Apple Rumor Retort of the Day: iPad 3 "More Likely" in 2012

You've heard the

of a Retina Display. You've read

that, Retina Display or not, the iPad 3 will likely receive a new screen. You've also heard the most tantalizing rumor of all, the one that claims the iPad 3 will arrive

. After such a buildup, it almost pains me to have to continue this story. But the show must go on, as I must draw your attention to a report released by Sterne Agee in which an analyst, Shaw Wu, provides some insight into when the iPad 3 will be released (via

). “In terms of a new iPad, we believe it's possible that a new model ships later this year, but our sources indicate a refresh is more likely in 2012,” Wu said. “The reasons are that the iPad 2 is still relatively new, shipping in early March 2011 and AAPL continues to be constrained in producing enough to keep up with robust global demand. The reason why AAPL may want to refresh sooner than later is to stay above competitive offerings from HPQ, Toshiba, Samsung, HTC, and others shipping in upcoming months.” If the fear of competition is the only thing that could convince Apple to release the iPad 3 this year, we're screwed! But hey, we always have the

(but not yet confirmed) MacBook Air refresh to look forward to this year.