The new iPad, the iPad 3, the new iPad 3… call it what you want,
but it's a device that from the outside looks remarkably like the iPad 2 but with an overhaul on the innards.
The question most people ask us when it comes to the new iPad is: what's different from the old one?
Well,
in this case it's pretty easy: there's a Retina Display that makes
everything looks superbly crisp, an updated A5X processor bringing
quad-core graphics and a 5MP camera on the rear with a VGA sensor on the
front.
Oh, and the iPad 3 is also the device that brings iOS 5.1 to the masses (well, it's also on the likes of the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 as well, but hey, we're not reviewing those today, and you don't really care unless it's a new iPad.) The
design of the new iPad 3 isn't really anything different from the
original duo from Apple's tablet range. Actually, while we're thinking
about it, it looks almost identical to the iPad 2 – to the point you'd
struggle to tell them apart when turned off.
However, in the hand, there's a little bit
of a difference, especially when it comes to the weight. The new iPad is
nearly 60g heavier than the previous iteration, and while it's not
terrible, it does add a little arm strain during a marathon movie
session.
Retina Display
Before we get
onto all the normal insight over the frame of the new iPad, it's worth
talking about the main feature: the Retina Display.
Apple has
packed a huge amount more pixels into the 9.7-inch screen - 1536 x 2048
to be exact. However, despite the fact that the Cupertino brand makes a
big thing about the 330 PPI density of the iPhone 4, we're looking at a
screen that's technically a lot less sharp than its smartphone brethren -
around 264PPI. Apple
has got around this fact by stating that the screen is meant to be held
at 15 inches from the face, rather than the 10 inches the iPhone is
supposed to from your eyes, and as such the sharpness is the same.
Given
the fact the term 'Retina Display' really isn't a legally binding term,
we don't care. What matters is the effect - and it's one of the most
impressive we've seen on a tablet to date. If someone took an iPad,
printed out a really hi-res image of an iOS system and stuck it on the
front, we'd struggle to tell the difference - it's superb, and even
squinting up close you'll be hard pushed to notice any pixelation.
The
colour reproduction will also appeal to many, as it's pretty close to
reality - it lacks the punch of the Super AMOLED HD screens seen on the
likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note for instance, but it will depend on
personal preference as to whether that's a good thing. We like the vivid colours of Samsung's screens, but we know plenty of people that loathe them too.
The
main thing is things like internet browsing; photo viewing and movie
sessions are all much, much improved over the iPad 2, and is one of the
main reasons to pick up the new iPad.
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... tsk.
Interface
The new iPad 3 picks up the iOS story where the iPad 2 left off - with an incremental upgrade to iOS 5.1 the main talking point.
However,
before we go through what's new, we'll take a quick tour across the
operating system to show just how simple it is to operate a new iPad.
The
home screen is laid out in a very similar way to the iPhone, except
we're seeing some much larger icons for the apps you've downloaded. You
can fill as many home screens as you like with apps as you download
more from the App Store, and swiping from screen to screen on the iPad 3
is silky smooth even with loads of programs downloaded.
There's
also the dock at the bottom of the display which can hold up to six
regularly-used apps that are present on all home screens, which is more
than the four on offer with the iPhone thanks to the extra screen real
estate. Neat
freaks need not despair either: it's easy to create folders of the apps
you want to lump together simply by dragging an icon and plopping it on
top of another – the iPad will create a name for the group based on the
content, but it's easy to rename these.
iOS 5.1 doesn't offer too
much in the way of new features for the users interface, but a trick
that Apple has learned from Google's Android is the notifications bar,
which can be accessed simply by swiping down from the top of the screen.
This
contains information on everything from unread mail messages to
notifications of new moves in games you're playing with friends. It's a
simple system and one that's prevalent throughout the system, even in
most apps, meaning you can easily jump in and out of applications where
necessary.
Speaking of which, it's worth taking a look at the
multi-tasking gestures on offer, as they're pretty sensational. Using a
full set of fingers on the screen allows three functions: pinching in
will take you to the home screen, flicking up will enable the
multi-tasking window and swiping left will let you bounce between open
apps.
It really works on the new iPad, and we urge you to check it
out as it really makes moving through the system easy and cool at the
same time.
There's a great debate over what really constitutes
multi-tasking – but in our view, the iPad does enough to warrant the
title. The likes of the BlackBerry Playbook
are more capable when it comes to fully running programs in the
background, but most users will struggle to really notice the difference
when the iPad and its Android competition are asked to jump between
apps.
As mentioned, you can easy multi-finger swipe up or double
tap the home button to call up a list of recently opened apps, which can
be deleted from the tray by a single long press and tapping of the 'x'
that appears. Swiping
right in the multi-tasking tray will also call up the music player,
which allows you to see what songs are about to play, or change the
volume or brightness. Not new, but the closest thing to a widget we'll
get here.
The lock screen allows you to do some pretty funky
stuff; double tapping the home button will call up the music player so
you can switch tracks or pause without needing to open the iPad. Also,
there's an option to have a slide show of your photos – although we've
all got some we don't want to see cycling past at times. The
iPad interface is one that's a little hard to judge, as it's so
subjective we're bound to be chastised for the manner in which we rate
the OS. However, in our minds it's still a little simplistic, with no
opportunity for real customisation, and that's something we've been
hoping Apple will fix for years.
But then again others hate
overly-complicated user interfaces, and they'll love the simple
icon-centric offering. There are other foibles, like apps not
re-aligning when one is deleted off a screen, but there are examples of
this happening on other tablets all the time, so it's hard to criticise
the iPad specifically.
Does the iPad 3 really do enough to be the
poster boy for the A5X chip in terms of smoothness under the finger?
Maybe, but it's nothing spectacular. The iPad 3 randomly shut down apps
during use on more than one occasion, and we were often left prodding a
key on the screen only to see that there was a big freeze at work. Although
Apple won't admit it, there's an increase under the hood from 512MB of
RAM to 1GB – given the iPad 2 had a decent level of snap between
programs, it's hard to say how this really works until put under a few
months of load.
However, jumping through apps with the
multi-touch gestures certainly impressed, and we're hoping this level of
RAM will keep the iPad running at optimum performance for a while
longer.
Basically, if you want simple and a mostly slick user
interface, then you're in for a treat. It's not the most complete system
out there, but iOS 5.1 is knocking the socks off the users who love the
iPad experience, and don't give two hoots about Android widgets.
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