Presse-Embargo ausgelaufen: iPad erhält (US-)Reviews
Wer nur Zeit und Lust auf ein einziges iPad-Review der US-Presse hat, schmökert „The New iPad Makes Apple’s Tablet Domination Clearer Than Ever“ von MG Siegler.
Kein Review versteckt Details, die komplett unbekannt gewesen wären. Auch Apples Werbeversprechen in puncto Batterielaufzeit, Retina-Bildschirm und 4G-Anbindung wurden bestätigt. Lediglich David Pogue von der New York Times erwähnte die unterschiedlichen Frequenzbänder in anderen Ländern, die uns hierzulande LTE verwehren. Heise.de widmet dem Thema aus deutscher Perspektive einen Absatz im Testbericht.
Die Kaufempfehlung fällt für Neukunden eindeutig (und uneingeschränkt) zugunsten des iPads aus. Gleiches gilt für Besitzer der ersten Hardware-Generation. Alle iPad-2-Käufer bekommen den gleiche Witz um die Ohren gehauen: „[…] if you choose not to upgrade (or to spend $399 for the 16 GB iPad 2 now), again, treat the new iPad as if it were Medusa when you’re in an Apple Store. Do. Not. Look. At. It.“
I guess it’s just like a pre-glasses world — you never realize how blurry things are because that’s just how you’ve always seen everything. And then you put the glasses on and you wonder how you ever managed without them.
MG Siegler / Techcrunch.com
Text looks great in Safari, but non-retina images look slightly blurry. The iPad display is so good that it shows, like no device before it, just how crummy most images on the web are.
John Gruber / Daring Fireball
Watching an HD movie or TV show on the new iPad is like having a home theater in your lap. (Well, assuming you’ve got some good headphones, of course. The iPad’s mono speaker seems to be unchanged from the previous model.)
But the A5X processor that powers the third-generation iPad doesn’t really offer more processing power than its predecessor. In all our processor-based tests, the new iPad ran about as fast as the iPad 2. (Which is not to say it’s slow—they’re the two fastest iOS devices ever.)
According to Apple’s tech specs page, the new iPad has a 42.5 watt-hour battery. Compare that with the iPad 2’s 25 watt-hour battery. That’s a whole lot more battery just to keep the iPad running for the usual amount of time.
Jason Snell / Macworld.com
So, what did I like about the iPad? Simple — the experience. Nobody in the market today can touch the Apple experience.
Jim Dalrymple / Loop Insight
Other tablets may have more ports or larger screens, but few can match the elegance, sleekness, or solidness of this device.
I did notice the device getting a bit warm when I was using LTE for extended periods of time, but that’s pretty common for most 4G products I’ve tested.
There’s no flash present here, so don’t expect explosive results in low light, though that larger aperture definitely allows better photos in darker places, and I saw relatively good results in my testing.
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.
Joshua Topolsky / The Verge
Mostly to make room for a larger battery, the new iPad weighs about 8% more and is about 7% thicker than the prior model. That means the company can’t claim to have the thinnest and lightest tablet, as it boasted last year with the iPad 2. (It’s still thinner and lighter than the original iPad.)
Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD
But apps that haven’t been rewritten don’t benefit as much. In most apps, text is automatically sharpened, but not in all of them. After enjoying the freakishly sharp text in Mail and Safari, you’ll be disappointed in the relatively crude type in, for example, the non-updated Amazon Kindle app. (Amazon says that a Retina-ready update is in the works.)
David Pogue / NYTimes.com
Weiter Reviews vor dem offiziellen Verkaufsstart finden sich bei Heise.de, USA Today, SlashGear, Pocket-lint, The Telegraph und Bloomberg.