Apple iPad 3 (2012) review

Apple all but created the tablet market with the original iPad and, two years and 55 million sales later, other manufacturers are still struggling to compete. The latest iPad raises the stakes still higher, thanks to a huge 1,536 x 2,048 screen resolution and an unchanged price from the previous model.

One thing that hasn’t changed is its appearance, although this no-version-number ‘new iPad’ is 51g heavier and 0.6mm thicker than the iPad 2 – the extra thickness didn’t cause us any problems with our iPad 2 accessories, though.

Looks practically identical to its predecessor and is still available in black or white

The new iPad’s standout feature is definitely its screen. It has the same 9.7in size and 4:3 aspect ratio as the iPad 2’s, but now has a ‘retina’ resolution of 1,536 x 2,048 pixels. In other words, Apple claims the individual pixels are now too small to make out at a typical viewing distance — something that the company has managed by cramming in some 3.14 million of them onto the screen. This gives a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch (PPI) – twice that of the iPad 2. To see how that matches up to other modern displays check out our Top 10: Displays in Consumer Technology.

Together with improved IPS panel technology that helps give more saturated colours and greater contrast, the result is a display that looks more like a gloss print from a high-end inkjet printer than a computer screen, and everything from text to photos looks incredibly crisp and colourful. Small text on web pages and documents is now perfectly legible without zooming in, too, which makes the iPad a much more useful tool for serious productivity. The retina display really needs to be seen in person to be appreciated, but a good way to imagine the improvement over the iPad 2 is to think about the difference in quality when moving from standard- to high-definition TV.

It’s a fantastic display, with more detail than you can actually see

Apple has also beefed-up the new iPad’s processor. While the chip is essentially the same as the A5 used in the iPad 2, its ‘X’ suffix denotes a new quad-core graphics chipset. In benchmarks at least, processor performance is largely unchanged, but so is graphics performance — and this is quite a feat considering the new iPad’s chipset has to handle four times as many the pixels as the iPad 2’s.

The new iPad is also 4G LTE mobile data-capable, for incredibly fast downloads. Tests in the US show LTE download speeds of around 25Mbit/s, which, while well below LTE’s technical limit of 300MBit/s, are still far faster than most home broadband connections. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the LTE chipset will support the correct frequencies when 4G rolls out in the UK. It will however support HSPA+, up to 21Mbit/s when that’s launched in the UK, and DC-HSDPA, a possible future launch at speeds of up to 42Mbit/s.

In order to cope with the huge screen and power-hungry LTE wireless chip, Apple has almost doubled the size of the battery from 25Wh (6944mAh) to 42Wh (11,666mAh). The bigger battery is the main reason for the increased thickness and weight, but it means Apple can claim battery life is unchanged at 10 hours’ mixed use with Wi-Fi, or nine when using LTE. In our tests we saw over 11 hours of video playback with flight mode enabled and the screen at a still-dazzling 50% brightness, so we don’t doubt either figure.

Last but not least, the new iPad also has an improved camera, with a 5-megapixel backlit sensor and the same optics as the iPhone 4S (but no flash). Photos are consequently much better than the iPad 2’s, but a 9.7in tablet is an awkward tool for taking photos and we feel Apple would have been better off improving the so-so VGA front-facing camera for better FaceTime video call use.

Apps supporting the new resolution are more storage-hogging than before

The iPad 2 was the best tablet available, and the new model is even better and the same price. If there’s a catch with the new iPad, it’s that the entry-level 16GB model may not suit everyone. So far, apps updated to use retina graphics are around twice the size as before, which means 16GB of storage could be a squeeze. That makes the 32GB model a more sensible option, but even at £479 it’s still leagues ahead of the competition. Apple’s new iPad is the definitive Best Buy tablet.