The iPad 3 will disappoint you.
***UPDATE*** Now that the new iPad has been outed, I’ve added some post-unveiling comments along with my original statements below.
I don’t know how exactly, but it will. Upcoming Apple products, surrounded by this much hype, inevitably come up short on some spec or design. A single product can’t please everyone.
The iPad 1 didn’t have any cameras.
The iPad 2 didn’t have a retina screen.
The iPhone 4S wasn’t the iPhone 5
Apple will cut corners like they always do, leaving some expected spec lacking or completely missing. They are a company that makes outrageous profits from their hardware sales. And you have to keep in mind, the iPad is still just a $500 device.
So here are the ways in which the iPad 3 could disappoint us:
RAM:
You can’t have enough RAM; the more you have, the more apps and tabbed web pages you’re able to switch to instantly. The iPhone 4S didn’t receive a bump in RAM. Could the iPad 3 suffer the same fate? Less than 1GB of RAM would be disappointing.
UPDATE: The new iPad features 1GB of RAM — phew!
Processor:
Apple could reuse the A5 processor and simply increase its clock speed, rather than release an entirely new design (quad core or dual A15′s). Whatever they do, anything less than a doubling of CPU performance would disappoint me. For graphics, I’m hoping for a similar bump.
UPDATE: The new iPad got its expected graphics upgrade, but it seems as though it’s received the same dual core CPU of last year’s model. If this is true, consider me greatly disappointed!
UPDATE UPDATE: Geekbench scores place the A5X as having the same performance, CPU and memory wise, as last year’s A5.
Cameras:
Anything less than a 5MP/3MP camera combo would be disappointing. Also, I’d be let down if the iPad 3 doesn’t get the same white balance performance, zero shutter lag, and gyro stabilization that the iPhone 4S’s cameras have.
UPDATE: Much better rear camera — better optics than an iPhone 4, but a worse image sensor than the iPhone 4S. The forward-facing camera is still VGA. I guess Face Time will still look crappy!
Battery life:
It’s hard to see Apple releasing an iPad with less battery life — but look what happened with the iPhone 4S. Many users swear that the 4S gives less battery life than older iPhone models. It’s possible that the iPad 3, in real-world use, will give less battery life than its predecessors. I’d be disappointed if its battery life has shrunk by more than 10%.
Memory and NAND speed:
These specs are not talked about by Apple, but they can have a huge effect on performance, like loading times for apps. I’m confident that memory speed will see a bump, as Apple has consistently upgraded this spec in the past. As for NAND performance, the iPhone 4S is indistinguishable from the iPhone 4, so it’s quite possible the iPad 3 will not get faster chips. Anandtech talks about memory performance in their iPhone 4S review. It’s a good read.
UPDATE: Looks like memory and NAND speed remain the same…
Siri:
Apple says that Siri needs special hardware to function reliably (noise cancellation circuits). I’d be greatly disappointed if the iPad 3 is denied Siri for any reason.
UPDATE: It didn’t get Siri, but it at least got voice dictation. I’m still disappointed!
LTE:
I’m not expecting this feature, and I don’t think it’s a major issue for most people this year. The Verge has a great article about LTE and its current state of development and deployment.
UPDATE: The only surprise for me. But sadly, I’m not an LTE user and I probably won’t be until an iPhone model supports it (and I own one).
So wrapping up…
As a fan of the iPad platform, and a previous owner of the original model, I am eagerly awaiting the iPad 3 to see if it’s time to own one again. I certainly want to own one, but my decision will come down largely to its overall performance.
Will we see the equivalent of a 4S upgrade, albiet with a massively improved screen, or something truly a generation beyond, inside and out?
Prepare to be disappointed 
UPDATE: When you consider that its price hasn’t changed, this is a decent iPad update. But the ‘power user’ in me is still quite bothered: No upgrade to CPU performance? No faster webpage loading, app launching or video/image processing? We’ll have to wait for the benchmarks to see…
I am not that disappointed about new iPad as you are but still…
- Why Apple thinks that tablet should be polished aluminium, while i looks cool it’s very difficult to hold it with no “cavities” or other thingies. Of course case is solution but still.
- Why call it Post PC device while you can’t add anything to it without computer
I am owner of original iPad and I will be upgrading to new iPad just because of display and battery life. While Apple advertises 10h battery life believe me after 2 years of heavy usage you can’t see even 1/3 of it.
