5 reasons why the new iPad is a game changer

[palpatine]

Completely agree, this iPad is amazing and defiantly enough for me to upgrade

worthy of upgrade = game changer? no way. of course it is worth an upgrade, and i am quite pleased with what i saw, but it is basically the ipad 2 with some tweaks.

the ipod touch? a game changer.

the original ipad? a game changer.

the ipad 3? another successful (acc. to reports so far) product iteration.

 

[miraclehobo]

Well count me along with the minority as well. This is evolutionary.

Fixed

 

[charliecc]

1. Retina display. 2048×1536 resolution is unheard of. Its rare to even find computer monitors that come in that resolution. The display on any portable device is the heart and soul of the device. Even when the iPhone 4 screen size was small, the Retina display destroyed any other competing phone on the market for almost a year. No other manufacture could respond.

No doubt it's an excellent display, but I bet the display makes no difference to 99% of the tasks you would perform when using an iPad2.

2. LTE. With AT&T and Verizon that have both proven LTE is super fast (I have a work phone with LTE and I get no lower then 10 megs down, thats faster then my internet at home!). Imagine surfing at broadband speeds on the road where 4G is available.

Yep, LTE will make quite a big difference.

3. Apple A5X. The CPU and GPU is blowing the lids off any other tablet on the market. It is the most powerful tablet on the market, bar none. It will be able to play high res games and complex apps. The A5X is nothing to sneeze at. The amount of engineering it took to make it even possible to fit in a thin device should earn the engineers Nobel prizes.

An impressive processor, but please give real world example of where this will make any difference to you using the device over iPad2.

4. Price. Even with all the tech crammed into a thin package, its still the same price as last years model. That new high resolution display is probably not cheap, but Apple is good about dominating suppliers worldwide and probably got a deal.

Agreed, to keep the price at this level is great, but price doesn't make something a game changer.

5. Battery life. Even with a powerful processor, the new iPad is able to maintain its battery life. With 3x the amount of pixels on the display (From 1 million to about 3 million!!) the iPad is still able to squeeze out the same battery life. It has a much bigger battery, but thats amazing because the iPad isn't all that much thicker. Now thats $@*& amazing.

It's the same battery life as the iPad2, so it's not a game changer.




I agree with some of your points as nice to haves, but I fail to see where this will really enhance the experience over the iPad2. It's certainly not a game changer, but it is indeed a lovely, desirable device.

Stop jumping on the Apple bandwagon, it's all marketing to make you think you need the latest device when you don't. Just like the 4S, that device was a 4 with Siri, and Siri sucks balls.

Don't fall for it. Buy or stick with the iPad2, it's a great device and it's now excellent value for money.

 

[smiddlehurst]

As usual I see people focus on spec and forget how the device is actually used and who uses it. The Retina display is, indeed, a game changer as it basically IS the iPad (or any tablet for that matter). Card readers, processors, storage, cameras all of it is just window dressing, it's the screen that's vital in this category and the new iPad is going to set a ridiculously high standard to follow.

What I don't get is why people struggle to see this, we've been through it with the iPhone 4. The moment you show someone that device next to a lower resolution phone the difference is so startling that it alone got a ton of people to change over. Every single thing you do with the device will benefit from it and that's before people start coding for the higher resolution directly.

That being said I think the OP missed the real game changer: iPad 2 for £329. Suddenly the competition has to be able to undercut that as well as the traditional £399 price point, and with a high quality product to boot. Effectively it puts everyone back to the same problem they had when the iPad (and, indeed, iPad 2 came out) - trying to undercut a very high quality product without sacrificing build quality or features - while setting an even lower minimum price point to accomplish that. I suspect there was swearing from Microsoft over that particular move, it's going to make Windows On Arm tablets tricky to position while still making a decent profit margin.

