“Based on Consumer Reports’ preliminary tests with iPad 2 samples in our labs, we found the new version to be an improvement over the original iPad—without any increase in price,” Jeff Fox reports for Consumer Reports.
“One major difference in tech specs is that the iPad 2 has a new processor that’s supposed to make it far speedier than the original,” Fox reports. “While performing routine tasks such as Web browsing and e-mail in our tests, we didn’t notice any significant speed improvement.”
MacDailyNews Take: Try removing your heads from your asses.
Fox continues, “By keeping iPad 2 prices the same as those of the original iPad, Apple has kept its market-leading tablet more than competitive with the small-but-growing field of Android-based tablets. The Motorola Xoom seems to be the iPad 2’s chief rival for now, but it’s pricier than a comparably configured iPad 2, and it’s thicker and heavier as well. The iPad 2 is a very good choice in the tablet market. Still, many more tablets are expected to reach market this year. The tablet race is far from over.”
Fox reports, “We’ll continue our lab tests, including battery-life testing, and expect to add the Apple iPad 2 to our Ratings (available to subscribers) within a week or so.”
Full article – Think Before You Click™ – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Consumer Reports is a total farce.
Related articles:
Ars Technica reviews Apple iPad 2: Big performance gains in a slimmer package
iPad 2 benchmarks destroy Motorola Xoom – March 13, 2011
Associated Press reviews Apple iPad 2: Apple pulls further ahead – March 10, 2011
Ars Technica reviews Motorola Xoom: For the best tablet available today, look no further than Apple – March 7, 2011
PC Mag reviews Apple iPad 2: The tablet to get; Editors’ Choice – March 10, 2011
Associated Press reviews Apple iPad 2: Apple pulls further ahead – March 10, 2011
PC Mag reviews Apple iPad 2: The tablet to get; Editors’ Choice – March 10, 2011
Pogue reviews Apple iPad 2: Thinner, lighter, and faster transforms the experience – March 10, 2011
Baig reviews Apple iPad 2: Second to none – March 10, 2011
Consumer Reports was wrong on Verizon iPhone 4; so-called ‘death grip’ fixed by Apple – March 2, 2011
Consumer Reports: Verizon iPhone 4 has antenna ‘problem’; not recommended – February 25, 2011
Consumer Reports continues laughable vendetta against iPhone 4 – January 14, 2011
Android sweeps Consumer Reports’ rankings as iPhone 4 is omitted – November 17, 2010
All of Consumer Reports’ ‘recommended’ smartphones suffer attenuation when held – July 19, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple’s free Bumper case does not earn iPhone 4 our recommendation – July 16, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple’s Bumper case fixes iPhone 4 signal-loss issue – July 15, 2010
Consumer Reports continues harping on iPhone 4 attenuation issue – July 14, 2010
Electromagnetic engineer: Consumer Reports’ iPhone 4 study flawed – July 13, 2010
The Consumer Reports – Apple iPhone 4 fiasco – July 13, 2010
Consumer Reports: Oh yeah, almost forgot, Apple iPhone 4 is also the best smartphone on the market – July 12, 2010
Consumer Reports: We cannot recommend Apple iPhone 4 – July 12, 2010
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Consumer Reports: AT&T dead last in service survey; 98% of iPhone users would buy iPhone again – December 01, 2009
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Consumer Reports: Apple’s new iPod screens scratch-prone like iPod nanos – October 28, 2005
Consumer Reports dubiously finds 20-percent of Mac users ‘detected’ virus in last two years -UPDATED – August 10, 2005
My grandma needs a new electric blanket….where is the Consumer Report Magazine?
If CR didn’t notice a speed increase with iPad 2 over iPad, it’s because they didn’t use it.
Complete and utter putzes.
Apple won’t give Consumer Reports free kit to upgrade their shop (read: bribe their way to good reviews) from the WinTel mess it currently “runs” on…so CR, like a crossed 2nd grader, is lashing out the only way it knows how, by making things up.
Exactly. It’s dramatic, impressive and measurable with only minutes of using the device.
The iPad 2 is remarkable in all the ways Apple claimed : feels great in your hand despite it’s similar stature, apps respond twice as quickly, and the graphics are positively glowing.
