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t.alex
A MacBook is probably better alternative to MS machine.
Chee Choy
I think ipad is a pretty new OS and applications compare to window, so this ...
Apple steps up graphics with new iPad
Rick Merritt
3/6/2012 4:42 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Apple added LTE and upgraded the processor, display and camera in its latest iPad announced today. The new iPad uses a new Apple A5X applications processor, sporting two CPU and four graphics cores, the company said.
Overall, the message the new iPad could be sending to tablet makers is, "Step on the graphics."
Little is known about the A5X. However, the decision to boost graphics quality in the chip, along with an improved display, should provide noticeable improvements in games, graphics and pictures while keeping the power budget low, said one analyst.
“The new iPad sets the tone and direction for next generation tablets,” said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy (Austin). “If you are a 10-inch Android tablet maker and not clearly differentiated, you will have to rethink your strategy," said the former AMD exec turned analyst.
He speculated the A5X uses four Rogue graphics cores from Imagination Technologies. Changing to another graphics core provider would not be possible without disrupting Apple’s developer base, he said.
With the new processor Apple appears to be on par with Nvidia's Tegra 3, "but what matters is real game play and no one questions Nvidia's strength there," said Moorhead.
Nvidia's Tegra uses up to 12 graphics cores, and Huawei rolled out a mobile apps processor with 16 graphics cores at the Mobile World Congress last week. But it's hard to compare graphics cores directly because each vendor takes radically different approaches to them, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst of The Linley Group and editor of The Microprocessor Report.
Krewell said the A5X almost certainly uses the Imagination PowerVR SGX 543MP4 core. The Rogue core is not due out until later this year, he noted.
The tablet will come in separate versions for AT&T and Verizon LTE networks. Apple is also working with at least two other carriers—Rodgers and Telus—for LTE support. The device will support LTE downloads at rates up to 73 MBits/s, Apple said.
"It looks like Qualcomm (with LTE) and Imagination (in graphics) are the big winners," said Sravan Kundojjala, a senior analyst with Strategy Analytics. "Qualcomm is the most likely LTE chip supplier to the new iPad considering its world-mode capabilities across network," he said.
"Overall, once again Apple set the bar high for apps processor and tablet competitors alike," he added.
In terms of media capabilities, the new iPad supports 1080-progressive video recording, a 2,048 x 1,536 pixel screen displaying 264 pixels per inch and a 5 MPixel camera. The devices weighs in at 1.4 pounds, measures 9.4mm thick and costs $499 and up for models starting at 16 Gbytes, available starting March 16.
Separately, Apple announced a new version of its AppleTV over-the-air video device. It still costs $99 but now supports 1080p video.
With the new iPad, Apple could increase its market share in tablets to 61 percent in 2012, up from 57 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to IHS iSuppli. Long term Apple’s market share is expected to decline from 62 percent in 2011 to 52 percent in 2014, it said.
Android tablets gained share in the second half of last year. However the gains came at the cost of a 41 percent decline in the average street price for Android tablets amind price slashing after the debut of the Amazon Kindle Fire, IHS reported.
Overall tablet shipments are on track to reach 124 million units in 2012, up 90 percent from 65 million in 2011, HIS said. It projects steady growth to 311 million units in 2016.
Apple is projected to ship 69 percent more tablets and smartphones in 2012 over last year, according to IHS iSuppli. The consumer giant’s spending on displays for iPads and iPhones is projected to rise to $9.0 billion, up 91 percent from $4.7 billion in 2011, the market watcher added.
IHS said just prior to the new iPad’s debut it expected the device would a 9.7-inch a QXGA (2,048 by 1536) pixel display, higher resolution then the iPad and iPad 2, at 260 pixels per inch.
IHS said Apple is said to be examining a new LCD display technology from Sharp that uses indium, gallium, zinc and oxide thin-film transistors (IGZO TFT) to keep a lid on power consumption. Sharp now is working to ramp up the production of IGZO TFT panels at its Gen 8 fab in Kameyama, Japan, but the company is experiencing manufacturing problems that could affect both the availability of displays for a full rollout of the new iPad, as well as the cost of the iPad displays, IHS said.
In addition to Sharp, the panel suppliers for the iPad 3 are believed to be Samsung Display and LG Display.
