Review: Apple iPad

An Apple iPad has never looked so awful.

No, I'm not referring to the new iPad, the one with the ballyhooed Retina display. I'm referring to last year's iPad 2, whose screen now looks grainy and pixelated when viewed alongside Apple's latest tablet. The improvement in display quality smacks you in the face as soon as you compare the two iPad models, and it's an upgrade that forces a nagging question: Where does Apple go from here?

The company now leads all competitors in tablet display quality, hands down. In fact, the display in the new iPad is so beautiful – so deft in rendering images, video and text – it's unlikely Apple will update the screen in next year's iPad model.

As for the new iPad's other upgrades, they're iterative, not revolutionary. But they also handily deliver all that we expect (let alone need) from a state-of-the-art tablet. If anything, the new iPad serves as a warning that Apple could be running out of ways to significantly advance the tablet art form. That's a problem for a company that depends on revolutionary hardware design to move the manic masses.

Has the iPad line reached its natural conclusion? Is there nothing left to improve? I'll answer those questions at the end of this review. But let's first study the two key features – the new display and faster wireless connectivity – that make the new iPad a wise upgrade over iPad 2 for some users, if not also the best tablet available today.

Retina Display

The new iPad screen measures 9.7 diagonal inches, just like the previous model, but now boasts a 2048 x 1536 resolution. That's good for 3.1 million pixels – four times the pixels of the iPad 2 and original iPad, which share the same 1024 x 768 screen.

But how does the new display actually look?

In a word: spectacular. When I first demoed the new iPad at Apple's launch event, I was dismissive of its so-called Retina display because near-identical screen technology can be found in the iPhone 4 and 4S. I use my 4S roughly 30 to 40 times a day, and I thought I had become indifferent to a Retina display's charms.

However, now that I can directly compare the screens of the iPad 2 and new iPad side by side, it's clear the 9.7-inch Retina display is a huge improvement.

Text on the new iPad is vividly crisper and sharper, and this is a big advantage for any tablet, which, unlike a smartphone, must function as a platform for relatively long-form reading. On the new iPad, individual text characters look like they're stamped directly onto the screen with the world's most exacting letter press – sharp and coherent with an almost molecular level of precision. By comparison, text on the iPad 2 now looks outright crude – visibly pixelated, even blurry.

In fact, everything now looks sub-standard on the original iPad and iPad 2. On the older iPads, the curved corners of home screen icons reveal pixels, not perfectly crisp lines as on the new Retina display.

And on Apple's new screen, high-resolution photos render in full glory, bearing the appearance of continuous-tone photo lab prints. Individual pixels are imperceptible, and the whole effect delivers a level of visual clarity that trumps not only other computing devices, but also any book or magazine produced via traditional off-set printing.

Apple says the new display bests its predecessor with 44 percent better color saturation, and anecdotal observation backs this up: Colors are noticeably richer and more brilliant relative to the reproduction mustered by the iPad 2. Colors also appear to render more accurately on the new display. Comparing control images I shot with the iPhone 4S, the new iPad beat the iPad 2 with a dynamic range that more closely matches the appearance of real-world objects.

Downsides? Well, like all iPads, the new one bears a screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Apple's latest tablet supports native 1080p video, but all HD video content that isn't letter-boxed will have significant black bands above and below the action, which isn't the case with 16:10 aspect ratio Android tablets. The iPad's aspect ratio reduces the wow factor of big-budget, Hollywood content, but if the Kindle Fire has taught us anything, it's that most consumers find smaller video windows perfectly acceptable.

LTE Wireless Data

Until the release of this latest iPad, I never advocated paying extra for a tablet with built-in wireless data support. We already pay a lot of money for our smartphone data plans, so paying for a second data bill is difficult to resolve, both intellectually and emotionally. What's more, our smartphones are always with us. So in those rare scenarios where we want to use a tablet but lack a Wi-Fi connection, we can always turn to our phones for that essential link to the outside world.

But the data game has changed.

