Apple new iPad review

After months of speculation about its specification, the new iPad launched in mid-March with an ultra-high resolution Retina display and blisteringly fast 4G LTE. Julian Prokaza puts it through its paces and is seriously impressed.

IT Pro Verdict

Although LTE of little use in the UK for now, the Retina display still makes the new iPad a highly desirable tablet, though it may a short while for apps and web sites to fully exploit it. The fact that prices are the same as the old model is impressive too, although the cheapest 16GB model may not have enough capacity for heavy tablet users.

By
published
in Reviews

Brilliant battery life

What's perhaps more impressive than the new iPad's potential LTE speeds though, is its battery life.

To compensate for the power hungry Retina display and LTE technology Apple has included a battery that has almost twice the capacity of the iPad 2. Apple claims that the new iPad will last for 10 hours when web surfing over Wi-Fi or watching video and nine when doing the same via 4G. In our video playback test with Wi-Fi disabled, the new iPad actually ran for 11 hours, so we have no reason to doubt Apple's figures.

Apple new iPad

Overall

It's not hyperbolic to say that with the new iPad, Apple has significantly raised the bar for tablet technology. Other manufacturers may well match its specification with Android models launched throughout this year, but it remains to be seen whether they can match its price.

The first and second generation iPads have already made great inroads into the enterprise, with the iPass Global Mobile Workforce Report report reckoning that over half of all mobile workers are now using one of some description.

"Some description" can generally be taken to read iPad, since the competition has nowhere near Apple's 42 per cent share of the business market.

More to the point, with the same report stating that 27 per cent of mobile workers are planning to acquire an iPad within the next six months, Apple seems to have business tablets sewn up for the foreseeable future, not least since the new iPad ups the ante to make it much more compelling business proposition.

Apple has already shifted over 55 million device and we wouldn't be surprised to see the firm shift a whole lot more with the release of this edition.

Verdict

Although LTE of little use in the UK for now, the Retina display still makes the new iPad a highly desirable tablet, though it may a short while for apps and web sites to fully exploit it. The fact that prices are the same as the old model is impressive too, although the cheapest 16GB model may not have enough capacity for heavy tablet users.

OS: iOS 5.1 Processor: Apple A5X dual-core (1GHz) Storage: 1GB RAM; 16/32/64GB Screen: 9.7” (1536 x 2048) LED-backlit IPS capacitive multi-touch Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, dock connector, 3.5mm headphone socket Other: Accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, digital compass, AGPS (LTE model only) Bands: Optional 4G LTE 700, 2100MHz; UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA 850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz; GSM/Edge 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz Camera: 5MP rear with autofocus, VGA front Battery: 42.5Wh Size: 241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4mm Weight: 652g [Benchmarks] Geekbench: 755 SunSpider: 1697ms BrowserMark: 100374 PeaceKeeper: 383 Video playback: 11 hours

Latest News