Posted 03.07.2012 at 3:05 pm
18 Comments
The New iPad
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Apple just announced the newest iPad, which will be called the iPad, and not the iPad 3 or iPad HD or iPad: Eddie Bauer Edition or with any other modifier. The big hits: it's got a better screen ("better" in this case meaning Apple has stolen all the pixels in the world and crammed them into the new iPad), a faster processor, an optional 4G LTE chip, and some software updates.
So the big news here is the screen resolution, which is bonkers. At 2048 x 1536 pixels, it has significantly more pixels than not just the old iPad, but also your 1080p HDTV and just about any other "HD" screen you've got lying around. Apple's again referring to it as a "Retina Display," which means that you won't be able to see pixels with your bare, weakened, organic eyeballs, at least from the 15-inch distance Apple estimates most people have between their eyes and their iPads. (Note: Apple is clearly excluding cats, which have more sensitive eyes and sit closer to the iPad anyway. This is offensive, probably.) That'll mean every publisher is going to have to re-do their apps for the new resolution, the same way they had to for the transition from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4.
Also included: a new processor, dubbed the A5X, that provides quad-core power. The Tegra 3, which powers a few Android tablets, is also quad-core, but Apple needs the power to burn through the kinds of apps that will take advantage of the new display. Plus there's a 4G LTE antenna, either for AT&T or Verizon, which is pretty great--we're totally impressed by LTE, so it's great to see it here. And Apple has presumably worked some kind of gypsy magic to keep the battery life steady at 10 hours for Wi-Fi and nine hours for 4G--we've seen LTE absolutely slaughter battery life in phones, but hopefully Apple's worked that out.
Oh, and the company also announced a new Apple TV! Seems like basically just a firmware upgrade, though it's not clear if older Apple TVs will get it. There's a new version of the software, some nice bonuses like being able to use iCloud for 1080p movie streaming, and shows available the next day for purchase. No Siri, though, which bums us out because we spent all morning dreaming about how sweet that'd be.
The iPad and Apple TV both maintain pricing: iPad starts at $500, moving up from there due to storage and 4G inclusion, and the Apple TV costs $100.
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I will buy one. Apple puts out the best products.
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"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours"
- Stephen Roberts
LOL @ the specs
No wow factor
No thanks to all those pixels
What i find funny about this article, is that it claims the new iPad has a faster processor. Yet its quite the opposite. It still uses a A2 chip like the iPad 2. the graphics card is now a quad core but it also has to handle more pixels and therefore run at a higher GPU capacity to keep up with games. So it will still run the same speed as a iPad 2. So i say no thanks.
A5 chip* typo sorry
@cpt
Is that because the iPad2 runs so slowly? (which it doesn't - do you have any side by side comparisons to determine if any other tablet is faster?)
@crapp
You don't want to be viewing a gorgeous screen that performs better than any current tablet?
The new iPad screams through graphics and looks beautiful doing it.
You two are too funny. Neither of you would buy a tablet, let alone an iPad anyway so what's the deal? Just being trolls are you? Good luck with that.
na i think ill stick w the Transformer Prime. it already had all that minus the ridiculous display.
LOL at people buying an Apple product ever 6 months a new one comes out. Don't really like tablets anyways. Sure they're cool and fun, but I'd much rather have a laptop and smartphone.
Apple, like so many companies today, is a master of marketing. They manage to convince many millions of people around the world that they suddenly have a product that their device will solve for them. Oddly enough, 99% of the problems that their device solves were never seen as problems before. It's common for me to hear people who are hooked on such products describe them to me as, "It's not more than you need, it's just more than you're used to."
I have many friends, coworkers, and neighbors who find themselves spending $1000-$2000 a year now on iPads, iPhones, apps (most of which are just entertainment), e-books, etc. Many of them tell me they are tight on their finances, due to the economy, and that they never have time to do many of the things they used to do. Only upon asking them some rather pointed questions do they admit (or even realize) that what they've done is spent a lot of money just to mostly waste their time. I had one friend who, after such a discussion, actually felt physically ill afterwards, realizing how he's changed. He said something to the effect of, "I can't believe I've actually spent a thousand bucks on a glorified toy that eats my time, makes me anti-social, and has made me fat and lazy. I feel like such a sheep."
I'm a big fan of technology, and am often an early adopter of technologies that I feel actually meet a real need I actually have. I've got backgrounds in programming and computer support, degrees in marketing and engineering, have managed the IT operations of small investment firms, and currently own a tech firm that provides web tools to wireless dealers, so I have a great deal of tech experience. So much so that anybody who knows me and has any kind of tech question comes to me first. And yet... I don't find the need to own many of the gadgets that everyone froths for these days.
Maybe it's my marketing degree, but I guess I just understand the difference in my life between an actual need and a want that has been portrayed by some company's marketing department as a need. It's part of what has made me successful and happy and secure.
As for the iPad... I do not need one. It doesn't offer me the capabilities of a laptop, so I can't justify it to work. But as a toy it is very limited as well, compared to the full realm of toys I like to play with (everything from cycling to rock climbing to bowling), so I can't justify it for myself as a toy. And most importantly, as a toy, it doesn't actually provide real-life interaction with my friends and family members. I like to actually, you know, DO SOMETHING with the people I actually care about.
So although Apple will try to convince me that I NEED this product, I know that I don't, so I won't waste my money or (more importantly) my time on it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the climbing gym with friends! =)
LOL marcoreid
Technology in general can steal your life from you and your friends. Now everyone turn off your computer/phone/ipad. Theres a bigger and better world out there past that screen your looking at. Go out and enjoy it!!
@Boka- that is by far one of my favorite quotes!
@boka and Kyled
There is a God.
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Where will you spend eternity? It's an honest question
It's a glorious day, the iPad HD+ has been unleashed upon the world.
There is nothing that even comes close to competing with it.... Except real life.
I choose to keep my money, despite the iPad's ability to walk on water... I won't be buying one.
Just no need, honestly. My smartphone, laptop, and desktop consume too much of my time as it is.
You call yourself an atheist, claiming there is no God, and yet, you cling so religiously to this belief that it becomes your god. I am buying an iPad. Haters gonna hate, trolls go home.
Yawn! no reason to buy one if you already have ipad2
@marcoreid
LOL, you just wrote a page about not wanting an iPad. If you really don't need one or care, then why waste your time writing the iPad.
The upgrade the CPU is great, this means low level programming can also utilize the computing power and not just in games and graphics but mathematical calculations. I would like to see H.264 encoding and decoding? I bet that is going to be a feature they add.
Crapple nuff said
Oh, sigh.....
I suppose one day, when I when the Lotto and I have the happy to desire to spend my money frivolously, I will buy this proprietary gizmo that will become obsolete in 5 minutes and then I will not care.
Until that happens, I will pass.
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
Another one ALREADY?!?! Steve Stop making them.
~Mr. Noel~