output of Intel’s quad-core Ivy Bridge processors and a reasonably powerful GPU but so far reports look positive. Some careful engineering of air movement and newly designed asymmetric fan designs are aimed at cooling the machine more efficiently whilst generating less noise.
So Apple has kept the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models around, they still have optical drives, they can have an SSD or up to a 1TB hard drive. Along with some healthy upgrades to Intel’s Ivy Bridge and some updated graphics the MacBook Pro also got USB 3.0.
MacBook Air (Mid 2012)
Just like the MacBook Pro the MacBook Air fell more in line with expectations getting a modest update, Ivy Bridge processors from Intel made their way into the MacBook Air delivering significant speed increases. Coupled with Ivy Bridge was the inclusion of USB 3.0 connectivity. What I didn’t write about back in May was the potential changes to SSDs within the MacBook Air, apart from being able to configure a MacBook Air with up to 512GB of storage the type of SSD Apple is now using is also notably faster. AnandTech has a detailed write up about the changes to SSDs in the new MacBook Air line.
The Mac Pro also got an update, but not an impressive one. After over two years without a refresh the Mac Pro retains the same look and basically the same innards. Instead of sticking in Intel’s latest processors Apple decided to use older generation chips, the same applies to the mediocre graphics options. Unlike its portable brethren the Mac Pro didn’t get any Thunderbolt ports or an upgrade to USB 3.0. The fallout from this insulting update was handled by Apple in an extraordinary way with the company all but announcing a significant and worthy update to the Mac Pro next year.
Unsurprisingly but in a change to Apple’s usual ways the company clearly opted to focus on its mobile Macs. Apple sells more notebooks than desktops and clearly with the advent of high resolution displays desktops are slowly on there way out in the consumer sphere. This is different because Apple’s iMac usually leads the pack when it comes to refreshes, however this year the iMac languishes behind.
Apple left two Macs without an update this month: the iMac and the Mac mini. Both are relatively easy to predict in terms of direction. All that was said in the original Ivy Bridge Mac predictions holds true, the Mac mini is unaffected by the movement towards Retina displays and the iMac won’t see such a development for 12-18 months.
Once the iMac and Mac mini move over to Ivy Bridge, presumably sometime in July this year, that’ll likely be Apple’s Mac lineup to take us through the back to school period and into the holiday season until it begins again next year.
So what happens in 2013?
It’s easy to see which direction Apple is heading with its Macs and that is towards Retina displays. Ryan Block did some number crunching when it comes to how Apple will decide what resolution display to put into its future Macs.
As Block explains Apple just doubled the resolution of the 15-inch MacBook Pro to get to the resolution in the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. This is the same as Apple did with both the iPhone and iPad, yet this solution would probably not be ideal for the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air. The 13-inch Air actually shares the same resolution as the 15-inch display as the MacBook Pro with a resolution of 1440 x 900 (127 PPI) and the 11-inch has a bizarrely high resolution display for its price with 135 pixels per inch.
Apple has decided that based on the distance that a notebook is used that the PPI needn’t be as high as that on the iPad or iPhone and simply doubling the resolution of the MacBook Air models would give needlessly high resolution displays. As Block writes, it is wise to base the 13-inch Airs display on the doubling of the 13-inch MacBook Pro display which would yield a 2560 x 1600 for a PPI of 227.
For the 11-inch Air, Block doesn’t simply double the resolution which would deliver a display with a higher PPI than the iPad 3 and instead he shoots for a 220 PPI range and comes out with a potential resolution range of 2200-2300 x 1200-1300.
Early-2011 iMac Family
The 27-inch iMac which is unlikely to see a jump to Retina displays at the same time as the MacBook Air would see its enormous display pushed to a resolution of 5120 x 2880 (217 PPI), the 21.5-inch iMac presents more of a dilemma as doubling its already low 1920 x 1080 would mean a lowly 205 PPI display. Block speculates that in this case Apple would do more than double the resolution.
Let’s condense that:
15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display – 2880 x 1800 (220 PPI)
13-inch MacBook Air/Pro – 2560 x 1600 (227 PPI)
11-inch MacBook Air – 2200-2300 x 1200-1300 (220 PPI)
27-inch iMac/Thunderbolt Display – 5120 x 2880 (218 PPI)

In 2013 Intel will also move away from the Ivy Bridge architecture into the era of Haswell (get used to that name). In line with Intel’s tick tock principle next years generation of Haswell will remain 22nm as the current generation of Sandy Bridge (tick generation of Sandy Bridge was Sandy Bridge and tock was Ivy Bridge, easy right?). The Haswell roadmap of features is still being kept as closely guarded as possible but some of the headline features that are rumoured include a focus on quad-core processors, 256KB L2 data cache per core and up to 32MB L3 cache shared by all cores, 15W TDP processors, continued advances in power management, and native support for dual channel DDR3.
The question on everybody’s minds though is how will Apple proceed with the MacBook Pro line. The current Retina MacBook Pro is expensive but not all of that expense is in that high-resolution display, a lot of it is in the engineering costs and expensive flash-based innards.
It’s too early to tell whether next year Apple will kill the 15-inch MacBook Pro with the optical drive, or even the 13-inch for that matter. But the writing is on the table.
It’s rumoured that the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display will come before this year is out. That seems likely and with a better yield on the Retina displays Apple will finally be able to push them into the cheaper MacBook Air line and have conditioned consumers to accept that optical drives are a thing of the past which coupled with rapidly decreasing SSD prices will see a complete Retina lineup for MacBooks in 2013.
What are your predictions for the future of Macs? Tweet me @alexbrooks or @worldofapple.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Coming on the tail of minor updates to Apple’s other notebooks the company took to the stage at WWDC 2012 to unveil a new MacBook Pro with a Retina display. Known as MacBook Pro with Retina Display the new notebook features very powerful innards, long battery life and a super thin enclosure. The new MacBook Pro weighs just 2KGs and is just 18mm thick.
In a press release Tim Cook said, “The MacBook Pro with Retina display pushes the limits of performance and portability like no other notebook”. Adding, “With a gorgeous Retina display, all flash architecture and a radically thin and light design, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced Mac we have ever built.”

