"New iPad" (iPad 3) reviews are in

[vi edit]

The verge says the ppi is lower than the iphone 4

I also hold a tablet a lot farther away from my face than my phone.

 

[zoiks]

Also the speed on the tablet is basically on par with the old ipad2 even though it has a faster processor.

 

[NFS4]

Also the speed on the tablet is basically on par with the old ipad2 even though it has a faster processor.

CPU is basically the same but includes 1GB ram instead of 512MB
The GPU is the beefed up portion of the SOC

 

[Mopetar]

Where's Anandtech's review? :'(

Anandtech usually doesn't get pre-release hardware from Apple so they won't have a review up for at least another week.

It's kind of a disappointment, mostly because AT is one of the only sites that uses highly methodical approach and provides detailed performance metrics. I'm most curious about the battery, simply because the various other reviews have numbers that are a kind of all over the place. The Verge got slightly less than Apple's published amount, Mossberg said he was getting somewhat more, and another review said they though they could probably get around 20 hours out of it for some uses.

 

[Zaap]

I have to say, no one does tablets like Apple. The rest of the industry was still playing catch up with the iPad 2, now they're like miles behind.

And I'm no Apple shill, I don't subscribe to all the 'team sports' nonsense over tech, so I call it like it is. I like many aspects of other tablets, but when you come right down to it, the iPad is the real deal. It's just so much better than just about everything else. My only real gripe is that I still wish iOS were customizable right out of the box, but heck, you can't have everything.

I'm hoping the 3 will light fires under other tab-makers butts to get them to think more about their own wares. Either make tablets that are way cheaper, or just concede that you can't match Apple, so don't even try unless you're going to pull out all the stops. No cutting corners of any kind, then sneaking in at $699. Not going to fly if your company name isn't Apple.

The saddest thing to me is that Microsoft in their infinite lack of taste/style/ability etc actually thinks they are competing with the iPad with that horrid mess Metro in Windows 8. I mean seriously, does anyone that's used both actually believe these two things (one a wretched mess designed by people with zero design/style/taste, and the other a masterpiece of aesthetics) even reside in the same tech universe?

And again, I say this as a Windows user ever bit as much as I'm an OSX user.

Everyone else should honestly just ignore the iPad- go back to doing whatever you were working on before it even came around. If you're going to try to match/beat/compete with it, then pull out all the stops, don't cut corners, hire the best people (Windows 8 team- here are your pink slips) and then get on it. Otherwise, do whatever ELSE it is you did/do well, not attempt weak iPad-wannabe kludge.

 

[Mopetar]

I have to say, no one does tablets like Apple. The rest of the industry was still playing catch up with the iPad 2, now they're like miles behind.

I'm not so sure about that. ASUS will have a 1080 x 1200 version of the Transformer out in the not too distant future. The resolution isn't as high as the new iPad, but it's still pretty good and probably qualifies as a "retina display". It's got plenty of other similarities as well, but the only thing that worries me is the battery life since it's using a much smaller battery than the iPad.

It's much harder to compare the software. Some people just prefer Android to iOS (or vice versa) and there aren't a lot of objective measures that can be used to evaluate the two.

Outside of ASUS though I don't know if there are any other companies that can even compete in the same space as Apple, or at least they haven't shown anything remotely compelling in my eyes. You may be partially right, but it's not as if there isn't any other company remotely close to Apple.

 

[Andrmgic]

I think the metro UI is gorgeous.. I love it on windows phone. It is completely different than what apple is doing, but equally aesthetically pleasing and every bit as good, imo.

That said, the iPad is the king of tablets. The only reason I ever sold my ipad was either a) buying a better model b) Getting bored of using iOS

They have the most developers, the best app ecosystem, the best hardware and the best battery life of any of their competitors..

It's time for everyone else to step up their game again.

I think windows 8 could rival the ipad on a well-designed arm based tablet, but we won't know how that will turn out for sure until this fall or slightly beyond that.

