Apple contends its fresh released iPad 2 amend upon the performance of its original tablet — a claim Macworld ’s iPad 2 review backed up . And continued testing of the new pill by Macworld Lab further illustrates how its newfangled dual - heart and soul A5 processor and degenerate graphics subsystem affect the iPad 2 ’s barrage fire life story . The resultant are good news for iPad 2 owners .
Battery life
I tested a pair of Modern iPad 2s — a white 32 GB model with AT&T 3 G ; and a black 16 GB model with Verizon 3G. For comparison , I also tested with an original 16 GB iPad 3G. ( While our run models have different capacities , it ’s worth note that the iPad uses blink of an eye storage — thus , the amount of storage capacitance does n’t dissemble our battery life tests . ) Like its predecessor , the iPad 2 gas barrage fire lifespan of up to 10 hours . Or to be specific , Apple ’s iPad eyeglasses pagesays that ’s 10 hours of surfboard the Web on Wi - Fi , see video , or listen to euphony . The 3G - equipped models call nine hours of entanglement surfing over a data meshwork .
To test the barrage fire life of each equipment , I played a movie I grease one’s palms on the iTunes Store , repeating it until the battery finally gave out . I cranked the screen luminance all the way up , associate to a local Wi - Fi internet , and set the volume low .
Battery Life:
iPad 2
Best results inbold . point of reference systems initalics .
How we test : bombardment tests were run on a fully charged battery . We buy and ran a movie at full light , volume on low , and connected to an Airport web .
The serious news : even with its increased C.P.U. power , dissipated graphics , and belittled capacitance , the iPad 2 actually outlasted the original iPad by a little less than three pct . ( Note that the iPad 3 G used by our Lab is nearly a year old , so it ’s potential that its battery life has degraded over the past 11 months . )
Best results inbold. Reference systems initalics.
I also found that recharging the iPad 2 call for much less prison term than the original iPad — although I did n’t incisively gauge how long it took to recharge . The excruciatingly foresighted time it read to reload the original iPad had been one of my biggest complaints with Apple ’s pad , so I ’m felicitous to see that the novel simulation saddle quicker .
GarageBand
Having work extensively with theMac version of GarageBand , I know that the applications programme can really task a Mac ’s processor and memory . So I was anxious to see how the newfangled iPad can handle the new GarageBand for iPad ( ) app . And since the mobile version of GarageBand also hightail it on the original pad , the app render a nice way to liken performance on the different iPads .
GarageBand on iPad benchmarks
How we tested : We timed how long it take from tap the app picture until the projects windowpane opened . We then added a track to the included demo project and economize . We used the controls to attach the Sung dynasty to an electronic mail . We also timed how long it took to spell and optimize a GarageBand Indian file from iTunes .
just starting the app take about 5 second base on the iPad 2 and 6 seconds on the original iPad . I take the included demo project and added a track to it . When I used GarageBand ’s menus to seize the Sung dynasty to an e - post , it use up 22 seconds on the iPad 2 and 25 instant on the archetype . These two tests may not show dramatic performance deviation , but they add up over time to a generally snappier , more reactive feel when using the iPad 2 .
The performance boost on the iPad 2 was much more striking when perform an consequence of GarageBand file from iTunes . The iPad 2 was virtually twice as fast at loading and optimizing the file than the original iPad — an telling outcome .
Other tests
I ’ve consider write up onApple ’s forumsand atother news siteswhere iPad 2 possessor have complained of undue idle escape and color differences on the pad ’s screen . I did n’t find such problems with our two Modern iPads , and the display in our test units had a like small amount of light outflow . Overall , I found the iPad 2 ’s colour to be richer than the original iPad ; the viewing angle performance was also quite a snatch better , with the original modeling recede contrast when looking at it from a distance or off - angle .
As for the iPad ’s new camera , our co-worker in the PC World Labsran some testscomparing the front- and rear - facing photographic camera to those found in the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab .
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s lab director . ]
