Photos: Steve Jobs births "all-new" iPad 2

By Liam Tung on Mar 3, 2011 6:15 AM
Filed under Hardware

iPad 2 lands in Australia on March 25.

Apple will ship both black and white versions of its iPad 2 in Australia from March 25 - an ...	Apple has completely revamped its old case for the iPad, transforming it into a magnetic overlay ...	Apple shows how the cover sits on top of the screen but peels back, waking up the device in the ...
See all pictures here »

A very thin but excited Steve Jobs has made a brief return from medical leave to unveil the highly anticipated Apple iPad 2.

The second-generation device boasts rear and front facing cameras, new chip and iOS upgrade to version 4.3, dual-core A5 processors, a slimmed-down profile -- and the same price as the first device.

Apple will start shipping both black and white iPad 2 devices to US customers on March 11.

Shipments to 26 additional countries, including Australia, will begin on March 25.

By reactions to the iPad 2's specifications on Twitter, Apple has exceeded expectations.

The new iPad has left recently unveiled would-be rivals in the dust on weight and size. At 8.8 mm thick, Apple shaved a third off its former 13.4mm thickness.

Dual cameras mean that iPad users will be able to use Facetime with the 100 million iPhones sold so far, Apple said in a statement.

"It feels totally different" said Jobs.

"In addition to preserving the battery life, we've also preserved the price. The same exact prices," Jobs said, according to an attendee.

iPad 2 will also come with film editing suite iMovie, HDMI video out cable and an optional new magnet-attached "Smart Cover" from US$39, according to the All Things Digital blog.

Jobs said Apple’s first iPad had left its competitors “flummoxed”, noting that while the iPad had 65,000 apps, Google’s Android had just 100 for tablets.

“Many have said this is the most successful consumer product ever launched,” Jobs gloated.

Journalists were banned from shooting video at the event, but Twitter and live blogs lit up with images of Jobs shortly after he walked out on stage.

“Steve looks thin, but otherwise healthy. Upbeat, strong voice, moving around naturally and well,” observed analyst Avi Greenhart.

22 comments in this discussion

"You need to remove Windows Vista from your life. No good can come from it. I don't see the market as a VHS/Beta type scenario. There is room for plenty of players. The standards for comms and SIMs ..."

