APPLE’S NEW IPAD-NEW-IPAD-2012
Is a higher resolution retina display all there is to this tablet?
The new iPad launched amidst much excitement in March, much of which was watered down when Apple’s fanboys discovered that the only significant upgrade from the second-generation iPad was a better retina display.
Other than that, it’s hard to strut about with it expecting it to be a conversation starter. Unlike the upgrade from the first gen iPad to the iPad 2 where there was a significant design change in the product and people would notice, the new iPad (and not to be called the iPad 3, mind you) looks almost identical to the previous generation product. Not mind-numbingly impressive at all – until you power on the display, of course.
Once you start using the 2048x1536 pixel, 264 ppi retina display laden iPad, there is simply no going back. While it has some way to go before it matches the vividness of super AMOLED panels, the quantum jump in the display resolution more than makes up for it. That pans well for the hordes who simply do not prefer the over saturated colors on super-AMOLED panels.
The power on this baby is beefed up thanks to an all-new dual Core A5 chip. The quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 chip ensures that the iPad is more than capable of handling any graphically intensive stuff you throw at it, which we did.
We tested the GPU intensive game Infinity Blade on the new iPad and apart from occasional, perfectly fine slowdowns, the performance is breathtaking to say the least. In fact, it was quite close to what we have seen on the Sony PlayStation Vita. Impressive! Some apps that we suggest you should test on this new gadget are Batman Arkham City Lockdown, Infinity Blade II and AppStart. Special mention must be made of the brilliant iPhoto app which helps you edit photographs professionally, with an intuitive and very easy to use UI.
Another major upgrade with the iPad are its optics. While the iPad 2 had a namesake camera which could barely capture still images, the new one gets a much more usable 5megapixel iSight camera lifted straight from the iPhone 4S with slight modifications to bring the megapixel count down. Of That though does not change the fact that image capturing on a tablet continues to be a tricky exercise – especially when you need to use your other hand to invoke the tap to focus feature.
The new iPad comes with a sticker price of Rs 30,500 for the 16GB iteration, going up to Rs 50,900 for the 64GB variant. The price difference between base versions of the iPad 2 and the new iPad is barely Rs 5,000. It might not make sense to invest in the new iPad if you have the iPad 2 already, but worth it if you do have the first-generation iPad.