iPad Will the 4th gen iPad be a noticeable improvement over the 3rd?

[Broadus]

I've resisted a tablet but am seriously considering the current options. The frugal part of me is saying to get a refurbished 32GB 3rd gen. iPad for $469 and save the $130 for something else.

My concern is how much "better" the 4th is over the 3rd. It seems that the only thing noteworthy is the new processor, which Apple says is up to twice as fast, but that can mean that something that took a second now takes perhaps a half second.

I don't play games and don't foresee using intensive video apps, so I wonder if the speed of the 4th would be noticeable to me. Am I missing something? It wouldn't be the first time!

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[steve dave]

If you use a 3 and go to a 4 I am guessing it will be fairly noticeable. My iphone 5 is noticeably faster than my ipad 3. That being said, if never use the ipad 4 you won't have any idea what you are missing.

 

[ZBoater]

The iPad 4 looks like it will wipe the floor with the iPad 3 in the benchmarks. You are almost guaranteed the smoothest experience, not to mention the latest improvements in display and processor tech. If I were buying today, I wouldn't buy a 3 over a 4 even to save $100....

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The 4 is certainly beefier. Will that extra power be perceptible to users, we'll just have to see. It should, but right now the spec sheet is just numbers and letters.

 

[pasadena]

It's not only the processor. iPad 4 also has an improved HD camera, and the new connector. It also has "fast wifi" and LTE, but I'm not sure the 3 didn't have them ?

So, again, it depends on how you will use it. Will you make extensive Facetime video chats ? Do you have any other Apple device with the "old" 30-pin connector ?

I've heard that for some uses, the iPad 3 was noticeably slower than the iPad 2. I guess for those uses, it will be noticeably slower than the iPad 4 too, but probably not for reading and browsing. People having experienced both will probably chime in here

 

[Liquinn]

Yep, I like my iPad 4. Won't upgrade until the seventh or eight iPad. XD.

 

[KenAFSPC]

It's not only the processor. iPad 4 also has an improved HD camera, and the new connector. It also has "fast wifi" and LTE, but I'm not sure the 3 didn't have them ?

The iPad 3 supports 5GHZ 802.11n, but at a much lower (slower) rate. Generally, the iPad 3 maxes out at around 45Mbps whereas the iPad 4 will do close to 100Mbps on a 5GHz 802.11n network.

The difference in CPU and system performance between the iPad 3 and iPad 4 is greater than the difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.

 

[steve dave]

The 4 is certainly beefier. Will that extra power be perceptible to users, we'll just have to see. It should, but right now the spec sheet is just numbers and letters.

Not really. A comparison between an iPhone 5 and ipad 3 is a fair analog.

 

[steve dave]

The difference in CPU and system performance between the iPad 3 and iPad 4 is greater than the difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.

Not true. If you go by the leaked geekbench results from today the ipad 4 is about 2.3x as fast as the ipad 3. The geekbench results for the iPhone show the 5 is about 2.6x faster than the 4s.

 

[teknikal90]

The iPad 3 supports 5GHZ 802.11n, but at a much lower (slower) rate. Generally, the iPad 3 maxes out at around 45Mbps whereas the iPad 4 will do close to 100Mbps on a 5GHz 802.11n network.

The difference in CPU and system performance between the iPad 3 and iPad 4 is greater than the difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.

How? Still a A5 to A6 jump..except the iPhone 5 has 1gb ram to the iPhone 4S' 512mb

 

[KenAFSPC]

Not true. If you go by the leaked geekbench results from today the ipad 4 is about 2.3x as fast as the ipad 3. The geekbench results for the iPhone show the 5 is about 2.6x faster than the 4s.

You would be right if Geekbench results were the only factor determining performance. But Geekbench doesn't measure GPU performance, nor does it measure WiFi performance. Apple incorporates GPU acceleration for rendering throughout iOS (including Safari), and twice the GPU performance will impact performance at the iPad's 2048x1536 resolution.

Both the IP5 and the iPad4 probably feature the same WiFi chipset and the same theoretical WiFi performance. However, the iPad 4 has a much larger antenna and better gain than the IP5, which means it should be able to take advantage of the extra 802.11n performance under far more conditions than the IP5.

 

[Bokes]

The issue for me is not if the v4 will be a noticeable upgrade from my v3- I'm sure it is.
My reason for hanging tight-
I can not seem to get an offer of more than $500 for my 64gig WiFi- like new w/box....and the fact that v5 - lighter and thinner will be super sweet.
So it's a pass.

 

[Broadus]

The issue for me is not if the v4 will be a noticeable upgrade from my v3- I'm sure it is.
My reason for hanging tight-
I can not seem to get an offer of more than $500 for my 64gig WiFi- like new w/box....and the fact that v5 - lighter and thinner will be super sweet.
So it's a pass.

But if you didn't have a tablet, would you go for the 4 because it "will be a noticeable upgrade" over the 3? I don't think I'll wait till next August or September for the 5 to come out.

Whatever I get, I'll probably skip the 5, so maybe it makes more sense to go with the 4. It would have been nice, though, if the storage had been upgraded, but that would have really caused an uprising from iPad 3 owners.

 

[ercsliberty]

im probably getting it because of the fact its 2 times faster than the 3, and sprint LTE too

 

[doboy]

But if you didn't have a tablet, would you go for the 4 because it "will be a noticeable upgrade" over the 3? I don't think I'll wait till next August or September for the 5 to come out.

Whatever I get, I'll probably skip the 5, so maybe it makes more sense to go with the 4. It would have been nice, though, if the storage had been upgraded, but that would have really caused an uprising from iPad 3 owners.

If you are planning on skipping on the 5th gen then definitely spend the money now and get a 4th gen. Processor on the 4th gen should last you longer than 3rd gen.

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im probably getting it because of the fact its 2 times faster than the 3, and sprint LTE too

Sprint LTE price doesn't seem too attractive especially considering their coverage.