The MacBook Pro with Retina display features a 15.4-inch display with a whopping 2880 x 1800 resolution display, that’s 5 megapixel display and some 3 million pixels more than a 1080p TV. The Retina display uses IPS technology for a 178-degree wide viewing angle, and has 75 percent less reflection and 29 percent higher contrast than the previous MacBook Pro.
The MacBook Pro with Retina display features the latest Intel Core i7 quad-core processors up to 2.7 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.7 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics, up to 16GB of faster 1600 MHz RAM and flash storage up to 768GB. Two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports allow pro users to connect to multiple displays and high performance devices, and a new HDMI port offers quick connectivity to HDTVs.
The MacBook Pro with Retina Display also features a new Magsafe 2 connector which is thinner than the current version. Apple is selling a $10 adapter so existing Magsafe connectors can connect. The notebook also has the usual features such as a Multi-touch trackpad and FaceTime camera.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display running Aperture
OS X Lion, iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes and other Apple apps including Aperture and Final Cut Pro X have been updated to take full advantage of the new MacBook Pro with Retina display. Apple will spend some time this week at WWDC informing developers on how to get their apps ready although many who have made iOS apps will already be familiar.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro is available with a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage starting at $2,199 (£1799); and with a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz, 8GB of memory and 512GB of flash storage starting at $2,799 (£2299). Configure-to-order options include faster quad-core processors up to 2.7 GHz, up to 16GB of memory and flash storage up to 768GB.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available today.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks MacBook Air (Mid 2012)
In a demonstration of just how much more important notebooks are to Apple the company today took to the stage at WWDC to refresh all of their portable Macs. Apple gave the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air a minor speed bump as well as releasing a new model of MacBook Pro with a Retina display.
Apple quietly gave the Mac Pro a mild refresh including some newer Intel processors, although they’re still a couple of years old. Unlike the notebooks which gained USB 3.0 support the Mac Pro remains without Thunderbolt or USB 3.0. Neither the iMac nor Mac mini received an update today.

Starting with the MacBook Air Apple SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller introduced the new 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air featuring the latest Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors. The new integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 is up to 60 percent faster and gives the MacBook Air plenty of power to tackle games and videos. Along with the new Ivy Bridge processors comes the inclusion of USB 3.0 on the MacBook Air.
The MacBook Air can also now handle up to 8GB of RAM, up from 4GB on the previous model and can be configured with a 512GB SSD. The FaceTime camera has also been updated to 720p.
The 11-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.7 GHz processor, 4GB of memory and is available with 64GB of flash storage starting at $999 (£849), and 128GB of flash storage starting at $1,099 (£929). The 13-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.8 GHz processor, 4GB of memory and is available with 128GB of flash storage starting at $1199 (£999), and 256GB of flash storage starting at $1,499 (£1249).
MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)
Apple also updated the MacBook Pro with a similar refresh as that of the Air. Packing the latest Intel Ivy Bridge processors and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics the MacBook Pro can also be configured with a 1TB hard drive or SSDs up to 512GB that are up to twice as fast as the previous generation. The MacBook Pro also now has USB 3.0 ports and a 720p FaceTime camera.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available with a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and 500GB hard drive starting at $1,199 (£999), and with a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory and 750GB hard drive starting at $1,499 (£1249). The 15-inch MacBook Pro is available with a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M, and 500GB hard drive starting at $1,799 (£1499); and with a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M, and 750GB hard drive starting at $2,199 (£1799).
Apple also took the opportunity to quietly (although mentioned in a Tweet during the keynote) update the AirPort Express. The new AirPort Express features a completely redesigned compact enclosure taking on a similar look to the Apple TV and now has simultaneous dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. The new Airport Express is priced at $99 (£79)

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks Moscone West in San Francisco adorned for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is approaching quickly and unlike last year it looks like Apple might put on more than a software only show. Equally exciting for 2012 is that in the six months that have passed Apple has released and updated relatively few products. Particularly notable for the six months that have made up 2012 so far is that not a single model of Mac has been refreshed. We know that Apple has a particular dislike for releasing new hardware in August and after late October which leaves only a few months for a whole bunch of products to be crammed into.
Macs which have so far been completely void of any changes and many of which haven’t been touched for almost 12 months or more will likely be changed ahead of the “back to school” period which usually runs during June and July. Such a release timeframe could coincide nicely with the release of OS X Mountain Lion pinned by Apple for “late summer”.
It is possible to say with confidence that neither the iPhone nor the iPad will see any sort of hardware change announced during the WWDC keynote on Monday. Both of Apple’s leading products are firmly set in predictable cycles—iPad in March and iPhone in October for those slow off the mark.
The problem with such a high number of potential announcements is that it becomes difficult to make accurate predictions for WWDC which has in recent history focused more on developers than consumers, certainly since the iPhone moved to a Fall refresh in 2010.
But as Apple has indicated in its WWDC 2012 material the upcoming week is the one “we’ve all been waiting for”. So let’s take a look at the likely candidates for next weeks keynote.

