Apple's new iPad features a high-resolution Retina Display, a new A5X processor, 4G LTE support and a 5-megapixel rear camera.
Apple's
new iPad includes a high-resolution Retina Display, a new A5X processor with
quad-core graphics and a 5-megapixel rear camera capable of shooting 1080p
video. In an interesting twist, company executives didn't affix an official
name to the tablet during its March 7 unveiling, instead referring to it only
as the "new iPad."
Apple
CEO Tim Cook took the stage at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center at 10 a.m.
PST to introduce the device. "We have our feet firmly planted in the post-PC
future," he said, according to a live transcript published by
The Verge.
The iPad plays a key role in that, having sold 15.4 million units in the fourth
quarter of 2011.
Apple's
App Store now offers around 200,000 apps custom-built for the iPad's larger
screen. Cook took a swipe at Apple's competitors as lacking design sense,
particularly when it comes to rendering apps on a tablet's larger screen. "It
kind of looks like a blown-up smartphone app," he told the audience,
referring to Twitter for Android.
The
new iPad is clearly designed to present apps in the best possible light, so to
speak, with the screen's 2,048-by-1,536 resolution. It weighs slightly more
than the iPad 2, at 1.4 pounds, and offers comparable battery life. Those in
the United States will have the option of purchasing the new iPad with 4G
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) connectivity on either Verizon or AT&T.
The
new iPad will keep the same prices as the previous model, starting at $499 for
WiFi-only versions and $629 for those with 4G capability. Prices top out at
$699 for the WiFi-only, 64GB model and $829 for the 64GB model with WiFi and
4G.
Apple
also
dropped
the price of the iPad 2, with the 16GB, WiFi-only version starting at $399.
In doing so, it replicates the strategy it started with the iPhone, where the
prices of the previous version fall with the introduction of a new unit.
Apple
executives spent much of the presentation detailing revamped versions of iWork,
iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand, all of which take advantage of the iPad's
graphical power.
The
next iPad wasn't Apple's only upcoming product on display. The newly unveiled
Apple TV will stream video at 1080p, with an interface that clearly draws its
design cues from iOS. The device will retail for $99, and also go on sale March
16.
It
remains to be seen whether, as that date approaches, Apple gives "the new
iPad" a more official-sounding name.
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