Andy Ihnatko’s iPad 2 review. Best read on an iPad 2 with the Smart Cover in the accordion fold.
iPad
Midori →
Many, many thanks to Jitouch for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote Midori. Midori is a beautiful and powerful Japanese dictionary and translation app for iPhone and iPad. It has hundreds of thousands of entries, example sentences, and names to help you translate and learn Japanese.
Midori’s sponsorship was booked well before last week’s tsunami in Japan, but I can’t think of a more fitting app to be promoted on the RSS feed this week. And it’s worth noting that purchasing a copy of Midori means you’ll be directly supporting the work of a Japanese iOS developer.
You can pick it up for ten bucks as a universal app from the iTunes App Store.
Getting the Best Use Out of the iPad’s Side Switch
When the iPad first shipped the side switch — the one found just above the volume rocker — was for locking the orientation. Meaning, if the iPad was upright in portrait mode then you could toggle the orientation lock and move the iPad around every which way and it would not auto rotate the orientation of the screen.
In iOS 4.2 Apple changed the orientation lock to become a toggle for “silent mode”. Like it is on the iPhone. Toggling silent mode only affects the system sounds, such as keyboard “clicks”, the new email tone, and now (on iPad 2) incoming FaceTime calls.
In iOS 4.3 Apple added a Settings option which allows us to choose what we want to toggle with that side switch: lock rotation or mute system sounds. You can adjust that setting to suit your own needs by going to Settings → General → “Use Side Switch to:”.
Up until yesterday I have been using the side switch to mute system sounds. I very much like having the system sounds on — I enjoy the click-click sound of when I lock and unlock my iPad; I type better when I can hear the tapping sound while typing on the software keys; I like the sent mail notification sound since the emails are usually sent in the background.
But, there are times when I don’t want the iPad to make noise on it’s own. Such as when new emails arrive or when there are iCal alerts.
One way to mute the iPad is to hold down on the volume rocker for about 2 seconds. But this only works when the iPad is unlocked. When it’s locked the only way to mute system sounds is to unlock it and hold the volume rocker, or use the side switch to toggle system sounds.
Though I read on my iPad more than any other activity, I rarely need to lock the orientation. It’s not often that I am lying on my side with the iPad in landscape mode yet reading with the orientation locked in portrait. And so I’ve kept the side switch option set for muting and un-muting system sounds.
After posting about this on Instagram/Twitter yesterday I got a ton of responses on Twitter from people telling me I was out of my mind.
This morning I spent a few minutes poking around in the System preferences for sounds and I discovered some very helpful settings:
In Settings → General → Sounds I found that I can turn off the exact notifications which I don’t want to play when the iPad is locked — the new mail alert and the calendar alerts — which solves the very reason I was using the side switch for muting system sounds in the first place. So, yes, it now makes sense for me to use the side switch for rotation lock.
iPad vs iPad 2: RAM performance in Mobile Safari →
A side-by-side comparison of the original iPad and the iPad 2. The original had to re-load 4 of the 9 open browser pages, and all the pages showed checker-boarding when scrolling around. The iPad 2 didn’t re-load any pages and showed no checker-boarding.
As I’ve been using the iPad 2 over the weekend it’s not that there is one specific element that really stands out as the premier factor which makes the 2 better than the original. Rather, it is all these little things — the faster processor, the better graphics handling, the increased memory, the slimmer form factor — which, when added up, do their part to make the iPad 2 an altogether noticeably better device than the original.
iPad 2 Release Spells a Bleak 2011 for Other Tablet Makers →
Andy Ihnatko:
I can’t come up with any reasonable scenario in which I’d recommend anything other than an iPad. “You tried it and hated it” is one reason to shop elsewhere, I suppose. Another is “Your eccentric uncle died and left you ten million dollars, on the proviso that you marry a woman named Vladimir, not buy any Apple products, and eat an entire leather sofa.”
I’m more likely to believe the second one.
My iPad Home Screen on MacSparky →
David Sparks was kind enough to feature my iPad Home screen as part of his Home Screen Series. Click through to find out what I would do if I were in charge at Apple HQ.
My Diary of an iPad (1) Owner →
This was my “iPad 1 Review” from last year. And, naturally, I’ll be standing in line at the Apple store today to pick up an iPad 2.
MacStories’ iPad 2 Review Roundup →
Links to and excerpts from all the reviews of the iPad 2 that were posted last night.
John Gruber’s iPad 2 Review →
So I remember this time last year when all the pre-launch reviews of the original iPad were coming out and John was posting up links to them all and in his comments there was this slight tone of being bummed out that all these guys had gotten review units from Apple and he didn’t. But now he does and call me sentimental but I’m really glad for John. I’ve been reading DF for years and years and it’s awesome to see it continue to grow and pretty soon it’ll just take over.
Also, worth touting is that John’s iPad 2 review is the only one posted today without a single picture.
iPad App Video Demos →
Apple’s video demos of just about ever single built-in iPad app. (Via Mac Stories.)
From the Archives: My iPad Buyer’s Guide →
Written last September and still quite relevant.