Macs
Now would be a good time to familiarise ourselves with the details of how Ivy Bridge looks set to pan out with Apple’s Mac updates. After all the changes Ivy Bridge delivers will generate some of the headlines. Apple currently has five lines of Macs, the Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.
At this stage I could break into a one by one lay down of how the Mac line is likely to shape up but I’m willing to put it on the line and go with something a bit more decisive. That is to say it’ll err less on the side of caution and more on the side of how I see it playing out.
On the desktop side the iMac and Mac mini will get bumped to Ivy Bridge and gain USB 3.0 connectivity. Expect the usual upgrades such as more storage space for less and more RAM and such. Apple has an awful lot to cram into Monday’s keynote so I wouldn’t be surprised if both these updates flew under the radar. As the Mac mini usually trails the iMac I also wouldn’t be surprised if that update didn’t come until a month or so down the line.
Sticking with desktops the big news at WWDC, not necessarily by Apple’s standards but certainly by devs, will be the Mac Pro. Finally after almost two years of stagnation the power house will get a serious once over. I don’t want to spend too much time mulling over the specs, in fact Ars Technica have a decent run down of that. I’d expect such a refresh to actually get some airtime on the keynote, after all it is pertinent to the people in the room.
It looks likely at this stage that the Mac Pro refresh will be a healthy one, with a whole new look and the latest top of the grade Intel processors coupled with Thunderbolt connectivity, USB 3.0 a lot of storage and RAM and we have a serious machine on our hands.
Despite all this, the star of the hardware show will be Apple’s notebook line. But here’s where things get interesting. The current notebook model breakdown is made up of an 11-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-, 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros. Straight off the bat it looks like the 17-inch model will disappear. At least there are strong suggestions that this is the case.
Making use of a recent dose of rumour it seems that Apple will use WWDC to introduce another notebook Mac. Seems crazy at first thought but makes sense. Refer back to that article on Ivy Bridge and we can see where some of this begins to look plausible. Rumours for a long time have suggested that the MacBook Pro would take on a thinner (rumoured wedge shape) form factor. The problem with this idea is that the MacBook Pro exists to be Apple’s powerhouse on the road and powerful computers need space for cooling, not something that a significantly thinner MacBook Pro could provide.
Add into this rumours that Apple will incorporate “Retina” displays on some MacBook Pros and we have a purportedly super-thin MacBook Pro with more power than the current generation and a requirement for some serious GPU power to push that display plus potentially a further two 27-inch displays. Heat exists as a problem now on the MacBook Pro and Apple is in no position to change physics.
Enter stage right an additional Mac. Such an addition to the MacBook lineup (presumably also called just ‘MacBook’) gives Apple the freedom to shave some thickness of the current MacBook Pro but still keep it powerful.
The new MacBook would fit in as thicker and considerably more powerful than the 13-inch MacBook Air with the addition of a Retina display but thinner and less powerful than the MacBook Pro.
As for Retina displays I’m undecided whether they’ll go across the board from 11-inch Air all the way up to 15-inch Pro or just hit this new individual MacBook model. Suspect it’s 18 months early for a Retina display on the iMac, after all that would be some serious pixels.
All this talk of a Retina display on Macs may seem out of place but the evidence has been in the offing for some years. Higher resolution icons are now a standard for most pre-installed Mac apps and HiDPI mode has been shown to work well with current builds of OS X Mountain Lion. It would appear that when running in HiDPI mode the OS simply loads up 2x versions of everything to prevent them from looking blurry. This is not the resolution independence that has been the holy grail to Mac OS X users for years.
If we say for example that the current 11-inch MacBook Air display which is 1366 x 768 in resolution, in theory a retina display would come in at double that so 2732 x 1536. Quite simply a shape or UI element that current measures 100 pixels by 100 pixels on the current MacBook Air would either get doubled up on the new retina display and look pretty rubbish or the developer supplies a new element that measures 200 pixels. This is all pretty familiar for those developers who moved from the original iPhone to the Retina display on the iPhone 4.
iOS 6
Despite all the talk of hardware updates which honestly tickle the interest of the fans it is software that will dominate the show and of course Apple’s largest platform is iOS and will therefore command the majority of the keynote. It should also be noted that it is software that Apple can give the biggest surprises with. The hardware supply chain is leaky, Cupertino is not. You’ll note that any rumours we “know” about iOS 6 all involve third parties somewhere in the equation.
That actually leaves me with relatively little to say. In line with past iOS releases at WWDC we’ll see an initial build released on the day followed by roughly fortnightly beta updates leading into October when Apple will release a public version, usually about three weeks after the Golden Master (GM).
iOS 6 banner in Moscone West for WWDC 2012
The OS itself will look familiar although Apple’s stock apps will move away from the familiar blue and take on a more silver look (like a lot of iPad apps now). Such a tiny change will go a long way to convincing people that larger parts of the OS have changed.
We’re also looking at system wide Facebook integration to sit alongside Twitter, details of exactly how it’ll work are unknown but the deal appears set and the relationship between iOS and Facebook is said to be extensive.
The big news will be Maps. The ongoing spat with Google has seen Apple spend a lot of money and time trying to get the eggs out of Google’s basket and into its own. One of the remaining big eggs is Maps and finally Apple appears to have a solution ready to compete with Google. Rough details have leaked such as a fancy 3D mode and it is assumed that Apple will bring turn-by-turn directions to the table in order to compete with Android. Some elements remain unanswered though such as the extent and quality of Apple’s maps and whether they will offer a web version.
Another frequently discussed area is iOS 5′s flagship feature Siri. Aside from complaints about Siri’s performance developers are desperate to get the digital voice assistant working in their apps. It’s a long shot but a Siri API could be on the cards. Whilst we’re on the subject of Siri it would appear that iOS 6 will bring full Siri integration to the iPad, I’ve long suspected that only the dictation element of Siri would come to the iPad as the majority of Siri’s functions do not exist on the iPad but the rumours are strong.
iCloud
iCloud was arguably the centrepiece of WWDC last year, we just didn’t know it at the time. As Tim Cook has said this year the cloud based service is vital to Apple’s strategy going forward for a “decade or more”.
Just like iOS 6 details of iCloud changes are slim. What we do know is that a couple of details were let slip by Apple last month. The strange occurrences on the iCloud website revealed that Apple is going to bring Reminders and and Notes to the web interface. Integration of these on Mountain Lion will see a complete unification of all iCloud tools across all platforms.
Apple is also rumoured to introduce Photo Stream for videos, a tall claim considering how large some videos recorded on the iPhone can get. Also photo sharing with friends and family will reportedly get simpler, harking back to the .Mac days.
Finally for iCloud is something that probably won’t make its way into the main keynote but will be a feature of the rest of the conference is third-party app integration with iCloud. Apple will most likely expand the capabilities of iCloud having listened to feedback for over a year now.
Apple will also bridge the gap between iOS and OS X with a number of functions that operate on iCloud including Safari tab syncing across devices.
iCloud Tab Syncing in Safari 5.2 on Mountain Lion
OS X Mountain Lion
Keeping the spotlight on the software Apple will also spend a chunk of time on Monday morning talking about the next major update to OS X due in “late summer”. We’re already familiar with OS X 10.7 Mountain Lion as it was revealed by Apple in February and has been in developers hands ever since.
WWDC is a great place for Apple to begin wrapping up development of Mountain Lion, recent builds are stable and relatively bug free with the main features well baked in. It would come as no surprise for Apple to deliver a close to final build on Monday, potentially even a GM. Mountain Lion’s release is rumoured to occur in July but could possibly coincide a release with all those new Macs and beat the back to the school period.
Much like in iOS 6 we’ll see Facebook integration included in a WWDC build of Mountain Lion as well as a “Do not Disturb” feature in Notification Centre. A feature I’d like to see in both iOS 6 and Mountain Lion but don’t appear to be on the cards is set quiet periods for notifications, having a handful of devices beep and buzz at 3am because of a new tweet can be jarring.
WWDC will be the first time that Apple will have publicly demoed Mountain Lion, remember the release was done through the media in an orchestrated and controlled way. Of course the new OS will be a big talking point for the rest of the conference too.
Apple TV
Finally but not least is Apple’s product continually referred to as a “hobby”. The hardware of the Apple TV was updated earlier this year offering very little change by simply incorporating a new CPU to help power the 1080p video output and also having Bluetooth 4.0 built-in although not operational.
Whilst rumours of an actual TV set have been at fever pitch for months (maybe years) this isn’t going to happen at WWDC—or in the near future if you ask me. The area of interest here is the software, it’s obvious to most that the Apple TV is fertile ground for software development by third parties.
I can see a large portion of the keynote talking about an Apple TV SDK for developers. In terms of the future if Apple is going to delve into the TV market then an established platform of apps sure will help them catapult towards the lead. How detailed this SDK will be and what functionality it will give is a mystery.
Thinking along the lines of Apple TV still I can’t help but think that Apple needs a better remote control solution. I know others, particularly John Gruber are also in this camp. Specifically that an IR remote doesn’t cut it in 2012 and if Apple wants a solid platform for apps it needs more accurate and quicker control of the interface. I wouldn’t necessarily expect this at WWDC though.
WWDC 2012
Apple’s WWDC 2012 kicks on Monday June 11 at the following times:
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
1:00PM – Eastern
6:00PM – London
7:00PM – Paris
9:00PM – Moscow
2:00AM – Tokyo (Tuesday 12th)
4:00AM – Sydney (Tuesday 12th)
World of Apple will provide detailed analysis after the keynote and during the week. Follow myself @alexbrooks on Twitter for regular updates on WWDC goings on and the keynote and follow @worldofapple for major announcements.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks Gorillaz Perform at Glastonbury Festival in 2010 | Photo by Bethan Phillips
Music has for centuries been enjoyed by groups of people. Music is by definition an art and art is intended to be enjoyed and shared. To this day millions of people attend live concerts, music festivals and musical shows—all to share the experience of music. But music is often listened to and enjoyed on an individual basis these days and whilst we’re all very sociable, maybe more so than ever, music is all too often enjoyed by a single pair of ears.
This trend towards unsociable music isn’t new, the advent of personal music players in the 1980s made it a norm to have music directly injected into our heads without anyone around us being any the wiser. Thankfully the trend is reversing, but Apple seems to have not been invited to the party.