For this review, I tested two new iPads. The black iPad in our photos is a 32GB Wi-Fi-only unit. The white one is a 64GB Wi-Fi+4G running on Verizon's LTE network. (A 4G AT&T version is also available.) If I had to spend my own money, I'd buy the white one. Sure, across Apple's entire iPad range, you pay a $130 premium when you opt for 4G support. But given the data speed and convenience that Verizon's 4G offers, the higher price tag can be justified.

LTE speeds will vary from location to location, but when using the Speedtest.Net app as a benchmark, I saw Verizon network speeds as fast as 10Mbps/9.9Mbps (download/upload) in downtown San Francisco, and 10.4Mbps/20.3Mbps in my residential neighborhood in the San Francisco hills. By comparison, the fastest Wi-Fi network I tested on the iPad delivered 24Mbps/6.3Mbps. Those are killer Wi-Fi download speeds, but Verizon easily beat Wi-Fi in upload speeds. (Such is the upload cap on residential cable internet service.)

Verizon's LTE network delivers a theoretical maximum download speed of 73Mbps. You'll never see that bandwidth in the real world, but even downloading data at 10Mbps is a revelation compared to slower wireless bands. Indeed, on AT&T's HSPA+ network, my iPhone 4S couldn't exceed speeds better than 2.2Mbps/0.32Mbps in any San Francisco location I tested.

Bottom line: Verizon's LTE is fast. Very fast. And it feels fast when you're using it in the field. The company's LTE service is offered in many key metropolitan areas, and when you're stuck on that tragically slow Wi-Fi network at the hotel or airport, you may be glad you opted for the new iPad with LTE support.

For the iPad Verizon models, monthly data plans cost $20 for 1GB, $30 for 2GB, and $50 for 5GB. All plans are contract free, so you can buy a month's worth of service only when you need connectivity.

And there's another benefit to buying a Verizon-connected iPad: These tablets can be used as personal data hotspots, meaning you can tether internet service to as many as five other devices via a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB connection. This feature alone could be a huge value-add, depending on your lifestyle or business needs. Verizon sells a contract-free LTE hotspot device, the Jetpack, for $270, yet the new iPad includes all this functionality for just a $130 premium.

How convenient is LTE hotspotting? Well, we ran the entire Gadget Lab news operation from the show floor of CES 2012 on two Verizon Jetpacks, updating our website (both words and images) with nary a hiccup. This operation involved as many as 10 LTE-connected writers and photographers at any given time. We would have used the wired Ethernet hook-up supplied to us by the Consumer Electronics Association, but it was markedly slower than Verizon's LTE service at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Downsides? 4G LTE offers such a fat bandwidth pipe, you may become addicted to downloading large files and streaming 1080p videos, reaching your data caps sooner than you think. So if you opt for either the AT&T or Verizon iPad version, you're committing to higher total costs of ownership, for both your initial hardware purchase and ongoing data consumption.

One important note about the new iPad and LTE: The AT&T version of the tablet doesn't currently support personal hotspotting, but the feature is supposedly coming.

New Camera, New Processor and Voice Dictation

The new iPad includes other upgraded features and specs, but I don't find them nearly as wowing as the Retina display and LTE. They're marginal updates, and serve as reminders that Apple has advanced its tablet art form quite far already, and is running out of fancy new tricks.

The Camera You'll Rarely Ever Use
First, there's the new rear-facing camera. It uses the same optics and imaging software as the camera in the iPhone 4S (an incredible smartphone camera by any measure), but employs a 5-megapixel sensor rather than the 8-megapixel technology found in the newest iPhone. The new iPad's camera is a vast improvement over the universally scorned camera in the iPad 2, but it's still a feature looking for a fan base.

Simply put, tablets are too unwieldy to effectively serve double duty as cameras. They're too big to carry around 24/7 – I'll refer to the maxim, "The best camera is the one you always have with you" – and they're not easy to aim and steady when you're actually shooting an image or video.

