Third Generation iPad Vs Second Generation iPad – Fight!
With a brand new model just announced that’s the one everyone is preordering and who can blame them, we’ve ordered ours too and can’t wait for March 16 to come around quickly enough. But, Apple expected that response and in return still need to shift their multitude of iPad 2 models, so cleverly they dropped the price, significantly.
Now, really is an excellent time to pick up a brand new iPad 2, if you’ve been sitting on the fence for a while and whilst we adore our iPad 2 we as tech journalists really can’t wait to get our hands on the third gen iPad.
We have tried to help you come to the right decision too by clearly showing the differences between the third generation iPad and the iPad 2, take a look below…
Chip
The new third generation iPad comes with a quad-core ultra fast A5X chip, in comparison the iPad 2 comes with a dual-core A5 chip – it’s still fast, but won’t be as fast. The A5X chip with quad-core graphics drives four times the pixels of the iPad 2.
Display
This is one of the areas that we are particularly excited about regarding the new third generation iPad as it comes complete with a high-resolution Retina display. 2048×1536 pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi). That’s double the iPad 2 resolution as that comes in at 1024×768 pixels at 132 pixels per inch. Both displays come with fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously.
The third generation iPad is the winner here, no question.
Camera
This is the other area that we are super excited about regarding the third generation iPad. It comes complete with an iSight camera with 5 megapixel AF, tap to focus, face detection in still images, video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; video stabilization. There’s also FaceTime camera with VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second and of course photo and video geotagging.
Compared with the iPad 2, it has a back camera with video recording, HD up to 720p with 30 frames per second with audio and a 5x digital zoom still camera. The front camera can also be used for video recording with VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio, VGA-quality still camera. There’s tap to control exposure for video or stills and again photo and video geotagging over Wi-Fi.
The third generation iPad is the winner here too.
Weight and Dimensions
Both devices are the same height and width but the depth is slightly deeper on the third generation iPad and consequently it is slightly heavier.
iPad 2 wins this round
Wireless
The third generation iPad has superior Bluetooth 4.0 technology compared with Bluetooth 2.1 in the iPad 2.
Third generation iPad, wins here.
Battery Life
Still the same performance for both, which is up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music. Or up to 9 hours of surfing the web using mobile data network. Considering the higher retina display of the third gen iPad though, in many ways this model has to win here.
Sensors
The new iPad comes with an Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor and Gyroscope. The iPad 2 doesn’t have any of these.
3rd generation iPad wins here.
Price
iPad 3rd generation prices for Wi-Fi + 4G
16GB £499/$629
32GB £579/$729
64GB £659/$829
The iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G
So despite the iPad 2 only being 3G you can still save £70/$100.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photographer, photography journalist, editor and curator and the founder and editorial director of TheAppWhisperer.com, an independent international photography publication established in 2009.Her journalism, criticism and commentary have appeared in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, BBC, Vogue Italia, LensCulture, Popular Photography, Android Magazine, NikonPro, DPReview, Which Digital Camera and Which Camera. She has lectured internationally on photography and mobile art, served as a juror for international photography awards, and exhibited her own photographic work across the UK, Europe, South Korea and the United States.Alongside her editorial work, Joanne's photographic and postgraduate research explores death, grief, memory, representation and social inequality through contemporary photography, participatory practice and visual research methods, with the longer-term aim of developing this work through doctoral research.Through TheAppWhisperer, she continues to publish independent photography journalism spanning contemporary photographic practice, mobile imaging, photographic apps, computational photography and emerging imaging technologies.Joanne is available for editorial commissions, photography projects, judging, curatorial work, speaking engagements, consultancy and selected collaborations.
One Comment
Akhil S
Just a quick thing, the iPad 2 does have both an accelerometer and a gyroscope…just for anyone wondering if they would be able to play Temple Run or not.