iBooks 2 app contains high-resolution graphics, possibly for iPad 3's display

You didn't think that iOS developers would simply let the new iBooks 2 app get away without getting dissected, did you? Well, you might be interested in knowing what they found while digging through its insides. The software contains high-resolution graphics that are believed to be meant for use on the iPad 3's screen. As denoted with a “@2x” in their file name, the graphics have twice the resolution than the ones that are currently in use. 

That the iPad 3, or whatever it is called, will have an improved display is something that we have heard many times from a number of sources. It is speculated that it will boast a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels effectively delivering twice the pixel density when compared to its predecessor, assuming that its physical size remains unchanged, of course.

Interestingly, that is pretty much what happened when the iPhone 4 was released – at 640 by 960 pixels, the so-called Retina display had twice as much pixels per inch than the iPhones before it. And that was a smart move that made developers' lives much easier. While native apps could make use of all those extra pixels, legacy applications could run easily by simply having their pixels doubled to fill the entire screen.  

Of course, do not forget that the above is just a speculation. After all, high-resolution graphics were discovered in Apple iBooks software prior to the iPad 2's release, yet we didn't get to see an upgraded display. On the other hand, an iPad 3 with a Retina display would not come as that much of a surprise given the amount of rumors that we've heard so far pointing at that direction. And with all those high-resolution tablet displays that we saw at CES 2012, we are definitely sure that the technology needed for achieving such pixel counts is already available.

source: MacRumors