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iPad 4 - What Improvements/Features?
- Thread starter austinguy23
- Start date
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I'm interested to see what this minor "mid year refresh" of the iPad 3rd gen will be during the presumed iPad Mini event.
Slightly annoyed that they're doing that after people just bought the iPad this year. Especially if they make it more battery efficiently and lighter/thinner.
Argh?
Slightly annoyed that they're doing that after people just bought the iPad this year. Especially if they make it more battery efficiently and lighter/thinner.
Argh?
I'd normally say the same thing but, oddly, I think this time we can make a pretty good guess: New CPU / GPU will be the big thing and have a significant effect elsewhere in the product to boot.
Cortex A15 processors and PowerVR Series 6 should both be available for March 2013 and promise a huge jump forward in processing power and efficiency. That's vital for the iPad retina display and will have a dramatic effect on both user experience and, potentially, design. I'd imagine Apple will be seriously looking to reduce power requirements from the current iPad if at all possible as shrinking that big battery pack down a bit is going to be key to reducing weight and letting them play with the design if they want to.
On top of that I'd expect to see the newer generation of LTE radios be included, if only to reduce power requirements and maybe offer additional LTE bands. If the rumours of iPhone 5 featuring in-cell touch technology are true then maybe that would also make it to the iPad (though I suspect that depends on whether or not the iPad retina display adds any additional problems to implementing that tech).
Everything else is, of course, up in the air but I would expect an evolutionary product rather than a revolutionary one this time round.
I expect:
the new IGZO displays
Thinner
Lighter
Same battery life
better wifi antennas (like kindle fire hd)
BIG increase in both cpu and gpu power
world lte radios
32/64/128gb - yes, the time has come!!!
smaller dock connector
upgraded rear camera to the 4s one
facetime hd front camera
I would also like a better speaker, but tbh the current iPad one is pretty good!
the new IGZO displays
Thinner
Lighter
Same battery life
better wifi antennas (like kindle fire hd)
BIG increase in both cpu and gpu power
world lte radios
32/64/128gb - yes, the time has come!!!
smaller dock connector
upgraded rear camera to the 4s one
facetime hd front camera
I would also like a better speaker, but tbh the current iPad one is pretty good!
It's a screen. I feel there are only so many improvements you can make, short of gimmicky features like a built-in projector or infra-red keyboard scanner. 
Quad-core processor, more ram.storage, that igzo screen supposedly allowing thinner form factor and lower power consumption, maybe improved battery tech to allow for even longer battery life, maybe better quality speakers...
The really basic stuff.
Quad-core processor, more ram.storage, that igzo screen supposedly allowing thinner form factor and lower power consumption, maybe improved battery tech to allow for even longer battery life, maybe better quality speakers...
The really basic stuff.
I'm definitely down for the 128GB option. The apps, particularly for video-creators are rapidly becoming more demanding, and allowing more ability to craft large-scale projects. If anything, they're the kind of people who may have the highest potential to use up more space for work. Even the music programs are getting to the point they will demand higher space requirements for project data. Of course, its no complaint that we have provisions for uploading and offloading this data to and from the iPad now.
Still, who knows what the future will bring and especially for video creators also using music, a single actual video may be comprised of a number of projects which get edited together. It would be nice to make sure that same machine can do such a thing with the data that is on it without worrying so much about space.
Outside of that, the typical wants as the poster above me said, would be what I would ask for. Apps are pretty much covering the software part of the wish-list. And they continue to move in a direction of power even with what we currently have.
The iPad, right now, is pretty much a Star Trek device. I'm just glad I don't just have to envy those guys on television anymore about their cool inter-connected tablets and such which, in reality, were just mockups.
But as a simple, interest; it would be interesting if they can get to the point where they could have animated backgrounds for the main icon view screen. Of course, people will go crazy with it and create distracting backgrounds, but I wouldn't mind having something akin to a slow moving cool simple gradient plasma effect behind the icons. Considering with the iPad, Apple already long since nailed the idea of how to show video running with extremely low power consumption. They already had 10+ hour straight video-playback per charge with iPad 1, in their video app.
Still, who knows what the future will bring and especially for video creators also using music, a single actual video may be comprised of a number of projects which get edited together. It would be nice to make sure that same machine can do such a thing with the data that is on it without worrying so much about space.