Actually, Steven, you no longer need to attach (wired or wirelessly) your iPad or iPhone to a PC. It’s good to go right out of the box with iCloud.
Disappointment in the new iPad mostly stems from our warped collective belief that technology should make monumental leaps forward every year. Nothing is more fun than having your mind blown away by a new device or features we never saw coming but it is impossible for any company to blow us away with each product upgrade.
Well I guess this was posted before the iPad came out and it is kind of cool to see what rating it met in relation to this article. It has many of the things you hoped for. But in relation to Apple always cutting corners don’t forget that they are always leading technology in groundbreaking discoveries. If they always waited to reveal a new piece of technology because they don’t have everything the consumer may want they would never release any product at all.
I, personally, love the new high-resolution display, even though I know in order to have high response times, I’m going to have to slightly re size my images before syncing them. The average user, however, isn’t going to jack with that. They’re going to load their very middle of the road 14MP files onto it and possibly be disappointed if they expect the kind of speed advertised, or achieved with previous iPad models..
Thanks,
webnoxs
Apple products always disappoint me, they were way ahead in the market some time back…but now whenever you see a new product from them, it doesn’t match average specs in the market…price does…they need to enhance the hardware…
Hardly surprising; it’s pretty much written at this point that any major technical company limits their development to the bare minimum that consumers will accept, since that is the most effective way for them to ensure long term growth. We don’t really need four different Ipads in as many years, but as long as minor upgrades to the hardware keep being added then people will keep buying the latest model. Law of the market.
Waaaaay back before the iPad 2 was released, I read the rumors suggesting that it was going to have a Retina Display. When it didn’t have one, I decided I was going to wait for the iPad 3. I’m definitely not disappointed about the iPad 3′s display, but I’m a little surprised that it doesn’t support Siri. I’m holding out hope that Apple will find a way to add Siri support through a software update.
While I can’t really say whether the iPad 3 disappoints me, I am rather dumbfounded still that it doesn’t have Siri. As a matter of fact, I would think that Siri would be more appropriate for a tablet platform than a smartphone in the first place.
I am curious whether the iPad 3 has less battery life than its predecessor, actually. That is something I’m afraid I’m not attentive enough to determine.
They were way ahead in the market some time back…but now whenever you see a new product from them, it doesn’t match average specs in the market…price does…they need to enhance the hardware…
I think that there is always going to be something more that you want with your technology. With how fast it moves can you blame Apple which is always so far ahead of the game that they didn’t please everybody.
The disappointing thing about iPad 3 is that Apple are still determined to be the ‘leader’ of the pack by boldly neglecting flash. It’s hurting the user experience, especially when it comes to web surfing.
People will always find something to be disappointed or to complain about. Can’t please everyone. But as consumers it is in our best interest to be informed of the pros and cons of an item we may be interested in. Personally though I am not big on iPads. But I may.
Wow I can’t even think about this type of features are missing on i pad 3. But I thought Apple will hit the digital world with the new device. This seems to be disappointing all the apple fans.
Are there any platforms you would recommend besides the Ipad? With the continuing popularity of the Ipad in schools and businesses it is rare to hear of any other competitors in the market. What is the most practical use of an Ipad? What about the most useful apps for small businesses?
There is another huge thing that bugs me about the new iOS – Siri. There is nothing more annoying than a half-developed API that can’t really do any damn thing you tell it.
Jailbreaking your device and using the Google API will save you 1 million headaches. Easily.
Going from the ipad 2 to 3 certainly didn’t make the same leaps as the 1 did going to a 2.
I personally don’t find the value in the quad core processor. The resolution does look pretty nice, although I havn’t found it to be that much better, but like i said I do notice it.
to me the biggest value is the new camera. I’ve done a side by side and the pictures look so much more clear. I do own an expensive digital slr camera which blows the ipad 3 camera away, but it’s the convenience of having theipad nearby and hitting a button to easily take pictures and then email them to friends and family without having to mess with the memory card in my camera and getting those pics to my computer or whatever.
Hi I have an I pad2 many of my friends have a 3 and they say it isn’t worth going out and spending mo ey for what extra you get. But big advances don’t come with every model. Sometimes I think we expect to much. Apple for instance want to make the most of there technology and not push it all out at once. That’s not how the games played the yjust drip feed us enough to keep us interested. Then when we get a bit frustrated the yrelease the all new singing and dancing device to get us all fired up again.
We expect to much thanks lee