Apple's new iPad: Thicker and heavier than iPad 2

Apple’s new iPad: Thicker and heavier than iPad 2

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the new iPad during an event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

March 7, 2012 12:30 PM PT

<i>This story has been updated. See note below for details.</i>

Apple’s new iPad has a higher resolution screen, better graphics processor, an iPhone-4-quality rear camera and (in some models) 4G LTE capability. It’s also slightly thicker and slightly heavier.

But the difference in heft between the iPad 2 and the new iPad (no, it’s not called iPad 3 or iPad HD) will likely be negligible to most.

The Wi-Fi-only version of the new iPad is 0.37 inches (9.4 millimeters) thick and weighs 1.44 pounds (652 grams).

The Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad 2 is 0.34 inches (8.8 millimeters) thick and weighs 1.33 pounds (601 grams).

And while maintaining the same thickness, the 4G LTE version of the new iPad is slightly heavier than the Wi-Fi-only new iPad. The iPad 2’s 3G variants weigh more too.

The 4G LTE new iPad weighs 1.46 pounds (662 grams), up from the Wi-Fi-only-new iPad’s 1.44 pounds (652 grams).

The 3G iPad 2 weighs 1.35 pounds (613 grams), up from the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2’s 1.33 pounds (601 grams).

The difference, again, isn’t much. Most probably won’t be able to tell the difference in daily use, but the slightly bigger device is indicative of how much more Apple has packed into the svelte aluminum back and glass-dominant face.

Among the most notable upgrades from the iPad 2 to new iPad are the new tablet’s 5-megapixel/1080p rear camera, “retina display” with a 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution (up from the iPad 2 and first generation iPad’s 1,024 x 768-pixel displays) and the ability to connect to AT&T and Verizon’s new 4G LTE networks.

What do you think of the differences? Do you care about weight and thickness, even if it is ever so slight? Are you impressed by the idea of a new, higher-than-high-definition display? Do you even want to snap a photo on an iPad? Sound off in the comments below.

[Updated at 1:08 p.m. March 7: The article was updated to include information about 3G and 4G iPad models.]

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Apple’s new iPad: Thicker and heavier than iPad 2

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