By Ace

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Comments: 22

Mark D Mar 3, 2011 9:21 AM	How the hell is this different!? Litterally a few millimetres thiner, they managed to fit in a webcam, mini hdmi & a slightly faster processor. Still no USB support. Rumour has it a new one is coming out in September making this one already obsolete. The new iPad 2: "It feels totally different". Ribbed for her pleasure.
Ace Mar 3, 2011 11:11 AM	Quite impressive. Thinning it down while adding in new bits AND preserving battery life. We have to wait for the new GalaxyTAB with Android 3 to get a proper comparison, which I suppose only proves how far ahead of the market Apple are in this space. They've sold some 14 million units, are launching an update and STILL there is no proper competition for them.
cjc1959au Mar 3, 2011 3:59 PM	Mark D - How the hell is this different!? Well, lets see shall we? New CPU New Video Chip Believed To Be More RAM New OS Thinner Lighter 2 Cameras USB & SD card Support (Still) HDMI Connection So apart from the screen resolution & the storage capacity, how is it the same?
Ace Mar 3, 2011 4:14 PM	Battery life is the same. Apparently. I read somewhere that they can expect competition by 2015. Do we really have to wait that long?
bcmobile Mar 3, 2011 8:31 PM	@cjc1959au: yawn None of the beefed up hardware will make a difference for a long time yet. Devs are still aiming at iPhones and 'upscaling' to suit the ipad. These are hardly reasons to upgrade. Compared to the (insert honeycomb tablet here) which has a completely revamped OS and, since you're into over-specced hardware... Tegra 250 anyone? Now that is something to write about! Be honest - when the original iPad was released, were you one of the fanbois who said "who needs a camera anyway"?
cjc1959au Mar 4, 2011 8:53 AM	@bcmobile It's not a question as to whether or not "the beefed up hardware will make a difference for a long time yet", it was simply answering the questions as to "How the hell is this different?". But from what I can see, all you are offering is the possibility that there might be some new "Android" tablet that might be better than the iPad "at some point in the future". As to whether I was a fanboi or not, I have cameras on all my laptops and have never used them. I don't want to take photos of me, I want to take photos of other things. If I want to take pictures I will used my DSLR. And just as an aside, I can't see how using an iPad would be better than using an iPhone 3Gs or 4. From my understanding so far, they both have better cameras, if that is your thing. @Ace Yup, that was something I missed. They say battery life is about the same.
Mark D Mar 4, 2011 9:54 AM	@Ace: I agree, Honeycomb could not come out any faster. I would even take a shot at Windows8 if it ran/used well. @CJC1959AU: Drinking the Apple-aid much? Again, it's nothing "new" like it's being hyped up to be. You're kidding yourself if you think it is, however that's not to say it isn't the magical device for you. If the ribbed iPad is what you want, go for it. Everyone tries one on at least once in their life.
cjc1959au Mar 4, 2011 5:33 PM	@Mark D: Drinking the Apple-aid much? Again, it's nothing "new" like it's being hyped up to be. Let's look at this again. You raised a point that it is not new. I showed you all the ways it is almost entirely new, both from a hardware and software perspective. The only items ahat appear to be carried over from the iPad 1st Gen is the screen. Failing to address those points, the best you can come up with it to be personally insulting. Why is it that the best Apple haters can do is get personally insulting, rather than argue points on their merits. If you want an Android tablet, good for you. Go and get one. Oh wait, you can't. If you want to wait for Windows 8 on a tablet, then sit and wait. It might come eventually. Having played with a large number of Android tablets of different sizes and specs and a number of iPads, I can tell you that I have yet to see any Android tablet that works as well or as simply as an iPad. Both my 90 year old grandmother and my 3 year old niece can get an iPad to work for them, each doing different things. When I gave then an Android tablet, they didn't understand how to make it work because, as they expressed it, it was "too confusing". Next time, try actually arguing the points raised rather than getting insulting because someone pointed out that your rant was incorrect. @Ace: yes, you probably will have to wait that long for a good Android tablet. Ever noticed how no-one is trying to make an Android tablet killer, but every one wants to make an iPad killer?
