The new iPad (3) Review
Last year we saw a myriad of Android tablets bursting onto the scene in hopes of stealing some glory and thunder from Apple’s pride and joy – the iPad 2. Honestly, some of those offerings, such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Asus Transformer Prime, have been more memorable than others, but through it all, they all seemed intent on breaking the iPad’s stringent grasp on the market. Despite the onslaught of competition, the iPad 2 remained in relevancy throughout it all, and rightfully so, it maintained itself as the benchmark tablet for all others, mainly for its balanced offering and notoriety.
Unlike the recent iPhone 4S, the third generation iPad is coming onto the scene one year after its predecessor, and boy are there some high expectations surrounding it already, unsurprisingly. Just a little bit over a week ago, Apple unveiled the highly-anticipated new iPad to the awaiting public sporting a very familiar body, but with some intriguing new internals. Indeed,there are some viable alternatives from the current Android camp that can easily manhandle the iPad 2 in the specs department, but with this so-called new iPad, it’s out to once again claim the throne and prove to the masses why it’s the biggest game in town.
Sticking firm to its usual routine, this third-generation iPad follows the same price path as its predecessors, which starts at that golden price of $500 for a base Wi-Fi only model. More importantly, however, it’s packing some impressive specs that will no doubt shake the ground and firmly justify its premium offering – such as a snazzy new high-resolution Retina display, 4G LTE connectivity, upgraded rear camera, and faster processor. With all of the goodies in for the ride, it begs the question if it’s enough to push and set the bar once again? Let’s not delay the inevitable any further people, therefore, here we go!
The package contains:
- iPad
- USB cable
- Wall Charger
- Quick Start Guide
- Product Safety & Warranty Information
Design:
Hardly a surprising decision, even more when Apple has done it in the past with the iPhone 3GS, and most recently, the iPhone 4S, the new iPad maintains the design characteristics of its predecessor – nearly to the tooth even. Well, to be more specific, it looks just like the iPad 2, but it’s minutely thicker (0.37” thick) and heavier (23 oz). Strangely, there has been a lot of fuss surrounding the increased size, but in all honesty, it’s not that a big of deal, even more when it’s still one streamlined device by today’s standards, although it is not the slimmest tablet out there. In all fairness, it’s an indistinguishable difference from the previous model, but it would’ve been cool if the new iPad was somehow lighter – instead, it’s heavier. When it comes to real world handling, it’s comfortable to grasp with a single hand, though, two-handed operation is the preferable way since fatigue can set in after an extended period of time.
Certainly, some people will dwell endlessly about it, but moving beyond that, we’re still grateful to find the new iPad to exhibit all of the lovable qualities of a top-notch tablet. Specifically, it’s donning the same exact sturdy construction that we’re so fond of seeing with Apple’s portfolio – and to tell you the truth, it’s a comforting sight! Instilling a sense of durability, thanks primarily to its milled aluminum casing and glass-covered display, this is exactly what a solid tablet is all about. Frankly, it’s not something that’s necessarily regarded as a fresh look, but it doesn’t need to be – well, that’s because it employs an established iconic look.
Part of its iconic appearance, the only indentation found on its display is the recognizable home button we’re all so familiar with. Exhibiting that expected springy response, there’s no accidental presses whatsoever with it. On the complete opposite end, is the same exact VGA camera from before perched above the display, which will handle all of our FaceTime needs. More on its quality later on.
Everything else around the sides are identical to the tooth, meaning, we’re again greeted with a dedicated power button, mute switch, volume control, 3.5mm headset jack, 30-pin dock connection port, and microphone.
Around the rear, shutterbugs will be extremely happy to find a respectable 5-megapixel auto-focus camera sans flash – now dubbed the iSight camera. Instead of that despicable camera from before, this one is already shaping out to be a welcome replacement because its sensor features backside illumination and a F2.4 aperture lens. In fact, this is exactly what’s found with its iPhone 4S sibling (save for the 8MP sensor), so yeah, it’s a nice improvement – though, there is still some awkwardness snapping photos with a tablet in public.
Lastly, it doesn’t get much notoriety amongst other things, but the same micro dots line the lower left corner of the milled aluminum casing, thus, shielding the iPad’s internal speaker.
