Apple has earned a reputation as the maker of some of the most elegant and user-friendly computers, music players and smartphones in the business. Yet the Apple iPad may be the most impressive piece of Apple hardware we’ve handled. Updated May 5 2010.
See also: New iPad review. (March 2012)
See also: Apple iPad 2 review
It’s bigger than an iPhone, of course, but much lighter than a laptop. The front is almost entirely glass, save for a thin aluminium frame. The back is a gently curved plate of anodised aluminium.
The iPad is designed to be held, and it couldn’t feel more solid. This is not a delicate piece of technology to be coddled, but a semi-rugged slate for toting wherever you go.
The 9.7in glass touchscreen packs in 1024x768 pixels, resulting in the 4:3 aspect found on older TVs, as opposed to the predominant 16:9 ratio of today. At 132 pixels per inch (ppi), it’s down on the 163ppi of the iPhone. A 19mm bezel may look superfluous, but it’s actually essential for your thumbs when holding the iPad, making a solid grip that doesn’t trigger commands to the sensitive capacitive touchscreen.
This screen, based on superlative in-plane switching (IPS) technology, is bright and vibrantly colourful, with a wide viewing angle. It collects fingerprints but it’s got the same oil-repellant coating as the iPhone 3GS; one quick wipe and they’re gone.
The screen space means you can put lots of fingers (and, indeed, both hands) on the iPad, to type or interact with onscreen objects. People who disparage the iPad as merely a hyper-thyroidal iPhone are failing to see the bigger picture.
For full pricing, and details of how to buy an Apple iPad see our Apple iPad FAQs.
Apple iPad: Specs and speeds
The iPad is available with either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of flash storage. In due course we’ll see models of the same capacity with built-in 3G in addition to 802.11n Wi-Fi.
The processor inside the iPad is proudly billed as a ‘1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed system-on-a-chip’, and appears to be based on a single-core ARM Cortex-A8. Graphics may be courtesy of the same PowerVR SGX 535 used in the iPhone 3GS.
Whichever chip is in there, the Apple iPad flies. It was fast at almost everything we threw at it: games played smoothly with gorgeous graphics, and there’s no lag when panning and zooming around large images. Any touch-based device stands or falls on how smoothly things on the screen can react to the movement of your fingers. The iPad breezes that test masterfully.
We tried the SunSpider JavaScript test on iPad’s Safari browser. In September we ran this test on every iPhone OS device made – the fastest (iPhone 3GS) took 15.5 secs, while the original iPhone took 36 secs. The iPad completed it in 10.4 secs.
The battery is a 24.8Wh lithium-polymer pack, over five times the size of the iPhone 3GS’s unit. While Apple boasts a battery life of 10hrs, early reports suggest that real-world figures may be even longer. Charge overnight and you’re set for the day.
In short: the Apple iPad is fast and the battery lasts.
NEXT: typing on the Apple iPad >>
- Steve Jobs launches Apple iPad: details, pictures
- Apple iPad news
- For full pricing, and details of how to buy an Apple iPad see our Apple iPad FAQs.
Comments
patrick said: who the hell do you think you are the apple I Pad 2 is good
iPad fan said: Rlly love the iPad bought it after the iPad 2 released cause the price dropped like two hunderd dollars but i am very happy now and use it every day i also wrote down my experience unboxing on this page httpapplereviewnlipadapp
graham boden said: Thinking of buying an Ipad Dont bother Its about the most unfriendly piece of equipment evermore Apples insistance on keeping everything inhouse makes it a complete pain to work withIt may be OK for people who have small amounts of stuff to deal with anyone else not a chance There is no way to sort your info into folders to categorise them so if you have for instance 2000 photos you have to scroll through the whole lot to find what you want - ditto music - ditto everything else - except of course APPS which is the so called new invention of Apple Doesnt everyone realise that APPLICATIONS have been around for a long long time but they were not sold as if they were something radical the IPad is not even an update on an Iphone - at least you can make telephone calls on that which gives it a use Ipad A gimick a trendy piece of uselessness synonymous with decals on shirts and designer fashion items Until Apple wakes up and realises it is still part of this world we live in and opens up its secretive approach and allows proper access it will stay just what it is - an expensive toy for themust-have generation It may have a huge share of the present market but will soon be deserted by those who realise what Apple is all about locking uses into their own brand of techno-babbleThe cheapest noebook is far superior to to the most expensive Ipad - Media player does everything Ipod can do and more with less hassle far more intuitive to work with and no need for connection to another computer containing itunes Dont waste your money