“Apple is likely to incur a significant price premium for using the higher-resolution display in the new iPad,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, senior manager for small & medium displays at IHS. “However, manufacturers are expected to grant discounts, especially because Apple, in all likelihood, has made investments in display makers like LG, Sharp and Toshiba Mobile Display,” he said.
Overall, the message the new iPad could be sending to tablet makers is, "Step on the graphics."
Little is known about the A5X. However, the decision to boost graphics quality in the chip, along with an improved display, should provide noticeable improvements in games, graphics and pictures while keeping the power budget low, said one analyst.
“The new iPad sets the tone and direction for next generation tablets,” said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy (Austin). “If you are a 10-inch Android tablet maker and not clearly differentiated, you will have to rethink your strategy," said the former AMD exec turned analyst.
He speculated the A5X uses four Rogue graphics cores from Imagination Technologies. Changing to another graphics core provider would not be possible without disrupting Apple’s developer base, he said.
With the new processor Apple appears to be on par with Nvidia's Tegra 3, "but what matters is real game play and no one questions Nvidia's strength there," said Moorhead.
Nvidia's Tegra uses up to 12 graphics cores, and Huawei rolled out a mobile apps processor with 16 graphics cores at the Mobile World Congress last week. But it's hard to compare graphics cores directly because each vendor takes radically different approaches to them, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst of The Linley Group and editor of The Microprocessor Report.
Krewell said the A5X almost certainly uses the Imagination PowerVR SGX 543MP4 core. The Rogue core is not due out until later this year, he noted.
The tablet will come in separate versions for AT&T and Verizon LTE networks. Apple is also working with at least two other carriers—Rodgers and Telus—for LTE support. The device will support LTE downloads at rates up to 73 MBits/s, Apple said.
"It looks like Qualcomm (with LTE) and Imagination (in graphics) are the big winners," said Sravan Kundojjala, a senior analyst with Strategy Analytics. "Qualcomm is the most likely LTE chip supplier to the new iPad considering its world-mode capabilities across network," he said.
"Overall, once again Apple set the bar high for apps processor and tablet competitors alike," he added.
In terms of media capabilities, the new iPad supports 1080-progressive video recording, a 2,048 x 1,536 pixel screen displaying 264 pixels per inch and a 5 MPixel camera. The devices weighs in at 1.4 pounds, measures 9.4mm thick and costs $499 and up for models starting at 16 Gbytes, available starting March 16.
Separately, Apple announced a new version of its AppleTV over-the-air video device. It still costs $99 but now supports 1080p video.
With the new iPad, Apple could increase its market share in tablets to 61 percent in 2012, up from 57 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to IHS iSuppli. Long term Apple’s market share is expected to decline from 62 percent in 2011 to 52 percent in 2014, it said.
Android tablets gained share in the second half of last year. However the gains came at the cost of a 41 percent decline in the average street price for Android tablets amind price slashing after the debut of the Amazon Kindle Fire, IHS reported.
Overall tablet shipments are on track to reach 124 million units in 2012, up 90 percent from 65 million in 2011, HIS said. It projects steady growth to 311 million units in 2016.
Apple is projected to ship 69 percent more tablets and smartphones in 2012 over last year, according to IHS iSuppli. The consumer giant’s spending on displays for iPads and iPhones is projected to rise to $9.0 billion, up 91 percent from $4.7 billion in 2011, the market watcher added.
IHS said just prior to the new iPad’s debut it expected the device would a 9.7-inch a QXGA (2,048 by 1536) pixel display, higher resolution then the iPad and iPad 2, at 260 pixels per inch.
IHS said Apple is said to be examining a new LCD display technology from Sharp that uses indium, gallium, zinc and oxide thin-film transistors (IGZO TFT) to keep a lid on power consumption. Sharp now is working to ramp up the production of IGZO TFT panels at its Gen 8 fab in Kameyama, Japan, but the company is experiencing manufacturing problems that could affect both the availability of displays for a full rollout of the new iPad, as well as the cost of the iPad displays, IHS said.
In addition to Sharp, the panel suppliers for the iPad 3 are believed to be Samsung Display and LG Display.
“Apple is likely to incur a significant price premium for using the higher-resolution display in the new iPad,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, senior manager for small & medium displays at IHS. “However, manufacturers are expected to grant discounts, especially because Apple, in all likelihood, has made investments in display makers like LG, Sharp and Toshiba Mobile Display,” he said.
