The new iPad - Preview

“Apple ‘resolutionises’ the world’s most popular tablet computer ”

The new iPad

The new iPad has been unveiled by Apple following months of fevered speculation that seemingly began as soon as the Californian technology giant was done launching its predecessor, the iPad 2, this time last year.

As ever in the run up to the launch of an Apple product, rumours about the next incarnation of the tablet computer were rife. Would it be called the iPad 3 or iPad HD? It would definitely use the same Retina display as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but would it use haptic technology, giving its touchscreen texture?

Brits knew what they wanted from the new iPad 3 - a better camera, more storage space, longer Battery life and better connectivity, among several other things.

So, were the rumours and speculation anywhere near accurate? Does the new iPad have the features we wanted to see? Well, yes and know to both. For starters, the new iPad is not called the iPad 3 or the iPad HD, it’s actually called, er, the new iPad. It will be interesting to see whether the moniker sticks - Apple are obviously confident that it will having run with it.

The new iPad does indeed incorporate the Retina display, which means it shows off text, images and videos with beyond high-definition (HD) clarity - the Retina display has one million more pixels than an HD TV as well as increasing colour saturation by 44%. However, the haptic technology which was touted by some looks like it’s been put on hold until the next new iPad at least.

When it comes to us Brits, it looks like we’re vaguely on the same wavelength as Apple, with the company giving its new baby a five megapixel rear-facing camera known as iSight, a massive upgrade on the 0.7Mp equivalent packed by the iPad 2. iSight can also record videos in full HD.

Although the new iPad does not offer greater storage space - it comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models the same as its predecessor - it does have the same 10-hour battery life as the iPad 2. While this may not sound like an improvement, it actually is because the Retina display uses more power, as does the new iPad’s 4G mobile broadband capability.

This capability gives the new iPad better connectivity as it means it is able to connect to next-generation mobile networks, significantly boosting the speed at which it is able to access the internet. While 4G services are not currently available to customers in the UK, many of the major mobile networks are currently trialling 4G technology, so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long.

Apple has also beefed up the back-end of the new iPad. It is powered by the new dual-core A5X chip with quad-core graphics and runs the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 5.1. While these are not the most exciting aspects of the new iPad, they enable the flashy new display and camera to do what they’re intended to do seamlessly.

The key new iPad technical specifications are:

• Retina display
• Five megapixel iSight camera
• HD video recording
• Built-in next-generation 4G LTE
• Dual-core Apple A5X custom-designed chip
• iOS 5.1

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