Apple iPad HD / iPad 3

Are you getting an iPad 3 this year (or next month)?


  • Total voters
    28

Apple has been alternating their phone releases between major CPU/GPU/RAM improvements with minor hardware adjustments and major hardware enhancements/additions with minor CPU/GPU improvements:


1) iPhone 3G added 3G, a major usability feature


2) iPhone 3GS bumped up the CPU/GPU substantially and doubled the RAM (although it also improved for camera/video, IMO this is a more secondary feature)


3) iPhone 4 slightly improved the CPU/GPU specs, while adding retina display, more motion controls, dual cameras, and glass display


4) iPhone 4S massively improved the CPU/GPU specs


All along the cellular and camera specs have been improving, but that's a pretty natural benefit of the industry's improvement cadence, unlike the SoC, display type, extra peripherals, etc which are more explicit design decisions.


This fits in line with what's basically a standard tick-tock schedule for Apple's SoCs and have been over several iterations now. Since iPhone and iPad are using the same SoCs it stands to reason that iPad will follow similarly. So I fully expect that iPad 3 will only have moderate improvements to its SoC via a shrink, although this could include more CPU cores w/o changing cache or bandwidth (which doesn't actually take up that much space because Cortex-A9 cores are tiny). To offset this, ie actually get people to buy it, Apple will need to improve the other hardware. So a 2048x1536 display makes perfect sense. It's not like this is some massive new precedent either. 1024x768 is getting small by 2012's tablet standards, just like 480x320 was small by 2009 standards.
 
Quad Core (and possibly a low Mhz figure, which will naturally be hidden but still classed as the fastest iPad ever) and a 1080p+ screen is the minimum I'd expect to be honest. Anything else wouldnt be worth upgrading.


Knowing a lot of the Apple followers they could just re-badge the iPad 2 and loads will buy it because its cool.
 
Apparently this is now going to be called...


ipad_hd_ipad_3.jpg
 
I'm not so certain of the iPad HD moniker. It would seem to cause confusion with the "HD" badged apps which came out when the iPad was first release. A lot of Apps still use "HD" to mean "iPad version"... so when the iPad HD is release and an "HD" App doesn't have "Retina" graphics then... confusion ensues?


App makers are likely going to use a "Retina" suffix or something of that nature to indicate iPad Apps which have been updated with native 2x assets. Or perhaps they'll forego the potential benefits of selling shiny "Look at what my tablet can do" demos to new iPad 3 owners and not use anything at all!


We'll know in a few hours, anyway!


I'm starting to gain more interest in the potential AppleTV upgrades, but it seems that 1080p may be the only improvement, in addition to the grunt to support that resolution. People keep touting "Bluetooth 4.0" seemingly ignorant of the fact that the ATV doesn't natively do anything with the bluetooth it already has. You need to jailbreak and install BTStack to use a keyboard.


And the whole idea of an "Apple TV" ie: an Apple branded television set is patently absurd.
 
I read this morning that it wasnt going to be called the HD, or 2s, and that it is to be called iPad 3.


also that it has a variation of the A5 processor not the A6


time for some Banzai -- place your bets now!
 
And it's confirmed the GPU is being bumped to an SGX543MP4, like what's in the Vita (but probably with much higher clock speeds available here). With the increase in resolution this makes way more sense than increasing CPU count, although that doesn't mean they couldn't do both.


This also means in a few days Apple is potentially doubling their already big GPU lead over all other ARM SoCs.. prior to iPad 2 I never would have thought they'd be nearly this aggressive with graphics performance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I suppose that's just the way of progress. I admit the new graphics are great, but even with all that power I still feel like the iPad is, I dunno... kinda lacking in certain departments. That's a big "for me," though, since I'm pretty picky about what I want or need. The Galaxy Note 10.1 is about as close to what I'd want in a tablet at the moment, with the stylus input and all. I hardly play games on my phone, and I can't imagine doing much more on a tablet.