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Daniel Payne
3/7/2012 4:02 PM EST
It's odd that Apple increased the pixel density because on the web most images are sized at 72 dpi and I don't see any pixels, so why push Resolutionary? If I cannot see any visual difference, then why use that as your marketing differentiator?
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pixies
3/7/2012 6:11 PM EST
Actually I do detect pixelation on the iPad2 screen. I think the distance from which you view the iPad is where your eyes are most sensitive.
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Oh Blah Dee Blah Dah
3/7/2012 9:25 PM EST
The higher pixel density will be a boon in certain fields such as medicine, whereby the finer details of X-rays and radiographs will be visible instead of blurred or completely missing.
By the way, get your eyes checked!
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chanj
3/8/2012 3:40 AM EST
Detail comes from the original picture. With zoom feature, a higher resolution display isn't really necessary. Higher resolution doesn't really resolve the issue that the object is small. For example, iPad still cannot compare to a 12-15 inches X-Ray film.
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:03 AM EST
Apple also added a lot of capabilities to its photo editing software and made a big pitch about new improved game titles, all stuff that needs the extra pixels.
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Frank Eory
3/7/2012 4:07 PM EST
I can't wait to try it out! Of course, if I buy one, my wife will claim it and I'll still be using the iPad2...
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ibm221
3/7/2012 7:42 PM EST
fool, get 2 then.
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Shameless
3/8/2012 11:45 AM EST
You need to get rid of your wife.
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chanj
3/7/2012 4:11 PM EST
To maintain leadership position, Apple will apparent improves a couple features. Graphics and display resolution are the most obvious choices. They have direct impact to user experience.
The question comes to whether these improvement will really provide a substantial benefit to users. I can see benefit on watching 1080p video. What else? Are you looking forward to better resolution and better graphic engine?
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Jeanshack
3/7/2012 4:13 PM EST
Any idea on who is the modem vendor? Is it Qualcomm?
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:03 AM EST
Qualcomm is the speculation, but we won't know until the teardowns circa Marcj 17
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TingLu
3/7/2012 4:37 PM EST
How about CPU architecture? A9 or A15? Dual Core or Quad Cores?
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:04 AM EST
The assumption is its still a dual core A9, but again, waiting for the deep teardowns of the chip from TechInsights et al
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PoseTech
3/7/2012 5:14 PM EST
Gaming is becoming a big business for the tablet market. Having a retina display on the new iPad would give Apple a much competitive product than other portable game devices such as the newly debuted Sony PS Vita and other smartphones. If you look at the screens of iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, you would have noticed the immense details that the retina display can give you, especially for games.
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dnh
3/7/2012 6:16 PM EST
The statement "on the web most images are sized at 72 dpi" is meaningless unless you know the dpi of your display, and displays are not standard. I have a 22" computer monitor that I drive at 1600 X 1200, which gives 91 dpi. I expect to view an iPad far closer to my eyes than a computer monitor, so I would expect the higher resolution of the new iPad to give a real improvement in picture quality. I can't wait to see one.
Also, I want it for viewing photographic images, not just web pages.
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Kevin Krewell
3/7/2012 7:21 PM EST
Because the chip is called the A5X, not an A6, the CPU cores are certainly ARM Cortex-A9, as was used in the A5. An upgrade to the A15 core would certainly qualify for a major name change. Based on Apple's own descriptions, the graphics cores are almost certainly PowerVR SGX 543MP4, very similar to the quad core GPU as in the Playstation Vita. Imagination Technology insist that Rogue (Series6) will be out later in the year.
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rick.merritt
3/7/2012 7:40 PM EST
Thanks for weighing in, Kevin!
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tangey
3/8/2012 4:37 AM EST
wrong...img insist that rogue will NOT be in any products this year.
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Neo1
3/7/2012 8:54 PM EST
Cool, they are still keeping the things at the edge. Guess what, the IPads will drive the momentum of tablet growth for the next 5 years at least. The Laptops will kind of become redundant and obsolete down the road.
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daleste
3/7/2012 9:14 PM EST
Increased features, same price. I bet their margins are still very high compared to their competitors.
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phoenixdave
3/8/2012 7:04 AM EST
Not only that, they continue to sell the "older" iPad, which already has great profit margin (even at a discounted price).
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daleste
3/8/2012 10:00 PM EST
I almost want to buy one, but who wants the old technology. Also, my wife got me a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I am really happy with it.