robinnz Mar 6, 2011 7:56 AM	@Mark D, mark, thanks, I've been waiting to see a post about USB support. Why the hell would the iPad have USB? It would serve no logical purpose. The iPad is a WIRELESS device, not a slightly different laptop format. I don't want to go sit in a cafe and plug in all sorts of external devices, I want it all in one, no wires, and thankfully, that's what Apple have given us. We can plug in to essentials back at the home/office to show our photos/movies, listen to content, synchronise or recharge. If I wanted external drives, mice, or any other weird stuff I'd use my laptop. I think you raise the real issue here, iPad is NOT a laptop, desktop or even generic "portable computing device". It's like the iPod - a totally new way to do what it does. We had portable CD and cassette players, then we had the iPod - no comparison. We had laptop computers, now we have the iPad - why compare? As for how is it different? Well, try living with the competition and then decide. The key iPad issue however is the apps - the day the App store launched what took my breath away wasn't the iPhone, it was the strategy that had gone into the total solution, I could see then that this was a hugely powerful concept. So the competitors have less than a thousand apps between them, whilst iPad via the App store has over 200,000. There's your real difference. as to iPad 1 v. 2, they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, the iPad 2 is an all new design. but does what the non-broke iPad 1 did, so there's an interesting contrast. By the way, did anyone notice? App Store as in "App"le store...
robinnz Mar 6, 2011 8:05 AM	@cjc1959au I ike your style, let's keep this professional and not insulting. As to nobody wanting an Android or Windows killer, well, you can't kill what hasn't yet been successfully produced - yes, I know, but I define successful as with a secure level of market penetration. Even the Samsung Galaxy is sitting on shelves, according to a Samsung VP. I welcome competition because this is an area where Apple thrives. it came from smaller roots, later to the party than Windows, however it now has the fastest growing market share of laptops, desktops and full-blown OS's - I don't like Apple because they are Apple, I like what they give me, the value and ease of use I get. I used to be highly technical IT wise, and would code in machine code, now I just want something that works. The only time I get my hands dirty these days is fixing friends Windows laptops which don't "just work" and which they simply don't understand and find confusing. Shouldn't IT devices be transparent, easy to use and just do their job without users having to upskill? When did you last go on an internal combustion engine stripdown course when you bought a car? No, you just jump in and drive it, just like an iPad...
Mark D Mar 7, 2011 9:18 AM	@cjc1959au. Stop dribbling & spouting Appleaid marketing, their is nothing "new" about the iPad. If you are willing to call some minor changes "new" then you should really just give Apple your bank account details now and cut out the middle man. @robinnz. Good to see an intelligent comment. I do agree with you, we should go wireless 100%. Why limit ourselves to dam cables. However there is this thing called "the real world", and it's not wireless. Business that care about their information and data do not have wireless in place, and they never will. Businesses use encrypted usb drives and actual secure methods for transferring data and files between devices. This is done so out of necessity for information security. The documents and information that is generated is worth a lot of money & in some cases worth the whole businesses value. For example, compare RIM's devices to the iPad. While lacking in the obvious places, they have the fundamentals that make a portable device right. Security, manageability and simplicity. However they just missed the capacitive screen craze like the other manufacturers. So do I think the iPad is a good device? Yes, it's very simple to use & could end up replacing consumer netbooks. Is it a great device? No. It lacks the standard fundamentals that other manufacturers seem to be able to get right from the get go. As for the comments about Android tablets. Google XOOM, it is one of a heap of droid tablets that are due out earlier than the iPad 2 and are more worthy of the term "new".
cjc1959au Mar 7, 2011 5:07 PM	@Mark D. Stop dribbling & spouting Appleaid marketing, their is nothing "new" about the iPad. If you are willing to call some minor changes "new" then you should really just give Apple your bank account details now and cut out the middle man. Is there anyway for you to answer a legitimate rebuttal to your statement without getting insulting? Why can you not actually answer the rebuttal? There is very little in the iPad 2 that is not new, as has been shown by X-Rays of the new device. Just because you don't want to admit that it is new even when the evidence is presented to you is disappointing in and of itself, but your need to be insulting just demeans you and makes me wonder why you have this need. -So do I think the iPad is a good device? Yes, it's very simple to use & could end up replacing consumer netbooks. Is it a great device? No. It lacks the standard fundamentals that other manufacturers seem to be able to get right from the get go. What manufacturers "who are able to get this right" are you talking about? There is no real comparable competitor out there for the iPad. There is definitely no comparable competitor out there for the iPad 2. Show me some of these "amazing" "new" 10" tablets not running a desktop OS?
