Why the new iPad is great, but it isn't

[swingerofbirch]

I kind of think there's only so much they can do once they define an entire product category. Every smartphone is now a small slab of glass with a touch interface, every tablet is a larger slab of glass with a touch interface.

What disappoints me more is how little iOS has changed since the first iPhone as released. Microsoft is definitely standing on Apple's shoulders and doing some interesting things with Windows 8. I remember when I first saw a pre-release of Mac OS X shown, and I was amazed at the magnification of the dock and the genie effect. I was similarly amazed in 2007 at what the interface of a phone could be like. But that OS from 2007, now on the iPad, isn't *that* different. I still think navigating between apps and screens within apps could be improved on iOS devices. I think Microsoft is coming up with some interesting ideas. I am an Apple user through and through, but in terms of that excitement I used to get over Apple's new announcements—I find it more in Microsoft now. I'm not saying I'll get a Windows 8 product—I'm not even a tablet person. But I just like following whatever is new, cool, and intuitive.

 

[der-kaiser]

The only real that that is lacking for me is Facetime HD. That aside, I think I'll be quite please with the purchase.

 

[brand]

But you gave a great "review".

Kinda hard to do a review without even touching the third generation iPad.

 

[boltjames]

I hate myself for preordering the The New iPad.

BJ

 

[ThatsMeRight]

OP - I appreciate the fact that you took more time to express your thoughts than most of the "new iPad sucks" threads. You also have a better grasp on the English language than you give yourself credit for.

That said, Apple can't upgrade everything to the absolute max and:
a) maintain price points
b) keep the general public and techies alike interested in what's going to come with the next upgrade.
c) maintain the quality performance we expect from Apple

If they gave us everything possible, the iPad 3 would cost 600 bucks as a starting price point and have a few hiccups as Apple worked to optimize the software.

I'm very pleased with the upgrade (coming from a 1st gen iPad) and can't wait to get my hands on it.

I definitely understand that Apple simply cannot upgrade everything, but I really was expecting a bit more.

I will also be upgrading from my first generation iPad to this third generation iPad, so it will definitely be a big upgrade for me. That said, I still believe Apple should have given us a little bit more, like an improved front facing camera.

 

[linkgx1]

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Look @ it this way: if Android did the same would the story be different? Yes. Apple is market leader for now so they don't need to innovate til competition gets fierce

 

[Mr.C]

Personally I find it amusing how people wished it had this or that when they haven't actually even use it. Everything is speculation until we actually get to use the new iPad in real world situations. Not to mention that Apple hasn't even divulged the full specifications so we don't know exactly how much more powerful it is until someone takes it apart and examines exactly what it does have especially clock speed and RAM wise.

 

[borgqueenx]

You guys are talking of stuff you do not know about. Same goes for the topic starter.
You made it sound like we know the gpu and cpu- we dont.
Maybe they did switch to a15 architecture.
Maybe they did ramp up the ghz.
You cant tell.
According to some news websites the ipad3 appeared to be on par with ipad2 in terms of speed. I believe them. But its not the cpu or gpu to blame. I think its the memory that doesnt have a ultra high reading/writing speed.

My advise: wait for a teardown from ifixit or similar.

Edit: plus 1 to the post above me.

 

[shellbryson]

re: A5X

We dont know what other architectural changes have been made inside the new CPU. Counting the number of cores (or god forbid speed in Mhz) is no real indication of performance at all. We need to see some real-world performance stats.

 

[rgr555]

Hey OP, 8 salty iPad 2 users clicked thumbs up for your thread. Good job.

 

[Nautilus007]

They need to open up meaning give users more choices for customization. Open notification center up to install widgets etc, don't make release them as features and use them as selling points.

 

[brand]

don't make release them as features and use them as selling points.

So you feel that you are entitled to something that you didn't pay for?

 

[manticore999]

Better cameras .. Who cares? Something like 3 people use Facetime, and practically no one uses or wants to use such a clunky device to take photos.

Retina display ... Pretty cool, but the current display is fine. Most folks won't notice the difference. I know, a few people will. Everyone else will brag about it so they feel good about spending their money

Faster cpu ... Yawn ... The current cpu is fine.

