Review: The New iPad
That’s what I wondered, too, the first two or three days I used mine. Then, I changed the lock screen wallpaper to a Colorado landscape shot I made a few years ago — and something magical happened.
Before I tell you, I want you to take a look at the picture. That’s up at 11 Mile Reservoir on one of those perfect Colorado spring mornings — when the winds pick up and the clouds suddenly roll in.
It’s a very pretty shot. Now I want you to click on it, because the file I’ve uploaded has been cropped and resized to match the iPad’s screen. You will probably have to click on it twice to view it full size, because unless you’re running a massive 30-inch monitor, this picture is bigger than your desktop computer screen.
This picture — the whole thing, all three million pixels of it, all in one glance — fits perfectly in the palm of your hand on the iPad’s 9.7-inch Retina Display. And unless your monitor has a pricy, LED backlit screen that’s been professionally calibrated, then even the colors look deeper and more true-to-life on the new iPad.
The magic of it is, anything you can put on that screen — whether it’s a photo or a game or a productivity app — can look as sharp and as colorful and as breathtaking as a high-quality, glossy photo print. There’s even an illusion of depth, as icons scurry across the screen, which Hollywood has yet to match with all its million-dollar 3D movie projectors.
It is no less than astounding to manipulate photo-reality with your fingertips. It’s a joyous experience that words cannot convey. It has to be done to be believed.
Of course, not all apps take advantage of the Retina Display. Most apps simply have their pixels doubled to fill it up. They still look nice — nicer than they did on last year’s model. But apps that have been optimized for the Retina Display make it seem like you’re bending reality with the tip of your finger. And in a sense, you are.
By this time next year, if not sooner, nearly all apps will be optimized for the Retina Display. The magic will be everywhere.
So, yes, the new iPad takes better pictures and has a battery that still lasts nine or ten hours and can access Verizon’s or AT&T’s LTE networks and has quad-core graphics and all that. But so what? The new iPad is all about the screen, and there is nothing else like it available anywhere in the world at any price.
I’m in love, and I suspect you might fall, too.
ONE MORE THING: This review and all photo editing done for this review were performed on a new iPad.
You’re making things hard on me, Steve. I was unemployed the year the iPad came out so I got an iPad 2. 9 months ago.
Should. Not. Justify. To myself. A new. iPad.
I’m an every-other-year upgrader my own self. I’d wait for the new-new iPad next spring.
Thanks for that. I think I’ll get a Mustang instead.
You’ve written a very nice review of that new IPad screen’s resolution…..but is that alone worth $500.00?
Apple’s marketing and advertising folks deserve heavy kudos for creating a “need” for such electronic gadgetry. Customers eagerly lining up for twenty four hours before doors-opening is a marketing dream come true.
As someone who would much rather do his three or four hours a week of photo editing upstairs on the sofa with his family, rather than downstairs in the studio, let me tell you the need ain’t “manufactured,” bub.
As someone who barely does three hours of photo editing a year I can say “meh”. I’ve had my (original) iPad side by side with a co-workers New iPad this week and for what I use a tablet for (web surfing, videos, remote server administration, and light gaming) a Retina Display doesn’t add enough to justify the price of an upgrade.
Is it worth $500 “alone”?
Not for most people – but contra your implication, Apple hardly expects people who already have an iPad 2 to buy one just because it’s new, or just for the screen… or at all.
If you have an iPad 2 and it’s not feeling EOL for you, do as Mr. Green says and don’t buy a New iPad now (I have one and I am not upgrading now either).
But people with an Original iPad? Or none at all? They’re not paying $500 for the screen “alone” – they’re getting more than an iPad 2 for the same price they would have paid for one last month.
Nobody is expected to buy a new iPad every year; the yearly updates are (mainly) for people who didn’t buy last year’s or don’t have one at all.
(Also, trying to credit “marketing” and “advertising” for the success of the iPad is foolish. No amount of money and skill outside of the product design and implementation make something that popular.
It’s popular because it really is “insanely great”.
Which is exactly in contrast to why all the competition are currently not even also-rans. Because they suck in comparison, marketing be damned.)
Ka-Pow! Biff! Bam!!
Ok! I’m ducking your shoes….but you read to me as someone completely hooked, and……. good for you…..but I still don’t see the Ipad being much more than a “fondleslab” as the wits over at “The Register” are fond of calling these gadgets.
I guess portability, amazing clarity, long battery life are fine things as applied in our 21st Cent., but we’ve all done so well all these centuries since cuneiform on soggy clay that I’m amazed at guys camping out days in advance at the pad-locked door for the release of a mere superbly hyped five hundred dollar convenience.
I knew I’d hit a charged-ionized (!) nerve when Stephen Green called me….”bub”, but I remain unconvinced.
I’ll just wander off into the sunrise tapping on my large keyboard and wrapped in all of my wires.
Ahhh . . . but standing in line is part of the fun! Similar to standing in line from 4:30 AM to 8:00 AM to buy World Series tickets. Which I have done. It’s a cultural event.
I’m actually seeing a fair number of local amateur musicians using an iPad (presumably the 2) to display the music at jam sessions. No need to fumble with paper – just flick to the next song. The only time it doesn’t seem to work well for them is when the song doesn’t fit on one page.
I have seen church organists use the iPad filled with the music they were playing. Cool.
Your first rule of commenting says no profanities. Why then, does your writer take God’s name in vain twice in this article?
Not to worry: he’s going to hell.
That little admonition you see doesn’t really reflect PJM’s hands-off approach to the comment section (which I admire, BTW). I wish they would remove it, as it’s just a waste of space. But hey, it’s their website.
You are licking the screen? Eeeeyuuuuuw.
Aw, it’s all right as long as no one licks after him….
With everything, & the new iPad is apparently no exception, caveat emptor applies: There are reports that watching movies on it eats up data like nobody’s business due to the LTE feature. There have also been reports of the case that it emits quite a bit of heat in some instances. I have not seen one yet & figure I won’t be tempted to buy one, as I have not had my iPad 2 for an entire year yet. I am rubbing my hands together though in anticipation of the new iPhone, which I figure will have some (if not all) of these nifty new features.
Have you seen the German comedic “review” of the iPad yet? If not, here’s a link (the movie is only about 30 seconds and pretty funny): wdtprs.com/blog/2012/03/dad-how-do-you-like-that-ipad-we-bought-you/