Backstage
A List of “2"s That Could Be Inside iPad 2
Apple’s marketing team builds campaigns around simple themes. “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC.” The iPod silhouette dancers. iPhones making everything easy. iPads doing lots of different things well. So the big “2” on the March 2 invite could be a broad hint as to what the company’s thinking for the second-generation iPad’s marketing plan: strongly message the “this is a true iPad sequel” theme, referencing all the “2” elements inside the device.
Here’s a list of some of the possible 2’s. Which do you think will make it into the new iPad?
(1) A dual-core processor.
(2) A graphics chip with twice the power of the last iPad GPU.
(3) Twice the RAM.
(4) Twice the storage capacity.
(5) Twice the speaker power.
(6) Two cameras.
(7) Twice the screen resolution.
(8) Twice the screen visibility outdoors/brightness.
(9) Two types of supported cellular networking options—CDMA and GSM.
(10) Two completely different iPads—an iPad and an iPad mini, for example—or two different colors (white/black) of one model.
We’d love to hear your guesses on each of these. They’re not all going to happen, but we’d bet heavily on at least six of them.
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1
Very nice analysis, like it !
I so earnestly hope #7 comes true.
Posted by SC on March 1, 2011 at 2:34 PM (PDT)
2
I’m hoping for 4 times the RAM myself.
Posted by ort on March 1, 2011 at 2:41 PM (PDT)
3
Hopefully not twice the price
Posted by Simon on March 1, 2011 at 3:37 PM (PDT)
4
I’m hoping for #9… twice the carrier support in same package. Would like to try Verizon and AT&T in my area. month to month for data is nice. The ONLY deal in cellular telephony these days.
Jim
Posted by JP on March 1, 2011 at 3:52 PM (PDT)
5
More 2’s: How about 1/2 the weight??? I would love at least a .2 Kg drop in mass.
Posted by JP on March 1, 2011 at 4:15 PM (PDT)
6
Two Apple Connector ports.
Two speakers.
Posted by sb on March 1, 2011 at 7:06 PM (PDT)
7
Oh, and twice the Flash support
Posted by sb on March 1, 2011 at 7:08 PM (PDT)
8
Realistically, I think #s 2-6 are all very likely revelations tomorrow, but I would not put #7 out of the realm of possibility despite the most recent round of scuttlebutt. Few truly anticipated the dramatically increased resolution of the iPhone 4 due to alleged speed/battery life concerns, but go figure, the Retina Display has been an unquestioned success.
I am unlikely to upgrade my current iPad if only the most incremental improvements are made, but I have to say, I think a doubling of capacity is critically necessary. Apps continue to gobble up more available storage, and if the iPad wants to cement itself further as the tablet of choice, bumping up the top-end to 128 GB (at the same $699 price point, mind you) would be a brilliant stroke. Beefing up the audio output sure wouldn’t hurt, either.
Posted by Flippy Hambone on March 1, 2011 at 7:18 PM (PDT)
9
Twice the Flash support? Remember that 2 times nothing is still nothing.
Posted by Brian Hersch on March 1, 2011 at 7:21 PM (PDT)
10
(11) Two connectors - for Portrait and Landscape stands, plus some additional functionality
(12) Better iPhone/iPad integration (Tethering? Wireless/Bluetooth syncing?). Convince buyers they need both.
(13) Two iPads is better than one. Syncing functionalities, family discounts, individual user profiles.
(14) Liberation from iTunes on PC/Macs. Backup to cloud storage.
Posted by NilsO on March 2, 2011 at 3:04 AM (PDT)
11
As has been said before, items 1-6 are most likely. Of course there could be a surprise with the resolution, but the cost of quadrupling the resolution for the iPad to match the iPhone 4’s would be expensive. Chances are Apple will try to find a cheaper solution when the ‘iPad 3’ (probably) launchers later this year,
Posted by Jonathan Charles on March 2, 2011 at 5:31 AM (PDT)
12
@11: Agreed. Quadrupling the resolution will probably be too expensive at this time, and will require higher battery capacity as well. Still, it would be extremely nice (and a complete competition killer) if they could pull it off.
Is a more realistic resolution improvement (e.g., 1280x1024) possible? Certainly, although this would cause more severe scaling problems than simple pixel doubling. Unchanged iPad 1 apps could, however, be displayed in a “letterbox” format. And perhaps the leftover space (1024 x 256 pixels) could be used for some other purposes? Widgets? Notifications? Background jobs/multitasking? Status bar?
Just a few more hours to wait for the answer…
Posted by NilsO on March 2, 2011 at 6:22 AM (PDT)
13
1/2 the price!
Posted by Joe R on March 2, 2011 at 9:27 AM (PDT)
14
@#9,
Hence, the winky! That was the joke.
Posted by sb on March 2, 2011 at 9:27 AM (PDT)