Apple iPad 4

The words “Apple iPad” are nearly synonymous with “tablet PC,” and with good reason: Not only is Apple consistently set new benchmarks for mobile electronics and not only do they hold a dominant share on the tablet market, but iPad products are quite simply among the very best in most areas of use.

Surely this was the (justified) feeling of Apple designers when creating the iPad 4; indeed, the only major drawback to this tablet is inherent in the Apple marketing plan itself, i.e. the insistence on installing a few minor upgrades and tweaks and subsequently launching the revamped device as a whole new product. Anyone who already owns an iPad 3 and plunks down an extra couple hundred dollars for the shiny new but barely different iPad 4 is either a serious Apple devotee, has too much disposable income or both.

As the reader may have surmised, the Apple iPad 4 improves on the iPad 3 only marginally. The look is exactly the same with one minor-yet-somewhat annoying detail (more on this below); the dimensions of iPad 3 and 4 are identical at 9.50” x 7.31” x 0.37”, though the iPad 4 weighs in 10 grams/0.35 oz heavier, perhaps due to a slight upgrade in processor from a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex A9 to an in-house 1.4 GHz jobbie. Speed isn’t enhanced notably, but Apple’s always been near or at the top in this category, anyway.

Good news, too, that the great-looking “Retina” resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels is in the iPad 4 for a display that even the Samsungs and Sonys of the world have yet to match.

The grievance? Believe it or not – and surely due solely to profit motive – the one design change of note is in … the shape of the charging cable outlet. Thanks to this unnecessary change from the iPad 3, those moving up to iPad 4 will be reminded of that Apple policy: Be loyal or be damned.