Apple decided to call the next generation iPad, the New iPad. The much rumored name of iPad 3 or iPad HD turned out to be not true. Honestly many people would be disappointed with the naming.
Let's get on with the New iPad features. Starting off would be the Retina Display of 2048 x 1536 resolution. Screen size is still the same at 9.7-inch. No surprises here as everybody was already expecting this from the day the next generation iPad was rumored.
Next upgrade on the list is the A5X quad-core processor (1GHz, 1GB RAM). Just so that it's clear, the quad-core is the graphic part and not the CPU part. Apple claims that the quad-core GPU is needed to power up the high resolution display of 4x the iPad 2.
Rear camera was also upgraded to 5MP, named as iSight. The camera is also capable of 1080p HD video recording. Camera performance comes with backlight illumination sensor, auto-focus, tap to focus and with the aperture size of f/2.4. As for video functionality, it comes with video stabilization like the iPhone 4S. Take note that the front-facing camera is still the old 0.3MP.
4G LTE would be the biggest upgrade for the New iPad in terms of connectivities. With LTE, it could go as high as 72Mbps. The speed doesn't really matter much to us in Malaysia as the only so called 4G providers are P1 and Yes. P1 is limiting its speed to 5Mbps and Yes is marketing their speed at 20Mbps.
Along with the New iPad, Apple releases the iOS 5.1 which includes the Dictation function. I believe this is much disappointment as people are widely expecting Siri in the next generation iPad.
There you have it, the hardware overview of the New iPad. Many have expected to see Retina Display, A6 quad-core, higher resolution camera, 4G LTE and Siri. Out of the 5 items, I think the rumor got 3.5 right. Retina Display was spot on, A5X quad-core GPU was slightly within expectation, 5MP is nice but front-facing camera still remains crappy, 4G LTE was also spot on and Dictation was out of expectation. I
In terms of mechanical dimension, the New iPad is 9.5" x 7.31" x 0.37" and weighs 1.44lbs. iPad 2 size on the other hand is 9.5" x 7.31" x 0.34" and weighs 1.33lbs. No noticeable difference in terms of dimension size and weight. I believe the old iPad 2 casing should fit fine with the New iPad. By the way, Smart Cover works just fine with the New iPad.
During the launch, the New iPad will be shipped beginning of 16th March to US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. The rest of the world would start on the 23rd March. A quick check at the Apple Online Store shows that the devices will only be shipped 2 ~ 3 weeks time. As to when it will arrive at Malaysian shores, we will have to wait and see.
Folks from Vietnam seemed to have gotten their hands on the New iPad. Video below shows unboxing of the device.
Source: Apple
No comments:
Post a Comment