 

[dagamer34]

Anandtech usually doesn't get pre-release hardware from Apple so they won't have a review up for at least another week.

It's kind of a disappointment, mostly because AT is one of the only sites that uses highly methodical approach and provides detailed performance metrics. I'm most curious about the battery, simply because the various other reviews have numbers that are a kind of all over the place. The Verge got slightly less than Apple's published amount, Mossberg said he was getting somewhat more, and another review said they though they could probably get around 20 hours out of it for some uses.

Judging by the time it takes for Anandtech to do his reviews, even if he got the new iPad last Wednesday, I doubt it would be finished by today. He does more than any of the other reviewers, with color accuracy tests, multiple WiFi, 3G, 4G tests and accompanying graphs, as well as a super deep look into the chips involved that can only be attained by opening the unit up (and Apple would NOT want you to do that to their review unit). So their work can't really begin in earnest until iFixIt does their teardown.

I would consider Anandtech's reviews to be the hardware complement to the software Mac OS X reviews by John Siracusa on Ars Technica: definitive, but definitely not something whipped up in a few days.

 

[dagamer34]

I'm not so sure about that. ASUS will have a 1080 x 1200 version of the Transformer out in the not too distant future. The resolution isn't as high as the new iPad, but it's still pretty good and probably qualifies as a "retina display". It's got plenty of other similarities as well, but the only thing that worries me is the battery life since it's using a much smaller battery than the iPad.

It's much harder to compare the software. Some people just prefer Android to iOS (or vice versa) and there aren't a lot of objective measures that can be used to evaluate the two.

Outside of ASUS though I don't know if there are any other companies that can even compete in the same space as Apple, or at least they haven't shown anything remotely compelling in my eyes. You may be partially right, but it's not as if there isn't any other company remotely close to Apple.

I'm pretty sure Samsung could run circles around ASUS, as they have the most vertical integration of ANY OEM in the world. They manufacturer the chips and memory, build the displays, spend tons of money in R&D on process nodes, and own the factories. No other company even comes close.

And Samsung has already clearly telegraphed what they intend to put out to compete with the new iPad: Super AMOLED 2560x1600 11.6" tablet in the same body as the current 10.1" tablet (thinner frame) with the new Exynos 5250 (2Ghz ARM Cortex A15 + ARM Mali T604), 2GB RAM, and LTE. As to why they haven't announced it yet, Samsung is becoming more Apple-like in that they are announcing products MUCH closer to their launch date, which is why we didn't see the Galaxy S III at MWC. Expect the new tablet and phone in June when those parts are ready to go (they are waiting on the SoC, which is needed to drive that high DPI display).

 

[Steelbom]

Anandtech usually doesn't get pre-release hardware from Apple so they won't have a review up for at least another week.

It's kind of a disappointment, mostly because AT is one of the only sites that uses highly methodical approach and provides detailed performance metrics. I'm most curious about the battery, simply because the various other reviews have numbers that are a kind of all over the place. The Verge got slightly less than Apple's published amount, Mossberg said he was getting somewhat more, and another review said they though they could probably get around 20 hours out of it for some uses.

That's such a shame, I'd say Anandtech is one of the best review sites, if not the best. I agree, they're very detailed tests. I hope he pre-ordered one, else he might not get one until several weeks from now.

I expect the battery life to be around ten hours, it seems accurate and makes sense considering the massive increase in battery size.

I bet you'd get close to sixty hours of music with the screen off though... lol

I'm not so sure about that. ASUS will have a 1080 x 1200 version of the Transformer out in the not too distant future. The resolution isn't as high as the new iPad, but it's still pretty good and probably qualifies as a "retina display". It's got plenty of other similarities as well, but the only thing that worries me is the battery life since it's using a much smaller battery than the iPad.

It's much harder to compare the software. Some people just prefer Android to iOS (or vice versa) and there aren't a lot of objective measures that can be used to evaluate the two.

