Next iPad to be thicker, and next iPhone all metal?

A side view of the iPad 2

 

 

 

 

 

Would Apple eschew its thinner-is-better ethos in the name of new hardware features? That's what might happen with the next iPad, if a report in iLounge is to be believed. 

Citing "our most reliable source," the Apple news and reviews site said today that the third-generation iPad could be thicker than the existing model, but not by much. That's to incorporate the recently rumored dual-light bar backlighting system that's needed to brighten up a higher-resolution display. Accessory makers may be able to breathe a sigh of relief though, with iLounge claiming it will be a 0.7mm difference. 

Another noteworthy claim in the report is that there could be some very serious changes coming to the next iPhone, which the site says is set to arrive next summer. Once again, iLounge resurrects the notion that Apple is making the screen bigger, and moving to a 4-inch display. The move was widely expected with any serious redesign in the run up to the unveiling of the iPhone 4S last month, given the popularity of the size among rival device makers. 

Besides the screen, iLounge's source offers that Apple is making a move to a metal body for the phone. That too was another popular rumor mill item in the run up to the iPhone 4S. Apple has used metal in the casing of all its iPhones thus far, going from using it around the edge of the screen as a bezel, to an external antenna band that makes up the side of the iPhone 4 and 4S. But during the company's unveiling of the 4S last month, Apple made a point to note that it was still using glass. 

Last but not least, iLounge throws in that we can expect an overhaul of Apple's MacBook Pro line next year. The site is scant on offering up any features, except to say that we should "think thinner." Rumors have circulated for months now that Apple's Pro notebook line is jumping generations in 2012. The last big shift in that line was in 2008, in the move to unibody construction.

Originally posted at Apple Talk