Updated Apple has announced that it will reveal international pricing for the iPad on May 10, but that hasn't stopped one Gibraltar-based mart from jumping the gun.

If that outfit, Newton Systems, is anywhere near correct, and if its pricing parallels that of more-northerly UK outfits, picking up a 'Pad in Blighty may be a pricey proposition, indeed.

That said, we would advise prospective iPad purchasers not to worry too much - Newton Systems' projected iPad pricing is, not to put too fine a point on it, bizarre.

The entry-level Wi-Fi-only iPad, weighing in at 16GB, is listed for £599 ($920) - that's a hefty 84 per cent premium over the $499 (£325) for which you can bag that model in the States. But from a Gibraltarian perspective, that premium drops significantly as you work your way up the pricing ladder.

The 32GB Wi-Fi+3G model is listed at £679 ($1,040) - the US price is $729 (£475) - and the good folks at Newton Systems will sell you a top-of-the-line 64GB Wi-Fi+3G iPad for at £749 ($1,150), which you can pick up in the States for $829 (£540). The premiums for those two 3G iPads are 43 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.

Of course, the US pricing doesn't include the shipping costs to that far-flung outpost of the empire.

But an 84 per cent premium for the low-end that drops to a 28 per cent premium at the top end? Something smells fishy here - and we're not referring to low tide at Europa Point. ®

Bootnote

The Reg is duly amused by the name of the Gibraltar retailer, seeing as how the iPad is Cupertino's second attempt at a tablet. That first attempt didn't end happily.

Update

On Wednesday, Newton Systems issued a press release which said, in part: "On Monday 19/04/2010, the page on Newton Systems' website that lists the specifications of the forthcoming iPad products from Apple mistakenly included a price in sterling. The page has now been corrected with a price to be announced at a later date."