The principle of sharing the song currently been listened amongst a group of peers made its first waves on the internet in 2002 with the advent of Last.fm. Started in 2002 the service simply offered the ability to share the song currently being listened to on its website, with time Last.fm built up an impressive picture of an individuals musical taste. Last.fm was always listening and for me alone has over five years of music data, for some of my friends over nine years.
I’ll return to important subject of listening habits later but for now let’s continue to focus on the social element. I recently regained an interest in Spotify, it had been a few years so I was guessing the collection had grown somewhat and it was time I explored some music outside of my iTunes. Suffice to say Spotify has blown me away, not just in terms of choice (although that is impressive), but in terms of how I can interact with my friends and the wider community.
iTunes 10 with Ping a music-orientated social network
Collaborative playlists, easy sharing of playlists and a constant live stream of all the music that my friends are listening to flowing by makes for a more immersive exploration of music. Apple doesn’t underestimate the power of friends sharing what they’re listening to, with the huge iTunes ecosystem Apple attempted in 2010 to create a music based social network called Ping. I’ve discussed this before back in 2010 and concluded the similar; Apple doesn’t do social well, never has done and maybe never will. Problem is that two years down the line we’re more connected than ever and Apple more than ever looks like the train has left the station and they’re still fumbling with their luggage.
The solutions are now in front of Apple’s face, services like Last.fm have been forced into the background but the likes of Spotify, Rdio, and Pandora have supreme sharing and discovery. The kind of sharing and discovery that has time after time helped me discover and listen to new music.
Don’t get me wrong Apple has services to aid in music discovery, based on the thousands of songs I’ve bought I get average recommendations. Apple clearly underestimates the power of changing trends and how a large network of friends are the key to seeing that change.
Spotify opened my eyes in another way though and that was with the built-in apps. This is more shocking because Apple invented this game, they created the App Store and they cemented the idea of a platform and developing on a platform. Spotify has taken this idea and run with it.
Guardian Music app inside Spotify
Without going into too many specific examples the likes of having recently reviewed albums by The Guardian listed with their star ratings or having Rolling Stone magazine recommendations. How about apps curated on popular music around you or playlists created from all that recommendation data on Last.fm? Spotify has it all and it works superbly.
I have zero doubt that Apple could pull this off but there is a missing piece. It’s a piece that has been rumoured year after year for a while now and it comes down to streaming. Apple without a doubt has the largest collection of online music but I can’t get to it all readily. Without that ability to compile a playlist of 50 songs that I don’t own and have never heard is impossible without the ability to stream them.
iTunes streaming may never come but in the meantime it’d be wise of Apple to re-energise its Ping adventure, the share of music listening might be shifting away from Apple and it needs to claim it back. Although I have no doubt that Apple is still the offline listening king.
Or is Apple holding out for its streaming service to wipe the floor with the competition and create the largest music social network in the world without piggybacking on Facebook?
You can follow me on Twitter @alexbrooks, or follow @worldofapple for the latest on Mac refreshes this year.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks As the fifth month of the year continues to progress the time is nearing for Apple to release a flurry of new Macs. Unlike the days of IBM’s PowerPC CPU architecture it’s now relatively easy to pinpoint when and what Macs are going to get refreshed at what point during the year and that is all down to Apple’s use of Intel’s architecture.
Last year Intel released Sandy Bridge and up to this point all Macs but the Mac Pro take advantage of the Sandy Bridge architecture. In addition Thunderbolt connectivity became a standard across Apple’s lineup of Macs, slowly pushing Firewire into the past.
In 2012 Intel’s new architecture is named Ivy Bridge, on a technical level the architecture marks a huge leap from the previous Sandy Bridge taking advantage of a 22 nm die shrink process. Some other headline improvements over Sandy Bridge include PCI Express 3.0 support, integrated USB 3.0 and the use of tri-gate transistors (sometimes known as 3D transistors) which offer the same performance as their “2D” counterparts but are said to offer up to 50% less power consumption. Apple may choose not to be cutting edge with all the technologies available in Ivy Bridge as the company tends to enjoy setting its own trends.
Outside of the real technicalities of Ivy Bridge the raw numbers look promising over Sandy Bridge; CPU performance is said to increase between 5% and 15% and integrated GPU performance between 20% and 50% (for the recored the integrated GPUs are HD 2500/4000).