Display:
From a cursory look, there are hardly any recognizable differences to the eye between this and its predecessor, but that seemingly changes the moment we turn on its 9.7-inch IPS LCD display, and tune our attention to its wicked high resolution. Mind-boggling to say the least, it’s downright crazy to even fathom how they managed to produce such a panel, especially when it has double the resolution of the iPad 2 at 2048 x 1536. Very recently, we’ve been tickled about seeing some upcoming tablets sporting 1080p displays, but Apple simply blindsided everyone with the iPad’s triumphant Retina display. Even more impressive is the fact that we haven’t seen the commercial launch of 1080p displays on tablets.
So how detailed is this thing? It’s remarkable like nothing else before we’ve seen on a tablet! To put it into perspective, the iPad has the ubiquitous title of having the highest resolution display on any mobile device on the market, though technically, it’s not close to taking the coveted title of having the highest pixel density (264 ppi). Still, for a tablet, it’s one impressive feat! Walking the walk, it’s higher than most PC displays and high-definition televisions – so yes, it’s a bold statement on its own. Honestly, you can’t even distinguish a single pixel on this display, and in the end, it’s undeniably one of the sharpest displays our eyes have been fortunate to ever see. Everything seems to jump at us, draw our attention, and ultimately, we’re overjoyed with the results.
Detail aside, the IPS LCD panel delivers the same results that we’re accustomed to seeing at this point. Being complementary, it radiates wholesomely thanks to the accurate looking colors it’s able to produce, essentially giving our eyes yet another thing to drool over. In fact, Apple makes the bold claim of it being 40% more saturated with its tones, and right on the dot, our eyes justify that remark as it’s visibly evident that it’s punchier. Rounding out its prowess, it sports the same lovable wide viewing angles and high contrast to maintain its clarity even with demanding situations when using it outdoors under the sun.
So where does this rank amongst all other things? Actually, it’s a benchmark like no other, seemingly blowing off the covers of what we believed to be impossible not too long ago. No longer are we going to fancy over devices gearing up to offer 1080p displays, but rather, the iPad establishes what it means to have a snazzy looking display. Therefore, whether it’s reading or watching videos, the Retina display of the iPad is a bundle of joy that’s sure to keep the competition at bay. Yup, it’s in a league of its own.
Interface:
Behind the theatrics of the iPad’s physical characteristics, the thing that’s driving the actual show, the experience, is nothing we haven’t seen before. That’s because it’s the same iOS 5.1 experience that the iPad 2 has been running for the last week since the unveiling of the new iPad. In tandem to the iconic design of the tablet, iOS 5.1 doesn’t deviate from what we’ve gotten used to with the platform – and that’s something we have to accept at this point. Sure, we dream about some kind of over-the-top transformation with each new update, but in the end, the simplistic look of iOS is what makes it memorable in so many ways. Of all the platforms out there, this is by far the easiest to learn – especially for first time users, as its grid-like styling is as barebones as you can get.
Still, there are some noteworthy new features found with iOS 5.1, but most of them are catered to the iPhone – like access to the camera from the lock screen and Siri in Japanese. With the new iPad though, there isn’t anything at all that it can call its own, since everything it has to offer is available to the iPad 2 as well. Nevertheless, the evolution of the platform is slowly moving along with each update, but it feels that more can be accomplished to make it an even more refined tablet platform. However, we still find some usefulness in some of the iPad-only gestures, like the 5-finger pinch gesture to get to the home screen, or the multi-finger swipe gestures to move between opened apps.
Processor and Memory:
Although it might not come to thought at first, there’s no arguing that the iPad requires some serious processing power to handle the ridiculous intricacies surrounding its remarkable display resolution. Rather than starting anew with a totally different generation chipset, the new iPad opts to use its own A5x SoC, which consists of a 1GHz dual-core processor and a quad-core graphics processing unit. To further help things out, the new iPad is also graced with double the amount of RAM at 1GB. So how does it all come together? Well, it’s just like before – seamless, effortless, and willingly responsive with all operations. Everything, and we mean everything, is accompanied with that charismatic fluidity that we’re fond of seeing. Of course, it could be due to the A5x SoC, or tweaks to iOS 5.1, or even the combination, but one thing is evident throughout it all – it’s a speed demon.
Unsurprisingly, the iPad is once again available in the same capacities as before – so it’s 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. To tell you the truth, we were hoping to see it increased considering the media-centric nature of the iPad, as well as the storage busting capacity of 1080p video recording.
