At a press event held in San Francisco earlier today, Apple announced its much-anticipated iPad 2. For those who liked the original, this revamped model has the potential to blow minds, as it fixes many of the complaints that users had against the original model. No, the iPad 2 doesn’t have a camera, but it does have two of them (front and rear)! This feature came at just the right time, as a new version of FaceTime will be making its way into iOS 4.3.
Aesthetically, the iPad 2 looks similar to the original, but thanks to improvements made to the chassis, it’s 15% lighter and a staggering 33% thinner. At the same time, the iPad has gotten faster, with the introduction of a dual-core A5 ARM-based processor, for just about 2x the raw processing power. At the same time, it’s been said that the graphics processor is about 9x faster. Despite these upgrades, the iPad 2 falls into the same power envelope as the original.
Due to the fact that the power properties have remain unchanged, the iPad 2 retains the battery-life spec of about 10 hours, and likewise, product pricing as also remained the same, starting at $499 for the 16GB model. In addition to the black model, however, Apple has also introduced a white variant, which might appease those still waiting for white iPhones!
Along with this launch, Apple also announced the “Smart Cover”, which isn’t a case, but rather a cover just like the name implies. This simple yet elegant solution allows you to protect the front of your iPad 2 while not in use, and thanks to the clever use of magnets, removing the cover will automatically wake up the device. Even cooler, the cover folds up to become a stand, either for portrait or landscape mode. This cover is will cost $39 for the standard model, or $69 for the leather.
The iPad 2 is set to launch on March 11, with immediate availability. You can view the press release here or the product page below.
SAN FRANCISCO—March 2, 2011—Apple® today introduced iPad 2, the next generation of its magical device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks and much more. iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same stunning 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen.