So the new iPad announcement and release has come and gone. Not the iPad 3 as most if not everyone had assumed and in its place *drum roll* is just plain old iPad. So what is in a name? In this case I think this says a lot about how Apple is planning to move forward. This falls directly in line with the naming convention for every other Apple product except the iPhone. I give you three guesses what my prediction is about the naming convention regarding the release of the next iPhone is and all three don't count.
Simply put this means the iOS devices have grown up. Do not look for massive hardware changes in them any time in the near future, especially the iPad. It looks for all intents and purposes like the formula for a tablet has been set. Print quality display, solid battery life, partial multi-tasking and growing cloud interconnectivity. To me the future in terms of major changes will be in software with incremental hardware advances that keep pace with the technology updates. There are a couple of frontiers that could drive some significant hardware changes, namely true multi tasking and the ability to provide a fully functional content creation environment (think docked iPad driving a more traditional work station environment). However the OS and battery capacities at this point are the limiting factors and barring a major unexpected shift it is unlikely for that next step to occur any time soon. On the plus side this means the iPad line may now be subject to mid cycle updates rather than just full generational hardware changes.
So where does that leave this current piece of gadgetry? I will get into some details below but here is the short version. I bestow upon it the best praise I think possible for a 'new fangled gadget'... it is a fully baked device. Other than perhaps the display the story here is the fact Apple has filled in the few remaining weak links and chinks in the armor of the original iPad that survived the release of the iPad2. It took Apple one less generation to get to this point with the iPad than it did with the iPhone. Arguably the iPhone did not reach this state until the 4s (5 generations of device) but I would grant the 4 that status with the argument largely surrounding the failure to go multicore as its largest weakness. And that weakness has more to do with its longevity than any problems with the device itself.
The Good:
Retina Display
Lets get this out of the way early... Retina Retina Retina Retina. In geek terms this word may now replace Hallelujah as a general phase of praise. Apple confirmed rumors and now has released upon the world the first electronic display that is both on par with the standard printout in size and resolution (260ish dpi vrs 300dpi). For the few that haven't heard Apple calls this a 'Retina' display because the pixels are so small that you cannot see them at normal viewing distances. There have been a few folks like myself that have been harping about the need for higher DPI screens for many years. Display technology hit a real doldrum on this front as the race got underway for LCD HDTV sets. On the one hand it made LCD screens insanely cheap. But that cheapness also stymied any attempt at new levels of computer specific resolutions. To this day it is prohibitively expensive just to buy displays at larger than 1080p resolutions even at standard DPI just because there is no mass demand for them. It is a classic chicken and egg problem. Make them cheaper and folks would buy them, but nobody wants to buy them because there are much cheaper options (you can get 2-4 high quality HD screens for the cost of a Cinema display for example). It looks like Apple is poised to break the dam on this one and we should once again see computer display resolutions far out strip basic video in the not to distant future. Once people get a load of the Retina iPad screen and all the other Android tablets soon to use this it will be a short matter of time before laptop and desktop monitors begin to follow suit. And just like laser and ink jet printer technology it is likely to fixate around the 300dpi level for exactly the reasons of Apple's Retina marketing spiel. For almost all purposes 300 dpi sits right at or above the capability of the human eye to detect pixels. Thus print level electronic displays of a size in line with standard print outs are finally here and the first generation of them is a portable tablet no less. Bottom line... its as good as you have heard. And if you own stock in Xerox or any standard format printer technology (Letter, A4 size) I'd say the time to sell is not to far away. They just got turned into horse and buggy makers with the release of the car. The fall may not be immediate but it is coming. Also expect that old paperless office stuff to crop back up... only this time it has a real chance to stick if the Tablet uptake in corporate environments continues at its current break neck pace. Make exceptions if they adapt by kickstarting mass availability of 3d printers that do more than put ink on paper... in fact the major print company that makes that leap successfully may well be the next 'Apple' in terms of insane stock growth.
