New Apple iPad may be available in stores on Friday, 16 March

The new Apple iPad is the hot news of the week and indications are that it will be available in the same way the iPad 2 was with an in-store date of Friday, 16 March.

By Matthew Miller for The Mobile Gadgeteer | March 6, 2012 -- 10:48 GMT (02:48 PST) | Topic: Apple

According to 9 to 5 Mac's Apple store source the new iPad that will be announced tomorrow should be available in stores on Friday, 16 March. This makes sense given that the iPad 2 was announced on 2 March 2011 and then available in stores the following Friday, 11 March when I was able to hunt one down.

You may also recall that there was an online ordering option with the iPad 2 launch, but after just a few hours (sales started at midnight) availability was pushed back to 2-3 weeks. The online option may happen again and you will need to stay up late to get in on that action, but won't get your iPad 3/HD for 3-5 days. The fastest way to get one will be to find one in the stores, but again there WILL be lines and selected models will sell out.

I will try to order one online to make sure I get one, but may then take the day off (it's a geek rock concert after all) to get in line for one at the local store.