I wasn’t really planning on buying the iPad 2 (waiting for 3) but gadget lust prevailed yet again! After selling my old iPad and the cases that I bought for it, I raised enough cash to be able to buy the new iPad 2 plus the Smart Cover and a leather OPT sleeve. I’ll talk about the cover and the sleeve in later articles. For now I’ll focus on Steve Jobs’ latest masterpiece – the magical and revolutionary iPad 2 (or is it?).
Apologies for the quality of the photos since all of this was taken using my iPhone 4 in lowlight conditions.
As usual the packaging of the iPad is beautiful. Kudos again to Apple for sticking to their minimalist, clean, and stunning designs for product boxes.
The white iPad took my breath away when I finally saw it with my own eyes. This thing is beautiful. If there was an award giving body for industrial and gadget design, Apple would probably win it big time with the iPad 2. Call it geekery but my hands actually trembled a bit when I lifted it from the box! Hahaha!
What’s inside the box? The iPad, manuals, Apple logo stickers, and the charger/cable. Note that the Smart Cover is sold SEPARATELY.
Look at the back of the iPad 2. It still has plastic on it. The design changes at the back are noticeable. The audio output of the iPad 2 is much better compared to the first iPad.
Removed the plastic… man just stunning. The weight difference is also noticeable. It’s not the lightest thing ever but you’ll feel the difference if you hold it together with the first generation iPad. It’s also incredibly thin!
Side by side with iPad 1.
In terms of design, Apple hit a homerun with the iPad 2. In terms of features though it really doesn’t make you want to drop your first generation iPad and fork out cash for this one. I’ll be writing a more comprehensive review of the iPad 2 on Apple Manila using the first iPad as a benchmark. Watch out for that article soon.