Intel Processor Microarchitecture Schedule
As mentioned above Ivy Bridge carries support for USB 3.0, making use of the same connector and being featured on PCs for several months now it’s certainly the year we see Apple make the upgrade. Unlike what has been reported elsewhere the Ivy Bridge architecture does not carry inherent support for Thunderbolt but Intel’s new controller named Cactus Ridge was out on the market earlier this year. Cactus Ridge marks Intel’s second-generation Thunderbolt controller and carries a smaller footprint and less power consumption, the developments to the Thunderbolt architecture aren’t just good news for Mac users in terms of less power consumption, heat generation and footprint but also will push other manufacturers to adopt the technology.
Ivy Bridge is set for release across the whole of 2012, currently quad-core processor models are already on the market and PCs with Ivy Bridge are on sale. Dual-core mobile CPUs are not expected until June 2012 but Apple has been known to get advanced purchasing rights in the past.
But enough talk about what Ivy Bridge is about, let’s take a look at what we can expect from Apple in terms of Mac models this year. For desktop models this remains a not too difficult task but for Apple’s notebook models this year it’s widely expected that there will be a big shakeup. Intel also hasn’t quite finished releasing all Ivy Bridge details so more suitable chips may come clearer after this has been posted.
Currently five notebooks make up Apple’s portable Mac line ranging from the ultra-portable 11-inch MacBook Air to the not so portable 17-inch MacBook Pro. Rumours have been circulating for some months that Apple will not only try and condense the choice but also amalgamate the lines. It’s expected that Apple will make bold moves and push the Pro models towards a more Air like form factor but there is little consistency in rumours with some claiming Apple will remove the 17-inch model all together and others claiming it will stay.
Naturally if Apple decides to go the way of thinner, lighter notebooks then the same (or similar) processors that adorn the current MacBook Pros will be unsuitable. Intel has already admitted that Ivy Bridge runs hotter than Sandy Bridge and anyone who has used a current MacBook Pro would raise an eyebrow at that.
Rear view of Mac mini (Mid-2011)
Mac mini
Let’s deal with the desktop first then starting from the bottom up. Apple’s Mac mini was last updated in July 2011 and was largely a minor update gaining Thunderbolt and Bluetooth 4.0 support and upgrades to Sandy Bridge, here’s how the Mac mini currently specs (low end to high):
Intel Core i5-2415M, 2.3GHz dual-core
Intel Core i5-2520M, 2.5GHz dual-core
Intel Core i7-2620M, 2.7GHz dual-core (optional upgrade)
Intel Core i7-2635GM, 2.0GHz quad-core (Mac mini server)

