Apple starts selling its new iPad on March 16, but some reviewers have had a chance to play with the third version of the company's best-selling tablet, known only as the iPad (no numbers or modifiers this time around.)
The verdict: they love it — though they do acknowledge that if you have last year's iPad 2, the reasons to upgrade might not be as compelling. Here's what they have to say:
• Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal: "How has the company chosen to improve its wildly popular tablet? By making that display dramatically better and making the delivery of content dramatically faster. There are other changes in the new, third-generation iPad — called simply “iPad,” with no number, which goes on sale on Friday at the same base price as its predecessor, $499. But the key upgrades are to those core features — the 9.7-inch screen and the data speed over cellular networks. These upgrades are massive. Using the new display is like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be...Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown."
• John Gruber, Daring Fireball: " Pixels pixels pixels. Battery battery battery. Speed speed speed. That’s the new iPad, a.k.a. (for comparison’s sake) the iPad 3. The retina display, significantly faster graphics, and the potential for startlingly fast cellular networking — all with the same renowned battery life (and standby time) as the original iPad and iPad 2...What’s not to love? It’s that simple."
• Ed Baig, USA Today: "Nearly everyone who lands the brand new iPad on Day 1 — or more likely sometime afterward, since preorders are sold out — will be delighted...If you purchased the original iPad all of two years ago and have money to spare, I'd say go for it. Though a tad bigger than the iPad 2, the new iPad is smaller and lighter than the original iPad. You'll appreciate the increased speed, the lovely screen and the presence of cameras. If you have an iPad 2, it's a little harder to justify springing for the latest model now, much as you might want to. Yes, the new screen is spectacular, and 4G and the improved cameras are welcome upgrades. But you would have purchased that iPad 2 much more recently and it may be difficult to plunk down extra cash this soon, unless you have a family member who can inherit your current model."
• Joshua Topolsky, The Verge: "This display is outrageous. It's stunning. It's incredible. I'm not being hyperbolic or exaggerative when I say it is easily the most beautiful computer display I have ever looked at. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you hold this in your hands, or maybe it's the technology that Apple is utilizing, or maybe it's the responsiveness of iOS — but there's something almost bizarre about how good this screen is. After the launch event, I described the screen as "surreal," and I still think that's a pretty good fit....Let's be clear: the new iPad is in a class by itself, just as its predecessor was. As the latest product in a lineage of devices that defined this category, the iPad continues to stand head and shoulders above the competition."
* David Pogue, New York Times: "The new iPad doesn’t introduce anything that we haven’t seen before, either in the iPhone or in rival tablets. There’s no Steve Jobs “one more thing” moment here; Apple just took its white-hot iPad and added the latest screen, battery and cellular technologies. If you’re in the market for a tablet, here’s the bright side: For the same price as before, you can now get an updated iPad that’s still better-looking, better integrated and more consistently designed than any of its rivals. And if you already have the iPad 2, here’s an even brighter side: At least this time around, you don’t have to feel quite as obsolete as usual."
Reviewers aren't the only ones who are enthusiastic. Apple shares opened on March 15 at $600 in Nasdaq trading.