Outside of ASUS though I don't know if there are any other companies that can even compete in the same space as Apple, or at least they haven't shown anything remotely compelling in my eyes. You may be partially right, but it's not as if there isn't any other company remotely close to Apple.

That's true, but according to what I've read it's going to start at $599 w/ 32GB of storage. I'm not sure how the Tegra 3 will hold up at 1920x1200 in games either, they may have to upscale.

 

[QueBert]

Apple is just being greedy as usual. All that friggin' money, they have the NAND market cornered, they just bought a NAND company in Israel, and they can't sacrifice a couple of dollars of their already 50%+ margins on the iPad to give us more storage...

I feel the same way when I buy a $12 ink cart for my Canon printer and I know it costs Canon like 50 cents to make it.

 

[jpeyton]

I'm pretty sure Samsung could run circles around ASUS, as they have the most vertical integration of ANY OEM in the world. They manufacturer the chips and memory, build the displays, spend tons of money in R&D on process nodes, and own the factories. No other company even comes close.

Which is why Apple, despite the immense legal battles it is waging against Samsung worldwide, still rewards the Korean conglomerate with $10 billion in contracts.

Samsung was initially the only OEM to make iPad 3 displays that passed Apple's QC standards, and some sources report the company as the sole supplier of displays for launch date iPad 3s.

 

[badb0y]

Tomorrow is the day.

 

[notposting]

Does anyone else have problems with the Verge? Shit they still haven't fixed that colossal fuckall of a loading piece of shitfest.%$#$%@ Balls. Clicked on the link in the OP, that's 2 minutes of FF freezing. Does it in every browser on multiple machines. The review probably has 10,000 comments with 5 per second being added. FFS guys, limit the goddamn comments.

Anyways, I'm sure it's the best tablet out there, although a W8 ARM tablet should give it a good run for its money.

 

[MrX8503]

I'm not so sure about that. ASUS will have a 1080 x 1200 version of the Transformer out in the not too distant future. The resolution isn't as high as the new iPad, but it's still pretty good and probably qualifies as a "retina display". It's got plenty of other similarities as well, but the only thing that worries me is the battery life since it's using a much smaller battery than the iPad.

The ASUS is also quoted at $600 and it could be months until it's released. It was unveiled a long time ago and its still not out yet. It is a close competitor though.

And Samsung has already clearly telegraphed what they intend to put out to compete with the new iPad: Super AMOLED 2560x1600 11.6" tablet in the same body as the current 10.1" tablet (thinner frame) with the new Exynos 5250 (2Ghz ARM Cortex A15 + ARM Mali T604), 2GB RAM, and LTE. As to why they haven't announced it yet, Samsung is becoming more Apple-like in that they are announcing products MUCH closer to their launch date, which is why we didn't see the Galaxy S III at MWC. Expect the new tablet and phone in June when those parts are ready to go (they are waiting on the SoC, which is needed to drive that high DPI display).

Samsung's tablet could be months away from release and might not come out till 3Q this year. In that case, I would hope that its packing more heat than the iPad 3. From what I've been reading, Apple used the best hardware that was available to them at the time to get a March release date, which is why its CPU is still a dual core.

The 2560 x1600 SAMOLED+ will be nice looking for sure, but it uses pentile to achieve that resolution. Pentile has gotten better as of late, but we'll have to wait and see how it pans out.

 

[alent1234]

Only beef i have with the new ipad is the small amount of included memory. Each new generation gets a faster cpu, faster mobile connectivity, better camera, yet they all still have 16gb of memory. Shouldn't 32gb be the standard by now? Why is apple skimping on something so inexpensive?

in my experience android devices need 2 to 3 times the memory of IOS for the same level of performance

 

[Bateluer]

The ASUS is also quoted at $600 and it could be months until it's released. It was unveiled a long time ago and its still not out yet. It is a close competitor though.