 

[Nightprowler]

5. What I don't fully understand is that the battery is nearly twice as big as the iPad 2 battery, but still gets the same 10 hour life. Can the Retina Display really take that much more juice? The iPhone 4 battery was only 200mah larger than the 3GS battery...so it can't be just because of the RD.

More GPU cores, more RAM (assumed...there are rumors that its now 1GB), and 2.36 million more pixels than iPad2 with 44% more color saturation, this all takes more power.

As usual I see people focus on spec and forget how the device is actually used and who uses it.

Because if you are going for best bang for your buck 'spec' is important for future software considerations if you don't want to have to upgrade your hardware every year. Ask iPad1 owners if they think their hardware effects their use of their device.

 

[scootaru]

1. Retina display. 2048×1536 resolution is unheard of. Its rare to even find computer monitors that come in that resolution. The display on any portable device is the heart and soul of the device. Even when the iPhone 4 screen size was small, the Retina display destroyed any other competing phone on the market for almost a year. No other manufacture could respond.

2. LTE. With AT&T and Verizon that have both proven LTE is super fast (I have a work phone with LTE and I get no lower then 10 megs down, thats faster then my internet at home!). Imagine surfing at broadband speeds on the road where 4G is available.

3. Apple A5X. The CPU and GPU is blowing the lids off any other tablet on the market. It is the most powerful tablet on the market, bar none. It will be able to play high res games and complex apps. The A5X is nothing to sneeze at. The amount of engineering it took to make it even possible to fit in a thin device should earn the engineers Nobel prizes.

4. Price. Even with all the tech crammed into a thin package, its still the same price as last years model. That new high resolution display is probably not cheap, but Apple is good about dominating suppliers worldwide and probably got a deal.

5. Battery life. Even with a powerful processor, the new iPad is able to maintain its battery life. With 3x the amount of pixels on the display (From 1 million to about 3 million!!) the iPad is still able to squeeze out the same battery life. It has a much bigger battery, but thats amazing because the iPad isn't all that much thicker. Now thats $@*& amazing.

You could have stopped after your first point since a high resolution display will be the new standard, effectively "changing the game".

 

[jbimler]

The Nobel prize for creating a CPU/GPU chip? The moment you realize you're surrounded by rabid fanboys.

 

[linkgx1]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Android has kIndia been to a lot of these points. But, again how iOS does it is different. Not reall a game changer in the tech world.

 

[applesith]

1. Agree
2. It's not the first tablet to ship with LTE...but will definitely be the one that brings it to more people.
3. Agree for the most part...the Asus Transformer Prime has a quad-core CPU, but I'm not sure how that will compare to the A5X.
4. Didn't expect anything different, so agreed.
5. What I don't fully understand is that the battery is nearly twice as big as the iPad 2 battery, but still gets the same 10 hour life. Can the Retina Display really take that much more juice? The iPhone 4 battery was only 200mah larger than the 3GS battery...so it can't be just because of the RD.

Retina but also 4G is a major power suck.

 

[linkgx1]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What exactly has changed here? Apple using LCD panels from LG and Samsung? Nothing new here. Apple is simply playing catch up (Android tablets have had better resolution than iPad for quite a while).

LTE was on Android devices for about a year now. Apple is playing catch up once again.

Same price - huge game changer

Shorter battery life - well, somewhat of a changer but not a big one.

Thing is, you're completely disregarding sales. The iPad has been kicking MAJOR ass for the last year- with immensely strong holiday 2011 sales. That's for a 9 month old tablet at the time.

Now, we're talking about the already dominating force in the tablet market getting a HELL of a lot better. The iPad 2 was still holding its own and selling massive numbers, and the new iPad will only continue that trend.

That's an invalid point. He's talking about it from a tech point. If a Merc adds a similar suspension system as a Lamborghini than is that really changing the ame?

