There is a lot of talk about the new iPad, aka iPad 3, however I want to cut things back to basics and answer 2 questions:
1. Is it worth upgrading from the iPad 2 (I’m not debating an upgrade from the iPad 1 as the answer is an obvious YES!)
2. Is it worth buying the new iPad when the iPad 2 16gb is £70 cheaper?
Here are some points that I believe the normal person on the street cares about:
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They look exactly the same so what’s the point? Many people upgrade to show off let’s face it! If it looks exactly the same then the bragging rights in meetings or on the train is diminished.
The retina display (even though strictly speaking it is not a retina display according to an old definition by Apple themselves however I digress!) is truly amazing and a real game changer. 3.1 million pixels are a major upgrade from the last iteration and as more apps get made for the new display the differences will become increasingly apparent.
It has a new super duper chip. In all honesty the new chip is still dual core but with a quad core graphical element to it. This means that basically you will notice little real difference when using the web, opening standard apps, loading email, etc however you will really notice the difference when playing games (and particularly newer optimized games). The chip also powers the much more resource hungry screen as to service the increasing number of pixels means having no choice but to improve the graphics chip.
Siri has been ‘kind of’ introduced on the new iPad. By kind of you can do things like speech to text however the full functionality has not been unleashed on the new iPad as it was on the 4S. I have tried (and I have read many reviews about…) Siri on my 4S and I’m just not convinced. I’m not sure it gets the range of English accents and the longer and more complex the sentence the more it makes mistakes. If you cannot trust it then what’s the point?
A greatly improved back camera is now on the new iPad (upgraded from 0.7 to 5 mega pixels and with a greatly improved lens). Camera speed/ lag is pretty much the same however image quality is greatly improved and there is now 1080p HD video recording. Then again are you really going to take lots of pictures on your iPad to care? The front facing facetime camera is also the same as in the iPad 2 i.e. distinctly average.
LTE super fast broadband connectivity is now on the new iPad. Whilst these networks are in the US they are not in the UK yet (unless you are lucky to be on one of the PC O2 or BT beta test programs) and unlikely to be widespread for a few more years hence I would not use this as a reason for buying the new iPad if you are in the UK but definitely if you are in the USA.
Battery life is the same. There was talk that the battery was going to be greatly improved and whilst it’s thicker/ better the battery life is pretty much the same due to the juice required to power the amazing screen.
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The new iPad has Bluetooth 4.0 (against Bluetooth 2.0 on the iPad 2). It sips power at a much lower rate and hence useful for gadgets with sensors such as the Motorola Motoactiv and the Nike Fuelband. If you use external gadgets to hook up to your iPad or are planning to control your kitchen of the future with Bluetooth 4.0 then it’s great however for the majority I imagine this is not a great benefit either.
So in summary:
1. Is it worth upgrading from the iPad 2?
If you plan to make use of the additional features such as the improved camera, like playing games, are intrigued by the future uses of Bluetooth 4.0 and plan on having it for a while to enjoy the benefits of 4G LTE then the upgrade is a no brainer. If however the only real benefit is the screen then you need to decide if that sumptuous screen is worth the cost (for me it is and I’ve just sold my iPad 2 on Ebay!)
2. Is it worth buying the new iPad when the iPad 2 16gb is £70 cheaper?
I would say buy the new version. Unless you are really strapped for cash then the extra £70 is more than worth it for the screen alone.
Go on – you’re worth it!
[Also read: Slave to the Upgrade – Why we MUST have The Latest Thing]
I don’t think it’s worth the upgrade from the iPad 2. Just every year is too much.
Thanks for the comment Brad. I see your point and I suppose it depends on what you are after.
If you are after utilising key features such as the new screen, love gaming and envisage using it as a camera/ video recorder then I’d say sell your Ipad2 and get it (as I did)! However if these key features do not appeal then you are right it’s probably not worth an upgrade.
Good comparison Paul. Why settle for less when you have already decided to buy from the world’s best brand. In 6-8 months time, the iPad 2 will be non existent as everyone will be looking forward to the next version.
Adeline – thanks. Foe me it is the little tweaks that make the difference (I also recently upgraded from the Iphone 3gs to the Iphone 4s and ‘simple’ things like the camera upgrade and sheer speed made it worth the upgrade alone)
I will still stick to my iPad 2 ;). Apart from small bump in hardware and LTE support, I don’t find anything new in new iPad.
