Can we guess ipad2's spec now based on other droid tablet?

[jvmxtra]

Just like title says,

Can we now come up w/ some educated guess on what ipad 2 SHOULD be running in terms of hardware?

I mean competition is HEATING up w/ all these new droid based tablet coming out -- not to mention, some of them will be real good.

At time like this and also tablet war being probably one of the biggest war for supremacy and market share, can apple afford to do a tiny upgrade going into ipad 2(such as 512mb 1.2 cpu (no dual core) and no resolution improvement) ?

I really hope apple does not drop the ball on this one as it would suck badly.
MB survives on it's great looks and great OS but in tablet, margin of error is so little. I hope apple does the right thing. I hope they are not freaking out looking at new tablets flooding in w/ dual core now thinking perhaps they should have gone all out for ipad2.. Seriously.

 

[0815]

Just like title says,

Can we now come up w/ some educated guess on what ipad 2 SHOULD be running in terms of hardware?

I mean competition is HEATING up w/ all these new droid based tablet coming out -- not to mention, some of them will be real good.

At time like this and also tablet war being probably one of the biggest war for supremacy and market share, can apple afford to do a tiny upgrade going into ipad 2(such as 512mb 1.2 cpu (no dual core) and no resolution improvement) ?

I really hope apple does not drop the ball on this one as it would suck badly.
MB survives on it's great looks and great OS but in tablet, margin of error is so little. I hope apple does the right thing. I hope they are not freaking out looking at new tablets flooding in w/ dual core now thinking perhaps they should have gone all out for ipad2.. Seriously.

Don't think apple needs to 'copy' or 'follow' other tablets ... they are pretty innovative by themselves and it is the others following apple - others might be sometimes ahead in minor obvious improvements (since they came out later) - but the big improvements will come from apple - and I am also sure Apple will also not follow any Featuritis and stay true with 'rather less features, but those working good' - since what good are hundreds of features if the whole package does not work well together.

 

[Stetrain]

I don't think that Apple will hold back much, this is a new area and there is lots of competition, not like the iPhone where it took three years for everyone else to really catch up.

Like everyone else I wish they could use a higher PPI display, but I don't really see how that's possible at this point.

Dual core processor seems like a predictable step, and 512mb of RAM seems absolutely necessary. 1GB of RAM would be really nice, it seems like the iPad runs into memory problems a lot, especially in areas like web browser tabs.

Facetime is a shoe-in, and a rear camera seems likely just to keep in line with the competition and with the rest of the iOS product line. It isn't really necessary but it would be cool for Facetime (showing the other person something without holding the iPad backwards) and for augmented reality. Maybe it will be more like the iPod touch camera than the iPhone 4 camera, good enough for facetime and other uses but not a real photo camera.

The "leaked" case designs show it being thinner and very slightly smaller. I think that maybe a slightly sized down iPad could be cool, not exactly a 7" but more like 8.5" or 9", it would increase PPI a bit and make it more compact without really reducing the usability. Probably won't happen though.

 

[jdcell100]

I don't care what it has I'm buying it as soon as they announce it could just say iPad 2. And I'm buying it. Luv this thing

 

[jvmxtra]

I am not sure if ipad 2 can get away as much if it were to use less of hardware than mb getting away w/ murder w/ it's now 4 year old CPU.

Don't get me wrong, I think ipad 1 can still be very useful and great but just adding facetime and back camera would not cut the mustard for lot of people(Having said that, I am buying ipad 2 blindly)

BTW, OS , for me at least, is more than fine the way it is now. I really do not care for fancy OS like droid 3.0 is trying to be as it's just a hassle for me to get to my apps that I need to use..

 

[Tyldak]

"I really hope apple does not drop the ball on this one as it would suck badly"

I feel the same. I've not read anything that give me hope something truly innovative is coming this year. My guess is this year may be a bit disappointing for some. Mild hardware upgrades and a camera for facetime. Next year will probably be more "innovative".

Even iOS4.0 seemed to be a "catch-up to the competition" release for the phone. My driod phone was already doing what iOS4.0 "introduced". (things like folders and multitasking).