Contacts:
Again, for anyone familiar with the iPad’s Contacts app, there isn’t anything new found with this iPad, as its presentation is laid out similarly to a physical address book. So whether it’s in portrait or landscape, it displays the listing in the left panel, while the pertinent individual information is placed on the right. It’s simple, self-explanatory, but then again, we’re not surprised since this is the theme with iOS.
Organizer:
Not a shocker people! The iPad’s core set of organizer apps look and function like they did before, so there’s nothing new here. Certainly, those who have grown fond of them already will have little issue, but still, it would’ve been nice to find something new.
Just like before, the calendar fully takes advantage of the iPad’s roomy confines, but thanks to the higher resolution, appointments noted in the monthly calendar are more visible than before. Aside from that, the experience is unchanged as we have the ability to create different calendars, each with its own color, so you can easily distinguish them.
The notepad
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? That’s the motto that’s clearly evident with a lot of things with Apple’s products, but we’re still perplexed as to why, in the day and age, that the iPad still lacks native apps for things like an alarm clock, calculator, stocks, timer, weather, and a world clock. Mind-boggling to say the least, especially when the iPad’s notifications panel is in serious need of something to rent out its space. You might say we might be nitpicking because the App Store holds a ton of free apps, and that some people don’t use them all that often, but it would’ve been nice to still see them nonetheless.
Messaging:
Comforting, useful, spacious, and accurate. These are the profound words that can best describe typing on the iPad. Already versed in the intricacies and layout of the various on-screen keyboard options of the iPad, we find ourselves typing out long passages of text with minimal mistakes. As a challenge though, the split-style option will undoubtedly be a departure for some people, but even then, it proves to be ever so useful once it’s mastered. Add in one of the best auto-correct features, combined with its new and precise voice dictation service, its usefulness is now arguably spaced out.
Email with the new iPad hasn’t changed as well, though, it’s good enough to handle our needs without much complications. Structured like before, the paneled layout is great in giving us full view of our inboxes, while selecting a message overlays the email’s contents. Yeah, it’s instrumental in getting us organized, but it still doesn’t have the depth of functionality found with Android’s Gmail experience. Nonetheless, we’re still able to set up most generic email and exchange accounts by providing our email address and password.
Internet:
Thinking back to the unveiling of the iPhone 4S, we were all eager to find real 4G support, but it was sadly missing. Thankfully, Apple didn’t skimp out this time around, as they’ve blessed the new iPad with 4G LTE connectivity. Well, it’s actually two variants where one is meant to play nice with AT&T, while the other being Verizon (sorry, Sprint and T-Mobile customers, you’re out of luck for now). With our AT&T variant, it’s able to deliver some delicious speeds that are indicative of any LTE driven device. Complex pages like ours load in a jiffy, and to sweeten the whole deal, the web browsing performance is still as immaculate as before. Even better, the Retina display enhances the experience as it brings text and pictures to life.
Connectivity:
As we’ve pointed out already, AT&T and Verizon are blessed with 4G LTE enabled iPads, but for the rest of the world, they’re given a model that will be compatible with the many HSPA+ networks out there. Rounding things out, the iPad has been outfitted with the usual suspect of incremental connectivity upgrades – such as aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. For those picking up Verizon’s version, you’ll be glad to find mobile hotspot functionality out of the box – and it’s free too!
Camera:
Finally people! We remarked about the unfriendly nature of the iPad’s camera interface, but now that iOS 5.1 is here, it seemingly corrects some of the dissatisfactions we’ve had with it. Visually, it’s still uncomplicated and clean looking, as the on-screen shutter key is now positioned at a more accessible area on the right side – whereas before, it was annoyingly placed on the bottom edge. Still, it you prefer a physical response, you can accomplish taking a snapshot by pressing on the volume up button. As for the rest, it’s identical as touching the display adjusts focus and exposure accordingly – while long pressing enables AE lock. Some might complain about the lack of manual settings, but therein lies the iPad’s beauty as staying firm with a simplistic interface.
Along with the friendly new placement of the on-screen shutter key, we’re ecstatic to find the iPad bearing a much more capable camera – whereas the one on the iPad 2 distracted us with its abysmal quality. Much like the iPhone 4 and 4S, the new iPad’s 5-megapixel camera is seemingly well adept to capturing those precious moments, though, it’s still kind of awkward to whip out a tablet in public to snap a shot. Overall, it delivers some exciting results as details are robust and colors maintain neutral tones to exemplify its prowess under perfect lighting conditions. It’s also pretty decent for low-lighting shots, seeing that it properly adjusts exposure to lighten and draw out details. However, it would’ve been nice to see an LED flash along for the ride, but it’s sadly omitted this time around.
