“Apple didn’t need to launch a second-generation iPad. The original commands around 80% of the US tablet market. It is less than a year out of the box,” Josh Halliday reports for The Guardian. “But when [Apple CEO Steve] Jobs can improve on one of Apple’s products, you can rest assured that he will. Thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessor, the iPad 2 has a smaller footprint than the original – plus two cameras and extra software such as GarageBand.”
“The greatest departure from the original iPad is its speed. Apple claims that loading apps, playing games and browsing the internet are up to up to twice as fast as on the original. Certainly, internet browsing is the most striking difference,” Halliday reports. “As an owner of the original iPad, I’ve never felt that performance was lagging (then again, I also own a 20-month-old iPhone 3G), but the iPad 2’s A5 dual core processor makes it much more responsive to touch.”
Halliday reports, “Overall, the iPad 2 offers a string of incremental but important improvements on its predecessor… Apple remains ahead of the pack with the iPad 2, which offers faster web browsing, better graphics – and a really clever cover… Owners of the original iPad should not feel too sore about the upgrade: you don’t need to buy a new tablet. Those waiting to buy their first tablet could do much worse than the iPad 2.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike W.” for the heads up.]
When the rest of the pack is brain damaged, one legged, runs with the aid of crutches, it’s easy to see why the iPad is ahead in so many ways
Damn you left nut! You’ve betrayed us once again!
I will say that I think the iPADv1 was crippled on purpose (lacking camera, gyro, etc) so they could maximize v2 sales.
I know it’s just business. I’m guessing the new dual processor probably could not have happened for v1. But the rest of it was definitely a calculated crippled feature release.
Apple leaves stuff out on purpose. The first iPhone ran on the Edge network and not 3G for a reason. If leaving the cameras out on the first generation iPad meant a more than one year head start on the competition, then the move looks genius in hindsight. Think about it. Facetime wasn’t released until June of last year. Why would Apple have put two cameras on the original iPad for release in April without any functionality? Here’s a front and back facing camera that takes crappy pictures. Apple knows, as well as most sensible people, that a tablet is stupid for taking pictures. They made the right choice. The People who don’t think Apple thinks these things through are the ones building Android crap.
Apple doesn’t cripple products “on purpose”. They probably didn’t have the software, iMovie and FaceTime ready for the original iPad launch. Apple doesn’t offer hardware that can’t take advantage of software.
I doubt that they purposely limit ipadv1 so they have better marketing material for iPad2 and maximize sales. To build a product you have to balance many things, including features, price, and and how much time you have to bring it to market. You have to decide the cost vs benefits. I think they keep camera out of the first version was because they needed to keep cost down and perhaps they don’t think the cameras would be as useful in a first gen if they implemented without much thoughts to how it would be used and the differnent way it might be used vs an iphone.
You see what happens when a company rush product out with a feature list (ie: xoom). I am glad Apple is more disciplind.
Totally agree. Apple does not leave things out so that they can get you to to upgrade to the next one in a few months. Apple leaves things out because they either, a) will deteriorate the whole experience due to processor power, or b) will add to the expense so much that they will exceed their target price. I should add a “c”…….c) that the feature is not a good thing to have on such a device.
Examples (I believe) of things left out due to “a” are FaceTime cameras and giro. Due to “b” would be again FaceTime cameras and giro. Due to “c” would be USB and HDMI interfaces.
Bottom line is Apple builds the best device they can, given the constraints of USER EXPERIENCE and TARGET PRICE.
Note: They have even told us this about notebooks……..SJ once said they cannot build a good computer for $250. He definitely had USER EXPERIENCE and TARGET PRICE in mind when he said that.
You’re a tech reporter and your phone is 20 months old??? Wtf?
iPad 2 doesn’t come with Garageband – you have to buy it.
That link to the article just loops back. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/mar/25/apple-ipad-2-review
Jailbreaking cuts through the close hold that Apple has over how the iPhone’s operating system works and allows for more freedom.