Today Apple just announced the “The new iPad”. On the surface it looks just like the iPad 2, including the classic home button, but the internal hardware has been upgraded quite a bit. First thing you will notice is the new retina display giving a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution, and the CPU have also been upgraded to a dual-core Apple A5X. (The speed of this is not yet clear however).
Apple also announced it will sell the iPad 2 alongside the new iPad, and the price for the iPad 2 will drop to $399. At this price level it can better compete with a lot of new mid-range tablets that has come out at a lower price point, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Amazons Kindle Fire. The strategy to sell the new iPad along side the iPad 2 can be a bit risky in the current financial climate, and could possible effect the sale figures for the new device in a negative way. If have been thinking about buying an iPad 2, but felt it was to expensive, you now just might buy this instead of the “new iPad”. It also depends on what you intend to use your new tablet for, do you need a dual core processor to browse the web?
Along with the new announcement a lot of focus was put on photo editing and media use on the device. Apple introduced a lot of new applications to go along with it’s new iPad, and iPhoto is the main focal point. The new version of the well known photo software will be available today for $4.99. It offers a range of new features, such as bezel gestures, effects, multi-touch editing and direct beaming. You can also tweak white balance, exposure and saturation, and you can add geotags, notes and captions. Another highlight of the new iPhoto version is the Journal, which allows you to pick and choose certain images to push to iCloud
Apple also announced significant updates to iWork, iMovie and Garage Band. iWork’s update utilizes the new iPad’s Retina display and offers 3D charts,
Comparison between iPad 2 and new iPad:
| Model | iPad 2 | new iPad |
| Display | 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD |
9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD |
| Resolution | 1024 x 768 | 2048 x 1536 “Retina Display” |
| CPU | 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 | dual-core Apple A5X |
| Graphics | PowerVR SGX 543MP2 | TBA but “Quad-Core” (might be a PowerVR SGX MP4+) |
| Memory | 512MB RAM | TBA |
| Storage | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB |
| Front Camera | VGA (640 x 480) | VGA (640 x 480) |
| Rear Camera | 0.7-megapixel | 5-megapixel |
| Cellular | EDGE plus Quadband HSPA or CDMA EV-Do Rev.A (Verizon) | “World-Ready” 3G, HSPA+, DC-HSPA, 4G LTE (AT&T, Verizon) |
| WiFi | 802.11 a/b/g/n | 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | 2.1 + EDR | 4.0 |
| Accelerometer | 3-axis | 3-axis |
| Gyroscope | 3-axis | 3-axis |
| Thickness | 0.34-inch (8.8mm) | 0.37-inch (9.4mm) |
| Weight (WiFi) | 1.33 pounds (601 grams) | 1.44 pounds (652 grams) |
| Weight (3G / LTE) | AT&T 1.35 pounds (613 grams) Verizon 1.34 pounds (607 grams) |
1.46 pounds (662 grams) |
| Battery Life | 25-watt-hour lithium polymer (rated 10 Hours) | 42.5-watt-hour lithium polymer (rated 10 hours / 9 on 4G) |
| Ports | 30-pin dock, 3.5mm headphone | 30-pin dock, 3.5mm headphone |
| Location (WiFi) | WiFi, Digital Compass | WiFi, Digital Compass |
| Location (3G / LTE) | aGPS, 3G, Digital Compass, WiFi | aGPS, 3G, 4G, Digital Compass, WiF |