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hm
3/7/2012 9:28 PM EST
New iPAD will be very useful in application like Medical imaging and hospital medical report sharing.
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parity
3/7/2012 10:10 PM EST
These Apple products (iPad3, iPhone4S) are the bacon of the telecom space - everyone likes bacon even though it clogs your arteries (read telecom pipelines).
A related article below calculates the new iPad3 can potentially consume your entire month's bandwith cap in about 10 minutes depending on what you are down loading. Maybe they exaggerate, maybe it might take a full day?
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/apple-officially-reveals-ipad-yes-probably-going-want-214507105.html
The Siri feature on the iPhone 4S consumes 3x more bandwidth than an already piggy iPhone 4 without Siri.
As these new Apple-bacon (@copywrite) products proliferate, the bandwith pipes and towers are going to get mighty clogged. AT&T and the other carriers have no desire to sink dollars into improved infrastructure without payback. Collision ahead. This reminds me of the days when Microsoft first began writing "fat-ware", as opposed to software which was efficiently written code. That fatware demanded faster and faster Intel processors (and cost) to pump all that fat code around.
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phoenixdave
3/8/2012 7:05 AM EST
So does iPad have Siri?
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:06 AM EST
Nope, but it has dictation
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:06 AM EST
Stay tuned for the end of all you can eat data and metered services.
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fordownloads1
3/8/2012 9:23 AM EST
Yep. Bandwidth is limited. There is only so much operators can do!
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daleste
3/8/2012 10:22 PM EST
Yes, MS and all of the apps writers for the PC became very lazy and let the bandwidth and memory requirements of their applications grow so much that it kept up with the hardware advancements. We would have very fast computers today if they had kept their code compact and efficient. That would be great for laptops and tablets.
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eewiz
3/7/2012 10:50 PM EST
I am still confused, why Apple branded the new iPad as just "iPad" instead of "iPad 3" or "iPad HD" . Any thoughts on this?
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goafrit
3/8/2012 7:08 AM EST
Good question. I cannot understand why it has no version. The confusion of the post-Jobs era?
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 9:06 AM EST
I suspect there is a new marketing debate going on internally
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Tombo
3/8/2012 11:20 AM EST
Most of Apple's products don't have version numbers. iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod touch, AppleTV. Actually, iPhone and iPad are the ONLY products that have version numbers. I think that Apple realizes that it's stupid and costs them money to do that.
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OtisTD
3/8/2012 2:10 PM EST
I suspect+hope it also means that iPad will have a constant form going forward. Size, screen size, button/camera/connector location, etc. will remain constant. Not so good for the case and peripheral makers, but good for the consumer (me).
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goafrit
3/8/2012 7:09 AM EST
Think this product is a beauty because it comes from Apple. Maybe we will see how it does. For me, Apple will not see me using their products yet. Still like BB for now.
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fordownloads1
3/8/2012 9:22 AM EST
The new iPad is way ahead of Amazon. It will be a $100 billion business for Apple by 2014.
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t.alex
3/8/2012 10:17 AM EST
I hoped they would use oled display.
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palangga
3/8/2012 11:07 AM EST
The biggest impact for me is that I will now be able to afford an iPad2!
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rick.merritt
3/8/2012 11:15 AM EST
BTW, the display and extra graphics cores are something any tablet maker can add. Only Apple could do the enhanced photo editing and other software that winds up being the real differentiator to consumers.
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Robotics Developer
3/8/2012 12:21 PM EST
I think that the combined higher end specifications and the software to utilize it will be a win for Apple. I would love to test drive one and see how it performs with streaming video and battery life. I am constantly amazed at the density of these devices, each time I pick up one I am surprised by the weight. Good luck with the new iPad!
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TingLu
3/8/2012 1:17 PM EST
I could not wait people to cut A5x open to see what is in there. Since it is not called A6, I am guessing it is still in 40nm technology. Apple just upgrade it to support 4x resolution with 2x graphics performance.
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Chee Choy
3/10/2012 10:11 AM EST
I think ipad is a pretty new OS and applications compare to window, so this means, there are still a lot of applications we use to since the introduction of window pretty hard to abadone for senior users, probably new user is easier to adapt and start with a new device from scratch without much use to kind of feeling and legacy.
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t.alex
3/10/2012 9:09 PM EST
A MacBook is probably better alternative to MS machine.
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