I would have bought it if it has Siri support 🙁
Jack – thanks for the comment. I kind of agree but still have to justify the upgrade to myself! I have not really noticed any huge leap in speed to be honest and the screen has not really wowed me yet however I’m still convinced it will when more optimised apps are released, better game graphics and I start to shell out in Apple’s locked ecosystem for video (although on the last point I recently purchased Aimersoft DVD to ipad video translation software and can now enjoy everything all my DVD’s from Peppa Pig to Hangover 2)!
Love my ipad 2, but this one is very tempting though…
Good article 🙂
I just want to say something about siri or speech recognition in general.
I’ve started doing work in a company called vanceinfo and it’s filled with foreigners like me (A Dutch person is considered a foreigner in China) and we are all now working for Microsoft Bing and Mango (I’m guessing this is for the windows phone).
We have to listen to people doing searches or other requests from all over the world. People saying “Call mommy” and then the software thinks it’s “Paul money” then we change the words.
We keep doing this and help it recognize/filter background noises, strong accents like English and a lot of Indian accents. This way the speech recognition software will understand more and more.
But of course there are also plenty of people that say things that even I can’t understand, but they should also not expect the phone to understand them if people around them can’t even understand them.
Really interesting – how many people are engaged in this interpretation/ phonic understanding and are you noticing any product improvements as a result of the work? I am English with a relatively strong Mancunian (Manchester) accent and Siri is rubbish at interpreting what I’m saying however with this kind of software development it will only be a matter of single digit years before Siri et al get the translation right 99 out of 100 times.
I’ve only worked there for 2 days so far. Going for my third day soon but after that I will be doing it from home. So it’s difficult to say how many people work on it. But it is a very big company. They also do mobile phone localization etc.
It’s difficult to see improvements as most audio fragments we hear are ones that didn’t give the right result.
I’ve been hearing some strong English accents though. Apparently one person really wanted to find a hydroponics shop in Leeds haha.
Yep us English all want to find hydroponic shops in Leeds and get very angry when the software does not understand us!!!!!
So in conclusion, it is worth upgrading to the new iPad… and I quite agree! When apple upgrades a product, you have to expect a better version unlike other brands that will only get you confused on which model or version of a particular model to buy.
I am one of those gadgets lovers who are always a few years behind. I own an iPad 1 given to me as a Christmas gift by my wife. Given the fact that I only use that device to read e-books and read emails when I am away from my laptop, I do not yet feel the urge to upgrade. However the information provided in this post make it really tempting to walk to an Apple store and try the iPad 3.
Michael to be honest I would stick with your Ipad 1 if you only use it for ebooks and email
I have to disagree here, Paul. With the upgraded reader apps the screen is amazing to me. I have compared the Kindle app on the iPad 1, iPad2, and the new iPad and the clarity makes it much easier on the eyes when reading. Plus, you can now dictate emails on the new iPad. Kind of like dictating texts in the iPhone 4S. I never sent texts in the past because I hated the tiny keyboards but being able to dictate (I am in America and the phone recognizes my speech about 90% of the time) has opened up something new to me. I love texting now, lol.
craig – fair point. I am perhaps being a little harsh and the screen is much crisper; particularly for text. I was just expecting to be blown away and that has certainly not happened.
Dictation is great for languages that Apple have spent money interpreting i.e. American however it is not great for the many ‘versions’ of English we have in the UK. e.g. the way Scottish people speak English compared to the Welsh compared to people from Newcastle (I was there at the weekend and could barely understand some of the stronger accents!) compared to people from Manchester is very different and Apple have clearly not spent the time (yet) interpreting UK nuances.
Here in Denmark it is not worth the money because it does not support the 4G LTE, we have here …
The problem is actually quite big for Apple as they have advertised that it would support the Danish 4G LTE, so now they are forced to give all customers a large discount or cancel the transaction.
So I can’t say that they are happy about it here. 😉
But I would love to have my Samsung tablet support LTE.!!! 😀
Yes Apple got nailed for a similar reason in Australia. I definitely see Samsung tablets being Apple’s main competition in the years to come.
Sounds like they really step in it this time, wonder what it’s gonna cost them in the end. 🙂
And I would love to here how they could make such a big mistake in several countries, I could understand if it was only on country, but they have done it in at least two….
I think they made it simply because they extrapolate the same USA advertising to the rest of the world + they feel there brand is so amazing (which it is) that few people will have the balls to kick up a fuss!
Interesting comparison Paul.
After reading this comparison I’ll say, it is worth upgrading to new iPad. 🙂 If one can afford then he should go with new iPad.
I agree with Adeline that . In 6 to 8 months time, the iPad 2 will be non existent as everyone will be looking forward to the next version.