Apple's iPad 2 Steps into Production

If you're trying to stay ahead of the upgrade curve, now might be a good time to consider listing your iPad on Ebay or Craigslist, if you can manage without it for a couple of months. According to reports, production on Apple's second generation iPad -- which we'll go ahead and call the iPad 2 -- has already begun and might be the only real iPad killer on the horizon.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," The Wall Street Journal says the iPad 2 will come equipped with a faster processor, burlier graphics capabilities, at least one built-in camera (front-facing for videoconferencing and presumably FaceTime), and more memory. All this and it's supposed to be both thinner and lighter, too.


Don't expect a much higher resolution in the iPad 2, if at all. And you can probably rule out a USB port, microSD card slot, and definitely don't bank on Flash support. Still, a faster, lighter version of the iPad is sure to be popular with Apple's fanbase, as well as those getting impatient waiting on a viable (and affordable) Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet.

No word on how much the iPad 2 will cost, though for the sake of comparison, the current iPad sells for between $499 and $829.