Candidates from the currently announced Ivy Bridge lineup for a future Mac mini update include (low end to high):
i5 3320M, 2.6GHz dual-core (low end)
i5 2260M, 2.8GHz dual-core (high end)
i7 2530M, 2.9GHz dual-core (high end option)
i7 3720QM, 2.6GHz quad-core (Mac mini server)

Intel is expected to release the majority of these chips in June 2012 so don’t expect a Mac mini refresh until July or August.
iMac
The iMac is historically the first desktop Mac to move over to Intel’s new platform, last year the iMac received an update in early May and in addition to the update to Sandy Bridge the iMac also gained Thunderbolt connectivity, and a HD FaceTime camera. Here’s how Sandy Bridge shaped up on the iMac (low end to high):
i5 2400S, 2.5GHz quad-core (21.5-inch low)
i5 2500S, 2.7GHz quad-core (21.5-inch high, 27-inch low)
i7 2600S, 2.8GHz quad-core (21-inch option)
i5 2400, 3.1GHz quad-core (27-inch high)
i7 2600, 3.4GHz quad-core (27-inch option)

There are quite a few potential candidates in the Ivy Bridge lineup, here are my most educated guesses (low end to high):
i5 3550S, 3.0GHz quad-core (65W mac TDP, 6MB L3) (21.5-inch low)
i5 3550, 3.3GHz quad-core (77W max TDP, 6MB L3) (21.5-inch high, 27-inch low)
i7 3770, 3.4GHz quad-core (77W max TDP, 6MB L3) (21-inch option)
i5 3570K, 3.4GHz quad-core (77W max TDP, 6MB L3) (27-inch high)
i7 3770K, 3.5GHz quad-core (77W max TDP, 8MB L3) (27-inch option)

