07 May IPAD, 3rd generation: an iPad 2 with a better screen display
The new iPad 3 hit the shelves in the middle of March 2012. It features the new revolutionary retina display, improved graphics performance, a better camera and faster connectivity.
The main design difference is, of course, the 9.7-inch Retina Display. This new display features 3.1 million pixels with a 2048-by-1536 resolution which is higher than Blu-ray and even higher than a 62-inch Full HD plasma television. No other tablet on the market can surpass the display quality on this new device.
The main processor is the same as the iPad 2, although the chip has been updated. The included chip is now the A5X processor which replaced the A5 featured in its predecessor. The difference mainly rests on the graphical capabilities. This new quad core graphics processor alongside the main CPU was designed to support the new massive resolution.
The camera was also improved, the one-megapixel to five-megapixel upgraded camera offers a better resolution and image quality. Pictures taken with the new one’s rear camera are drastically better than before. Their larger size, combined with a better image sensor, allows for more detail to be captured. Colours are excellent and detail is well above average when compared to a decent 2012 smartphone’s camera. However this may not be the perfect picture taking apparatus, unless you don’t mind holding up in the air a ten inch screen to take pictures.
As for the wireless speed, the new one is available in two versions: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi plus 4G.
Now, looking at the benchmarking overall performance of the new one compared to the preceding model. The iPad 3 features an addition of ram from 1gb to 512 mb but the same processor speed of 1ghz. According to GeekBench, “In use, it didn’t feel like the new model was any faster than the original at loading apps or rendering web pages and GeekBench, which uses a set of algorithmic processes to determine overall computing horsepower, confirmed this to be accurate when it gave the iPad 2 a score of 754 in our tests. The new one scored 770. Put into perspective, the original iPad 1 scored 470, so there was a clear performance jump when upgrading from the first generation to the iPad 2. But despite double the RAM, the new iPad doesn’t offer the same speed boost in terms of computing power — it’s all about the screen and the graphics, and a great deal of that new graphical horsepower is rendering more pixels to fill the massive 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution required by the Retina Display.”(www.Geekbench.com)
In Conclusion, the iPad third generation, is the best iPad thus far. It will mostly benefit reading, viewing and video editing and gaming in which graphics are most crucial. However if pricing is in the forefront of your decision in choosing a new iPad and you are less concerned with 3D gaming, video/photo editing, the iPad 2 may be a better choice.