It should come as no surprise that Apple's fourth-generation iPad, officially released today, is barely discernible from the third-generation iPad released earlier this year. Even the teardown experts at iFixit had a hard time telling the two devices apart after cracking open their aluminum and glass shells. The real takeaway is that third-generation iPad owners shouldn't feel like they are stuck with yesterday's tech.
The iPad 4 (as iFixit and many others have taken to calling it) has the exact same aluminum unibody shell, the exact same 43 Whr battery, and the exact same 9.7", 2048×1536 pixel Retina display. The 30-pin Dock connector has been swapped for Apple's new, smaller Lightning connector, the A5X processor swapped for a faster A6X, and the FaceTime camera upgraded to FaceTime HD. Beyond that, there's nothing new here at all.
"If you're kicking yourself because you just bought an iPad 3, we've got some welcome news: not too much has changed in the iPad 4," iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said via e-mail.
The extra speed we expect from the A6X will be nice for apps that can benefit from it, and the Lightning connector could make juggling charging cables less of a hassle if you have an iPhone 5 or perhaps one of the newer iPods. If you use your iPad's front-facing camera often, the extra resolution may also be welcome. We're not sure these are reasons to rush out and buy a new iPad, though, if you already bought an iPad 3 in the last several months.
One important change for international users—a change that iFixit couldn't examine on its Wi-Fi-only model—is that Apple has updated the LTE hardware to newer Qualcomm chips which can access LTE frequencies used outside North America. The third-generation iPad is limited to HSPA+ speeds outside the US and Canada; if you really must have faster LTE access for your iPad, this is probably the most worthwhile reason to upgrade.
Our review iPad should be arriving this afternoon via FedEx delivery, and we'll be sure to put it through its paces to see what kind of performance improvements the new A6X processor can offer. Stay tuned for our report in the next few days.
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