The Design
Many continue to lament Apple's reluctance to significantly change the design and give it poor marks for keeping the same basic look. I'm sorry but what exactly is the problem with a slim metal backed, glass fronted high quality feeling slab? Baring a production ready haptic system to bring tactile feedback to the touch interface system I don't for see a major change or a need for a major change to the basic design. The bezel allows you to hold without interacting with the screen. The size of the display drives all else. May see a move to more and more durable materials, especially if the spec of the internals ever flatlines (ie Moore's law hits the limits of physics). Though it looks like we are on that ride for a few more years at least.
Battery Life
Move to LTE and Retina display with quad core graphics and 1gb of DRAM had many worried that the iPad would give up some battery life. Early reviews are in and all seem to be unanimous that the real use battery life is close to the marks listed by Apple with the largest variance I have seen listed by 'The Verge' and they credited it to their use of a brighter default screen setting than Apple uses in their tests (65% vs 50%).
LTE
Must say I was a bit surprised by the inclusion of LTE. 4g technology rollout has been a real mess and its an ugly time to get out there into it. However its here and it works and it is certainly faster than the 3g/4g mess the iPhone 4s shipped with. Big thumbs up on this one.
Apple Care
I am not a fan of extended warranties as they are typically super high margin cash cows preying on uniformed user fears. This is still true for Apple Care BUT under a certain set of circumstances this plan is a very good value for the money. I use my iPad daily. It has become something that if I am without it I miss it sorely. It goes with me EVERYWHERE and I have the most expensive version. For 100 dollars I get 3 years of coverage and 2 accidental replacements covered at 50$ per incident. It is the accidental coverage (even with the additional 50$ hit) that puts this in the good column for me specifically. It only applies as a good value for me because I rely on this device daily and my usage will expose it regularly to the possibility of damage. under those circumstances I think it makes sense to plunk down the dough for Apple Care. On the other hand, If it is going to be a coffee table device or even if you are getting the base spec device the value is not nearly as strong unless damage from mishandling (young children etc...) is a real concern. Manufacturing defects almost always manifest well within the 1 year basic warranty period and the basic pieces of this device just are not prone to failure. Apple uses high quality and minimal amount of switch gear (only moving parts), a very durable casing design and there is no spinning drive making all the internals solid state hardware. Assembly quality has been verified as at least on par with previous devices which have experience no deterioration issues due to assembly defects.
The So So:
Battery Charge time
Ok the new display radio and memory did all tack on significant energy usage and Apple upped the battery by a whopping 17 watt hours. This leads directly to an increased charge time. Figure 30% longer to recharge your device than before. Expect a possible improvement in this the next time around of either faster recharge times or an increase in expected battery life. The original iPad challenged mobile charging solutions with its heavier amperage draw than USB spec... this one shatters it. Charging this device on USB is going to be an exercise in patience where it was marginally useful on the first two generation devices.
Heat
You may have seen some stories bouncing around about how the new iPad runs hotter than the 2... well this is directly tied to the above two issues of battery life and charge time. Apple is running through some 40% more power in the same amount of time. That energy has to go somewhere. Hands on experience for me has been that prolonged LTE data transfer (video streaming) is probably the most consistent cause... high graphics games have not had a huge effect. In perspective the worst I have experienced so far is far less noticeable than say a laptop actually in your lap doing the same types of activities. On the brighter side all this waste heat means there are some real gains to be made with the electronics to make them a bit more efficient that we can hope to see in the next generation or two.
Storage
No increase in total storage from the first device to the last. This may be the first real limitation folks hit on the device. New high speed LTE connectivity and memory hungry graphics (bumps to standard still quality and all those retina app updates/releases coming) are going to make short work of even the max 64gb size memory device. Lack of an SD slot continues to be a sore spot for many and rightly so I think. The new beaming capabilities of wirelessly sending files between iOS devices is all that keeps this out of the bad category for me. Apple is finally sort of dealing with the fact that these devices need to be able to talk to each other somehow. Even so the beaming capability does not seem to be universally implemented (only found it in iPhoto so far) and requires you to be on the same wifi network (can't do it across two LTE connected devices).
