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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/62609
REVIEW
THE NEW IPAD >SAME NAME, A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE WORDS BY RIC GETTER
Breaking away from the iPhone tradition and following in the path of the desktops, Apple simply refers to it as the "new iPad." However, the high-res camera, extraordinary battery and jaw-dropping image quality all attest to the fact that Apple's latest iPad is a very different device albeit in a very similar package.
The specs of the new iPad are impressive. The 2048x1536 Retina provides nearly a third more detail than an HDTV. The 42.5 Watt-hour battery nearly doubles the 2's 25 Watt-hours and will drive the quad- core A5X CPU for the same advertised 10- hour charge as the iPad 2. The rear-facing camera captures 5.2 mega-pixel images and 1080P video (the front camera is still a bandwidth-friendly VGA). However, this all leads to one basic fact of life for the new iPad: Virtually all the added power and expanded battery are there to support the iPad's incredible graphics. Like the iPad 2, the interface is fast and smooth, but the general feel and overall responsiveness is about the same. In fact, we noticed that the new iPad actually takes about a third longer to power up (33 vs. 22 seconds). Application launch times are about the same.
When it comes to charging the larger battery, the new iPad is a bit more finicky than its predecessors. It really requires a direct connection to a computer or wall outlet; not even a high-quality USB extension cable will let it charge. If you have a Mac Pro sitting under your desk, you may have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll be using the computer just for synching (which works just fine through an indirect USB connection) and the AC adapter for charging. The larger battery does take somewhat longer to charge, but the battery life will easily get you through
the day and is somewhat better on our 64GB Wi-Fi than a 32GB Wi-Fi iPad2.
Still a Good Fit
One of the things we were most pleased to discover was that nearly all of our favorite iPad accessories fit the new model. We tested a few of the form-fitting cases we had on hand, including our leather Piel- Frama i
Magnumworked with the new
tablet, though the rubber/plastic rear cover shells we tried took a little more work to insert. This would probably be true with any case that depends on a snug fit.
The viewing angle of the high-res Retina display is a bit more critical. We found that if you're off center by 15-20 degrees, the image darkened more quickly than the iPad 2, and ours took on a slight color-cast, as well. However, searching through a number of discussion forums on the weekend after the new iPad's release, it appears that the displays on some of the units shipped has a notably warmer and yellowish cast and Apple has been willing to offer exchanges if the buyer is not happy.
Picture-perfect
If you're a photographer, the new iPad's Retina display is unquestionably the device's strongest selling point. For us, it required a bit of backtracking to take full advantage of it. We shoot all our images in raw format and use mostly Adobe's Lightroom for processing and storage. To get images out to iPhoto where they can be synched to our iOS devices we either export them as more compact JPEGs or use Suffix's free iPhotoExport plugin