"rather less features, but those working good"

That statement seems to ring true. I've had an iPhone, Droid, and I have an iPad. I stopped using my iPhone because of AT&T and I just disconnected my Droid because it was buggy. I'm very happy with my iPad. I'd be happy with minor upgrades, though I hope for more. Apple has everyone beat on quality and consistancy. But they are already falling behind on features.

I would imagine anyone who's had an iOS product will get frustrated with Android until (or if) they make it more stable. People who have never had a smart phone or a tablet might love Android. But mainly because they don't know how much better the experience could have been for them if they had an Apple product.

 

[brendu]

I did not get the first gen iPad because a good friends boyfriend works for apple. His background is in programming so I assume he is a programmer for them but typical apple style he cant say a word of what he is doing. Back to the point, he told her and she passed on to me that we should wait for the iPad 2 all the way back in March. He knew then that the features it would come with would make it much more worth having.

My biggest hope is that they can give us more software improvements to iOS5 rather than dramatic hardware increases. Apple is so good at efficient coding that 512 ram is enough and a 1ghz processor runs everything fine.

What im REALLY psyched to see is the palmPad with webOS. To me thats the only thing that could lure me away from the iPad2. If HP/Palm show up next month with a really amazing tablet, I might go for it, but more likely than not it will disappoint regardless of how amazing webOS is.

 

[Synthion]

Apple is Apple. Many people, like myself, buy macs and iStuff because of power, simplicity, and compatibility. But don't kid yourself, apple is a brand. A popular brand. They can get away with charging a little more, without looking at alternatives. Most people don't see ipad as a tablet, they see it as THE tablet, so innovation might come at a slower rate simply due to the lack of need. I do not think apple will make a dual-core ipad. That's what the air is for. I would like to see a more powerful processor, a camera, lighter, and HDMI out. (One can dream) But, apple could make no changes and people would still buy it. I love apple, and that would disappoint me, but at this point I am seriously eyeing the XOOM as an iPad 2 alternative. But I also have yet to have any hands-on with honeycomb, so iOS might still prevail, as it always has, but there is that sliver of doubt.

P.S.: iOS is based on OS X, further based on one of the most stable and fast operating system, UNIX. Android is a Linux distribution, a UNIX clone, and less stable than iOS. Don't blame Google. Blame Google. (For a different reason)

 

[Tom G.]

no, you cannot predict anything Apple does based on what other companies do, because is appears that Apple does not care what other companies do. And they have proved again and again that this attitude and way of thinking is correct.

 

[Pressure]

There is a limited number of System-on-Chips (SoC's) available, so it is pretty easy to make an educated guess.

• Samsung Orion (most viable, as A4 is more or less Hummingbird)
• ST-Ericsson U8500 (doubtful)
• TI OMAP4 (possible)
• nVidia Tegra 2 (perhaps, although doubtful)
• Qualcomm MSM8260 (possible)
• Freescale i.MX6 (doubtful)

Take your pick.

Otherwise they have made their own "A5" in-house, featuring (as the lot above) dual Cortex A9. GPU would be from Imagination Technologies, as Apple is an licensee of both ARM and ImgTec. Would be surprising, as the Samsung Orion is more or less destined to be nearly, if not, identical to anything Apple would do.

It could be dual Cortex A9 clocked at either 1 Ghz, 1.2 Ghz or, an highly optimistic, 1.5 Ghz. At least 512MB (hopefully 1024MB) and 5x GPU performance compared to the current A4.

Incidentally, that fits both the Samsung Orion and nVidia Tegra 2.

 

[jvmxtra]

no, you cannot predict anything Apple does based on what other companies do, because is appears that Apple does not care what other companies do. And they have proved again and again that this attitude and way of thinking is correct.

Perhaps not react to other company but apple does think about their customer.
They knew they had to price ipad very competitevly.

I seriously do think osx and look of mbp is their key to their high price and lack of hardware power. Because of simplicity of using osx plus lack of virus makes things so different from other window based laptops(not even gonna mention trackpad and great screen). Simply there is no competition in laptop IMHO.