A number of the Ivy Bridge CPUs listed are already available on the market but expectations are for an iMac refresh in late May or June.
Mac Pro
Apple’s Mac Pro is not a desktop computer that sees regular updates even if the CPUs featured inside have gone through revisions. The Mac Pro was last updated in August 2010 and is in a strong position for an update. The Mac Pro has historically made use of Intel’s high-end Xeon processors the breed available in the current Mac Pros is based on the Nehalem architecture.
With Apple not sticking to regular update cycles it’s best to skip right over the Mac Pro, it’s best tackled on its own in the future. If I was a betting man though I’d put money on an update this year, possibly a significant one.
MacBook Air family (Mid-2011)
Notebooks
Time to move onto the notebooks. As discussed briefly further up, this year looks set to mark a serious milestone in Apple’s lineup of portables. Whilst over the last couple of years Apple has been trimming down on the number of models available, most notably removing the MacBook, there remains a dense lineup with some notebooks not having clear distinctions from others.
Marco Arment has already done a bit of leg work in the notebook arena and also brings up the same questions that I would after looking at the rumours and Intel’s Ivy Bridge lineup. The rumours in their current state are scattered across the landscape but a defining pattern amongst them is that Apple will do away with the MacBook Pro type format and make all of its portables more like the MacBook Air, i.e. thin, light and presumably without an optical drive.
In terms of CPUs this raises a very big question as to how Apple wishes to serve its customers who seek a bit more power on the road. The current 15-inch MacBook Pro base model makes use of the Sandy Bridge Core i7 2675QM quad-core processor clocking in at 2.2GHz, despite having a thermal design power (TDP) of 45W this chip runs hot. Some of this is said to be down to the discrete-GPU but either way a processor with a 45W TDP with four cores is a lot to cram into a relatively thin notebook.
The proposal is of course to make an even thinner 15-inch model which naturally rules out using 45W processors and looking at Intel’s lineup probably rules out any quad-core processors too. As Marco points out in this post, Apple will most likely have to drop the discrete GPU and make use of one of the 17W dual-core Ivy Bride processors in a 15-inch MacBook Air. Based on these assumptions we won’t be saying goodbye to the Pro model anytime soon and only serves to confuse Apple’s notebook lineup even more.
Without more coherent rumours it’s impossible to see where Apple is going with the MacBook Pro. As for the rumoured retina display, they’re not relevant to a discussion on Ivy Bridge but more pixels require more horsepower, this certainly seems like an innovation on our doorstep and one heading for the current form-factor MacBook Pro.
Early-2011 MacBook Pro family
The MacBook Air is an easier prospect, this years refresh is set to be a simple speed bump. I don’t see the rumoured retina displays making it into the Air lineup just yet, here’s how the current Air lineup looks (low end to high):
i5 2467M, 1.6GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 3MB L3 cache) (11-inch model)
i5 2557M, 1.7GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 3MB L3 cache) (13-inch model)
i7 2677M, 1.8GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 4MB L3 cache) (11- and 13-inch option)

With its Ivy Bridge processors Intel is offering almost identical chips to those Sandy Bridge ones used in the MacBook Air carrying a slight clock speed bump and making use of the 22nm die which should reap some power saving, although the process does not affect the physical size of the processors.
Here’s how the Ivy Bridge MacBook Airs will shape up:
i5 3317U, 1.7GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 3MB L3) (11-inch model)
i5 3427U, 1.8GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 3MB L3) (13-inch model)
i7 3667U, 2.0GHz dual-core (17W TDP, 4MB L3) (11- and 13-inch option)

That’s a complete summary of where I believe Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors will land on Apple’s Mac lineup, barring the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro lineup.
As for timeframes, it all comes down to when Intel begins shipping the chips in good volumes. Apple has been known to get chips before other manufacturers, here’s what I’d say timeframe wise for refreshes:
Mac mini – July/August 2012
iMac – late May/June 2012
Mac Pro – impossible to say, potentially anytime now
MacBook Pro – limited knowledge on potential refresh, expect around July/August 2012
MacBook Air – July/August 2012

You can follow me on Twitter @alexbrooks, or follow @worldofapple for the latest on Mac refreshes this year.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks iPad with Ultrafast 4G LTE on Apple’s US website
Outside of the United States Apple has been making headlines that aren’t exactly positive and it’s all surrounding how the company has chosen to advertise the new iPad. As is common knowledge these days Apple took the bold step to include LTE connectivity in its latest iPad model as one of the major features. Ahead of the iPad release I shot down the chances of Apple including LTE, stating primarily a lack of international adoption as a key reason for Apple to wait a year. I later relented and suspected it was inevitable.
However, LTE in the iPad is seemingly causing Apple more headaches than they would have envisaged and since before the iPad was even announced has been a point of frustration for myself and many others. This breaks into two simple ideas, the first idea being that LTE actually constitutes as true 4G connectivity and second the reason as to why Apple hobbled the iPad internationally?

