iPad 3

On March 7, the entire technology community was very eager to listen to the words of Apple CEO, Tim Cook, to know about the features of the new iPad, the iPad 3. Just as expected, Tim Cook, on the same day, unveiled the new version of the Apple’s very popular tablet, the iPad. However, he did not mention that it is the third generation of iPad. He simply called the device as ‘new iPad’. While the name did shock many iPad fans, the features of the iPad tablet too shocked both the fans and the critics, as the new tablet carried no big advantage than its previous editions, but very few improvements.

Physical Features

The physical look of the new iPad has no big changes when compared to its previous edition, the iPad 2. It has a 9.7 – inch screen just as the iPad 2 and has single home button, which is the Apple’s unique device design. The device also features an Apple 30 pin dock connector, a headphone jack and a slot for MicroSIM. However, the newer version of iPad weights more than its older versions. It weighs around 650 g, while the iPad 2 weighs only 600g and the first edition weighs only 586g. The increase in weight is clearly a disadvantage. However, the reason for the increase in weight is the increase in the size of the battery. However, its battery life is same as its previous edition.

Display

Display is the one feature where the iPad 3 wins clearly over any other tablet on this earth. The new iPad has a brilliant display with the pixel range of 2048 – by – 1536. The latest iPhone 4S had retina display, which set new display standards in the mobile phones. Similarly, the latest version of iPad has the retina display, which the iPad 2 lacks. It shows the colors and texts in a spectacular way. It is a never – before – experienced display that very clearly displays even very small texts with superb clarity. Another great thing is the High Definition feature. Yes! Now you can call simply the new version of iPad as ‘iPad HD’. Apple says it has the HD feature that is equal to the clarity of a real HD TV!

Performance

Regarding the performance, the new iPad features an A5X processor with 1 GHz capacity. The older version had an A5 processor. To be honest, the new version and the old version has no difference in performance, but the A5X processor in the new device allows it to handle the increased display features efficiently without affecting the basic performance. The memory is 1GB, which is same as in its previous editions.

Design

The new iPad, as we said, is only marginally thicker and a little heavier than the iPad 2, and if you pick it up with no
knowledge of the former, you'll likely be mighty impressed.

The rest of the design is premium too - given you can be paying nearly £700 for a top end model, it needs to seem like a worthwhile investment, and it does.

The curved edges, the oleophobic scratch-proof glass and the aluminium chassis are all the kind of thing that some Android tablets have tried to ape and failed. Of course, many will prefer the feather-light frames of some of the Samsung models but, like the screen, it really comes down to personal preference.

The buttonry on the new iPad is pretty sparse though - we're talking four buttons and that's your lot.

The iconic home button is back once again, despite rumours of its demise, and is easy to reach and hit within the thick bezel.

The rest of the buttons are all clustered tightly together in the top left-hand corner of the new iPad, with the rocker/volume key, the mute/orientation switch and power/lock key all within an inch of one another.

As you can see, Apple has been pretty efficient with the button placement, with all of them performing more than one function. And they say the iPad can't multi-task

Connectivity and Price

Similar to the older versions of the tablet, the iPad 3 supports WiFi connectivity and an optional 4G LTE connectivity feature. The iPad 3 cost differs based on the storage capacity and the connectivity features. The WiFi only models are available from $499 to $699, while the models that support 4G LTE connectivity feature comes at a price of $629 to $829.

Apple announced the iPad 3 release date which was March 16, last Friday. To buy iPad 3, people, as usual, queued outside the Apple stores. The shipping too is going on in full form. The only advantage of the new version of iPad is the HD feature and the retina display. The new iPad, unofficially dubbed as the iPad 3, thus clearly has no big innovations in both the hardware level and in the user experience, but people still keep flooding the Apple stores to get their hands on the new tablet, which clearly shows the brand value of Apple.