Tablet however is a different game. Smart phone is also becoming very different game. Droid is for real and real war will continue. It used to be app is the greatest thing for IOS device. In couple years, droid will catch up.
At the moment, without a doubt I love my ipod touch because of all the games and apps that's available that's not in droid.
In couple years, we might not be able to say that.
Steve knows this. And hence he HAD to add Retina display.(this is just my opinion obviously).
Ipad 2 while apps are still the greatest of other tablet, it will catch on.
while droid tablets are coming out w/ this and that, Steve might not just say "uhh.. yes we added facetime and rear camera".... That would be BS and mr.job knows it. That would be weak and does nothing to wow the crowds. Steve wants to say "one more thing" w/ confidence... and he will.. i hope :-(

 

[captjoe06]

"I really hope apple does not drop the ball on this one as it would suck badly"

I feel the same. I've not read anything that give me hope something truly innovative is coming this year. My guess is this year may be a bit disappointing for some. Mild hardware upgrades and a camera for facetime. Next year will probably be more "innovative".

Even iOS4.0 seemed to be a "catch-up to the competition" release for the phone. My driod phone was already doing what iOS4.0 "introduced". (things like folders and multitasking).

"rather less features, but those working good"

That statement seems to ring true. I've had an iPhone, Droid, and I have an iPad. I stopped using my iPhone because of AT&T and I just disconnected my Droid because it was buggy. I'm very happy with my iPad. I'd be happy with minor upgrades, though I hope for more. Apple has everyone beat on quality and consistancy. But they are already falling behind on features.

I would imagine anyone who's had an iOS product will get frustrated with Android until (or if) they make it more stable. People who have never had a smart phone or a tablet might love Android. But mainly because they don't know how much better the experience could have been for them if they had an Apple product.

As a former iPod touch user who uses an android based HTC EVO and an iPad, I agree 100% with this post from first hand experience. Constantly having to babysit the battery in case some rogue app is wreaking havoc on my EVO is no fun. There are more features on my EVO but that comes at the expense of dependability and a polished user experience. I'd say that about 30% of my android apps are either buggy or less feature enriched than their iPad/iPod touch counterparts.

 

[aduteau]

Hardware ...
- I think we will see the new A5 .... 1.2Ghz Dual core Cortex A9
- Probably 512mb RAM .... I am hoping for 1Gig
- Dual cameras ... one in front ... 3 Mega .... One in the back .... 5 Mega
- New Speakers ... louder
- Maybe a micro USB (because of the EU having to put one on devices over there)
- No SD card reader slot
- A gyro
- New Screen, not a retina amount of pixels ... but brighter ans better colors
- Maybe a new screen glass for less finger prints on screen...
- We now the shape of the new iPad will be like the current ipod ... tapered edges ...
- Will be lighter and thinner


On the software side .... it will probably come with iOS 4.3 ... then update for iOS5 during this summer when iphone 5 launches ....

What I think it will have in iOS 5 is this:

- no new UI changes
- better airplay (lets 3rd party apps airplay videos)
- better airprint ( has more printers added )
- better game center integration ( allows chating with friends, better way to find friends)

- Faster app switching
- imovies comes to the ipad (but not part of iOS 5 ... I just had to say it lol )
- iOS now supports Dual core processors
- More API's for DEV

 

[nunes013]

Hardware ...
- I think we will see the new A5 .... 1.2Ghz Dual core Cortex A9
- Probably 512mb RAM .... I am hoping for 1Gig
- Dual cameras ... one in front ... 3 Mega .... One in the back .... 5 Mega
- New Speakers ... louder
- Maybe a micro USB (because of the EU having to put one on devices over there)
- No SD card reader slot
- A gyro
- New Screen, not a retina amount of pixels ... but brighter ans better colors
- Maybe a new screen glass for less finger prints on screen...
- We now the shape of the new iPad will be like the current ipod ... tapered edges ...
- Will be lighter and thinner

/QUOTE]

this is exactly what im thinking. the speaker, gyro, camera is all very inexpensive stuff. its the ram and processor that would kill it. also i say it ships with 4.3 or 4.3 comes soon after

 

[kRobbin]

Front camera would be enough for me. I see myself using it as perfect video chat device, not so great camera, but both would be nice too.

Slide out keyboard would be nice, too.

I'm sure they will cook up something to amaze us.

 

[Consultant]

Competition heating up? You meant the iPad knockoff tablets with no release date, and mostly no working demo? LOL

 

[thatappleguytoday]

Give me a higher res screen, more ram, and PLEASE give me a side dock 30 pin!

