The new iPad vs. the competition
After months of rumors, official details on Apple's <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57390836-37/apples-new-ipad-hands-on/">new iPad</a> are finally out. Let's see how it stacks up against its major, full-size tablet competition with a convenient and handy side-by-side comparison chart.
- Once wrote 50 articles in one month.
Wow, glad that's over. I'm of course referring to the months and months of rumor and speculation leading to today's new iPad unveiling. Don't get me wrong, I understand the fun of reading rumors and speculating about what might be, but at the end of the day, there's fact and there's fiction.
One fact that's clear is that the new iPad quadruples its pixel count over the iPad 2, and given that, I'm not feeling particularly envious of rival tablet makers right now. Competing with the iPad 2 was already tough enough, but once new tablet users get a hold of it and take a gander at that screen, especially gamers, yeah, well let's just say, I'm glad I'm not in the competing with the iPad business.
Still, not everyone is blown away by the new iPad, and spec for spec, the competition still has it beat on a couple points.
That's where the following handy chart comes in. It's really quite interesting, actually. What it does is provide an easily digestible, side-by-side comparison of the new iPad versus the iPad 2 and two popular Android tablets.
Also, it may provide fodder for fanboy flame wars, but you probably knew that when you clicked on this link, right?
| New iPad (2012) | iPad 2 | Asus Transformer Prime | Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating system | iOS 5.1 | iOS 5.1 | Android Ice Cream Sandwich | Android Honeycomb |
| Dimensions | 9.5 inches tall by 7.31 inches wide by 0.37 inch thick; 1.44 pounds | 9.5 inches tall by 7.31 inches wide by 0.34 inch thick; 1.34 pounds | 10.3 inches tall by 7.1 inches wide by 0.32 inch thick; 1.32 pounds | 10.1 inches tall by 6.9 inches wide by 0.34 inch thick; 1.24 pounds |
| Display | 9.7-inch, 2,048x1,536-pixel Retina Display touch screen | 9.7-inch, 1,024x768-pixel touch screen | 10.1-inch, 1,280x800-pixel touch screen | 10.1-inch, 1,280x800-pixel touch screen |
| Camera | 5-megapixel iSight camera with LED flash, F2.4 aperture, autofocus, 1080p video recording; front-facing VGA camera | Camera with autofocus, 720p HD video recording, front-facing VGA camera | 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, F2.4 aperture, autofocus, 1080p HD video recording, backside-illuminated sensor; front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera | 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus, 720p HD video recording; front-facing 2-megapixel camera |
| Processor | Dual-core A5X processor with quad-core graphics | Dual-core 1GHz A5 processor with dual-core graphics | Quad-core 1.3GHz Tegra 3 processor | Dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor |
| Storage | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB | 32GB, 64GB | 16GB, 32GB |
| Expansion slot | No | No | Yes | No |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) | Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) | Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) | Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours Wi-Fi Web surfing; 9 hours cellular Web surfing | 11.9 hours (CNET's score) | 9.6 hours (CNET's score) | 7.5 hours (CNET's score) |
| Cellular options | 4G LTE AT&T and Verizon models | 3G AT&T and Verizon models | None | 4G LTE Verizon model available |
| Pricing | Wi-Fi model: $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB; 4G LTE model: $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for 64GB | Wi-Fi model: $399 for 16GB; 3G model $529 for 16GB | $499 for 32GB, $599 for 64GB | $399 for 16GB, $499 for 32GB |