When the slide advertising 4G LTE connectivity appeared at the iPad 3 launch in March my jaw hit the desk. I was expecting the feature so that came as little surprise but Apple’s insistence on calling it 4G baffled me, I naturally and wrongly assumed that Apple would take the higher moral ground over the carriers. It does appear that the carriers now have had one over on everyone.
From here it gets a bit complex with plenty of acronyms to boot, and before we dive right in let’s just clarify exactly what kind of 4G is included in the iPad. Unfortunately Apple offers no insight on its website but as we know that the new iPad packs a Qualcomm MDM9600 we can decipher what kind of connectivity is on offer. The MDM9600 brings to the table support for UE Category 3 LTE, CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A and B as well as all the 3G connectivity to allow it to roam internationally but notably packs DC-HSDPA+ and HSPA+ for up to 42 Mbps download speeds. All this tells us is that the chip supports LTE with a maximum downlink of 100Mbps and uplink of 50Mbps.
Unfortunately it’s more complicated than this, we can however refer to the definitions given by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as to what is and isn’t 4G. This is more complicated than it should be too as the ITU have moved the goal posts on the definition, a move I would say is to suit the carriers.
In October 2010 the ITU completed a long assessment of what did and didn’t qualify as being included in the ITM-Advanced standard (4G to me and you). At the time the ITU ruled that the only 4G technologies would be LTE-Advanced and WirelessMan-Advanced, not that this ruling stopped providers like Clear, with their WiMax product, advertising services as 4G.
The criteria the ITU set for a technology to be true 4G in October 2010 was a 100Mbps downstream for high mobility (fast moving vehicles) and 1Gbps for low mobility (walking or slow moving vehicles).
It didn’t take long for the ITU to move the goalposts though. After T-Mobile was allowed to advertise it’s 100% 3G HSPA+ network as a 4G network a very discrete change made its way into the ITU specifications. The press release from early December 2010 is still online for reading, here’s the good bit:
Following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that “LTE-Advanced” and “WirelessMAN-Advanced” should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as “4G”, although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed. The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012.
This obviously opened the doors to all sorts of technologies being considered “4G” including LTE as we know it today, HSPA+ and WiMax. None of which can get anywhere near the original ITM-Advanced specification of 100Mbps downstream for high mobility and 1Gbps for low mobility.
In December 2010 Philip Solis at ABI Research wrote a blog post about the change, it remains poignant today.
It has now passed “early 2012″ and the ITU, an organisation closely associated with the UN, has yet to release a more solid definition of 4G so we’re stuck with a specification that none of the currently named 4G technologies adhere to and of course giving free reign to carriers who have begun widespread labelling of 3G services as 4G. That said the FCC and similar authorities in other countries seem to have no legal jurisdiction over the terms 2G, 3G or 4G.
Apple is just as guilty of this as anyone else and is of course just bending to the will of the carriers, probably most notable is the recent iOS 5.1 update which began showing 4G symbols on iPhones that were connected to HSPA+ 3G networks, even when the speed of said network was potentially abysmal.
Apple’s iPad is causing another kind of 4G related controversy, a controversy which is firmly outside of the USA. It started with and has been most publicised in Australia where the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took issue with Apple using the term ‘WiFi + 4G’ to describe the iPads being sold in Australia. There are LTE “4G” services available in Australia but they’re not compatible with the iPad due to the frequency band that Australia’s networks run on.
In this particular case Apple was initially resistant to the pressure but has since relented, if you look at the Australian online Apple store whilst the iPad is still advertised as being a ‘WiFi + 4G’ (which I suppose it technically is) the accompanying text reads “not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks and WiMAX networks.” On the actual product page itself it’s difficult to find any mention of 4G at all.
iPad models as seen on the Australian Apple Store (As of 2 May 2012)
Now the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has begun looking into the branding of the iPad in the UK. The ASA has received a number of complaints regarding the branding and has in the past instructed Apple to clarify that the iPad is not compatible with (currently non-existent) 4G networks. According to the BBC Apple advised the ASA that “no further reference to the 4G capabilities of the iPad will be made on their UK website”. Yet the UK website is still plastered in references to the 4G capabilities of the iPad with no clarification on whether it’ll work or not.
iPad models as seen on the UK Apple Store (As of 2 May 2012)
We know Apple is stubborn, not only in getting its own way but in the consistency of its marketing material worldwide. There are a number of baffling points here though, why would Apple only release an iPad with LTE capable of working on the 700Mhz band which is only used in North America? And then why on the full knowledge that the new iPad has 4G that doesn’t work in the likes of Australia and Europe did it insist on advertising so?
Even in the US this whole LTE thing is a bit of a debacle, AT&T operate what’s called a Class 17 700MHz network which primarily operates in the 704MHz to 787MHz range where as Verizon runs a Class 13 700MHz LTE network operating between 764MHz and 787MHz. Which not only means Apple has to make two different kinds of iPad but that consumers need to make a choice when purchasing.
In Europe and the UK it looks likely that the 800MHz band will be used for LTE across the board, which is not at all compatible with the current generation iPad. In Australia where LTE rollout is making good progress the band used is 1800MHz—also not compatible with the current iPad.
Map of worldwide LTE rollout (Red = commercial LTE, Dark blue = roll out commitment) Source: Wikipedia
It’d be wishful thinking to expect Apple to revise the iPad for emerging LTE networks outside of North America, for that we’ll have to wait another year. For now Apple should remove references to the iPad being 4G compatible but that brings us right back to what exactly does “4G” mean?
In the future it’s unlikely that the landscape will brighten at all. Next year Apple will almost certainly begin to make use of Qualcomm’s new 28nm chips for greater power efficiency and we can expect an expansion upon the bands supported and therefore an expansion of the networks supported around the world, that’s not to say that Apple might have to make a number of models for use in different areas of the world.
Even further, some 3-7 years we can expect the move towards LTE-Advanced to take place. In its current form LTE-Advanced is a true 4G technology capable of very high speeds even to fast moving vehicles. Whether we’ll see a worldwide unification of standards and a concerted push towards adoption; I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Source: World of Apple

By Alex Brooks Quarterly Revenue Estimates and Actual Results Q212
Apple today announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2012 which ran from January 1 until March 31. The Company posted revenue of $39.2 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.80 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 47.4 percent compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
During the quarter Apple also sold 4 million Macs representing a 7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter as well as 7.7 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 15 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, a 151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

“We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”
“Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.”
iPhone unit sales Q212

Source: World of Apple