Analysis of the new Apple iPad
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 9, 2012 1:37 AM ESTFinal Words
In many ways the new iPad was a known quantity. We knew to expect a faster SoC, a significantly higher resolution display and LTE support - Apple delivered on all fronts. The new iPad, much like another iPhone, is simply a tangibly improved version of its predecessor.
The iPad 2's display quickly became unacceptable from a resolution standpoint. The 3rd generation iPad's Retina Display completely addresses the issue and creates a new benchmark for other players in the tablet and ultraportable notebook space to live up to. It really is great to see Apple pushing display technology so aggressively and at reasonable price points. I do hope it's only a matter of time before we see a similar trend on the Mac side.
The finer details of yesterday's announcement were interesting - a much larger battery and 4x-nm LTE baseband. Arguably the most important information however is what Apple didn't talk about.
Today we have a first-world-problem with tablets, including the iPad - they are spectacular for certain usage models, but frustrating for others. Tablets aren't notebook replacements yet, but they can be more useful than a notebook depending on what you're doing. At the same time, tablets can be considerably worse than a notebook - again, depending on what you're doing. The solution to having the best of both worlds is to switch between or travel with two devices: a tablet and a Mac/PC. Ideally we'd like to see consolidation where you'd only need one.
Windows 8 proposes a solution to this problem: a single OS that, when paired with a convertible tablet (or dockable tablet like the Transformer Pad), can give you a tablet experience or a full blown desktop OS on a single device. Apple hasn't tipped its hand as to what the iOS UI strategy is going forward. I suspect we'll get some update at WWDC this year, but Apple is playing it very quiet at this point. Microsoft's strategy does bode very well for Windows users who also want a tablet, however it does alienate Windows users who want a more robust desktop experience. It's clear to me that Apple is trying to move the iPad closer to the MacBook Air in its product line, but it's unclear to me whether (or when) we'll see convergence there.
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cootang2 - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
display technology and apple?? this display designed, developed, manufactured from other company. What apple did for this display is buying.stsk - Monday, March 12, 2012 - link
And what "company" would that be? Please educate yourself about how contracted manufacturing works before proclaiming your ignorance. If Foxconn assembles for a variety of different manufacturers, none of which have similar design, does that make them all Foxconn devices? No, it doesn't. Most observers believe at least 3 separate manufacturers make displays for the new iPad. (and one of which apparently couldn't successfully get sufficient yield from emerging technology to stay in the game.) Apple designed the device, spec'd the parts, contracted the assembly. If you can find another product with a similar display, buy it. Otherwise, STFU.ZeDestructor - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Page 2 (CPU) "768MB would imply 512MB on one channel and 128MB on the other, delivering peak performance for apps and data in the first 512MB but lower performance for the upper 128MB"512MB + 128MB = 640MB. I think you meant to put in 256MB.
JarredWalton - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Fixed, thanks -- saw that as well when I was reading. :)quiksilvr - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Anothing thing worth mentioning is that those Tegra 3 numbers come from a lower end Tegra 3 on HONEYCOMB and not ICE CREAM SANDWICH. So please make sure when the eventual battle occurs between the Asus Transformer Infinity 700 and iPad 3 that this is addressed.jjj - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I would rather see a tablet with a sane screen and such a large battery ,would be way more useful.There is no reason to use this SoC in the next iPhone,would be pointless to add such a GPU and the vanilla A5 would be a better fit, so chances are we'll see a new one .
The biggest drain on the battery should be the display's LEDs since it likely requires 2x also the extra bulk could be due to the screen being thicker,there was a lot of space to fit a bigger battery so i doubt the battery is thicker.
In the first table for the new ipad baseband you added the CPU/GPU instead of the Qualcomm chip used.
ZeDestructor - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Not any more than the iPad or iPad 2. Anand is correct here to talk about LTE. Radios do consume a fair bit of power when stressed. Especially with regards to data.jjj - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
nm about the first table supposed error,i guess for some reason that row is for the LTE model SoC not the baseband.Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I tend to disagree, if you're going to be spending hours looking at something it better look good. The resolution is incredible just being a tad bit under the iPhones PPI. Insane battery life on these tablets aren't an issue with Apple, the battery life is already pretty good. Most people spend time around areas where they have access to a charger being at work, in their car, at home. I think the performance increase far outweighs a larger battery.zanon - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Thanks for the summary, it was thorough and covers everything that can be done until physical units are available for tear-down and benchmarking. It sounds like the iPad 3 is a good example of practicality in engineering. As you say, Apple has put a great deal of emphasis on a few key user-facing elements, but was willing to make a few sacrifices against the optimal in places in order to hit reasonable volume, price, and timelines. Or in other words, "Real artists ship". It would be nice if full 28nm for all chips, A15/A7 big.LITTLE and so on were ready now, but that's the tech world I guess, always something new just on the horizon. Have to draw the line somewhere.Apple does seem to be falling behind a bit in iOS UI paradigms. Beyond side-loading, I continue to think that the single biggest core flaw/missing feature in iOS is a replacement for the file system, a new and updated data interaction and interchange UI. So far rather then address that Apple has just gone with "nothing", and other attempts seem to just be giving up and using the traditional filesystem in one form or another, but there's a big opportunity there to push things forward and it's key to actually making these devices real computer replacements IMO.
Thanks again for this. I only had one minor quibble:
>"The only downside is supply of these greater-than-HD panels is apparently very limited as a result of Apple buying up most of the production from as many as three different panel vendors."
I think that's only a downside if the panels would have been available at the same time anyway. Often though Apple has gotten these deals by effectively fronting part or all of the immense amount of capital needed to get new factories and manufacturing lines online, which effectively brings forward when the stuff can get produced in volume anyway. Relatively quickly (6-12 months seems to be common) production will ramp up and exclusivity will expire, and everyone will have it all. Doesn't seem any different then if no one had accelerated things in the first place, except that a few get it earlier.