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iPad Real World Everyday Use: Is the iPad 4 much better than the iPad 3?

braddick

braddick

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 28, 2009
3,953
1,076
Encinitas, CA
For day to day, is there a marked difference between these two iPads? I'd like to read of experiences members here have had- first hand, vs reading spec sheets that break the two iPads apart.

What does the iPad4 do better?
 
The iPad 3 pretty much runs about the same speed as the iPad 2 because it uses a slightly powerful processor to render and display twice the pixels.

The iPad 4 is like the processing difference between the iPad 2 and iPad 3 without being slowed down.
 
braddick said:
For day to day, is there a marked difference between these two iPads? I'd like to read of experiences members here have had- first hand, vs reading spec sheets that break the two iPads apart.

What does the iPad4 do better?
Click to expand...
Aside from the lightning connector, it's pretty hard to tell them apart.

There are 3-4 games with iPad4 profiles that give slightly higher texture clarity.

Other than that. Email, messaging, calendars, web surfing, Flipboard. All snappy and fast on both.
 
Menel said:
Other than that. Email, messaging, calendars, web surfing, Flipboard. All snappy and fast on both.
Click to expand...


I disagree. Everything is just more fluid on the 4. It's very noticeable for me because i'm a heavy user, and having come from an iPad 3 before it. Some examples are home screen animations and scrolling in content heavy websites. Stuttering is virtually not existant on the 4 whereas the 3 would occasionally struggle at times. Apps also launch much quicker which is useful for me as I switch between many apps quickly.
 
syd430 said:
I disagree. Everything is just more fluid on the 4. It's very noticeable for me because i'm a heavy user, and having come from an iPad 3 before it. Some examples are home screen animations and scrolling in content heavy websites. Stuttering is virtually not existant on the 4 whereas the 3 would occasionally struggle at times. Apps also launch much quicker which is useful for me as I switch between many apps quickly.
Click to expand...

I've owed both. Believe me, except for the lightning port on the bottom, you'll never know the difference. Don't be fooled.
 
ougum said:
I've owed both. Believe me, except for the lightning port on the bottom, you'll never know the difference. Don't be fooled.
Click to expand...

Thanks for correcting my personal experience and pointing out that I am simply wrong.

Did it ever occur to you that my usage patterns are different to yours before you decided write out your rude post?
 
Im a power user and I noticed for real world every day use - some improvements in the iPad 4 over the 3 but to be honest - the iPad 3 is cheaper so unless you play new games and use the ipad almost all the time go with the 3
 
It appears based on the excellent responses above the iPad3 is running on six cylinders while the iPad4 is a V8.

If I'm just cruising around town, picking up the groceries; dropping the kids off at soccer and whatnot, the 3 will be fine.

If I like to occasionally floor it on a wide open road during a weekend ride, the 4 is the engine to pick.
 
syd430 said:
I disagree. Everything is just more fluid on the 4. It's very noticeable for me because i'm a heavy user, and having come from an iPad 3 before it. Some examples are home screen animations and scrolling in content heavy websites. Stuttering is virtually not existant on the 4 whereas the 3 would occasionally struggle at times. Apps also launch much quicker which is useful for me as I switch between many apps quickly.
Click to expand...

Right. For your usage patterns, but you only stated home screen animations and heavy sites and switching apps. Nothing to do with what the person you replied to said.

To the OP, I guess the only real benefit is if you play games a lot or you like the convenience of the lightning cable if you have other apple devices that use it. Resale value, iPad 4 is nicer.
 
The iPad 4 is noticeably faster than the iPad 3. If you do not notice the difference then good for you. That just means that you lack the capability to notice it. However, that doesn't mean that there is no difference, because there is.
 
The iPad 4 can't do anything more than the iPad 3 but all the things that could use extra power, the iPad 4 does better.
 
Battery life.
51742.png
 
taedouni said:
The iPad 4 is noticeably faster than the iPad 3. If you do not notice the difference then good for you. That just means that you lack the capability to notice it. However, that doesn't mean that there is no difference, because there is.
Click to expand...

Hahaha. You lack the capability to notice it = it is faster, but not enough that it matters. For the stuff I do most of the time, it is not noticeable (by my incapable brain), but I do not play games or generally use apps that push the limits of the device. I use Safari, iAnnotate, Evernote, etc. I bet your use case is the most important factor. If you gave my parents a netbook, it would just as fast for them as a Macbook Pro, because they are just checking email. But, if you gave a netbook to a graphic artist, they would be writhing around on the floor in pain. So, the improvement is in the eye of the beholder. Not incapability, per se, but use case.

The battery life mentioned above would be great. And, I imagine that if I scrolled through enough of my PDFs side by side I could see a difference between the 3 and 4. What I hope is that someday Apple will come out with something so powerful that I no longer have to see those checkerboards on my iPad while I wait for a PDF page to render. Maybe the iPad 5.
 
It was really noticeable to me when I got the 4 after owning the 3. The browsing loaded much faster and that's where I found the most useful change. I don't game much, you would probably notice it there too.
 
ougum said:
I've owed both. Believe me, except for the lightning port on the bottom, you'll never know the difference. Don't be fooled.
Click to expand...

Lol...wrong!

I still own both. The iPad 4 is noticeably faster in almost any task you can throw at it. For population of my morning RSS reader to rendering photos...exporting a video to downloading and installing updates. Launching apps, browser speed and retention, sync'ing with iCloud in Pages, Numbers and Keynote...I can't think of anything that isn't obvious. The speed of the 4 exceeds the 3 in benchmarks by two fold. You won't necessarily notice double the speed in everything...but you most certainly WILL notice a faster and less 'strained' speed with the latest machine.

Again...I own both. I use both. Daily! The 3 is an excellent tablet. Easily the second best on the market. But if you're looking for the fastest, the iPad 4 is it

J
 
Basically, the iPad 3 is pushing a sweat - maxing-out, behind the scenes just to look good when doing basic tasks, whereas the iPad 4 looks as good, but behind the scenes, it's taking a leisurely walk in the park, with resources to spare.
 
akdj said:
Lol...wrong!

I still own both. The iPad 4 is noticeably faster in almost any task you can throw at it. For population of my morning RSS reader to rendering photos...exporting a video to downloading and installing updates. Launching apps, browser speed and retention, sync'ing with iCloud in Pages, Numbers and Keynote...I can't think of anything that isn't obvious. The speed of the 4 exceeds the 3 in benchmarks by two fold. You won't necessarily notice double the speed in everything...but you most certainly WILL notice a faster and less 'strained' speed with the latest machine.

Again...I own both. I use both. Daily! The 3 is an excellent tablet. Easily the second best on the market. But if you're looking for the fastest, the iPad 4 is it

J
Click to expand...

Lol why the heck would you use both the 3 and 4 on a daily basis??
 
Luis2004 said:
Lol why the heck would you use both the 3 and 4 on a daily basis??
Click to expand...

LOL! Yeah that is funny. Most users would never be able to tell the difference without looking at the bottom of the unit. But if they think their 4 is the best thing since sliced bread, I say let them have at it. LOL!
 
It doesn't matter what these guys say, I still love you iPad 3!

Aha, I suppose the performance on the 4th gen is a lot better, but for just about anything the 3 shines. The only time I experience a slowdown on mine is with internet related activities, and that's due to my 1 up 0.5 down connection.
 
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