After the migraine I had last night and this morning had calmed down to a mild head buzz by lunch, I headed to the shops to have a close look at the new iPad (third generation). I was curious to see if the reviews about its screen will live up to the hype, and if it would make my iPad 2 now redundant.
First thing I noticed is that each store I went to was quiet and they all mentioned they still had stock, no matter what version you're looking for. I was still working in retail when the iPad 2 was released and I know that by lunch time on release day, stock was down to a handful of 16GB WiFi models only. Seems as though while the new iPad will still be a huge success eventually, people seem willing to wait this time. No matter this gave me more time to play with the device, so let me go through my thoughts of the new iPad.
The retina display is better in every way, but its not enough to justify upgrading from the iPad 2.....yet
Maybe I made the mistake of reading some reviews before I saw it for myself, some reviews like the one from The Verge even describe the display as the best display on a computing device. Yes it is a wonderful display with clear and crisp images and text, but it didn't wow me like I was expecting. Honestly, standing at the display table with both the iPad 2 and new iPad on the tables it was hard to determine which one was which.
When you get the screen closer to you however, you really start to notice the difference. There's no hint of jagged edges or view of any pixels, for a screen just under 10 inches it is a phenomenon. However, Most of the time when you have the iPad on your lap or on a table, the difference between the old screen and new one is not such a drastic improvement.
I guess the other issue is that there currently isn't many apps to take advantage of the screen resolution. The bottom line is that any owners of the iPad 2 shouldn't feel too bad as there's no need to upgrade. Of course, all it takes is one killer app to make use of the screen resolution and that will all change.
The new iPad may be getting closer to a full laptop replacement, but now it gets as hot as one too
As I said before, I couldn't tell the difference with the new iPad till I picked it up. The first thing I noticed is how hot it was from the back. Not uncomfortable type of hot, but warm like the underneath of a laptop or the back of a smartphone when the radio is using maximum power.
This isn't a deal breaker however coming from the previous iPads which were cool to touch no matter what it was doing, it's an adjustment. The heat is almost certainly coming from the new battery, which has almost doubled in capacity from the iPad 2. The display units you see are all WiFi only units, so the 3G/4G units may be susceptible to heat even more.
The downside: bigger specs = bigger back
The upgraded specs and bigger battery have another downside: a bigger device. While the specs will show only a few mm extra in width and a few extra grams in weight, anyone coming from a iPad 2 will immediately notice the difference. Granted it's no heffer like the Xoom, but it does make you appreciate how slim the iPad 2 is and how light Android competitors like Sony's Tablet S are.
Conclusion
This article may seem like the new iPad is not a great device, but don't be mistaken. It is still the best tablet in the market for now and into the foreseeable future. Even now that you have the choice of the cheaper iPad 2, if you can afford it you would be silly not to buy the new iPad. However if you do have the iPad 2 you can rest easy for now, your tablet isnt obsolete yet.