Outside of that, the typical wants as the poster above me said, would be what I would ask for. Apps are pretty much covering the software part of the wish-list. And they continue to move in a direction of power even with what we currently have.
The iPad, right now, is pretty much a Star Trek device. I'm just glad I don't just have to envy those guys on television anymore about their cool inter-connected tablets and such which, in reality, were just mockups.
But as a simple, interest; it would be interesting if they can get to the point where they could have animated backgrounds for the main icon view screen. Of course, people will go crazy with it and create distracting backgrounds, but I wouldn't mind having something akin to a slow moving cool simple gradient plasma effect behind the icons. Considering with the iPad, Apple already long since nailed the idea of how to show video running with extremely low power consumption. They already had 10+ hour straight video-playback per charge with iPad 1, in their video app.
Last edited:
IGZO display
Thinner (8.8 mm or thinner) and Lighter
Battery life = 12 hours
A6X @ 1Ghz
8mp f/2.2 aperture
Facetime HD camera
"the new iPad s"
It is a screen bolted onto a battery. Real innovation from here on out will be in software/apps.
It is a screen bolted onto a battery. Real innovation from here on out will be in software/apps.
It's going to be a media-centric tablet. Therefore no update, just dumping down of iPad features.
Don't forget we already have an iPhone 5 that will support a larger display!
I think there is a strong chance for these:
IGZO screen
Cortex A15 processor
2 GB RAM
Doubled Storage with up to 128 GB
Almost no chance, but would be lovely:
Camera sensor spread out between the screen pixels so that you can look directly at the person you are speaking to on FaceTime
The Apple patent for this: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph...22".PGNR.&OS=DN/20060007222&RS=DN/20060007222
IGZO screen
Cortex A15 processor
2 GB RAM
Doubled Storage with up to 128 GB
Almost no chance, but would be lovely:
Camera sensor spread out between the screen pixels so that you can look directly at the person you are speaking to on FaceTime
The Apple patent for this: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph...22".PGNR.&OS=DN/20060007222&RS=DN/20060007222
If anything, all I can see them is changing the dock port to the newer, smaller one. Otherwise, nothing else will change.
I would really, really like:
1) Far better stylus input (I really need this for note-taking via stylus)
2) IGZO display (basically confirmed...)
3) New Dock Connector (again, all but confirmed)
4) FRONT-FACING speakers
5) 2.0+ MP front facing camera w/ a better sensor
6) Improved back camera
7) Stocks app (although this would be done through iOS)
8) That Concept Smarter Smart Cover Compatibility
9) Finder (again, done through iOS if at all...)
10) NFC (Surprisingly useful lol)
11) More Efficient Battery
12) A Hugely Improved Processor (more than A6-- although it's slowly happening, I want to be able to use FCPX on an iPad within the next 5 years, although I know it'll take a while)
13) LED Flash on the back camera
14) A Dedicated Keyboard Clamshell Dock Accessory
15) USB out support (for charging an iPhone, game controllers, flash drives, etc)
16) A 128gb+ option
So, those are the 16 off the top of my head. If the next one has even 4 of those (or less, depending on which) I'll pick one up.
1) Far better stylus input (I really need this for note-taking via stylus)
2) IGZO display (basically confirmed...)
3) New Dock Connector (again, all but confirmed)
4) FRONT-FACING speakers
5) 2.0+ MP front facing camera w/ a better sensor
6) Improved back camera
7) Stocks app (although this would be done through iOS)
8) That Concept Smarter Smart Cover Compatibility
9) Finder (again, done through iOS if at all...)
10) NFC (Surprisingly useful lol)
11) More Efficient Battery
12) A Hugely Improved Processor (more than A6-- although it's slowly happening, I want to be able to use FCPX on an iPad within the next 5 years, although I know it'll take a while)
13) LED Flash on the back camera
14) A Dedicated Keyboard Clamshell Dock Accessory
15) USB out support (for charging an iPhone, game controllers, flash drives, etc)
16) A 128gb+ option
So, those are the 16 off the top of my head. If the next one has even 4 of those (or less, depending on which) I'll pick one up.
To be fair, looking at all the negative sentiments and controversy surrounding the release of the 1st ipad (juxtaposed against its actual popularity), it does suggest that Apple can be better at telling us what we want, than we ourselves.