Pre-Launch iPad 2 Miscellany
The Friday 5:00 pm Sale Time
There have been lines for every iPhone release. In April 2010 there were lines for the original iPad. February 2011 Verizon did there biggest sales day in history of Verizon iPhone pre-sales. But, when the the Verizon iPhone went on sale there were no lines.
I think the choice to offer online orders at the same time as the sale date, and to have a Friday at 5:00 pm sale time is all to help ensure that there will be lines. Because those lines are the best marketing Apple has. Nothing breeds success like success. And nothing says success more than lots of stores with long lines of happy customers.
During the iPad 2 announcement Steve Jobs dubbed 2011 as the year of the iPad 2. Apple wants to tell the story that the iPad 2 is just as amazing as the iPad 1. Even though it’s the second version, and in spite of all these new tablets and iPad competitors coming out, people are still lining up for this new iPad.
And, at least from where I’m sitting, it’s going to work. I was completely planning to pre-order one and, for once, not stand in line. Because last year the pre-orders all arrived quite timely. But, since there are no pre-orders I will once again be standing in line. But more on what I’m doing in a bit.
The Battery
The battery is, by far, the best feature of the iPad. They say it lasts for 10 hours, but my original iPad probably lasts closer to 12. In fact, over the past year that I’ve owned it I have probably only charged it a few dozen times.
Contrast that to my iPhone which I have probably charged a few hundred times since June, and my laptop which I keep plugged in almost all the time.
Granted, I use my iPad the least of all three, but never once have I worried about the battery of the thing. It keeps going and going and going…
The Casing
Sure it’s thinner and lighter — that’s part of the requirement of being new technology, you know? — but will it be easier to hold with one hand?
The thing that makes the original iPad most difficult to hold with one hand is not just the weight but also that slippery aluminum back. And the new iPad has that same slippery aluminum back.
I asked some folks who were at the Apple press conference and who had the chance to fiddle with some of the display model iPad 2s. The response was that the thinner form factor did help somewhat with the ability to hold the iPad one handedly. But the biggest factor is still the weight and so it’s not dramatically easier to hold with one hand.
The Color
The white one has been abundantly displayed throughout Apple’s marketing of the iPad. Probably because (a) they want to make up for the fact the white iPhone never shipped; but I think primarily it’s because (b) a picture of the white iPad is instantly recognizable as the new iPad. At first glance a picture of the black iPad 2 could be mistaken for an iPad 1. Using the white is a way to quickly make a statement that this is the new iPad. In fact, they are showing off the white iPad and it’s cover more than they show off the camera.
The Cover
Apple is going to sell a lot of those Smart Covers. In fact, I almost wonder how many people will assume the cover comes with the iPad.
The Choices
So, say you’ve already got an iPad and you don’t know if you should upgrade or not. I say don’t. I wouldn’t be upgrading except for the fact that I want to give my current iPad to my wife, and also that I kind-of have to upgrade now that tech writing will be my full-time job come April 4.1
For those of you who have been holding out for the next iPad and you’re not sure if you should get one or not, I say go for it. If you want one, now’s a great time to buy one.
Sure another model will come out sometime in the next year and it will have awesome features that this current model doesn’t. But that is always going to be the case.
Marco Arment was right when he said that the best time to buy an Apple product is right when it comes out. It is doubtful that the iPad 2 will ever be cheaper until a the next model of iPad comes out.
If you don’t care about which model you get and you just want the cheapest iPad possible then you might want to consider buying an original iPad from Apple’s website right now. They’re on clearance for about $100 off.
If you need more assistance deciding just which type of iPad to get (white or black, 3G or not, AT&T or Verizon) then I highly recommend you read Marco’s aforementioned article. It’s full of good advice for deciding just which iPad 2 you should buy.
So, Which iPad 2 Will I Bet Getting?
I will be standing in line this Friday to buy a 16 GB, Wi-Fi only, black iPad 2. In part because I want to get the cheapest model possible. But also in part because the cheapest model just so happens to be exactly what I want.
Black because it is much more appealing and cool than that sissy white color.2 16 GB because it’s more than enough for me. And Wi-Fi only because I can’t recall one time in the year I’ve owned my current iPad that I needed 3G. And now that I can use my iPhone 4 as a mobile hotspot, it really isn’t worth the extra cost for me to get 3G.
Also I will be buying a Smart Cover. Hopefully there will be plenty of them out to see before I have to pick one, but I suspect I’ll be getting black leather.
Hands-On Details about the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 →
Great overview of the iPad 2 by Jeff Carlson for TidBITS:
For several people I know, the size and weight of the first-generation iPad is a detriment; it’s just heavy enough that holding it for long periods of time — even propped against a leg; I’m not talking about elevating the iPad for hours — is tiresome.
I didn’t get a good sense of how much the weight differed; it’s only 0.2 pounds, after all. But the thinness is wonderful, and if anything contributes to a sense that the iPad 2 is lighter than it really is. Your brain sees a sliver of glass and aluminum. Not a slab. Not a slate.
“Finish Him…” →
Ben Brooks goes point by point on why the iPad 2 will kick the crap out of all the other competitors. I still tell people that the battery life is one of the premier features of the iPad.