Nonetheless, the rear camera has been upgraded, and it's a bit of forward progress that Apple can tick off on the new iPad's spec sheet. Still images aren't as boldly colorful as the output from the iPhone 4S, but they're still quite competent.

Perhaps more significantly, the new camera shoots 1080p video with image stabilization support. Performance in low-light situations isn't bad, and when lighting conditions are ideal, video quality is more than sufficient for home movies and similar low-ambition-level fare. This hooks perfectly into Apple's updated version of iMovie for iOS. Novice video enthusiasts can use the tablet and iMovie together to create surprisingly finessed video projects and even campy theatrical trailers.

The Processor That Was Barely Upgraded, But Still Delivers
Apple's latest tablet includes a new processor called the A5X. It runs the same 1GHz dual-core architecture as the A5 processor in the iPad 2, but adds a quad-core graphics engine to support the new Retina display, and bumps RAM from 512MB to 1GB.

The story here, folks, is that Apple didn't make a dramatic processor upgrade, but rather made the right processor upgrade.The new A5X is a big part of Apple's marketing message. Manufacturers like to bandy about the term quad-core because quad-core CPU power is the new standard for smartphones and tablets, thanks to the Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, which appears in various Android devices. But let's be clear: The A5X is a dual-core chip with quad-core graphics, and is far from a dramatic overhaul.

Should potential new iPad buyers be concerned? No. Throughout testing, I found performance in all applications to be uneventful – which is to say the A5X zips through webpages, games and applications with aplomb. I never experienced any video stutter. The virtual keyboard never lagged behind my physical keystrokes. Applications never hung, and the entire system performed with its traditional iOS zippiness.

The story here, folks, is that Apple didn't make a dramatic processor upgrade, but rather made the right processor upgrade. Going for a quad-core main processing engine would have impressed a lot of hardware nerds, and such a chip would also likely improve performance in content creation and productivity apps, which are intrinsic to Apple's message that we live in a "post PC" era where tablets handle duties once owned by notebooks and desktops.

But a quad-core processor like the Tegra 3 would also draw more of the iPad's battery power, which is already heavily taxed by the LTE radio and Retina display, but nonetheless remains rated for nine hours of continuous web surfing over the wireless radio. So Apple opted for prudence rather than overkill. The A5X allows Apple to place the term quad-core on the new iPad's spec sheet, but also shows the world that balls-to-the-wall processing power may not be quite that important in even a high-end tablet.

Voice Dictation Finally Arrives on an Apple Tablet
Before the new iPad was unveiled, various pundits – including all but one Wired gadget expert – predicted the tablet would include Siri, Apple's sassy, question-answering virtual digital assistant. I was the lone Wired holdout.

Well, I'm happy to report that voice dictation, the only Siri component I ever use with regularity, has made the jump from the iPhone 4S to the new iPad. When you spawn the new tablet's virtual keyboard, you'll find a microphone icon on the bottom row of keys. Hit it, and start dictating your words into whatever text entry field you may be in. Once you're done, hit the mic icon again, and the iPad will convert spoken word to text quite quickly – in less than a second for, say, three sentences' worth of speech.

I couldn't discern any performance differences between voice dictation on the new iPad and the iPhone 4S. Apple's dictation engine has a remarkable ability to keep pace with human speech, and dictation accuracy hovered around 90 percent. Google has a similar dictation function built into Android 4, and while Google's engine converts text in real time, rendering text on-screen while you speak, its interpretive accuracy falls short of Apple's technology.

Should You Buy It?

The new iPad is the best tablet available today. Its screen technology is unmatched. Its industrial design, essentially identical to the iPad 2, oozes with high-quality fit and finish. And Apple's app library offers a far greater number of polished titles than anything you'll find in the Android Market or Amazon Appstore. In fact, because of software support alone, I would recommend first-time tablet buyers choose an iPad – either the new one or iPad 2 – over an Android tablet or the Kindle Fire at this time.

In March 2011, we gave the iPad 2 a 9 out of 10 verdict. The new model is even better. It may include only one revolutionary feature update – the new display – but the third-generation iPad still deserves a 9.

