Apple Introduces "The New iPad"

March 7, 2012 — by Per Christensson

Apple announced the highly anticipated new iPad today. I was all excited to write an article about the iPad 3 when I realized that Apple never actually refers to the new model as the "iPad 3." I did some investigating, and the iPad is always listed as "The new iPad" on Apple's website. Below is an example from the Apple Store.

Seriously, Apple? I can only hope this is a temporary marketing name and not the actual name, since it would produce a plethora of problems. After all, how long can you actually refer to something as "new," especially in the technology world? If Apple starts referring to the new device as just the "iPad," that's even worse, because "iPad" was name of the first model (immediately preceding the iPad 2). We'll then have the iPad, the iPad 2, and the iPad. Great.

Anyone who has ever shopped for a case for an iPad or an iPhone knows how confusing it can be when you're trying to find right kind of case for your model. Remember how Apple named the second iPhone the "iPhone 3G," (which also made no sense)? This ambiguity in product naming is surprisingly poor from a company that is known for its adroit marketing.

Whatever the actual name of the new iPad is, I am thrilled with the update. It has the two primary features I wanted – a high resolution "retina display" and a much improved camera. The new screen has double the resolution of the old one, just like the iPhone 4 compared to the iPhone 3G. I have yet to see the new display in person, but am looking forward to the joyous day when I do. As regular visitors know, I love high-res displays and this improvement is a huge deal to me. The screen alone is reason enough for me to get the new iPad.

I'm also happy with the new camera. Instead of a the shockingly low-res VGA camera included with the iPad 2, the new iPad has a 5 megapixel camera like the iPhone 4 and can capture 1080p HD video. My iPhone 4 takes great pictures, which means the new iPad is now a legitimate digital camera. That's a big deal for people that carry their iPads with them wherever they go.

The new iPad includes a few other cool upgrades, such as the A5X processor, which has a quad-core GPU, and LTE cellular data support. Other than that, the new iPad has the same look and feel as the previous model. While Apple is still continuing to sell the iPad 2 at a lower price, like I said before, the screen alone makes this iPad worth the upgrade (or worth buying for the first time). Just make sure when you're at the store, you clarify which model you want – "Not the iPad 2, the iPad new."