The Camera
Depending on how you look at it this could be in the good column. The rear shooter is the same hardware that was so successful in the iPhone 4 and as such is a very capable mobile camera. But taking snaps with a tablet actually feels more silly than you would imagine it to be. However this is a serious step up from the excuse for a camera put on the iPad 2 and should be much better at supporting augmented reality efforts and QR/Barcode reading applications. Front camera is still base VGA instead of HD capable which is not terribly surprising. Video chat at HD levels is still somewhat rare and for what it does this thing works. Bottom line is that at least the snaps you take with the rear camera no longer have less pixels than the screen even with massive jump to the 2048x1536 Retina display.... and the low resolution of the front camera means people won't be able to count your nose hairs from the unflattering tablet video chat positioning.
The Bad:
Cellular Data Caps
This is still probably the single worst aspect of cellular enabled tablets. LTE speeds now make the data caps/cost look more and more ridiculous. They were to small relative to the cost 2 years ago and today are insanely out of whack with the intent of how the device is supposed to be utilized. There is nothing wrong with profiting. But the carriers are beyond that and I believe are at best profiteering and at worst involved in organized price fixing. The past 4-5 years has seen a MASSIVE increase in mobile devices with data service contracts which have led to massive profits. In a sane market this would drive costs down. 2 years ago when the iPad launched there were offers for unlimited monthly plans, they no longer exist and more expensive plans capped at a mere 5gb are in their place. Something is rotten in the wireless provider world. Are unlimited plans supportable by the infrastructure? Quite possibly not. Is the cost of providing users 5gb of access 50$? Most assuredly not. There is currently talk about allowing some app makers to subsidize bandwidth used by consumers and if any such plans come to pass we may get an idea of what the real carrier cost is. Because there is no way in hell Netflix or ABC etc... would agree to subsidize bandwidth at the current cost pushed to the consumers. I expect this to be an issue that gets greater and greater scrutiny as if the carriers fail to shape up they are going to be standing directly in the path of advancements possible with a connected mobile infrastructure trying to defend unreasonable levels of profit for providing what will soon come to be viewed as a basic utility.
The iOS AppStore Limitation
Censoring is bad and Apple is currently the self crowned king of the mobile application world. They give the final thumbs up to any and all apps officially accessible from an iOS device and the viciously defend they right to be the only legitimate distributer of software for their devices. Did they earn it? Yes they did. Is it their playground? Yes it is. But the bigger their success becomes the more the app approval process and disallowing of alternative application installation is going to be viewed as counter productive and possibly destructive to the consumer. Currently this is not the reality. The careful selection process and walled garden nature of the store is a large part of the devices success. But Apple is playing a dangerous game with the way they deny an app, sherlock the ideas and enforce arbitrary censorship restrictions on content that will sooner or later raise anti-competitive suits and freedom of speech issues. All of this could be solved not by Apple opening the floodgates to any and all crap in their App store, but simply by allowing supported access to other application providers such as the popular Cydia store linked to the very active iOS jailbreak community. The current model of app delivery to iOS devices is like Ford saying you can only fill their cars up at their dealerships or special gas stations. It has got to change. I say this as a massive fan of the App store and what it provides. This could quite possibly be an issue that hits Apple similar to the anti-monopoly issues that plagued Microsoft in the late 90's and early 2000's. They need to open up the doors to alternative app stores before they get forced to.
Lack of Case
Gorilla glass may be tough but its also now designed to not be easily replaceable. As with my original review I find it reprehensible that Apple does not at least provide a token screen cover as part of the basic equipment package when purchasing an iPad.
Conclusions:
As I said this is a solid fully capable device with no obvious holes as were the case with both previous devices. I used the first gen device for 2 years with quite a few annoyances. I expect to use this one for 2 years with very little concern for tech envy despite my wandering eye when it comes to new fangled gadgets. I ponied up for Apple care for the first time because I actually expect there to be a decent chance I will still be using it daily for the full 3 years of the coverage. And I got it for the accident replacement coverage more than anything else.
Recommendations:
For any 1st generation tablet device owners (Apple or otherwise) this is a no brainer contender for your money if you are looking for something new.
For second generation device owners, especially iPad 2 folks it isn't a slam dunk. If you read a lot, mess with high quality digital imagery and/or need faster mobile bandwidth speeds there is a lot to be gained. If you are a more typical browse and e-mail type the cost benefit of upgrading so soon is not so hot.
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