The Apple rumor mill is always busy, but it has been especially busy in the last couple of days. Today, we move away from the buzzed about iPhone 5 and turn our focus on the tablet world – the world of the next-generation iPad.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that sources had detailed to them the release date and a couple of specs of the much anticipated iPhone 5. Their sources were component suppliers, and they said that Apple instructed them to ready themselves for a lofty goal – 25 million units by the end of the year.

They said that a Q3 2011 release date was expected.

This information coincided with various reports from a couple of weeks back that predicted an August production kickoff and an eventual September release date.

What will that iPhone look like? Well, according to the component suppliers it will be thinner and lighter. It will also sport an 8-megapixel camera and a Qualcomm wireless baseband chip.

But that’s not the only Apple product that will hit shelves before Christmas. According to This is My Next, the iPad family is set to get another member. No, it won’t be a radical redesign and sport the title of iPad 3, it will apparently be a high-res update to the iPad 2 called the “iPad HD.”

From TiMN –

As hard as it might be to believe, the new tablet is said to sport a double resolution screen (2048 x 1536), and will be dubbed the “iPad HD.” The idea behind the product is apparently that it will be a “pro” device aimed at a higher end market — folks who work in video and photo production possibly — and will be introduced alongside something like an iPad version of Final Cut or Aperture. This product is specifically said to not be the iPad 3, rather a complimentary piece of the iPad 2 line. Think MacBook and MacBook Pro.

So extremely high-res is the goal here. It would no doubt cost a pretty penny and cater to those “pros” who really want to do serious professional work on a tablet. This would definitely explain those retina display rumors that were flying around a while back.

Here’s a bonus tidbit from TiMN’s source: Remember all that talk about two new iPhones coming out within the next year? Possibly an iPhone 4S that would predate the iPhone 5? People said that it would not be a radical redesign, simply a component update for the iPhone 4.

Their source said that they have been testing the newer, smaller components in old iPhone cases. This could give the impression to some that a faster phone might be coming out that looks similar to the iPhone 4 – making it seem like the next iPhone wouldn’t be changing its look very much.

But Apparently the iPhone 4 model is “out of favor” with the Apple higher-ups, so we can expect something different when the iPhone 5 finally does surface.