New iPad Review Roundup: Critics Say Apple Still Holds Tablet Crown

Apple's new iPad hits stores on March 16, but early reviews have hit the web already.

Critics have nitpicked the slightly thicker, somewhat heavier iPad's stunning Retina display, 4G LTE network connectivity, long-lasting battery life, processing speed, and the rest of its features.

But the big question on everyone's mind: Does the new iPad outshine its predecessor?

Flip through our slideshow below to read the most favorable words from TechCrunch, The New York Times, The Verge, and others. Do you think the new iPad is worth the $499 base price? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Then, check out the 11 biggest things you need to know about the new device, and find out our own Captain Gadget's thoughts on whether the new iPad is a worthy upgrade for current iPad owners.

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Comments

[Griffin Dance]

01:48 PM on 07/27/2012

I've owned the new iPad for several months, and it is by far the best computing device i have ever owned (i have gone through several "high-end" Android devices). As a graphic designer, the retina display makes a world of difference to me. Drafting designs while i'm on the road has never been easier, and AT&T's 4G LTE network has amazing coverage here in San Fran. Fantastic engineering from Apple!

[MAB]

12:34 AM on 08/28/2012

I'm with you. Not only do I have AT&T's 4G LTE, but the iPad is the best. THE best. I don't do graphics for a living, only for promoting my business (online but based in Atlanta). It's still the most amazing way to travel with your ideas. The visual clarity is just amazing.

[bbhanks]

06:39 PM on 03/21/2012

I purchased the new iPad and have not had any of the problems that people are complaining about. However if I had the iPad2' I would not upgrade. That to me is a waste of money. Unless you are rich. Or just plan stupid since the iPad2 is only 1 year old. For 20 years I used a PC bu t after many viruses I switched to the Mac and love it. Apple's customer service is far superior to Dell's, whose customer used to be good but now they are outsourced. And none of the technicians speak English well. Now don't knock the product because you cannot afford it. To each it's own.

[daurigl]

08:48 PM on 03/20/2012

Sorry, what the iPad needs is a SD card slot and unrestricted Bluetooth compatibility. But that would severely restrict Apple's control over the device that you have PURCHASED from them. A SD card slot would mean unlimited memory - within reason; Bluetooth is too loose of a data transfer protocol; although highly user friendly and practical. I'm sorry, but I am not impressed by Apple's gimmicky enhancements that leave meaningful enhancements absent so as to ensure that they can dictate how the iPad is used.

[lynn222]

08:46 PM on 03/20/2012

I gave an i-Pad to my 85 yr. old "friend" and he was soooo excited. He was like a little boy at Christmas. Hasn't put it down yet. For older people that have trouble learning computers, it is a dream come true. He has searched so much WWII history, loves You Tube, & can actually send and receive e-mail with no problem. Give your Grandpa or Grandma one. They will love it.

[DRaymond]

12:21 AM on 03/19/2012

I know others accuse me of being an 'Apple hater' but I do agree the screen is fantastic. The 4G LTE is an improvement but only keeping up with the Jones' compared to other high-end mobile devices. The battery is also impressive but not so much as an improvement over the iPad 2s battery life but that the other new things did not cause the battery life to tank. The rest of the tablet makers are going to either need to cut prices or start figuring out how to source a similar display themselves.

[David LS]

12:51 AM on 03/18/2012

More brainless consumers wait to throw more money at a product that they can't distinguish from the last edition of this market hyped toy.

[NHBill]

03:50 AM on 03/18/2012

The iPad 2 has the highest Customer Satisfaction rating ever measured for a tech device.

So while people may have been hyped into buying it that doesn't explain why they love it so much after they bought it.

About every 12 months Apple will release a new and improved model.

And more and more people will continue to buy because they know someone that absolutely loves it

Excellence breeds success.

Even you will eventually know someone in your family that owns one.

[David LS]

03:08 PM on 03/18/2012

The need to consume that envelopes the America public is only amplified by the zombie like peer pressure utilized by the media.
It like a spring break crowd where irrational thinking becomes your daily thought process.
Quality products that use newer technologies serving some need are not always accepted by the public, it usually take some form of long term media hype.
What we have here is a mindless follow the leader syndrome.
In articles published in the last 2 days one particularly by Cnet did a survey of people standing in line that already owned an iPad, but were there to buy the new iPad.
When asked why they were buying the newer version, they were not even aware of the updates and could not find another reason other than it was they wanted to do.
Call it brainwashing or the general attitude of consumption and over indulgence, it points to a larger question of the reason people in this country use consumption as an anti-depressant.

