My sister Pat and her husband Don are the happy owners of a brand new iPad. My brother Dan and his wife Irene just got one too. Seems I’m a good influence (grin). Well, yesterday I got this e-mail from my sister Pat.

Hi Andy,

Have a friend whose husband was going to buy an iPad for Christmas and the clerk at Best Buy said there is a new one coming out the first three months of 2011.  She asked if there would be that much difference in the I Pads that she has to wait???.

I already told her she has to buy “iPad Academy: Tips, Tricks & Clever Techniques” by my brother, Andy Brovey, Ed.D., The Portable Prof and an Apple Distinguished Educator.

Love Pat

First, let me publicly thank my sister Pat for promoting my eBook and giving me the chance to do the same in this post. Now on to my reply to her question.

Pat,

Will be a new model in spring. My best guess is April. Two reasons – Apple is generally on a one-year refresh cycle for new devices and the iPad was released early April, 2010. Also, Apple will irritate fewer Christmas buyers if they wait a few months for the next version.

Any new model features are simply speculation. However, a front-facing camera for FaceTime (like iChat for videoconferencing) is a real possibility and more RAM too (256MB to 512MB). Rear facing camera for pictures/video also widely rumored. Better sound, improved screen resolution and perhaps a 3G version that allows more than one carrier (read Verizon). Again, all this is speculation so don’t make any buy/no buy decisions on this info.

Depends on how much husband wants/needs one. Can he wait three – four months? If so, then a new model is likely by then with either more features for a similar price or the same features for a lower price, or both. The next model of any Apple device will always have new and desirable features. If they wait, they’ll be early in the cycle of the new model instead of later in the cycle on the old one. But they won’t be enjoying using it like we are now.

Besides, given what I’ve seen, most couples that have one will soon want a second one. iPad owners find the iPad easy to pass around and great for sharing with others. Just not for too long or too often (grin).

Andy