But wait, that’s not all Apple may have in its near term pipeline. Barclays Capital analyst Ben A. Reitzes thinks Apple might keep the iPad 2 alive by continuing to offer the 16GB version at a lower price than today’s $499 and offer a faster “iPad 2S” that would sport the same display as the current model. Apple reportedly is working on a more advanced Retina Display for the iPad 3. 

The news of Reizes’ comments, reported by AppleInsider, comes at a time when Apple is facing its first serious threat in the tablet market by Amazon’s Kindle Fire, though some have argued the Fire competes more closely with other Android-based tablets that are similarly lower cost and have a smaller display than the iPad (7- vs. 10-inches).

Apple could further distinguish the iPad 3 by integrating the Siri voice technology included in the new iPhone 4S designed which lets users employ voice commands to retrieve information and perform various tasks on the device. 

The iPad 3 is expected to use a display manufactured by Sharp that uses IGZO technology and features better viewing angles than the current iPad 2 can offer.