New iPad review (2012) - The Verge
Apple has a long history of making decisions in its hardware which can sometimes compromise performance. The original MacBook Air comes to mind for instance — a groundbreaking design with relatively poor computing power. The original iPhone was a 2G-only device (ostensibly to conserve battery life), and clearly the antenna on the original iPhone 4 had form-over-function syndrome (at least for some users).
The fact that the new iPad touts an A5X SoC versus a completely new generation of chip may give some buyers pause, but in my testing I see no evidence that the processor in the iPad isn't every bit as powerful as it should be. While there's not some obvious speed boost in comparison to the previous generation iPad, there's certainly no stutter, stagger, or delay when using the tablet. Apps opened and closed quickly and without issue, app switching was efficient, and graphically-intensive games played smoothly on the device.
I saw no outstanding performance issues at all, in fact. Whether it's a further optimization of iOS, the new SoC, or a combination of the two (most likely), there's little to complain about in regards to overall speed and performance. What I can say most clearly about the iPad (and frankly, the version before this) is that there's a certain kind of confidence, of fearlessness, with which it executes tasks. With many modern mobile devices, there's this constant, nagging sensation that it's going to jam up, freeze, or otherwise not respond to your commands. That sensation is nowhere to be found on the new iPad — and it's a relief.
On the data side of things, at least on Verizon's LTE network, this thing (unsurprisingly) screams. If you own a Verizon 4G phone, or know what they're capable of, then you'll get the gist of what the new iPad can do. Actually, the iPad seemed faster to me than many phones I've tested. Another nice perk is that if you buy into the Verizon version, not only do you get your LTE service on the iPad, but you also can use the device as a wireless hotspot at no extra charge (AT&T says they're working on it, but they don't offer the same luxury).
In terms of raw speeds, I saw downloads hit more than 22Mbps, while upstream data topped out around an outrageous 21Mbps — and that was in mid-town Manhattan. Of course, a lot of this depends on your coverage and how many people around you are on the network. One other small thing: I did notice the device getting a bit warm when I was using LTE for extended periods of time, but that's pretty common for most 4G products I've tested.
As far as the battery life of the new iPad is concerned, I can say that the device pretty much lives up to Apple's ambitious claims. I ran our battery test on the device using both Wi-Fi and solely on Verizon's LTE network, and in both tests the rundown ended almost (but not exactly) where Apple says it should. The company claims you should get 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi and 9 on LTE. On Wi-Fi I nabbed almost exactly 9 hours of constant browsing, and on LTE, my number was closer to 8 hours and 15 minutes. That's not exactly where Apple pegs it, but that's because our testing methods are slightly different (Apple sets their displays to 50 percent brightness, we use 65 percent).
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Apple is able to achieve this kind of performance; the new iPad has nearly double the battery capacity of the previous version in nearly the same amount of space (the iPad 2 has a 25Wh battery pack while the new iPad crams in a 42.5Wh slab). I assume that's what accounts for most of the weight gain on this device. With battery life like this, I'll take the slight extra baggage — and I'd argue most users would prefer their devices are less lean but have longer battery life.
In all, the new iPad lived up to my expectations on the performance and battery fronts — and I'm not sure how it might have surpassed them. It's everything the previous generation was, and then some. Stable, reliable, speedy, and long-lived. What more can you ask for?
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