More iPad2 Rumors

[JulianL]

I think that the bit of the rumour about a new display could well be true and I really hope that it is. I don't think it will be a change in resolution though, I think that the main new features of the screen will be one or both of (1) lower power consumption, and (2) cheaper to manufacture.

I don't care much about (2) but you can be sure that Apple do because I'm pretty sure that any cost savings will be used to boost their margins rather than reduce prices. What I'm hoping that they can do something worthwhile on is (1) above. Manufacturers must be trying really hard to make gains here, even if it's jusy slightly more efficient backlight LEDs, optimised light paths from the LEDs to the viewing area, or slightly more sophisticated plastics that are more transparent and result in less light loss from the point of emission through to the visible surface.

With the iPad in particular I suspect that the screen is now the only route to meaningful increases in power efficiency thus allowing them either to reduce the thickness and weight via a smaller battery, to increase the battery life, or some blend of the two.

I don't think that there's much doubt that future iterations of the A4 chip (A5 and beyond?) will get more power efficient but that will be more helpful for the iPhone. The percentage of the power consumption that the A4 accounts for vs the power drawn by that 9.7" screen must be pretty small so I hope that Apple can make some worthwhile reductions in power consumption by improving the technologies used in the screen.

- Julian

 

[Piggie]

The problem I see that Apple has is trying to make just 1 model.

Think about it for a moment in the land of laptops.

If someone made only one laptop.

It had to be good at Gaming, Internet, Office, Nice screen, Long battery life. Lightweight etc etc.........

As I'm sure we can all understand that would be impossible.

This is why Everyone, even Apple makes different Laptops for different people's needs. Some want a big beefy MacBook Pro, other want a light and long lasting MacBook Air.

The same in the PC world, we have everything from i7 Gaming powerhouse Laptops with 17" or even 20" screens, right down to tiny netbooks which last all day on a charge.

So, the question is really this...............................

Is it even realistic, in the long term to only offer one tablet that tries to do everything for everyone?

Some people want to read books and browse the web for 2 days without a charge.

Some people want to be able to play 3D games at home 2 foot away from a power socket.

Some people want to do photo editing, or playing back music that's loud enough to be heard in a large room.

Would it not be more Realistic, Practical and Obvious, that in time different tablets would on offer?

Yes, they can all run the same OS, so all be totally compatible (in the same way a Netbook and a Gaming powerhouse is right now.)

But they would have their strengths and weaknesses depending on what the customer wanted.

Like Cars, Motorcycles, Computers, Laptops, Printers, Microwaves, Ovens, Lawnmowers, Sneekers, etc etc etc..............

 

[George Knighton]

The problem I see that Apple has is trying to make just 1 model.

I see your point, and maybe they'll move a little bit more in your direction soon.

For me, though, they rather hit the nail on the head. I'd never dream of movie or photo editing on the iPad. But it's good enough to use for heavy content creation (of mostly text) in a situation where there is an urgency, and it's reasonably good for reading just about all content and watching movies when you're away from home.

To do more, I think we'd have to see a generational leap ahead in processors and in the kinds of graphics we can put into this form factor. I wouldn't want to change the form factor...but I'd be tempted to buy something in the same form factor that had a stronger processor, more storage and better graphics.

No denying, though, they've hit a home run with what they have right now!

 

[JulianL]

The problem I see that Apple has is trying to make just 1 model
...
Would it not be more Realistic, Practical and Obvious, that in time different tablets would on offer?

Yes, they can all run the same OS, so all be totally compatible (in the same way a Netbook and a Gaming powerhouse is right now.)

But they would have their strengths and weaknesses depending on what the customer wanted.

That's a very interesting observation. So long as the screen sizes and resolutions are the same and the differences are to do with performance vs battery life tradeoffs, and maybe visual screen characteristics such as an eInk version, then they won't fragment the app base which is something that they need to be very careful not to do. Some games apps could even borrow an idea from the PC Gaming world and give the user the option to drop down the effects settings on the game if the user insists on running them on one of the lower power devices but it would still be the same app on the app store.

I think it would have been suicide for Apple to try this on the iPad 1 because they were trying to establish a new product category in the consumer space and having multiple variants would have given them a more confusing message to get across to the average consumer. Once tablets become as established as laptops and the other products you listed at the end then maybe choice can be introduced without creating confusion. How far into the future that point will come is an interesting discussion.

A counter argument is that at some point maybe the issue of power vs battery life goes away because Apple can produce silicon that is so capable and power efficient, and they get to the volumes that make it fairly cheap, so they put the maximum CPU/GPU capability into everything and have a 20+ hour runtime on office apps and low intensity gaming because the CPU/GPU clocks itself right down and hardly breaks a sweat but if a hardcore gamer hammers on it then the battery life drops to 4 or 5 hours. At that point it becomes the gamer's choice, and a known characteristic of the product, so it is up to them to ensure that they're never too far from a powerpoint. Again, how far into the future it will be before this scenario is practical is an interesting question.

Finally, right now I can't see Apple producing an eInk version (you didn't mention that but I've seen it suggested elsewhere) because that does put the focus for that version right onto eBooks and I don't think that Apple are comfortable playing only in that arena, they always try to widen the conversation, because they really are still so far behind Amazon/Kindle on content right now that if they try to promote something solely to the ebook space they are likely to be destroyed by Amazon/Kindle in that space.

- Julian

 

[Zombify]

Can't wait for the new iPad. It will have the things that I have been waiting for, which is why I did not purchase the first version.

 

[Akash.B]

That's what they all said about the iPod Touch 4g. Yet the rumors were spot on.

The iPod touch 4 doesn't even have an IPS panel. If you see the price, a 'retina display' for a 3.5'' device is quite cheap. That's because the resolution is just 960x640, less than the iPad, and easily handled by the A4.

Apple can't just slightly increase resolution because then all the apps wouldn't be scalable. That's why it would be double, 2048x1538. That's impossible on a sub $1000 price point. But even more than that, it would be impossible to use without a seriously powerful processor. It would take a lot of magic to make this one happen.

 

[thomamon]

I can't wait for my iPad 2 with the Retina display