Apple Announces iPad 2
Apple today announced the next generation of iPad. To the surprise and delight of the audience, Steve Jobs took the stage at the company’s media event in San Francisco to announce the new product. Far from a mere update, iPad 2 is a complete redesign of the revolutionary device. Featuring the newly announced Apple A5 dual-core processor, iPad 2 is the world’s first tablet to feature a dual-core processor. Promising up to two times the CPU performance and nine times faster graphics, iPad 2 blazes past its predecessor. Even more impressive is the fact that these performance increases do not adversely affect battery life—iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours.
iPad 2 is also substantially lighter and thinner than its 1st gen. forebear. With a design that’s 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter, the 2nd generation device not only looks more refined, but is more comfortable to use. Additionally, Apple is now featuring iPad 2 in two bezel colors: black and white—the back of the device is still aluminum like the original.
As many had speculated, iPad 2 features both front and rear facing cameras. Though the specs of each camera were not disclosed, it is a safe bet they are equivalent to those appearing on other iOS devices. The front facing camera—highlighted during the keynote with FaceTime and Photo Booth demos—provides VGA quality video at up to 30 frames per second, with VGA quality still images. The rear facing camera is capable of 720p HD video at up to 30 frames per second with audio, and still images with 5x digital zoom. The megapixel counts of each camera were not mentioned during the keynote.
On a more minor note, Apple has added three-axis gyro and a digital compass to the iPad 2, bringing it more robust motion control and location based services. The second generation device retains the revolutionary Multi-Touch technology available in the original iPad and other iOS devices.
Almost as interesting as what Apple changed about iPad 2 is what they didn’t. On a positive note, the iPad retains its attractive price points—both for Wi-Fi and 3G models. This means that the entry level model still starts at $499, with 3G models starting at only $629. Two aspects of the device which Apple had been rumored to change but ultimately did not are storage capacities and screen resolution. Both models of iPad 2 are still available in the same 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities as introduced last year. While the vast majority of rumors indicating a Retina display similar to the iPhone 4 had been squashed in the months leading up to iPad 2’s release, there were still rumblings of enhanced displays leading up to the device’s launch this afternoon. Though an enhanced display surely would have been well received, iPad 2 sports the same resolution as its predecessor: 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi).
iPad 2 comes with iOS 4.3 pre-installed and will be available Friday March 11th. Starting at $499, models range to $829 depending on storage capacities and 3G capabilities. To learn more about the features of iPad 2, click here.