What the iPad 2 isn’t (and Apple never claimed it was) : a good camera (because it’s terrible and lacks the flash from iPhone 4), as light as a kindle (although it is fast approaching it’s ‘hold ability’), or a fantstic HD experience (because the resolution is still a little subpar).
I think that would have served for a consumer reports ‘at first glance’ review.
What a farce indeed.
now we know they are just trolling. consumer reports, you’ve just gone down in my standing
I’m beginning to think they have an agenda.
More stupidity I’d bet, tests are probably random folk with no interest or knowledge of computers. No forward vision either, apps can now become much more powerful without slowing down the device. All apps available today are optimized to run fast on the current gen ipad.
Beginning? ;P
Ya think? First the iPhone 4 debacle but this takes the cake. With every tech blog doing articles about the incredible speed increase you would think CR would have at least tried….Hacks, out dated and irrelevant
What are REAL tech sites saying?
http://tinyurl.com/6fjb7lt
http://tinyurl.com/4tfglpu
http://tinyurl.com/4h2yg4w
http://tinyurl.com/6l6wgm5
http://tinyurl.com/4lxm8m7
http://tinyurl.com/47wu4uy
http://tinyurl.com/4eb4eaj
So why does consumer reports not see a speed increase and all these tech sites do? Because the tech sites actually scientifically benchmarked the iPad 2 rather then stick their finger up their rear. Good job consumer reports, another nail in the coffin….
Even with their “agenda,” it’s quite amusing that they can’t help but admit it’s the best tablet, period, and by a long shot.
Stating that, “Still, many more tablets are expected to reach market this year. The tablet race is far from over,” almost belies an agenda on CR’s part. If their agenda was simply to report on the products a consumer can now purchase I’m not sure this would be there. True, they could be giving consumers fair warning, but with the lack of significant evidence that something better is around the corner, I find it somewhat suspicious. Is it that more and more publications are afraid of simply reporting the facts out of fear that they will be proved wrong in the future or is it the human nature of wanting to see (and influence) a dog race, all the while romanticizing the underdog?
I agree with your insight. That statement sounds more like and editorial than a straight-up review.
It’s really hard to notice anything significant with your head up your arse!!!
WTF, why do even bother with CR who cared what they think . We know they are the National Enquire of product reviews, and Apple is the star they like gossip about normally in a negative light.
Total dicks.
LOL! Yep.
Yeah, but what do you really think?
Well does that surprise anyone. I’m one of the fortunate ones that was able to acquire a iPad 2, and it is noticeably faster than tha first version.
Also, testing by a number of 3rd party sites have comfermed the speed improvement.
And really, compare the chips in both IPads, one a single core and the new one a dual core, and then say it’s not faster, Really they have shown the proof that the have no testing experience at all.
CR Has a bias of hate towards Apple and we will see this going forward, but then again it doesn’t matter since long sales lines and the furry to have the new device shows that no matter the hate, Apple still wins and consumers are smart enough to understand what is B.S.
These idiots have proven without a doubt how irresponsible they are, and now have sealed that with the proof for everyone to see.
It is strange, as they’ve always been very fair reviewing Macs and OSX. I’m not sure it’s all intentional, though, or just human nature (see my above post). The “unreality distortion field,” I believe, is also being fueled by the clouded public’s eye, which sees Google as just so big, entrenched and invincible that they cannot possibly fathom any failure on their part. (Indeed, it’s true that Google probably will continue to be successful for some time to come.) So it’s beside the fact, to many, that Apple is now, by a large margin, a far bigger and more innovative technology company than Google. They remember that Apple was relatively recently very much down-and-out and have not digested the concept that Apple’s current and future success is and will be based on making better products, and not just a cultish fluke.
Yeah, man… I have a furry for a new device…
I have an iPad 2 as well, and I noticed the speed improvement right away. I am guessing that CR has an agenda or lack of expertise, or maybe the accelerator pedal on their Prius got stuck?
Even the grandmas that make up CR’s demographic have heard of BENCHMARKING… It’s not as if other sites haven’t already performed benchmarking which shows iPad2 roaring along at up to 3x the speed of other tablets and iPad1. There are only two possible explanations for CR’s stance – massive, massive incompetence or corruption brought about by unconscionable bias or monetary reward.
