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Is it just me? Speaker placement on iPad 2 dumb?

D

DotCom2

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 22, 2009
6,433
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The speaker placement on the iPad 2 seems really odd to me. With most of the sound going out the back and away from the user. Am I the only one who finds this really stupid? If I have the iPad laying flat the sound is so much more muffled than if I am holding it up and even at that, I can get the sound to be so much louder if I cup my hand around where the speaker is and redirect the sound toward me. Is that weird or what? I use my headphones most of the time when I want to listen to stuff but I don't use those for just a quick listen ya know? I don't see too many other posts about it so it must be just me but it's really bugging me. :eek:
 
No, I had that thought as well, and I do the cupping my hand thing sometimes too, to redirect the sound back to me to make it louder. I guess they had to put it there cos the ipad is thinner, and putting it on the front would be asthetically unpleasing. I'm thinking abojut getting a cheap speaker for home use- I saw one that looked good for about 30 bucxks. Its my only real complaint abour rhe ipad, that the sound could be a bit louder.
 
lionqueen said:
No, I had that thought as well, and I do the cupping my hand thing sometimes too, to redirect the sound back to me to make it louder. I guess they had to put it there cos the ipad is thinner, and putting it on the front would be asthetically unpleasing. I'm thinking abojut getting a cheap speaker for home use- I saw one that looked good for about 30 bucxks. Its my only real complaint abour rhe ipad, that the sound could be a bit louder.
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not the only one then!
 
I've always thought they should use the glass on the screen somehow to amplify the speaker instead of putting it around back. Flipping the smart cover around to the back also slightly muffles the sound :(
 
I guess I'm not as weird as everyone tells me I am for doing this then! :D
 
They should have drilled 3 holes on both side of the bezel. The speaker does sound bad, but it impressed my friend so it can't be too horrible...
 
OP you are spot on. Speaker placement seems like it was almost an afterthought. For whatever engineering points Apple gets for making the iPad thinner and lighter they lose 1/2 them for putting the speakers where they did.
 
The speaker placement is actually improved from ipad1. Because the surface is curved, when placed flat on a table, the surface of the table actually cups the speaker and projects the sound better than the ipad1 did with its speaker directed parallel to the screen. That being said, I'm surprised no one has come out with a case that has some sort of "sound director" that would slide out near the speaker that would cup the sound so it bounced forward.
 
The speaker placement is not only dumb, but it also makes it look ugly as sin. Not a great job by apple this time...
 
I'm not really sure where else they could have put it? Obviously the front is a no-go as it would take away from the clean design of the screen- and frankly it would look horrible. The tapered edge of the iPad 2 prevents the speaker from being placed there. So what we're left with is the back.

If you're having issues with the sound, get an Apple TV and stream whatever you're listening to or watching to your surround sound/home theatre system. Problem solved :D.
 
I agree. I often find myself covering the speaker (although the cupping trick is nice), and do find it less visually pleasing than the speaker on the iPad 1. In fact, I remember when the pictures of the iPad 2 before it was released were on the net, and people thought it was fake because the speaker looked so ugly.

Of course, I'm not sure where the better placement would be.
 
Agreed, It's not impossible to have a design where the speaker or rather speakers are on the front.
 
The speaker placement is not ideal. I find myself also cupping the speaker too. I do have a Bluetooth speaker that I'm going to try out though.
 
The placement is a consequence of the form and thinness, unfortunately. Personally I think there should be one speaker on each side of the back, so whatever way you hold it, you always have the correct two speakers giving you stereo audio.

Yes I do the cup thing, if the speaker is in my left hand. :D
 
I agree. They could have done something like the did for the iPhone, and put 2 speakers for stereo sound. I do prefer my iPhone 4 than my wife's iPad 2.
 
You think the iPad speaker placement is dumb? Take a look at the Xoom!!
Both of those speakers shoot straight out the back. Compared to the Xoom's, the iPads is fabulous placement.:)
 
I think it sounds excellent. There is plenty of level too. For such a thin device, it's incredible you can get that kind of depth out of it. Just cup your hand around the speaker and the sound is projected towards you. Very well thought out indeed.
 
I'm not saying it HAD to be exactly like this, but it's not beyond the scope of a designer to develop a product with speakers on the front.

http://images.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/9906-archos7right.jpg

All Steve Jobs had to say to Jonathan Ive was that he wanted a beautifully designed tablet with speakers on the front of the device to offer the customers the best "Audio Experience" that was possible given the limitations of the form factor and The iPad would be designed in this way.

It's only one person's opinion on what he felt was important at the end of the day.
 
Form over Function. It should be possible to have a speaker grille in the glass bezel but that would make the design much less pleasing. We will have to live with this design i guess. There is hope that some engineer comes up with a more powerful speaker for iPad 3.....
 
I think the sound is much more directional as well.

With the ipad1 I felt the sound emanated fairly evenly across the surface of the iPad.

With the iPad 2, the sound is very noticeably coming from the speaker vent.
 
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