Should first- and second-generation iPad owners upgrade to the new model? It all depends on how they calibrate their finances to their emotional wants and hardware needs. The vast majority of iOS apps will run, in some form or another, on all three tablets, so a hardware upgrade isn't absolutely essential.

First- and second-gen iPad owners need to ask themselves just how badly they want the best mobile display in the universe. And they have to ask themselves if the speed and convenience of LTE is worth the price of admission.

Are you a high roller? Then take the plunge. The Retina display will remind you how much you love your new iPad every day. Are you a struggling 99 percenter? Then stick with the iPad you bought in 2010 or 2011. It still delivers nearly all the core functionality of the newest model. It just doesn't do it as quickly, or with Apple's new standards in display quality.

And herein lies the core problem for Apple: In terms of basic functionality, all three generations of iPad essentially do the same things. Sure, the iPad 2 delivered a much thinner chassis. And, sure, the third-gen iPad delivers a stunning new display. But what's left to upgrade? Apple needs to show us something we've never seen before, not gussy up features and specs that have become old hat.

Indeed, aside from the Retina display, all of the new iPad updates are incremental component improvements – and if they were announced by a Samsung or an Asus, they wouldn't have made any press.

Where Does Apple Go From Here?

Based on what we've learned from its latest tablet, Apple will be hard-pressed to wow fourth-generation iPad buyers in 2013. Let's unpack this.

LTE support in the new iPad is indeed a killer feature, but it's not anything that could have led Tim Cook's keynote. Adding LTE was simple housekeeping, not revolutionary design, as Android competitors already offer LTE. Will the next iPad need a faster wireless data connection? Maybe, maybe not. But all iPads will need to keep pace with wireless industry standards. (The preceding sentence wasn't very exciting, was it? My point exactly.)

The new camera? It helps Apple achieve parity with competing Android tablets, but it's not a game-changing breakthrough. What's more, the new camera is more than sufficient for a tablet feature that no one is very concerned with in the first place. Can a camera update wow the masses in 2013? I don't think so.

What about a screaming-fast new processor? Can a heretofore unimaginable wonderchip be the lead story for next year's iPad? No, it can't. In the new iPad, Apple proves that tablet processor updates can progress incrementally without hobbling overall performance.

There's no point in upgrading the Retina display next year. It's already all we need from a 9.7-inch screen. Plus, I'm sure Apple would like to amortize the cost of its Retina display technology across two product generations.

Integrate Siri into the next tablet? The feature looks great in television commercials, but in real-world practice it's not as useful or canny as Apple would have us believe – and it's also much better-suited to go-everywhere smartphones. But, most importantly, Siri will be 18 months old when the next iPad release is likely to arrive. I don't think Siri can be the linchpin of Tim Cook's iPad keynote in 2013.

Obviously, Apple will not close up its iPad shop. The product line is wildly successful, and the company will inevitably find a way to finesse a grand tablet story next year. We could see a dramatic breakthrough in battery life – not particularly sexy, but it would address a legitimate consumer need. Or we could see a new iPad so thin and light, Tim Cook's keynote audience gasps with surprise – a sexy advancement, indeed, but not game-changing in terms of real-world use.

Or we could see Apple capitulate to consumer sentiment, and deliver the diminutive "iPad mini" that rumor-mongers have been speculating ever since the Kindle Fire proved 7-inch tablets have legs. Apple's tablet hardware development is clearly facing diminishing returns, and "going small" would be both easy to execute and make for a compelling narrative.

Whichever path it chooses, Apple has work to do. The new Retina display effectively punctuates the iPad lineage as we know it with an emphatic full stop.

WIRED Breathtaking, stunning display – the best in all of mobile computing. Super-fast Verizon LTE allows hot-spot tethering. All key components have been prudently upgraded to their effective limits. Tablet hooks into the world's best app store.

TIRED Aside from the Retina display, the latest iPad lacks mindblowing new features that advance the state of the tablet art.