Not faster…yeah, email and web browsing (w/o Flash) aren’t even going to stress a single-core processor – never mind a dual-core. It naturally wouldn’t have occurred to them to try a game – or maybe they couldn’t afford the $4.99 to buy one.
Sad.
How about at this point you just stop re-posting CR articles and let them fade away? By this point you’ve pointed out how ridiculous their reviews are.
What’s the point?
“didn’t notice any significant speed improvement” while performing “routine tasks.”
Why don’t they run tests (like Anandtech) that will put the iPad 2 properly through its paces before concluding or posting anything?
It’s like getting a new Lamborghini to test and then deciding to drive it at 30 mph max and then saying “there’s no noticeable difference”
I have to conclude that CR (probably after being flamed for its moronic coverage of the iPhone) now has a personal vendetta against apple. I used to think they were just incompetent…
“Why don’t they run tests (like Anandtech) that will put the iPad 2 properly through its paces before concluding or posting anything?”
Probably because it was a preliminary review by Consumer reports who appeals mainly to “consumers” who will be using the iPad for “routine” tasks.
Consumer reports who appeals mainly to “consumers”
huh? safari loading times, games performance , iMovie etc performance not relevant to consumers?
gigaom tests of iPad 2
angry birds app launch: 42% faster
plants vs zombies app launch: 42% faster
safari website loading NYT times loading: 80% faster
Google site loading : 89% faster.
anandtech:
iPad2 is 50% faster for browsing web
app advice:
iMovie copying file 25 secs vs 1 min 36 sec iMac 27″
iMovie encoding 1 minute 59 sec vs Macbook air 8 minutes
Infinityblade:
” Epic Games comments that their gaming engine — Unreal Engine 3 — can already take advantage of the iPad 2’s A5 dual-core processor. When PC games are moved to a more powerful PC with multiple cores, “you can … turn up all the dials in your game to get more details, more textures, more shaders,”
etc etc
are you telling me ‘routine’ tasks don’t include Safari load times, iMovie or playing Angry Birds, Infinity blade…. ?
only geeks surf the web or play games? this is not relevant to CR readers? gimme a break.
Consumer report is supposed to be a premier testing agency (or considers itself anyways) giving excuses for by saying “preliminary” is crap. Some people will make assumptions that because it’s CR they would have done SOME reasonable testing…
You just proved my point.. You are a tech geek, I am a tech geek, we would look at specs for Safari load times, how fast apps launch etc, etc.. My sister (38), my dad (65years old) are average consumers. They’d never consider specs like that.
I’m just quoting the times FOR YOU (not expecting CR quote those ) so that YOU know that there’s a speed gain in iPad 2 for ‘routine tasks’ like , web browsing, games since you’re implying that CR is right to say there’s no noticeable speed gains for ‘routine tasks’ like ‘web browsing’ in their ‘tests’.
(eg: Gigaom says there’s 80% gain for web loading a NYT page etc.)
So what tests did CR do? just staring at it?
(or are you saying Anadtech, ars technica etc are wrong?)
I AM NOT saying CR should WRITE TECHY like anandtech but they have to be AWARE of the tech facts before commenting. Surely they should also be cognizant of tech journal research like anandtech and whole host of others which should have given them pause to check their facts before writing?
Or are you implying that as long as they write simply it’s OK to be inaccurate? Is being inaccurate (I think they are inaccurate as everyone else says their tests show speed gains) is going to help the non tech 65 year old?
Read the comment I replied to and u will see the question I was answering.
MDN and the rest of you have been very harsh on CR such as in regards to the iP4. However, this takes the cake and I now join the rest of you. Benchmarking speed is not done with email nor the web.
and tomorrow, Jeff Fox will give us his ‘expert’ opinion on potato peelers……
Does Jeff Fox even own a PC…. his technical prowess is less than that of my 10 month old puppy…. who at least knows enough not to chew on wires…
I think Jeff has chewed to many wires
I used to read their reviews. They were helpful. But they obviously have something wadded up tight against Apple, and it’s childish and inaccurate. Also obvious. Makes them look ridiculous.
