Apple iPad 3

The new Apple iPad 3 is here, and while it isn’t a complete revamp of its predecessor, it’s a well-calculated step change.

The new iPad’s (its official title – but for normal people it will be the iPad 3) improvements are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but is there a killer reason for you to shell out and buy one?

What we like best

The one thing everyone remarked on when they first held the new iPad in their hands was how incredibly sharp the visuals are.

The 9.7 inch screen (or ‘retina display’) has a stonking resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels (the iPad 2 had 1024 x 768 on the same screen size), and to look at it is to love it. Applications appear as if drawn by a hundred tiny talented hands, images are enhanced massively by the improved contrast, video definition is boosted and text is made more readable.

Gaming wasn’t really much fun on the iPad 2, but thanks to the new A5X processor and the new graphics unit, the new iPad will make modern games run smoothly. Everyday office applications can be accessed as swiftly as ever, and there is no noticeable lag when multitasking.

The design, one of the things that by consensus was already spot on, hasn’t been tampered with – the smooth, clean lines are still there, as is the classic Apple ‘shiny’ look. The new iPad 3 is slightly thicker and heavier, however.

The movie editing suite iMovie comes included on the new tablet, which is handy because the back camera has been pimped to 5 megapixels and HD video. For quick and rough film shooting and editing, this might be a very valuable tool indeed.

What we like least

The voice recognition technology Siri has been left off the iPad 3.

The dictation app it does come with is less than useful, except in very quiet surroundings and when speaking in short, clear sentences.

The iPad 3 comes in both 4G and Wi-Fi versions, the former of which won’t be of much use to us in the UK right now – we’re still stuck with the old 3G network for now.