 

[rtztgue]

I agree with smiddlehurst. This device, like a lot of devices, comes down to who uses, why they use it and what they use it for. The iPad 2 came out, I did not see that big a difference for me, so I bought a new iPad one when Verizon put them on sale for $200 off. This unit has worked fine for me and my usage. I will probably goto an apple store and lay my iPad next to the new one and run them at the same time. (I did this with the iPad 2 as well). My current thought is that my iPad is just fine. When it breaks I will get the newest iPad available.


That being said, I can certainly understand a gamer or artist or someone really wanting the retinal display. Or the faster processor for certain things. Some people need the resolution, others just need the convenience, others need the status of having the newest device. To each their own

 

[robeddie]

Thing is, you're completely disregarding sales. The iPad has been kicking MAJOR ass for the last year- with immensely strong holiday 2011 sales. That's for a 9 month old tablet at the time.

Now, we're talking about the already dominating force in the tablet market getting a HELL of a lot better. The iPad 2 was still holding its own and selling massive numbers, and the new iPad will only continue that trend.

I think the quibble here is with the term 'game changer'.

The new iPad would be more appropriately called a 'game continuer'.

It'll just continue to hold it's dominant position in the tablet market.

If the OP can explain what part of the 'game' the new iPad 'changes', that would be helpful.

 

[5aga]

Im stoked about the new iPad. Retina will be awesome, it certainly is a game changer since the competition will have to incorporate the same specs.

It will be interesting to see how the competition can package the same specs in their new tablets, especially if they try to meet Apple on the price.

 

[seong]

Retina display!
'Nuff said.

 

[DeathChill]

I find it interesting how many people are trying to dismiss the screen. Putting a screen that high resolution in such a low priced product is pretty amazing. I don't think any Android tablets are going to be doing that anytime soon.

 

[Diversion]

Apple placed a nearly double-sized battery (almost twice the capacity of the iPad2's battery) just to keep the 10 hour number.

The iPad3 battery could basically keep a iPad2 going for 20 hours with the same battery.

That being said, Apple obviously holds out for "the need" when they could have done the same thing back with the iPad but they felt 10 hours was plenty (and usually it is).

The display is the obvious singular game changer - it will be having the Android tablet makers wanting the same or getting as close to the Ipad3's screen as possible. I'd love to see a high res Android tablet

 

[MH01]

1. Retina display. Yes, that is the most impressive enhancement. Only reason I am upgrading from Ipad 1

2. LTE. - With the current LTE packages packages and download limits, Too expansive. Support while roaming and given charges.... Frack that! This could end up being a very very very painful experiences for some poor sod. Here in UK we do not even have LTE... so pffft. Smells too much like thunderbolt!

3. Apple A5X. Yeah great, but within a few months, will be matched and before ipad 4 is out, will be considered slow compared to the competition. Not revolutionary in the least. Neutral on this.

4. Price. lol, its an Apple product, from your responce, you would probably pay another 25% and be happy. We are paying a premium. Neutral in this one, but nice it did not go up

5. Battery life. Pfft.... stayed the same at ipad 2. Same happened when Ipad 2 came out. No miracles here.

No miracles here mate, tech improves year by year. We are effectively getting a beefed up iPad 2SS, this is not a game changer though. The 1st one was, this is just evolution and revolution. I just wanted a better screen, disliking the one on my current ipad.

 

[iMoo]

1.

3. Apple A5X. The CPU and GPU is blowing the lids off any other tablet on the market. It is the most powerful tablet on the market, bar none. It will be able to play high res games and complex apps. The A5X is nothing to sneeze at. The amount of engineering it took to make it even possible to fit in a thin device should earn the engineers Nobel prizes.

But can it play football manager the FULL game and not some cut back iOS version?
I hope so cos that would be freeeekin awsome.....sorry but me would like that......veeeerwy mucho ;o)

 

[ecib]

No doubt it's an excellent display, but I bet the display makes no difference to 99% of the tasks you would perform when using an iPad2.

