iPad 2 specification?

Over the past few weeks there have been lots of new ‘stories’ about the forthcoming iPad 2. Some of these stories make sense whereas others seem downright silly.

The consensus is that Apple will announce the iPad 2 at some point in February or March and that it’ll go on sale some time during March or April. I’m hoping that it will go on sale just before my next trip to the US.

I’ve been considering the various iPad 2 rumours we’ve seen and thought it would be good to have a look at some of them and to consider which are the most realistic.

First off, most agree that the iPad 2 will have a camera of some kind included. This was perhaps one of the main criticisms of the iPad, lots of people felt that it should have at least had one camera, putting it more in line with smartphones. Indeed many iPad rivals, such as the Samsung Tab, have made a big deal of having a camera.

The latest version of iOS 4.3 (Beta 2) does in fact include a new icons that suggest both front and rear facing cameras. FacTime, Camera and Photobooth icons seem to be evident. Being able to use FaceTime on the iPad 2 sounds great to me, not so worried about the rear camera, I can’t really imagine that I’ll be wanting to hold up my iPad to take snaps.

Later studies of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 SDK imply that the ream facing camera will be a mere 1 megapixel. Disappointing if true be do we really think Apple would be daft enough to include such a weak camera?

So to the screen. With the release of the iPhone 4 and its fantastic retina display the expectation is that the new iPad would certainly have to have a higher than 768×1024 pixel resolution. While it may not have a the 326ppi retina style display of the iphone 4 the expectation is still that the iPad 2 will go higher, the the region of 200ppi would be nice.

If Apple are to do with the iPad what the iPhone 4 did for the 3GS then a 1536 x 2048 pixel screen would seem in order. This is double that of the existing iPad and would mean that existing iPad apps would work quite easily on the iPad 2 using simple pixel doubling techniques that could be part of the firmware, this reduces the impact of adding a new resolution to the existing lineup.

Again there is some arguments on both sides of this, many dismissing claims that there could be 10″ screens made with 1536 x 2048 pixels without anyone knowing about it.

Either way, I really hope that the new iPad has a higher res display while remaining the same or similal physical size.

I spoke about the ‘no home button’ rumour a few weeks ago and while this does seem unlikely, the supported Multitasking Gestures that iOS 4.3 Beta 1 introduced would seem to suggest that it’s technically possible to have no home button.

I hope that the physical button will remain though!

So what do you all think, what are you hoping for Apple to bring with iPad 2 and what do you think we’ll actually get? Head over to the forum to share your opinion!

Posted by: Matt