There’s no arguing that the 720p video recording quality of the iPad 2 didn’t impress us, but rather, we questioned its validity since it was far from anything deemed as “high-definition.” Perhaps, Apple has learned from its hard lesson, as they’ve been able to sooth thing outs with the new iPad’s 1080p recording. Coughing up some crisp looking visuals, it’s indeed appealing to watch, even better when it’s complemented with clear audio recording, natural looking colors, and a smooth frame rate. Well, we can’t think of many occasions when it’s necessary to shoot video with a tablet, but if you find yourself in an unusual predicament where it’s needed, the iPad delivers the goods.
Multimedia:
So yeah, the “Photos” app of the iPad is still the same one we’re familiar with, which is a shame in a way, but that’s just the way it is. Basically, its purpose is to display photos and videos (obviously), but beyond that, there are some basic editing functions for photos – such as rotating, cropping, and auto-enhance. However, you might want to look into purchasing Apple’s iPhoto app (or some other capable app) if you plan on doing some professional grade editing work with your photos.
To tell you the truth, if there’s one area that sorely needs a visual upgrade, it has to be the music player of the iPad. Simply put it, the conventional look it has going is too tiresome at this point, and pales in comparison to the eye candy found with others. Like seriously, it needs a makeover to somehow bring Apple’s tried and true Coverflow mode found with the iPhone, to the big leagues with the iPad. Overlooking that, the iPad’s single speaker is still properly dispersing audio, since it’s placed at an angle. Emitting a decent amount of oomph with its output, there’s no evidence of crackling or strain at the loudest volume setting.
Delighting us tremendously already thanks to its unbelievable high resolution, the iPad is more than capable of producing a wonderful video watching experience. Besides the hassle of having to convert videos to have them load properly on the 4:3 aspect ratio display of the tablet, our eyes are entertained by a visual masterpiece on screen. Many thanks can be attributed to its Apple A5x SoC, it provides the raw power to smoothly play our test video with no fluff whatsoever.
Requiring the aid of an optional digital AV adapter, just like the iPad 2 before it, we’re given the added functionality of having a mirrored experience on our high-def TV. Fortunately, the interaction with the iPad is instant with no delay or lag with its response.
Software:
One key area that’s bound to see an aggressive focus in the near future is gaming. There’s no hiding the fact that it’s an increasing venture for the iPad, especially now more than ever thanks to its four graphics processing cores, but as of right now with the current crop of titles, we don’t notice much of a drastic improvement – say like Modern Combat 3. However, we can expect developers to tap into the iPad’s new processing power to really accentuate new titles down the road.
Performance:
Conclusion:
Exactly one year since the iPad 2’s release, Apple has seemingly upped the ante in the tablet space with its latest model – yet again! Call it magical, call it surreal, but whatever you want to say, the new iPad thunderously establishes itself as the benchmark for all other tablets going forward. As we’ve come to expect, it employs all the incremental upgrades to make it a feared competitor – like its new camera, faster processor, larger capacity battery, and unbelievable display. Thinking about it more, it’s amazing to know how much they’ve raised the bar in terms of display technology. Absolutely, it’s one that’s bound to attract people far and wide not only for the stupendous hardware that it beholds, but for its intuitive and simplistic platform experience as well.
For those of you looking to buy any sort of tablet or simply holding dearly to that first-generation iPad, this new one should be a no-brainer consideration, but if you currently lay claim to the iPad 2, it’s rather complicated. Unless you require 4G LTE connectivity or prefer a sharper looking display, there’s very little reasoning to make the upgrade. Then again, after taking a sneak peek at the new iPad’s Retina display, you might find yourself enchanted by it – thus, making that impulse decision to switch. Surely, it’s enough to catch most people off guard, but that’s just the kind of magic found with it.
Pricing, as we’ve come to know all too well, has some major implications on whether it can make or break a device. Taking into account all of the wonderful hardware it’s packing, it astonishes us to find it sporting the same price structure as before – meaning, it has a base price of $500 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model, and on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the $829 64GB 4G LTE version. Whichever one you look at, it boasts a ton of value for the buck, but more importantly, it provides us with an endearing testament as to what we expect out of a $500 tablet.
Software version of the reviewed unit:
iOS Version: 5.1
Update: You can now read our Apple iPad 4 review!
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