MDN, your comments are spot-on. CR is for old people who pinch their social security pennies and they review products with a bias toward helping elderly people not spend a dime on anything with advanced technology in it or with any flavor other than vanilla.
They’ve realized bashing apple results in attention for CR.
Exactly.
They should change their name to Goofy Reports!
Most often used phrase around their labs “Hey, what’s that noise?”.
(for you city folk, that’s in reference to a joke about a chainsaw)
Well, finish the joke for the erudite and urbane crowd, ferchristsakes!
Customer returns a brand new chainsaw to the hardware store, tells them it’s too slow and that he can cut down a tree faster with a crosscut saw.
Store clerk grabs the chainsaw, gives a yank, and it fires right up.
Customer says “…..”
@ Mr. Reeee
The joke goes something like this:
A Consumer Reports Testing Expert is in his backyard chopping wood with an axe. His neighbor, feeling sorry for him, takes over his chainsaw and tells him “Use this. You’ll be able to cut ten times the wood in the same amount time, with hardly any effort.”
The next day the Consumer Reports Testing Expert returns the chainsaw to his neighbor, complaining, “I was only able to cut half the wood with this thing that I had been cutting with my axe. And, it took a lot more effort!”
The neighbor replied “It’s new, but maybe it’s out of adjustment. Let’s take a look.” The neighbor then reached down, pulled the cord, and started up the chainsaw.
Immediately the Consumer Reports Testing Expert jumped back, startled, and cried out “What’s that noise?”
I like yours better, more apropro.
This here iPad2 dont feel or look like no book, i reckon pa even said it dont open like no book and he works at consoomer reports, ask unkle ace.
Consumer Reports pushes cheap, derivative crap for the stretch-panted Wal-Mart crowd.
If you want a lawnmower or hair dryer or a pooper scooper, CR is the place to go.
They were holding it wrong…..
Yeah, turn it over
LMAO…God that’s funny. Made my day…thanks!!
I went to the Apple Store with my original iPad and compared it to the iPad 2. While hardly scientific, I agree that there is little, if any, speed improvements in the iPad 2. At the very least, I thought that opening a web page and scrolling quickly on iPad 2 would not result in the checkered boxes that appear when I do so on my original iPad. And in terms of weight, it wasn’t until the salesperson asked “Can you feel the weight difference?” that I even remembered that the iPad 2 is lighter. Definitely noticed the thinness, however. But looking at it straight on, same screen, very similar performance. Front facing camera is a plus if you use it. I can’t think of why anyone would use the back 1 megapixel camera, unless they were stranded without their iPhone 4 with its excellent camera.
Just my 4 cents…
I got it figured out.
They were using a 14.4 modem when testing both of the iPads for their Internet connection.
No wonder they saw no speed difference.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I haven’t noticed your relevance since 1992 so I can’t recommend your rag.
C.R. …Me thinks you have been universally panned.
I can confirm the Consumer Reports results. Just now I stood on a ladder and dropped an iPad 1 and iPad 2 from the same height. I didn’t notice any speed improvement.
I did notice some cracks, however. Further tests may be necessary.
Ha! A 14.4 modem. And They likely posted their benchmarks in a AOL “forum”.
Some of you Apple fans are so stupid and deluded as to be worthy of nothing more than being ignored. As an early Mac user, starting in 1984 with the first one, upgrading through the years, now the owner of 3 Macs (a Mini, an iMac, and a Macbook Pro), persistently recommending Macs to all my friends and acquaintances, writing 2 complex mac programs (teleprompter simulation and doctor’s office billing–very complex!), I nonetheless am not blind to deficiencies in Apple’s offering. Chief among these is the repugnant censorship/suppression practice relating to sharp political commentary, foolishly calling that “defamatory,” and silly exclusion of normal risque material, calling that “porn.” These actions will forever tarnish the legacy of the good, but badly educated Mr. Jobs (who admitted to me once, over the telephone, that he had never read any George Bernard Shaw, for example). Apple’s record here is truly disgraceful, and enough reason, not to mention the FLASH business, for me to forego the iPad in favor or a more open tablet,
Dr. A. N. Feldzamen
Wow, they offer doctorates in stupidity now?
ahh…so you’re like…ah…a pretty big deal…eh. m’kay
sounds like SOMEBODY had an app rejected by the app store!!!!