Oh and give me more off on my corporate discount haha!

 

[LeighAnna Jones]

Apple pretty much gave birth to the tablet madness... not sure if the iPad was the first tablet ever, but after it's release, other companies are going crazy.

If you ask me, apple has a mind of it's own and it doesn't need other companies to bump it to action.

I would simply like the iPad as a small "computer" since I know my parent's don't really feel like blowing three thousand or more bucks on a laptop. iPads are portable, you can play games, and you can go online. That's all I need on a laptop and the iPad has even more.

I am also very excited about the fact of the possible front facing camera, webcam posts to facebook and skype. Just can't wait. I made myself promise for the 2. If the 2 doesn't have what I want, I wait for the 4. I like the even numbers the best.

 

[Pressure]

I missed something important yesterday, so I will have to adjust my guesstimate on what will be running the iPad 2.

My current best offer is an in-house "A5" chip consisting of (simple overview, sans I/O and other fundamental things):

• Dual Core Cortex A9 (1 Ghz)
• PowerVR Series 6 ('Rogue') GPU
• Baseband modem (UMTS+EDGE)
• Wi-Fi (802.11n, 2.4 / 5 Ghz)
• A-GPS

Best served with either 512 MB or 1024 MB of RAM.

It will probably stay at 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB offerings to keep costs down but, hopefully, have 3G+Wi-Fi as standard as opposed to the silly $130 difference between the Wi-Fi and 3G+Wi-Fi models we currently can buy.

One chip to rule them all (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch).

 

[GnillGnoll]

as A4 is more or less Hummingbird

"Hummingbird" is the name of the Intrinsity-modified ARM Cortex-A8 CPU used in both Apple A4 and Samsung S5PC110. Apart from sharing the CPU, what makes you think those two chips are very similar?

Given that Apple has gathered considerable silicon design talent (including PA Semi and Intrinsity) and already used their own SoC design, I think the chances of Apple not using an in-house design for the next iPad are exceedingly small.

 

[Pressure]

"Hummingbird" is the name of the Intrinsity-modified ARM Cortex-A8 CPU used in both Apple A4 and Samsung S5PC110. Apart from sharing the CPU, what makes you think those two chips are very similar?

Given that Apple has gathered considerable silicon design talent (including PA Semi and Intrinsity) and already used their own SoC design, I think the chances of Apple not using an in-house design for the next iPad are exceedingly small.

I believe the Xrays that floated around the web showing the A4 and the Samsung S5PC110 being nearly, if not entirely, similar.

But I agree, it would make sense for it to be an in-house design (when accounting for the P.A. Semi and Intrinsity expertise gathered by Apple), hence also why I changed my current guess in the post just above yours.

 

[Piggie]

Apple pretty much gave birth to the tablet madness... not sure if the iPad was the first tablet ever, but after it's release, other companies are going crazy.

If you ask me, apple has a mind of it's own and it doesn't need other companies to bump it to action.

I would simply like the iPad as a small "computer" since I know my parent's don't really feel like blowing three thousand or more bucks on a laptop. iPads are portable, you can play games, and you can go online. That's all I need on a laptop and the iPad has even more.

I am also very excited about the fact of the possible front facing camera, webcam posts to facebook and skype. Just can't wait. I made myself promise for the 2. If the 2 doesn't have what I want, I wait for the 4. I like the even numbers the best.

Three thousand or more bucks needed to buy a laptop?

What

 

[Piggie]

Front camera would be enough for me. I see myself using it as perfect video chat device, not so great camera, but both would be nice too.

Slide out keyboard would be nice, too.

I'm sure they will cock up something to amaze us.

Corrected it for you

 

[Pinnoks]

I just pray that the next model has a front facing camera. It would be awesome if they could improve the tablet in what ever way so that it is better for gaming.

 

[Piggie]

I just pray that the next model has a front facing camera. It would be awesome if they could improve the tablet in what ever way so that it is better for gaming.

My only puzzle about how a front facing camera will work is, how far away will you have to hold the iPad for the camera to correctly see your face?

Not sure how they could to get around that one, especially in Landscape mode when it will be off to to side quite a lot if you like using your iPad reasonably close.