[David LS]

01:09 AM on 03/19/2012

You are just another brainwashed consumer.

[Andrew Cole]

08:04 PM on 03/17/2012

I wonder how much Apple pays Huffington post under the table? They must, because the number of articles praising the new iPad have been staggering. I think Apple must be buying good publicity to get over the effects of all the protests about their outrageous cash flow and horrible factory conditions.

Maybe they should just rename it ApplePost.com

[Ralph Dehner]

01:02 PM on 03/21/2012

Just get over it and buy yourself one, you know you want to. Both things you mentioned have been taken care of, Apple is giving dividends to its shareholders and the guy who wrote the story about the factory workers in China was for the most part a sham! Try keeping up with the news.

[Highball]

02:51 AM on 03/17/2012

Here are my initial impressions after a few hours of use.

- There's nothing to say about the display that hasn't been said already. It's unbelievable, and I hope that this will drive display tech for years to come. This is how things are supposed to look.

- The dictation feature is excellent, and very accurate. It couldn't figure out that "Karlie Kloss" wasn't "Carly Kloss," but otherwise, it works as advertised and makes a lot of things very easy.

- The updated camera is great. Granted, I don't really use the camera on my iPad, but still, it's much better.

- Man, does iCloud integration work so well.

- Apps can be much bigger, so watch storage. I don't have a problem at this time, but some people, with lots of apps have noticed how much more room some of them can take up now.

- Reading on this thing is almost better than reading actual paper. It's so clear. It's amazing.

- And I read a lot of comics, and BOY do they look amazing! If I didn't feel devoted to my LCS, I would go all digital in a heartbeat.

[RedDogBear]

11:50 AM on 03/18/2012

I haven't used the new iPad but I just want to second that I really love the way iCloud works with my iPad. It makes it so much easier to save space since I don't have to have all my video content downloaded on the iPad.

[Darlie Brewster]

11:41 AM on 03/16/2012

NO ISLAVERY!

[elicourey]

10:04 PM on 03/16/2012

move along, we've heard these jealous rants before.

[Abdi S]

05:04 AM on 03/16/2012

I was friend with Bill Gate, and so on his birthday I send him iPad.. Oops bad idea, then I got fired from Microsoft company.

[Blackspeare]

11:10 AM on 03/16/2012

I'm sure Bill Gates uses an iPad.

[Yank in France]

05:04 AM on 03/16/2012

TIME OUT!

To all those who focus on Apple's production in China, I ask how many are willing to forego the Asian produced goods in their homes, offices and factories?

There has been a steady and intense media campaign directed against Apple to the glee of its competitors who mostly outsource their production to the very same suppliers as Apple!!

So I say let's STOP a second and ask ourselves: is this a company problem or an industrywide one? What has been the trend over the past several decades: Asian companies setting up manufacturing in the US or American firms setting up operations in Asia?

WE ALL know the answers to these questions, right? NO disagreement at all! So why focus on one single company when the problem is ECONOMIC?

ALL Americans want to see more jobs in America, so please cut the crocodile tears about the working conditions of Chinese workers. If they agree to work so hard, it is because they see the hard work (and yes, under terrible conditions), it is because they see that as the path out of the poverty they have suffered for centuries!

So the question becomes: what can America do to ensure that more manufacturing jobs remain or return to the States?
Why not consider heavier reliance on VAT as opposed to payroll taxes to raise govt revenue? That would make it cheaper to hire Americans while making companies that produce in China help pay for Americans' social security and healthcare expenses!!

That is the policy followed by Germany, which is the world's number exporter just behind China, although it has only 7% of its population!! Republicans complained bittered about the bailouts of GM in 2009 and Chrysler 30 years ago, but all of the govt loan money was paid EARLY and at high interest rates! Can we say the same for all the big fat banks who got us into this horrible economic crisis?

Take the broader view, my friends. If you don't like Apple or any other company, that is your business. But don't allow yourself to be dupes to the powers-that-be!!

Best wishes to ALL!

[Paul Baltodano]

05:24 AM on 03/16/2012

Apple sucks.

[Onutz]

02:20 AM on 03/17/2012

LOL, Pixel Envy

[NHBill]

03:34 AM on 03/18/2012

"That is the policy followed by Germany"

It's also the policy followed by Greece.