Hi fives all around from my fellow MacSupremacists.
” What’s up Doc?.”
Bwahaha… Feldzamen… Google reveals your quixotic crusade against Apple appear to be quite epic! Ill-fated, but epic nonetheless.
I’ve edited Docta Felt-a-man’s thread down to the narcissistic bits. Let’s take a look shall we…
“… As an early Mac user, starting in 1984 with the first one, ….now the owner of 3 Macs…writing 2 complex mac programs (teleprompter simulation and doctor’s office billing–very complex!),….Mr. Jobs (who admitted to me once, over the telephone…. Dr. A. N. Feldzamen
George Bernard Shaw??!! –when did the Black anchor guy from CNN in the 1990’s start writing hi-brow literature anyway?!?!
Just what we need- another pretentious pillpusher.
Enjoy the fragmented, “open” world of Android.
Doc, you’re killing me! If it’s porn you want then go get you’re little android tablet and lock yourself in your bedroom and porn away. You’ll richly deserve all the bugs and viruses you’ll get. As to flash, are you f’n kidding me??? Do you read any of the tech blogs that go on and on about how much it sucks? About the death of flash? Did you read about the Mozilla boys dumping it like a load of snakes in the toilet? Do you read about it’s battery sucking tendencies? As to your grand mac status, big deal. I’ve been on macs since 1984, I’ve owned dozens of them, I currently own 6 macs, 2 iphone 4s and an iPad…BFD! I’ve also had Click2Flash on all my macs for years so I can keep the crap that is flash off of my Safari so it won’t crash constantly. Sorry doc, you SHOULD be a PC…
The one thing Apple seems to be doing inadvertently is putting lots of previously-respected pundits/experts/media types to shame. Each time Apple launches something, these people work overtime to paint a negative picture of the product, putting their reputations on the line. Each time, they fall flat on their asses as the public turns out in droves to buy the product. Apple’s turning them into emperors without clothes.
Though we must keep our hubris in check. But is it really hubris when you actually are better than everyone else?
WOW.
CONSUMER REPORTS JUST LOST **ALL** CREDIBILITY.
THEY HAD VERY LITTLE TO BEGIN WITH, BUT NOW THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NONE.
It’s dual core, for anybody to notice a significant deference, the application needs to lend it self for concurrent processing, and it needs to be optimized for such a task. Once applications are written, taking account of this cartiera. You will notice a significant boost in speed.
As far as the CR speed test results, it’s completely understandable when they’ve opted to use a Grandfather Clock as their measuring device. [Simple mistake, probably forgot to pull the chain.]
Consumer Reports, and their ilk, are the reason there is so much confusion in the market place, and why people get stuck with inferior products.
With successive adverse reporting on Apple products, I can sense a speed change at Consumer Reports. It is a deceleration of credible reporting. We the consumer however, tend to purchase well-engineered products, Apple is an example, that reward us for their credible experience.
Perhaps rather than bash Consumer Reports, we simply stop funding their inferior toiletry and give them something else to write about … their Chapter 7.
They have the audacity to proclaim that tests were done in their “labs” but back up none I’d their claims with any technical data whatsoever. So, in their “lab” testing, the best they could come up was we didn’t notice any speed improvement? This leads me to believe that their “labs” are actually their bathrooms and they were too BLIND to notice any difference in speed because they were busy touching themselves. It’s fitting that their labs would be their bathrooms because their opinions are sh&t!
I didn’t notice any significant change in Consumer Reports’ dickhead biased lies. They probably tested the performance with the smart cover still on.
These people are seriously a bunch of biased idiots….
@Dr.Al
For someone who could not ignore “Apple fans”, you have a lot to say. Very impressed with your programming prowess. Your view on porn is funny. Apple will not sell porn through the store. Go into Macy’s and any retailer with a whole family focus and tell me where the porn is located. If you want porn there are many web sites that provide you iPhone and iPad access. Same with Apple’s decision not to allow something that is defamatory in the store. As for Flash support, we can disagree but Adobe could have written a product that works. I am sure you saw the article today about another security issue. Since I have stopped allowing the Flash plugin to run without “Click for Flash”, my MacBook Pro battery life is better and Safari hasn’t crashed.
