Pricing, Physical Features
The new iPad comes in nine different models. There are 16, 32 and 64GB sizes in Wi-Fi-only ($499, $599, and $699) and 4G LTE variants on AT&T and Verizon Wireless ($629, $729, and $829). The AT&T and Verizon models don't work on each others' LTE networks, but the Verizon model works on AT&T's 3G network and T-Mobile's 2G EDGE network with the appropriate SIM card. The Verizon iPad also comes with a free wireless hotspot feature; AT&T hasn't announced its hotspot plan yet. If you want to be able to keep apps, movies, and music on your tablet, I advise getting at least 32GB, which runs $599 for Wi-Fi-only and $729 for 4G on either carrier. For this review, I tested the $829 64GB Verizon Wireless model.
The new iPad looks just like the old iPad: a 9.7-inch screen surrounded by a black (or white) bezel, with a curved metal back, and a single Home button. Apple's magnetic Smart Cover Smart Cover , which was released with the iPad 2, clips on just fine. The tablet still has a sealed-in battery and no ports other than a MicroSIM slot, a standard headphone jack, and an Apple 30-pin dock connector.
If you look closely, you'll notice that at 7.3 by 9.5 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and 23.3 ounces, it's just a hair thicker and a smidge heavier than the iPad 2, but you wouldn't notice if you weren't holding both tablets at once. The additional weight is because of a much larger battery, although the new iPad promises the same battery life as the previous model—the 4G radio and sharper screen are just much more power hungry.
The 2,048-by-1,536-pixel Retina display is as beautiful as you've heard, and colors are more saturated than on the previous model. It's still reflective, which creates some problems outdoors, but at 264 pixels per inch, it's the sharpest tablet screen there is.
Several times during this review, I'd pick up the new iPad, do something, and be afraid I had mistakenly picked up the iPad 2. So then I'd pick up the iPad 2, look at its screen, and be horrified at the comparitive graininess. On the new iPad, things look the way they're supposed to. They look real. No matter how small an element is, it's readable. Diagonal lines are never jaggy; nothing decays into a shower of pixels. Text probably benefits the most, though.
Internet Connectivity
The new iPad offers 4G LTE connections on Verizon Wireless and AT&T, as well as HSPA+ links up to 42Mbps. All but the Wi-Fi-only iPads have unlocked MicroSIM slots, so they'll connect to any compatible network. Both 4G models support HSPA+ 42 on 850/900/1800/1900MHz. The AT&T model supports LTE on the AT&T 700 and AWS bands; the Verizon model supports CDMA EVDO Rev A and LTE on Verizon's own bands. The tablet also integrates 802.11 b/g/n including the 5GHz band, which is useful if you live or work in a place with crowded Wi-Fi networks. Bluetooth 4.0, meanwhile, opens up the option of not just wireless headsets and headphones, but Bluetooth watches and sensor devices. The built-in GPS locked in quickly when using the Maps app on the streets of Manhattan.
Back to that 4G for a second: Using the industry-standard Ookla Speedtest.net app, I compared the new iPad with a Motorola Droid 4 ($199, 4.5 stars), an Editors' Choice Verizon LTE phone. The two devices kept pace over 10 rounds. The iPad got slightly faster results in strong-signal areas and slightly slower results in a weak-signal area, but not enough to matter. With a decent signal, our test iPad pulled down 10-11Mbps, which is about the national average download speed we measured for Verizon in our Fastest Mobile Networks story.
Buying a 4G tablet means signing up for an iPad data plan and staying under your data cap. That's one way iOS falls short. There's a data counter, but it's buried under Settings>General>Usage>Cellular Usage, which is just too deep to monitor regularly. Verizon sends messages when you're about to run out of data, but that's almost too late. Invest instead in Sigterm's 99-cent Data Usage app and stick it on your first home screen; it keeps constant track of how much cellular data you've used by floating a percentage over its icon. I have some more tips for conserving 4G data in a separate story.
Processing Power and Battery Life
The new iPad's A5X processor, a dual-core Cortex-A9 running at 1GHz, is the same CPU as in the previous iPad, with a better GPU to handle the higher-resolution screen. In tests we saw similar performance, with both the Geekbench processor/memory benchmark (at 761) and Rightware's Browsermark benchmark (at 102,096) falling very close to the scores for the iPad 2.
According to Apple, the new GPU offers "four times the performance" of the iPad 2, which turns out to mean that it offers the same performance while pushing four times the pixels. In the GLBenchmark 2.1.2 "Egypt High" test, which creates a simulated 3D game scene, the iPad 2 and new iPad had almost exactly the same frame rate of 28 frames per second—but remember, the new iPad has to work four times as hard to get there. The "Egypt Offscreen" test, which takes displaying actual pixels out of the equation, drew 50 percent more frames on the new iPad than the iPad 2, highlighting the additional graphics power.
But benchmarks have never been a good measure of the iPad user experience, because there's a lot of clever programming involved. Apple prioritizes user input, which means buttons respond quickly and scrolling and zooming are always smooth. That programming, rather than raw CPU speed, is why iPads feel faster than Android tablets.
App developers may be pushing the limits of the A5's power, though. In the Retina-display-enhanced Barefoot Atlas and Real Racing 2 HD apps, I saw occasional stutters when zooming or rotating complex, rendered objects. This didn't occur in on-board apps such as the Safari Web browser or the video player.
Apple estimates the 42.5-watt-hour cell will deliver 10 hours of usage time on Wi-Fi and 9 hours on 4G, which is very good for a large-screen tablet. In our iPad battery tests, I found battery life to be highly dependent on screen brightness; I got only 5 hours, 33 minutes of video playback at full brightness but 10 hours, 54 minutes at half brightness. Also be aware that the big battery takes up to seven hours to fully recharge from zero.
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