Apple iPad Review – Part 1 – Hardware
With so many reviews and opinions of Apple’s latest “creation”, I’m sure this one will get lost in the shuffle, however, being a tech/gadget blog, it’s my duty to voice my opinions on this potential game changer.
So, the iPad. The name kinda sucks, but as I read somewhere else, in a short period of time, we’ll all get over it. I definitely would have preferred iSlate or even the Apple Tablet. But they love those lowercase i’s in Cupertino, so there were only a few options, I suppose. Might have also had something to do with HP’s Slate device.
Let’s get to my thoughts on all this mess.
Processor - “Custom” built Apple A4. From what I understand, Apple and P.A. Semiconductor license ARM technology, they just put their own spin on it. So, let’s not be too fooled in thinking that they designed this thing from the ground up. They tweaked it for this device specifically, which is a good thing as opposed to just taking whatever chip ARM provides them with. The proc speed is the same as what is in several high end mobile phones nowadays, so there is definitely some need there. I do understand the cost issues, but I’m not sure if they would sell more by charging more and having more power vs making it less expensive and gimping it. Will it function smoothly based on current design? Probably, but crank the speed up and it could do more.
Screen - I didn’t know what IPS was when they announced it, but from what I gather, it just allows you better viewing angles. This is helpful for a device that you have to hold because you can hold it at whatever angle is comfortable to you and still be able to see the screen well. It’s still a glossy screen, which means fingerprints – oleophobic coating be damned. Not an issue on my iPhone because it wipes off automatically in my pocket. I’m sure the screen protector market will be running at full speed on this device too. I used to make excuses for glossy screens, but not anymore. Matte for me, please. I will also add that the 4:3 aspect ratio is completely unacceptable. The real estate on this thing is already at the low end of what makes a convenient video viewing device, so cutting off 25% of the screen just so it’s widescreen is not cool.
Size/Weight – Not having a device to physically hold, I can’t make too sound a judgement on this. I’m going to assume that the weight and screen size are acceptable, as that’s been the one thing I have heard no complaints about from all the reviews.
Additional ports – Not having SD, USB, HDMI, or any other type of port comes to the dismay of many. However, I think that the way they’ve designed this device to be used, it would only be taken advantage of by a small percentage of potential users. With the 30-pin connector, there will no doubt be dongles to allow some of these things. I am going to go out on a limb here and say there’s probably not a lot of extra room inside for the chipsets required to power these additional ports, so I’m ok with the lack of them. Ask 10 of your non-geek friends how often they hook their laptop up to their TV to watch movies. As far as the other ports, whether or not you agree with it, this device is a media consumption device, meant to be an extension of your PC/Mac. It’s not designed (whether this is right or wrong) to load your photos up on it. It’s designed to sync with your main machine, which is where you load up your photos.
Battery – The claim is 10 hours of video. Yet, no other mention was made of how long it would last. Considering most of us won’t be watching 10 straight hours of video, shouldn’t regular usage be more like 20 hours? I’m also going to assume that those 10 hours are with WiFi and 3G turned off and the screen brightness no more than halfway up. Reality? 8 hours of video at normal use, and the processor has been tweaked to prioritize video and slow everything else down – therefore, it’s gonna run 8-10 hours no matter what. Honestly though, that’s plenty for most people. Not as long as the week-long battery of an eReader, but this device isn’t “just” an eReader. It’d be nice if it ran longer, but it’s not a bad number out of the gate.
*Update* - It has been stated that the device will get 140 hours of audio playback, though no further details were given. This is a bit of a relief as it most likely means that standard iPad usage will surpass 10 hours.
GPS - They didn’t talk about it at the presentation, but it apparently has assisted GPS, just like the iPhone. Now I can geotag my phot…..oh wait.
Camera - Not included. Why the heck not? While I don’t see a ton of video-conferencing going on (for now), they do have one in their entire laptop line. I am sure that if this device takes off (it will, eventually), video conferencing will become more of an option, and it’ll get that front facing camera. However, unlike the iPhone, I don’t ever see a need for an outward camera. Who’s really going to take this thing out of their purse/backpack to snap photos?
SIM card – So, they’re going to use this new Micro SIM card, eh? That’ll keep folks off of T-Mobile. What’s that? T-Mobile doesn’t use the same 3G frequency as AT&T? Well played AT&T. You must be pumping Apple a lot of money to put these little locks in place. I really don’t understand the lack of multi-carrier support. I wish someone would explain that to me. I’m sure there is a sound business reason for it, but I’ve not been able to come up with it myself. Then again, Apple loves to play in their own sandbox and not share their toys.
WiFi + 3G – I can’t personally see using a device like this without 3G. However, there are more iPod Touch users than iPhone users, and they don’t have 3G. So, there’s quite the market for that option.
Storage/Memory – 16, 32, and 64. That’s fine for now, but this time next year there had better be 32,64, and 128 as the options. If I wanted to sync all of my photos, I could get away with the 32GB, but I’d not have room for anything else. If I did photos and video, 64GB would be cutting it close. I hate choosing which things don’t get synced, I’d rather have everything available to me.
Bezel – The black rim around this makes it look so…un-Apple. Sure, you don’t want to accidentally activate something on the edge of the screen, but there has got to be a way to have the homescreen reach the edges with some sort of software lock to prevent accidentally “clicking”. Probably not a big deal to most, but it’s not very sexy.
So, that’s what I got for hardware specs for the new iPad. Check out the continuing review at the links below.
Part 4 – Overall Conclusions and Predictions
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