tallguy Mar 7, 2011 9:34 PM	Based on the comments, it looks like tall poppy syndrome is still alive and well. In the real world, "getting it right" means selling devices and making profits. I don't think anyone can argue by that definition that Apple have got it right. Was the iPad a revolution? Yes. It more or less created a new segment in consumer electronics. Is the iPad 2 a revolution? Well of course not. Nobody expects it to be. From here on it will be more evolution than revolution, and as cjc1959au points out, there are quite a few evolutions in the iPad 2.
Ace Mar 8, 2011 12:53 AM	@cjc1959au says: "Ever noticed how no-one is trying to make an Android tablet killer, but every one wants to make an iPad killer?" That's because iPad is made by an evil fruit empire and Android is made by the forces of 'dont do evil'. And I think we all know who always wins that battle. @cjc1959au says: "There is no real comparable competitor out there for the iPad. There is definitely no comparable competitor out there for the iPad 2. Show me some of these "amazing" "new" 10" tablets not running a desktop OS? " Here ya go: http://galaxytab.samsungmobile.com/ http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Tablets/ci.MOTOROLA-XOOM-US-EN.overview I imagine these sites are not 'approved' by Apple as appropriate content for your iDevice, so use a Linux/Windows/Android machine to have a look. BTW @robinnz, Apple are claiming 50,000 iPad applications (not 200,000), and a total of 280,000 iPad/iPhone apps. Android has some 200,000 (not 1000) apps but they are mostly not tablet specific. Although, I did read there are more than 20 Android tablet-specific apps out already. 20! Take that iPad bois!
cjc1959au Mar 8, 2011 2:42 PM	@Ace GalaxyTab 10 - Not shipping yet & the pricing of the new iPad 2 has Samsung re-evaluating their pricing model. Motorola Xoom - Also not shipping yet. Although they do look nice and might turn out to be competition for the iPad, it's hard for them to be competitors when they aren't even shipping yet, and neither is their operating system. It will be good to see how they turn out, but don't expect them to be much cheapter than an equivalent iPad. Here's a list of numbers from AppShopper.Com. Total Available Apps: 354715 Total Available iPhone Apps: 323705 Total Available iPad Apps: 73173 I looked around for some totals for the Android Marketplace but was unable to find any hard data regarding numbers other than an article on CNET suggesting that there were approximately 88,000 applications in Mid February, and only 16 Tablet Specific Apps.
Ace Mar 8, 2011 5:36 PM	The beauty of Android @cjc1959 is that customers have choice. There are multiple Android markets. According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_digital_distribution_platforms_for_mobile_devices Google has 270,000 apps in their store alone. And the web version has only been open a matter of days. Amazon, Samsung, Verizon, Motorola etc all have app stores too. I do understand how confusing this is to an iPhone user, but it's worth hopping over the garden wall for a look. I know where you got the '16 apps' thing from, but that was just a 'best of' list, and doesn't include a number of newspaper apps or Adobes apps. You forgot to mention: iPad 2 - Also not shipping yet. Despite all of that, the point is iPad competiton is around the corner in months, not years. The behemoths behind the hardware and software will be fighting each other as much as Apple. When you see how many phone units someone like Samsung move a year compared to Apple, you start to get a grip on the reality. (Apple sell around 2% of what Samsung sells) Apple are not really a player when the big guys get involved, they're more of a niche gadget company. And they do make nice gadgets.
robinnz Mar 10, 2011 4:17 PM	Nice to see the discussion widening. Apologies my figures on Apps weren't perfect, however I would point out that iPhone apps run on Ipads too, so apart from those that use phone specific functions there are close to 200k apps for the iPad, however I should have made it clearer. my apologies. Others here have noted the large number of Android apps, again mostly for the phone market, not tablets. Also comparing tablets and ship dates, the iPad 1 has already been out there a while and is still a worthy competitor to some of those mentioned as out there or soon to be. In reality it is worth noting Samsung's disappointment as to sales of it's existing tablet, it really hasn't hit the market hard yet. Lastly, and I can't find my source right now, but I read from a reliable bit of journalism that there are a huge number of security breaches, worms, viruses, trojans etc. in the Android apps. This was considered to be a result of the openness of the way in which these apps are distributed. I certainly wouldn't want my business to be using Android on that basis, so be fair, Apple did have this issue in its sights from the start, in the architecture of its Apps Store. So, device security isn't what everyone wants, but a lot of thought has gone into security overall. @Mark D, I reject the idea of encrypted USB sticks, I have seen them used in large corporates but even then the Enterprise Architects have been very wary of them. I think the real answer here is for some bright spark (and I believe someone is working on this) to come up with a protective layer that doesn't give a damn what the portable device is. Then we can all buy what we want and be happy. Hoping you all are happy with your choices, R.