VAT tax is a Sales tax.

It is very, very regressive.

It taxes the poor who can least afford to pay it while letting the rich find loopholes around it.

[Yank in France]

05:55 AM on 03/18/2012

I am not talking about solely a VAT but a social VAT. Why is this so different? Because the entirety of the taxes collected would go to reducing OUR payroll taxes for such things as health insurance (Medicare, etc.), retirement and other items in the FICA. So WE benefit directly because lower payroll taxes for workers mean higher take-home pay. The idea is to split the difference with employers so as to bring their hiring costs DOWN and thus help bring their hiring UP.

This social VAT is not practiiced in Greece (although that changes nothing in the argumentation), but it has been quite successful in Germany, the world largest exporter per capita GDP by far and away (and just barely trailing China despite its nearly 20-to-1 pop advantage!).

However you are absolutely right to point out that any type of VAT amounts to a flat tax. But is a social VAT unfair to the working masses? Please consider my arguments.

In the real world of economics, the entirety of the tax is NOT passed onto consumers but instead shared between consumers and businesses, depending the elasticity of the supply/demand slope. In Germany, the reduced production costs of German manufacturers has enabled companies to bring down prices, thus offsetting the VAT tax hike.

The tax intake by the govt is NEUTRAL, but the end result is that everyone contributes to workers' social benefits, and that includes the growing "rentier" class (people who live off investment income) and those "nice" companies that manufacture in China.

So the social VAT is an opportunity for Apple lovers (like "moi") and Apple-phobes to UNITE and make the domestic rich and the Chinese help pay for our social safety net!!

[yoyodyne666]

04:46 AM on 03/16/2012

Whooop de do!

[bigshotprof]

05:14 AM on 03/16/2012

I've alerted the Blue Blazer Irregulars. Your days are numbered.

[yoyodyne666]

06:52 AM on 03/16/2012

That's okay for you "monkey boy"

[Steelerfanman]

04:08 AM on 03/16/2012

It's slave labor to build it and 500% markup is reprehensible?

[nobodyzhome]

08:29 AM on 03/16/2012

Please tell me what device you used to post your comment.

Thank you.

[Darlie Brewster]

12:22 PM on 03/16/2012

Watch these pro slavery zombies post the sam thing over and over and over and over

[Steelerfanman]

04:14 PM on 03/16/2012

It wasn't an Apple product.

Thank you.

[JohnTheMac]

08:56 AM on 03/16/2012

No. It's great!
Wouldn't YOU be building them for $100 if there's a 500% markup?
You could toss another $100 to the assembly line for each one made, and still sell them cheap enough to run Apple out of town.
Have fun!

[Darlie Brewster]

12:23 PM on 03/16/2012

4% of Apples profit goes to suppliers.

[TheYeastMaster]

03:25 AM on 03/16/2012

I went to the same high school as Steve Jobs.
The man is a an extraordinary prodigy with extraordinary talents.
God bless him for making Apple so renowned around the globe

[JordanChaseJones]

04:06 AM on 03/16/2012

I'm sure the depraved borderline slave workers for Apple in China are really excited about this new ipad.

[Gunderan]

07:41 AM on 03/16/2012

So we should take note of someone posting about the moral values of workers.Its deprived if thats what you meant.Microsoft is no better and has been found guilty of criminal offenses yet its still around mores the pity.Only reason i use MS products is atm i cant afford an Apple.once i can then its byebye and will get a apple or a Linux based system.

[nobodyzhome]

08:30 AM on 03/16/2012

What device did you use to post your comment?

[Steelerfanman]

04:08 AM on 03/16/2012

Shame what its turned into.

[tweedy54]

02:49 AM on 03/18/2012

Haven't heard the latest..I assume.. The story about Apple was mainly a LIE!!!!!!
Not that we don't know that ALL companies in China have human rights problems!

So, if this is your main talking point against Apple...you are wasting your time and being hypocritical...

[vespachild]

03:08 AM on 03/16/2012

Nothing really interesting for the new ipad. Of course the better resolution is a great thing, but we are talking about a 10 inch gadget, not a 52 inch TV. And of course the battery is better to support the screen and the 4G network.
I have the original ipad and I wouldn't mind upgrading to the new one. But since 4G is useless to me since I live in Greece, and since things are really difficult here, I do not see a killer thing that would want to make me want to switch!