If you are going Android good for you, only please really ignore us and play with the “open” product.
hits, hits, hits and the truth falls victim
Safari is an extremely fast browser when it comes to rendering pages, so its speed is bound by the network and the server you’re connecting to. I would not expect to see any noticeable differences between iPad models just using Safari.
Where the speed differences will show up is in the frame rates of games that really lean on the GPU.
-jcr
Again if you subscribe to Consumer Idiots I suggest you cancel as they are bias towards Apple and its products. You could get a more accurate review from a 2 year old versus reading anything in there farce magazine.
Ya think? First the iPhone 4 debacle but this takes the cake. With every tech blog doing articles about the incredible speed increase you would think CR would have at least tried….Hacks, out dated and irrelevant
So check what Engadget, Anandtech, ipadngravy, slashgear, iphonehacks and a plethora of others had to say.
So why does consumer reports not see a speed increase and all these tech sites do? Because the tech sites actually scientifically benchmarked the iPad 2 rather then stick their finger up their rear. Good job consumer reports, another nail in the coffin….
I hate Consumer Reports. Everything I bought that the recommended was a terrible product, from a Vacuum Cleaner to Dishwasher soap.
Fanboys.
All I want to see is the videos of the performance side-by-side. To just dismiss what they are saying is stupid. Is the iPad 2 really faster? Really? Let’s see it. I actually suspect that it is noticeably faster, but I’m not so blinded by koolaid to just believe all the hype.
Howard Stern: Bwahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Before with the “antennagate” issue I wasn’t certain that CR was being unbiased, but now after this report I’m certain!
Honestly, as an Ipad 1 owner, I was pretty hyped to get the new Ipad. went to the Apple store and tested the speed. really not that much improved. I will wait for the next version. The other “upgrades” are more gimmicky than anything else. photo booth, video recording (which didnt look great), and same screen resolution. Needless to say, as a big Apple supporter, I was disappointed after waiting in line at 5pm to get my hands on the device. Apple can do better. I think we can agree that this version is not a “significant” step forward in the Ipad line. I have to agree with Consumer reports on the speed.
MDN whomever you are, you are a genius. I love you. Consumers Union has lost all credibility with this report.
I have to agree with CR on this one. I too saw no speed difference doing routine tasks. It took me just as long to do the dishes as with my iPad 1. It took just as long to take out the garbage as with the iPad 1. It took just as long to wash the car as with the iPad 1. No speed differences doing routine tasks.
There’s definitely an agenda. I’ve never noticed any other category or product review with the message- “Yes, it’s the best, but something else better, cheaper, or at least as good or almost as good may eventually come along.”
Also, maybe they’re actually reviewing their own wireless setup.
May be Consumer Reports being funded or being supported by M$. who knows.
“Web browsing and e-mail in our tests, we didn’t notice any significant speed improvement.”
Try plugging your wifi router into something other than an AOL modem.
I beleive CR is pissed at the fact Apple does not make an 8 track to iPad adapter. They can’t use the iPad in their highly recomended Chryler K car!
You can sense the pain they felt having to recommend the iPad. CR has always preferred clumsy, awkward, and ugly products. They seem to feel elegant design and a pleasant experience are useless distractions and therefore evil. Add to that the temerity of Steve Jobs for contradicting them, and so much worse for his being right.
Apple, so perfect, so cool, don’t you just hate them!
Consumer Reports has proved via their iPhone 4 reviews that they can’t properly perform in depth analysis. WTF are they doing releasing results from ‘preliminary’ tests?!
FAIL FAIL FAIL
Consumers Reports: “Apps run faster? What’s an app?”
Of course they aren’t going to notice improvements for simple tasks like web browsing. The iPad 1 was fast as it was for stuff like that when apple intro’d it a year ago.
Consumer Reports is the Fox “News”
of publishing.
Since I own neither the original iPad or an iPad 2, I can’t really compare performance, but if I recall from the keynote, that didn’t seem to really be the point. The point I noticed were all the other features, such as the two cameras, the iMovie and Garageband apps, etc. I think the new iPad seems to be an improvement over the original even if there is no speed improvement. 🙂