It makes a difference to 100% of the tasks you would perform when using an iPad2. That difference is in screen clarity, and it's huge. The biggest differentiation between the iPad 2 and the iPad New, for the vast majority of consumers who are actually choosing between them, is going to be the screen. Not the processor, not LTE, not price, or any other point of difference. That's what's going to sell it.

 

[whtrbt7]

1. The new iPad is a gamechanger
2. The new iPad is a GAMECHANGER
3. Anyone who will buy this new iPad must say it's a gamechanger
4. Anyone who wants to have this new iPad must say it's a gamehanger.
5. Anyone who likes Apple marketing must say it's a gamechanger.

All Fight Club references aside, the only real feature that the 2012 iPad has over any of its other competitors is the Retina Display (tm). It's the most important part of a mobile tablet. Apple tends to simplify what they want in a device and the iPad is all about the touchscreen. If Apple can do anything to improve on the screen, they will do it.

 

[glen e]

It doesn't really matter about the semantics...

All launch posts here on any gen of pad will have a fail thread

All launch posts here on any gen of pad will have a gamechanger thread

All launch posts here on any gen of pad will have a "lousy upgrade" thread

But the product rollouts just continue to soar the stock and add cash to the apple coffers....fine with me.....32/LTE on order....

 

[Lindenhurst]

What exactly has changed here? Apple using LCD panels from LG and Samsung? Nothing new here. Apple is simply playing catch up (Android tablets have had better resolution than iPad for quite a while).

LTE was on Android devices for about a year now. Apple is playing catch up once again.

Same price - huge game changer

Shorter battery life - well, somewhat of a changer but not a big one.

C'mon man...follow the herd!!!!

 

[ucfgrad93]

While it is a nice upgrade, I don't think I would call it a game changer.

 

[eclipseblur954]

No doubt it's an excellent display, but I bet the display makes no difference to 99% of the tasks you would perform when using an iPad2.

hmm an upgraded display will change 100% of the tasks you would perform, have you owned a 3g then move to an iP4?

An impressive processor, but please give real world example of where this will make any difference to you using the device over iPad2.

anything graphical, loading a video, processing an imagine, playing a game, even loading an image heavy website would perform better.

Agreed, to keep the price at this level is great, but price doesn't make something a game changer.

Releasing all new hardware at the same low price point isn't a game changer, but is definitely something we aren't used to in the technology game (except with apple)

It's the same battery life as the iPad2, so it's not a game changer.

A device that will use about 20% more power, having the same battery life as before is definitely no small feat.

I agree with some of your points as nice to haves, but I fail to see where this will really enhance the experience over the iPad2. It's certainly not a game changer, but it is indeed a lovely, desirable device.

Stop jumping on the Apple bandwagon, it's all marketing to make you think you need the latest device when you don't. Just like the 4S, that device was a 4 with Siri, and Siri sucks balls.

Don't fall for it. Buy or stick with the iPad2, it's a great device and it's now excellent value for money.

A. you obviously haven't upgraded from the 3g to 4 as you'd know retina makes a HUGE difference in day to day activities.
B. besides the looks, the iphone 4s is a completely different beast than the 4, its MUCH faster, the camera is MUCH better, and siri does come in handy once in a while (not to mention its the best voice recognition built)

 

[palpatine]

i don't think anyone is arguing that the new ipad is somehow not an improvement in some respects. i think the sticking point is this "game changer" label that gets thrown around all too often.

when tim pulls a rolled up screen out of his back packet, unfurls it, and begins surfing the web on a retina display (sort of like caprica's personal computers), then i will call it a game changer. until then, we have another rectangular piece of metal and glass. cool, and definitely impressive, but not a "game changer."

when steve jobs pulled the ipod touch out of his pocket, that was a game changer. even though it was an iteration of the 2001 ipod, the screen changed everything, and pretty much marked the end of physical keyboards and portable media devices that only played music. i bet sony and zune employees cried themselves to sleep that night.