All in all, a lackluster upgrade.

 

[brand]

All in all, a lacluster upgrade.

It would seem that millions of people disagree with you.

 

[Rogue.]

You lost me at 'This is my personal opinion.'

Any coincidence that MacRumors is looking for writers

 

[manticore999]

It would seem that millions of people disagree with you.

Millions of people buy Brittany Spears records. Doesn't make it good music. Just means there are lots of dumb people!

 

[brand]

Just means there are lots of dumb people!

So everyone that doesn't share your opinion is dumb? What does your psychiatrist say about that?

 

[416049]

Millions of people buy Brittany Spears records. Doesn't make it good music. Just means there are lots of dumb people!

first of all its britney spears and secondly just because millions have a different taste in music than you do doesn't make them dumb just different.

And in regards to the thread well done, however i think a more appropriate time to post it would have been after using it and maybe that may have reformed some of your opinions.

 

[thaghost]

Personally I find it amusing how people wished it had this or that when they haven't actually even use it. Everything is speculation until we actually get to use the new iPad in real world situations. Not to mention that Apple hasn't even divulged the full specifications so we don't know exactly how much more powerful it is until someone takes it apart and examines exactly what it does have especially clock speed and RAM wise.

True story....how can you criticize a device without getting some hands on time with it?

and again, for all you that aren't impressed by the upgrades, no one is forcing you to buy "the new iPad".....

 

[jackc]

Retina display ... Pretty cool, but the current display is fine. Most folks won't notice the difference. I know, a few people will. Everyone else will brag about it so they feel good about spending their money

Faster cpu ... Yawn ... The current cpu is fine.

The Sony Walkman was fine too.

You don't have to be a tech nerd to notice a much better screen.

 

[Gav2k]

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Op just to clarify on the camera side of things..

iPad 3 = 5mp sensor with 4s optics
4s = 8mp sensor!

 

[polbit]

OP, thank you for a well thought-out post. I too wish it wasn't build merely to be as fast as iPad 2, but I think that the $499 price point was more important to them. They already cut their profit margin from 56% to 51% just to be able to release it at the same price, and I don't think A15 core would've allowed them to do that.

Having said that, let's use it first before we make final judgement who knows, maybe memory is faster, and maybe there is a small CPU clock bump, and maybe SSD is faster. We won't know until we use it. I do trust that Apple knows what they are doing and I'm sure the user experience will be great.

 

[Still100]

Completely agree with the original poster about the poor front cam and voice dictation needing Internet connection. It shouldn't need it. I wonder if this is going to be the next privacy issue? They seemed to have copied google here rather than create a great feature.

I would rather they left the back camera and upgraded the front cam to at least 1mp. VGA is poor but it is the sensor that make everything on FaceTime look bad.

As for dictation, you can't or at least shouldn't use it for work because it sends your work to apple.

Those are two feature that are limited and features I personally don't give any value to because they have been made to be limited. When apple talks about these features during the keynote I tend to think blah blah blah if I'm honest.

Retina and faster processor/graphics is what is new. In fact I can't even think of anything else that was new?

 

[JUiCEJamie]

I think the problem is, every one seems to think that once a new product is out, that we must upgrade to it. Which isn't the case.

Most of the people complaining about the iPad probably won't be if it looked different. "An all new design" which might not be beneficial, but would probably make the people moaning about it, buy it.

Look at what the new iPad has brought, almost everything that's needed to be upgraded has been. (Okay, some specs could be a little higher, but Apple doesn't need to do that because they're already ahead of the competition).

This exact response from people happened with the iPhone4>4S.

 

[Eves apple]

Apple likes to drip feed and tweak updates, it's a long established tactic and it works. But I think this time they went to the upgrade cupboard and it was quite bare, the smart cover/magnet thing on the iPad 2 wowed more than anything announced last week. maybe we've been spoilt by in the past.

Maybe it's time to stop reading the apple rumour sites and just wait and see what they announce, the thing to blame for the disappointment in the 3rg gen iPad is the non-stop rabid internet speculation!