The Apple iPad - Anand's Analysis
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 27, 2010 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Resolution and Video Decoding
The iPad uses a 9.7” IPS panel with a 1024 x 768 resolution. The panel technology is great, the resolution is a bit disappointing.
Video decoding is presumably fully hardware accelerated, but there are limitations here. Apple says you can only decode H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 48kHz. The only containers supported are .m4v, .mp4 and .mov.
This is horribly unfortunate and it means that anyone with existing content not in a friendly format will have to convert it before it’ll play on the iPad. While Apple likes to assume the world revolves around it, the truth is it just doesn’t. This is great for folks who already watch movies on their iPhones and not so great for those who don’t. Luckily with a good enough desktop, transcoding movies to your iPad shouldn’t be too painful.
There’s no camera on the device so I’m assuming there’s no video encoding support either. You can get rid of any image processing as well. In order to hit that $499 price point with such an attractive device Apple most likely had to cut corners wherever possible.
Final Words
Apple never entered the netbook market because it believed the devices weren’t very good. I’d tend to agree. You can get better performance and similar size out of a CULV notebook if you’re looking for an actual notebook. The netbook makes sense if you are using it as a 2nd, 3rd or 4th machine - but then who’s to say that you need to stick with the same form factor as a notebook?
This is where the tablet/smartbook device comes in.
Intel’s Atom processor is more than fast enough for the tasks you’d do on a netbook. The issue is that the OS and its applications running on netbooks are optimized for a class of processor that’s many times faster than Atom.
The iPad isn’t revolutionary, it simply takes an OS tailored to the power of the machine and pairs it with hardware that doesn’t look or feel like a netbook. Assuming that browsing the web, sending emails, using apps and watching videos is as fast on the iPad as it is on an Atom based netbook, Apple will have effectively capped the price of netbooks at $499. And to be honest, there’s no reason netbooks should ever approach that price to begin with.
A device that slots in between a smartphone and a notebook shouldn't look too much like either device. It needs to borrow from the strengths of both and bundle them in an attractive package. As a consumption device, the iPad looks promising. The big unknowns for me are: multitasking support, the performance of the A4 and ultimately whether or not you can actually be productive on the iPad. Based on all of that, we'll be able to figure out how much this thing is really worth.
Like the original iPhone (perhaps even moreso), the iPad is an extremely polarizing device. Even among AT staff it's a hit or miss depending on the person, regardless of their Mac buying history. For what it's worth, Mike Andrawes and I are both excited about its potential. Perhaps it's what we've been waiting for these past ten years.
We’ll find out in 60 days.
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autoboy - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
I've got a powerful notebook connected to real monitors I take between home and work, my blackberry on the go, and my netbook around the house and when I'm traveling.Yes the netbook sacrifices performance while traveling, but it is a full PC when I need it, and a long lasting casual web browser when I'm on the couch. Because the iPad is just an upscaled iPhone, it will never be able to replace my notebook while traveling. The netbook can. So, instead of carrying a heavy notebook with limited battery, my phone, AND a iPad for casual entertainment, I can carry just my phone and my netbook while only losing a bit of all out performance.
NullSubroutine - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
I'm going to have to agree with you about wondering this is going to fit in peoples lives. Personally I have a powerful desktop and a once top of the line 17" laptop, I don't have a smart phone or such device as I don't travel or move around all that much, nor do I have a workplace that would sync will with it.I do have a PSP (slim 2000) I use for occasional trips, so I can watch movies, listen to music, or play some games. For me this device could be something that could fit well because I don't have a very mobile laptop nor a smart phone.
However it doesn't take the place of my portable media device, as it doesn't watch movies outside of the iTunes store, and can't display its graphics to a larger screen (like a laptop could). To me this devices sacrifices far too many qualities (really it is versatility) with low end laptops or net books while not really enhancing what current things do. It really is just a bigger screened iTouch/iPhone, which really doesn't appeal to me.
What this needs is more multimedia capabilities. More connections, ports, software support (or allow developers to add more) for file types, and playback of something more than just 720p content.
ltcommanderdata - Thursday, January 28, 2010 - link
If it's anything like iPods or iPhones, then multimedia content doesn't have to come from the iTunes Store. It should be able to play non-iTunes Store music or video although some re-encoding might be necessary.The iPad now actually has officially sanctioned external monitor capability as part of the SDK from early reports. You'll need the proper cable to connect to the dock though.
OBLAMA2009 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
the tablet format does have some appeal for internet surfing. just not having to fold a laptop open makes you more likely to use it for light surfing. but it still needs mobile wireless and a faster boot upOBLAMA2009 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
o phuck they are offering att wireless 3g for 15 a month or 30 unlimited. that is a pretty good deal. maybe this thing will sell, but ill still wait for the ipad s versiondeputc26 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Given it has 20.833x the battery capacity of the iPhone, I'm going to go ahead and guess that the IPS screen is a huge e- hog. Especially if speculation that the A4 is a 45nm single-core chip is correct. (and Apple would have said if it was dual core I think). Waiting for the OLED model with 15hr bat life.deputc26 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Edit: Nice write up Anand, exactly what I was hoping you'd cover, really just verified I hadn't missed anything, the SOC was the big question for myself as well.autoboy - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Agreed. Thanks Anand. Always a pleasure to read your opinion. But, I have to disagree somewhat. This post was really easy on my netbook while listening to pandora and editing my word documents.gusc3669 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
The product seems to have potential (in future versions, perhaps). While this may appeal to couch potatoes everywhere (myself included), without actually seeing in its full glory, it seems too much like an expensive, high-end netbook. Perhaps it will be able to run some better apps once they are designed for it or be used instead of a textbook in classes. I'll just have to wait (a few years) and see.Lonyo - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
There's a just under $500 Netbook out there called the Asus Eee T91.It's a netbook, but its also a tablet.
Given that the $500 price point is hittable by existing netbook tablets which run a full OS with multitasking capability, it doesn't really seem unreasonable that going forward there will be more products in this class.
Also with the one month standby time, I expect my regular laptop might be able to get close to that with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Using hybrid sleep they can wake up instantly from sleep mode and be instantly ready. I would assume that a function like that would be workable into the iPhone OS for the tablet, and basically have a similar function.
Given the fact that it doesn't really need to be on, unlike a phone which needs to be ready to take calls etc, it seems like an off bt with power to RAM type mode would make sense to give tremendous standby time.