Fanbois will get wet queuing for iPad 3

Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Brisbane each have a better than 75% chance of rain on 16 March, the day Apple will put the new iPad (which our US bureau covers in magnificent detail) on sale in its Australian retail stores. Even Perth, the other city graced with an Apple store, has a 25-50 per cent chance of rain on the day.

So says Weatherzone's handy 28 day rain prediction service which says southern Australia will experience “cold front events with potential to bring widespread rain… about 13 March to 17 March.”

That's going to add up to a lot of bedraggled fanbois queuing outside Apple stores waiting to acquire their new fondleslabs. TV producers and presenters – book the wet weather gear now, guys, and get out the heavy duty makeup. Thermos vendors? Whack an extra $10 on your prices, guys – there'll be a few hundred geeks who want to keep warm on a rainy night!

Apple is limiting online iPad sales to two-per-fanboi - when the site responds, lots of timeouts at the time of writing.

Apple Australia says the iPad 3 will go on sale in its retail stores on 16 March, with the entry level 16GB Wi-Fi only model selling for $539. The 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi models will set you back $649 and $759 apiece, while the 4G models will cost $679, $789 and $899 for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models respectively.

The iPad two remains on sale at $439 $429 for the base model, an odd price given the old iPad is now sold for $US399 and the Pacific Peso Australian Dollar has been worth more than a US dollar for most of the last year.

The other piece of the new iPad puzzle is whether it will run on the only 4G network hereabouts. All indications are it won't - the 4G radio Apple has chosen works on frequencies shunned by local carriers.

If any of them move, we'll let you know. ®