iPad 3 rumors suggest thicker casing, massive graphics, no quad-core

And queue the supposed case-leaks for the iPad 3, one of the traditional sings of impending Apple-pocalypse that every new device, real and imagined, has to go through before it gets announced, much less launched. These particular cases, when compared to an iPad 2 cases, seems to show some small, subtle differences between the two, as highlighted in the images above. We've also got some more rumors on both graphics power and chipset power -- or lack thereof.

First up, that supposed iPad 3 case, picture above. Here's what they have to say:

1. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . .

2. More battery. The width of where the logic board sits on the iPad 2 appears much larger than that of the i.Pad 3. We have long heard that the iPad 3 was going to provide longer battery life, and this back housing seems to support that.

3. The camera is different. It is hard to make a judgment just by looking at the casing, but what we can expect is a different camera on the iPad 3 than what we had on the 2.

4. LCD will be different than what we have had before. Whether or not it will be the super screen we have seen reported will have to wait. But the different mounting does mean that the LCD has been redesigned at the very least.

We've heard nothing but conflicting rumors about this, some saying it's slightly thicker either to make extra room for LTE and more battery power, or to properly light that big 2048x1536 Retina display screen. Others say it's the same thickness as the iPad 2, no difference at all.

The Verge is also weighing in on the iPad 3, saying it will be powered by upcoming Apple's A6 chipset but that the A6 chipset would not be quad-core as previously rumored.

Instead, the iPad 3 will supposedly remain a dual-core device with a more powerful GPU inside. Given Apple's tight control of both hardware and software, they've often been able to do more with less than other platforms, like Android, where the same software has to run on many different types of hardware. If Apple chooses to optimize for something specific, everything gets optimized for it. That's part of the reason iOS devices, despite typically having less RAM and clock speed than competing Android devices, were still able t more than keep up and offer a smooth user experience. Don't get us wrong, we'd love a couple gigs of RAM and a quad core, but Apple may not think it's needed.

Once again, the only thing we know for certain is that none this is for certain but with the speculation of a March announcement gaining steam, we'll hopefully soon find.

Sources: Repair Lab Blog, The Verge