DigiTimes reports that Apple's next generation iPad will become available in about 3-4 months. The publication's supply chain sources indicate that the next generation iPad parts are starting to ramp up while the iPad 2 production is starting to decline.

OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads, the sources noted.

Volume production is expected to start in February and reach 9.5-9.8 million units in the first quarter of 2012.

March or April should come as no surprise to regular Apple followers. While Apple first announced the original iPad in Jan 2010, the company didn't start shipping the first units to customers until April. In 2011, the iPad 2 was announced around the same time of year.

The iPad 3 is widely expected to carry a high resolution "Retina" display.

As expected the iPad 3 will probably make its debut in the first quarter of the year. It should reach our shores by mid to late April, hopefully. Looking forward to the much awaited "retina" display.

More evidence has emerged to suggest that a future version of the iPad will sport a "Retina" display with a resolution of 2048x1536, or double the horizontal and vertical pixels of the current iPad.

Back in January, a number of images were discovered within iPad apps showing icons twice the size needed for the 1024x768 screen on the iPad. This suggested a similar pixel-doubling strategy to that used in the iPhone 4's Retina Display. That particular feature wasn't included in the iPad 2, but perhaps will be in the iPad 3.

New clues regarding a possible 2048x1536 iPad display were reported today by Techunwrapped. Their tipster noticed the Twitter.framework within the iOS SDK had huge images, twice the size needed for the current iPad:

As I was going through the iOS SDK I came across some images in the new Twitter .framework. The resolution appears to be 1,536 x 2,048.

The Twitter.framework is the only framework I found to have these enormous images.

Techunwrapped goes on to suggest that because the large images were only included in the Twitter section of the iOS SDK -- a relatively new part of the iOS codebase -- it means an iPad 3 will come out in the same timeframe as iOS 5 is released.

Based on the discovery of pixel-doubled iPad images as far back as January, we are hesitant to attach any significant timeline to these discoveries, but they are simply more signs that Apple plans to release a Retina Display-equipped iPad.

I sure hope this is for real. would love to see Hi-res screens in the next generation iPad. Great for photogs.