Over the last few months, the iPad 3 rumour mill has been spurred on by a plethora of “industry insiders”, “well placed sources” and “sources familiar with the situation”.

This has kicked into overdrive as we near early March, the typical time for Apple to release a next generation tablet PC.

Below is a collection of the most prominent rumours currently doing the rounds.

Screen

The most discussed next generation iPad rumours centre around the screen of the new device. Rumours have been circulating for months about how the iPad 3 will feature a new 9.7-inch screen with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 – double the resolution found on previous iPad models.

These rumours were further spurred on when double resolution images were found in the Twitter.framework section of the latest Apple iOS 5 operating system for mobile devices.

Casing and Battery

An image uncovered by RepairLabs and 9to5Mac shows what appears to be the back casing for the next generation iPad, pictured next to an iPad 2 back casing. This along with other “industry sources” seems to hint that the iPad 3’s exterior will not differ much from the iPad 2’s exterior.

What has been speculated though, is that the iPad 3 will be around 1mm thicker than the iPad 2. This is to accommodate a range of new equipment detailed below, as well as a larger battery to power the new equipment and increase battery life.

LTE support

LTE is the next generation of mobile data connectivity, offering greater speeds than current 3G technology. Given Apple’s history of adopting latest generation technology, as well as the extensive rollout of LTE networks globally, the next generation iPad is likely to feature LTE.

What will be interesting is whether Apple will release three models of the next generation (Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi + 3G, Wi-Fi + LTE) rather than two models (Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi + 3G); similar to what it did with the iPad 1 and iPad 2.

There is also talk of a unified iPad which will feature Wi-Fi + 3G + LTE + CDMA, capable of use anywhere in the world.

Apple A6 processor

There will almost certainly be an updated processor in the iPad 3 if Apple’s history is anything to go by, and it will be based on the new Apple A6 chipset.

What is up for debate though, is whether the processor will be dual or quad-core. Most of the rumours from “well placed industry sources” seem to point at the A6 chipset being quad-core in order to perform well against the wave of quad-core enabled Android based tablets that are on their way.

Whatever it may be, the A6 processor in the next generation iPad will more than likely feature in the iPhone 5 once it releases.

Camera updates

Given the poor quality cameras found in the iPad 2, an upgrade is almost certain. The rear-facing camera will likely make use of camera components found in previous iPhone models.

While the current 8 megapixel shooter found in the iPhone 4S might not crack the nod for a device that is less likely to be used as a point and click camera replacement, a 5 megapixel unit is very possible.

As for a front facing camera, rumours point towards a camera capable of recording video in HD (probably 720p HD rather than 1080p full HD) for use with Apple’s FaceTime application.

Software updates

The chance of Apple releasing the new iOS 5.1 alongside the next generation iPad is high, though it will not be device exclusive – iPhones and iPod touch devices will also get the latest software.

What is possible however is Apple bringing Siri, the voice operated personal assistant currently found on the iPhone 4S, to the iPad.