An iPad carrying the never-before-seen "iPad3,6" designation was reportedly discovered by an app developer in his app analytics log, with the purported device running what looks to be an ARMv7 processor, the same architecture used in Apple's A6 SoC.





As noted by MacRumors, the unique "iPad3,6" designation points to a new version of the current 9.7-inch iPad, which carries the "iPad3,1," "iPad3,2" and "iPad3,3" naming scheme for existing iterations of the device, and not the much-rumored "iPad mini."

While mere speculation, the unknown device could be a slightly tweaked third-generation iPad with Lightning connector support, possibly meant to bring parity to the full-sized tablet's charging system and Apple's recently-released iPhone 5 and upcoming iPod products.

In August, a separate report found a pair of iPads in a developer's access logs bearing the "iPad2,5" and "iPad2,6," designations thought to be the identifiers of Apple's rumored 7.85-inch "iPad mini."

While not entirely out of the realm of possibility, the iPad mini is not expected to use an A6-based chip and is thought to instead leverage a variant of Apple's A5 series found in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. The small form factor tablet is widely believed to carry a non-Retina display, meaning it won't require the same processing power as the third-generation iPad, which itself uses a modified A5 chip.