That brings up an interesting thing now. Graphically, a new line is drawn for standards on the iPad, and tablets in general. How will this affect app developers? It'll obviously give less seasoned app devs more room to play with and less needing to optimize to get decent performance, but looking at the photos from Namco and Epic... I'm actually worried for the future. Unless they're reusing assets, development at these levels seem to be going up and pricing doesn't seem to be doing the same. I feel like things are going to get penny-pinchy for devs, and I wonder if it'll get more difficult for employees to stay employed at decent salaries? Then again, a good game isn't always about the graphics (but this is an iPad we're talking about... it's "pretty").


On another note, it looks like the name, at least for now, is officially "The new iPad." I just pooed myself.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm not so certain of the iPad HD moniker.


it seems that 1080p may be the only improvement, in addition to the grunt to support that resolution


And the whole idea of an "Apple TV" ie: an Apple branded television set is patently absurd.

Nailed.


Nailed.


Nailed.


+Retina.


Nailed.


+4 internets.


Edit: Yes, I reserve the right to be a massive douche and pat myself on the back :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here was me thinking it would have a USB port & SD Slot /joke.


The thing that has surprised me the most is that Apple are apparently going to keep the same pricing structure, $499 for the base unit is seriously good value when you look at the competition. Not something you'd usually say about Apple.


I'd never buy an IPad unless hell froze over, or it had a USB port / SD slot (whichever came first). :p


Really looking forward to seeing the Android tablet makers up their game in terms of screen resolution / graphics grunt.
 
I've been refreshing the Apple store for hours trying to get my pre-order in. Argh!


Got *so* close, and then they took the store down again.
 
Wow, they putting in a new display and plop, they have a "new" iPad. When was the last iPad released, not even a year ago I guess? And I bet that the Apple Lemmings again run into the stores and buy the Pad that nobody REALLY need, even if they already have the older iPads that also nobody really needs. Damn, what's the secret of selling stuff so successfuly, even if nobody acttualy really needs it? :wacko: Give us some of that pls. :D
 
Couple people on FB have already ordered theirs. I think they have iPads already, too. One even said "64GB. I figured for that price, what's another $100?" :blink: That'd feed me for a month..!


I'm still trying to figure out the madness myself, but I'm guessing it's a combination of trend and gadget envy. I don't covet iStuff so I don't quite understand the craze. I have gadget envy, but my gadget envy is need-based, and iPads simply don't fit my need. Not even a high-def screen can make me want one! :p
 
Some people just seem to buy one apple product after the other. I've got to say 399$ for the wifi version is pretty competitive.


Apple does have soemthing when it comes to hardware but way too much hype and it's crazy how closed iOS is. It makes me sad to see that for many people the future of computing really is a locked down and closed platform... (random rant sorry)


As with the Iphone 4 they simply multiplied the both horizontal and vertical resolution by 2. It makes it easy to scale everything. 2048x1536 is a very high resolution for a tablet. It's more that 1080p and more that most computer monitor. Honnetly I am not convinced that such a high resolution is an absolute necessity. In some way I would rather see more AMOLED display.
 
Finally got my pre-order in around midnight.


For some of us geeks it's the iPad cycle of life; we get a new one, the wife gets the iPad 2 and the iPad 1 goes to a less fortunate family member. Rinse, repeat. I always buy the 16GB WiFi, though, the extra capacity versions are enormously overpriced- they probably subsidise the entry level somewhat.


I've been waiting for Retina for a while, as I often remote control my 2560*1440 resolution desktop and that extra resolution will make for so much less zooming/panning... And probably more eye-strain.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ordered. Getting 64gig Wifi this time, 32gig just isn't enough for my Appstore habit. ;)
 
i want one :( too bad I wont be getting one any time soon unless I win the lottery or steve job gifts one to me from the grave (which ever comes first).
 
The Ipad 3 looks interesting, but i wants to wait for next gen Ipod Nano whit 32gb, i ditnt need a Tablé PC, i have a Xperia Play to watch Youtube on Bed (lets Plays), or surving the Web on the go..


My Dad my need a Tablé PC because he think he have to watch Stock (Börse) /share courses every hour..,


I own a Ipod Nano 6g whit 16gb, and its a great device, its smal, but as an Tablé PC, i would by something whit Android..
 
Back
Top