Hope Asus adjusts that plan. A Tegra 3, even with a 1080p panel, would be a tough sell.

Samsung's tablet could be months away from release and might not come out till 3Q this year.

This is good practice for anyone. Asus screwed the pooch when they announced the TF201, and then said in the same show they'd be releasing a ~250 dollar Tegra 3 tablet and a 1080p tablet.

If you're announcing a product thats intended for consumer purchase, the consumer better be able to walk into a store and buy one with in 30 days of the press release.

 

[Red Storm]

As of now the iPad is the only tablet that I can honestly recommend to people. When the Infinity Pad comes out, that'll make two.

 

[smartpatrol]

Damn. I can't wait to get mine tomorrow!

 

[MrX8503]

Yeah Samsung is doing it right by not doing a paper launch.

 

[jpeyton]

in my experience android devices need 2 to 3 times the memory of IOS for the same level of performance

It's a good thing DRAM prices are cheaper than dirt. And that's at the wholesale level. Imagine what it would cost a tier 1 manufacturer like Samsung to outfit their tablets with 2GB of memory...maybe $5?

 

[Aikouka]

I'm pretty sure Samsung could run circles around ASUS, as they have the most vertical integration of ANY OEM in the world. They manufacturer the chips and memory, build the displays, spend tons of money in R&D on process nodes, and own the factories. No other company even comes close.

You're probably referring strictly to other tablet makers, but how about Intel?

 

[Mopetar]

I'm pretty sure Samsung could run circles around ASUS, as they have the most vertical integration of ANY OEM in the world. They manufacturer the chips and memory, build the displays, spend tons of money in R&D on process nodes, and own the factories. No other company even comes close.

Yet for some reason they don't and haven't. My guess is that the company (or probably more likely it's just the idiot in charge of their mobile department) lacks vision. If you look back at all of their products, they're rarely the first to try something new and merely just emulate what appears to be successful.

They're too busy working on something that was shown to be popular last year while other companies like ASUS are actually trying out new things. That's why the transformer is easily the best Android tablet out there.

The ASUS is also quoted at $600 and it could be months until it's released. It was unveiled a long time ago and its still not out yet. It is a close competitor though.

Completely true, but the post I was responding to said that everyone else was "miles" behind Apple. That ASUS will have something similar available in the next few months doesn't really match up with that claim. The 32 GB iPad is also $600, so I really don't see a problem with them launching at that price.

It's a good thing DRAM prices are cheaper than dirt. And that's at the wholesale level. Imagine what it would cost a tier 1 manufacturer like Samsung to outfit their tablets with 2GB of memory...maybe $5?

They probably won't, for a few reasons. The first is that they may not have the manufacturing capacity, especially if they're selling to other companies as well. The second is that it if they increase the number of DIMMs from one to two in order to get that capacity it takes up more board space and draws more power, both premium commodities in these devices. Third, it also makes it more difficult to make their future products stand out from current/previous offerings.

 

[dguy6789]

in my experience android devices need 2 to 3 times the memory of IOS for the same level of performance

Nexus One, Droid Incredible, Droid X, Evo 4G blah blah all say hi to iPhone 4. All of them very consistently beat the 4 in just about every non GPU benchmark and they all have the same amount of RAM.

As far as devices with more ram; phones like the Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, Rezound, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Note, and Galaxy Nexus outperform the iPhone 4S consistently, they don't merely match it.

tl;dr: Top Android phones have been faster than the newest iPhone at any given time for about two years now.. Only in select GPU tests does the iPhone pull ahead. UI smoothness and actual performance in loading and running applications are two different things.

 

[theeedude]

Samsung was waiting for Apple to launch so they would have the opportunity to improve the design. Since they make the screen and the SOC, there shouldn't have been any surprises. That said, Asus is barking up the right tree with the 249 or 200 priced pads. That's where the opportunity lies to move big volumes of ICS. Also,ICS is so good,it would be a huge mistake to muck with it.