Ace Mar 11, 2011 10:25 AM	@robinnz, Android apps work on tablets and phone too. The problem is there was no way of developing a tablet specific app for Android until 3.0 came out. Apple has the same issue, except they have had tablet support for much longer. Running an iPhone app on an iPad is the same as running an Android phone app on an Android tablet. It works. It's just not pretty. I think Samsungs initial GalaxyTab was not a competitor to the iPad. It's dimensions were too different, and there is lack of tablet support in Android 2.x. However, it did have some neat features that Apple appear to have picked up on. I suspect you have been reading Apple forums to get the "huge number of security breaches, worms, viruses, trojans etc". There's a reason you cn't find to source of this information. It doesn't exist. In Feb 2011 there reports of malware found in a Android app in China. Threat level low, and there are tools for removal. Ultimately, open source has the best security because nothing is secret. Proprietary code means bugs and vunerabiolities are secret. In open source, anyone can see these problems, so they have to be fixed. I don't know a good analogy, but say I gave you the key to my house, but you still couldn't get in - that would be good security. If I hide the key under the mat and hope you don't find it, that would be bad security.
BrissyBoy Mar 11, 2011 2:39 PM	@Ace perhaps you should read http://www.itnews.com.au/News/250843,trojan-exploits-android-security-fix.aspx?eid=3&edate=20110311&utm_source=20110311_PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter and other related articles. As to your android love affair - the only reason the manufacturers us Android is because it is free for now - Samsung, Motorla et al do not have to pay a license fee for Google beta software so why not deploy it instead of Symbian or Windoze mobile. Consumers want things that just work and they don't have to think about, everyone I know who has an Android wants to throw it out the window after they use my iPhone 3, 3GS and 4. Build a bridge and get over it, I received a "free" android phone from a carrier and guess what after struggling with the UI for three weeks it is back in the box an will be sent to ebay where some Android techie will buy it and knock his socks off 'cause it is neither from Cupertino or redmond and good on him. I like iOS because it just works. My 18 Mnth old and 3 year old pick up their mum's htc droid swipe their finger across the screen then put it down to reach for my iPad/iPhone to watch youtube. if you like you android tabs and phone go for it, I like my iPhone/ipad some people will enjoy their windoze products that's great - the iPad 2 is evolutionary on the iPad, just as the next gen droid tabs will be evolutionary. it appears from the stream above that the droid folks really enjoy the evil empire, as much as those of us with a penchant for fruit enjoy the koolade from cupertino.
Ace Mar 11, 2011 11:03 PM	The article refers to a single instance of malware @BrissyBoy, not 'viruses, worms, security breaches'. I had already mentioned that. In general, I agree with you @BrissyBoy. The Apple iGadgets are great for kids and novices. And I must agree that is where I have noticed it use the most. However, I'm sure if you tried something like a Galaxy S, you'd be suprised how easy it is to use, how similar it is to the iPhone (except perhaps a little more responsive). I have no problem with some manufacturers screwing up an interface. That is their perogative. They have that choice, just like people have a choice to buy their wares, or someone elses. The only people I know of who want to 'throw it out the window' are owners of Nokia smartphones. I work with iOS and OSX nearly every day, along with Android and Windows devices, so I am not unfamiliar with the devices and the operating systems. However, one cannot help but be slightly fascinated with Apple device fans. And now I've grown up, I tend to prefer a coffee to a koolade :-)
BrissyBoy Mar 14, 2011 3:23 PM	@Ace, I tried the Galaxy, maybe my brain couldn't adapt to yet another UI, I have Blackberry, Windows XP, Windows Vista, MacOSX and iOS to deal with, so another UI couldn't be squeezed in without freeing my brain from one of the others. The fanboys do my head in, Apple has gotten things wrong in the past I think of Newton (before its time) and some talk about the Apple Lisa in the same vein. Consumers will decide in the end what is the winner - I always think of VHS and Beta, Beta was technically better but wasn't purchased by consumers.
Ace Mar 14, 2011 8:19 PM	You need to remove Windows Vista from your life. No good can come from it. I don't see the market as a VHS/Beta type scenario. There is room for plenty of players. The standards for comms and SIMs are set, so that's not an issue. I think the market at Apple/Android/Blackberry with 30% each and Windows ay 10% is not such a bad thing. There's no doubt Android has the momentum, but that will change eventually one would think. I think that Nokia/Microsoft will create a formidable offering in the next 2 years. They are 2 companies with massive clout, so you can count on them cutting into someones market share. If they get the corporate enterprise bit right, it's could be Blackberry that loses.