The biggest rumour of all

This is the biggest rumour of all: an iPad 3 mere months afterwards the iPad 2. An unnamed Apple employee says that the iPad 2 was a bit of a rush job, and "the third generation iPad is the one to make a song and dance about."

Respected Apple watcher John Gruber added fuel to that particular fire by strongly hinting that the iPad 3 release date will be in September.

If Gruber is right about this and the iPad 3 features in an Apple autumn line-up, at that time it looks like Apple is going to start offering a new iPad every six months.

With Apple to all appearances unable to meet demand for iPad 2, we'd expect a staggered release date for the iPad 3 too: if the US gets the iPad 3 in September, we'd expect the UK iPad 3 release date to be in October, or possibly even November. Apple won't want to miss the Christmas period, however the US comes first.

The iPad 3 will have a brand spanking new processor

It's possible that the iPad 3 will have a brand spanking new processor, Apple's A6, however if the rumoured release date is correct at that time time is awfully tight: we'd truly expect to see an A5, not an A6, in the iPhone 5 when it turns up this summer.

Apple may then surprise us, clearly, however we'd expect to see the same processor and graphics as the iPad 2 in the iPad 3: an A5 processor with PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics. This one comes down to the iPad 3 release date: if it's 2011, expect an A5. If it's 2012, expect a faster A6.

This was widely predicted for the iPad 2, nevertheless of course the current iPad doesn't have a double-resolution display: for now, that's something you'll only get in the iPhone 4. Could a Retina Display be one of the features Apple didn't quite get into the iPad 2? Could be! It's the very first thing on our iPad 3 wish list.

Apple's very interested in Nearly Field Communications, and one particularly tasty rumour at Cult of Mac suggests that the iPhone 5 will use NFC to take over nearby Macs, enabling you to use your data and settings with a flick of the wrist. Since the iPad 3 will follow the iPhone 5, if NFC's in one it'll probably be in the other too.

Two generations of USB-free iPads suggest that Apple just isn't interested in adding one, however the new Thunderbolt port found in the 2011 MacBook Pro could be another story: it's a combined accessory/display connector with astonishingly fast performance.

This has been talked about and leaked about for so long that, on the same principle that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, it's bound to come true in the long run: a cloud-based MobileMe for storing your stuff on Apple's servers. A new iPad with iOS 5 and a new MobileMe would be lots of fun.