What’s The Difference Between The Ipad And The Ipad 2?

By Author: jessies sims
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Apple launched the first iPad in April 2010 and the iPad2 eleven months later in March 2011. The iPad2 was claimed to be better than the original iPad as it was designed to overcome the limitations of the original iPad. Some similarities and differences between the two devices are discussed below.

Though Apple retained the cool design of the original iPad in the new iPad2, there were minor differences in dimensions. The iPad was 9.56 inches in height, 7.47 inches wide and 0.5 inches thick while the iPad2 was released with 9.5 inches in height, 7.31 inches in width and was merely 0.34 inches thick. Overall the iPad2 was 33% thinner. Weight wise too the iPad2 was 15% lighter. The original iPad came with an anodized aluminum back panel with all flat edges on all four corners and a slightly curved back surface. On the iPad2, Apple made slight variations by tapering off the edges. The tapering edges not only reduced the weight of the iPad2 but also made it easy to handle. Apple has made no changes in the display and rightly so because the 9.7 inch backlit LCD display with 1042x768 resolution is just perfect. The scratch ...
... proof glass is coated with oleophobic film which protects it from fingerprint marks. The reduction in weight and size is due to the reduced distance between the battery and the display and the use of a thinner but stronger glass case for the display.

The iPad is powered by the A4 processor while the iPad2 is built with A5 dual core processor. Both the processors are clocked at 1 GHz but being dual core the speed of A5 is twice as fast as A4 and is 9 times better on graphics. The RAM of the iPad2 is 512 MB which is two folds the 256 MB RAM of the iPad. The Apple iOS operating system runs the iPad while the iOS 4.3 is the driving force behind the iPad2.

The iOS 4.3 is the major difference between the two; AirPlay, AirPrint and multi-tasking are some applications which are achieved with this operating system. AirPrinting lets you print photos, documents, e-mails and web pages with just a few tabs on the display. There are no connectors or installation of software involved. Similarly AirPlay lets you play your videos and music on bigger screens and speakers without plugging in any wires or connectors. You can stream the music to more than one room at the same time. To make the iPad2 more useful, Apple also added multi-tasking; music players, GPS receivers all work in the background letting you do something else on the foreground. The iOS 4.3 has also affected the Safari browser with improved Nitro JavaScript Engine.

Both devices come with W-FI only and also with Wi-Fi and 3G support. Another thing which remains the same is the storage options as both devices offer you a choice from 16GB to 64GB. Bluetooth (802.11 a/b/g/n and 2.1 + EDR respectively) is another feature the two devices share. Apple has also retained its killer feature the 25 watt-hour rechargeable lithium polymer battery which can last for 10 hours. The Camera is missing in the iPad but the iPad2 however is fitted with two cameras; one in front and the other in the rear. With these cameras, your iPad2 can shoot videos, capture photos and above all make video chatting possible with FaceTime software. Besides the FaceTime application, GarageBand, iMovies and PhotoBooth are other applications introduced in the iPad2. The versatility of the iPad2 has been further extended by making it HDMI compatible. Now you can connect your iPad2 to HDTV through an Apple Digital AV Adapter.

Another thing missing in the iPad is the three-axis gyro the inclusion of which has made gaming fun on the iPad2. The EDGE plus triband HSPA cell radio in the iPad has been upgraded to the EDGE plus quadband HSPA in the iPad2.

Conclusion

Structure wise there is little difference between the two iPads but the inclusion of the next generation processor A5 and the operating system iOS 4.3 are the two factors which have made a significant difference in the versatility and performance of the iPad2.

Please see our Author’s box below for more iPad vs the iPad 2 and other exciting news of what you need to know before purchasing an iPad Tablet.

Thank you for taking the time to compare the iPad 2 to the original iPad. Here is more information where you can buy iPad 2 Tablets at amazing prices or read more iPad Reviews here.