Nor did it stake out features that other tablets won't sport within months. "The specs are basically what everyone else is coming out with in three to four months," said Baker. "We're at a point where this set of features will be similar across every device, at least for this round."

But the fact that Apple didn't feel the need to drop the price or radically rework the iPad speaks volumes about its place in the tablet market, which the company essentially kick-started last year, selling nearly 15 million of the devices.

"They're clearly not seeing any constraints on the market at $500," said Gottheil. "At some point, they may drop the price to, say, $400, but they won't do that until they need to."

And Apple has an advantage because of less tangible elements that its competitors still lack. "They have the first second-generation [iPad] out there," Baker said, "and a year's worth of sales and experience with tablets."

Or maybe the talk of hardware is all just noise.