iPad2 vs Retina Display on New iPad

For some people, there's no reason to spend the money to get a new 3rd-gen iPad. The iPad2 is a great machine, it works great and has a lovely interface. And for some people, they wouldn't really notice the difference in the screen.


I am not one of those people. The Retina Display on the new iPad is gorgeous. And since there's more pixels in its 9.7 in. display than in my "high-def" TV in the living room, everything, from photos to text to icons in the App Store, are super crisp. The screen is brighter, and it may just be a figment of my imagination, but seems to look better at more extreme angles than the iPad2.


Below are just a couple comparison shots of the iPad2 versus the new iPad that I took this evening. While you can easily tell in the pictures, the difference is most striking when you're actually using both. With the new iPad, everything is amazingly crisp, and as something of a typography geek, I love how text displays on the new iPad. Now that I have a direct comparison, I'm glad I waited for the new iPad. Check out the photos and let me know if you agree.

Left: iPad2, Right: iPad 3rd Gen

Top: iPad 2
Notice the haloing in the gradient on the iPad2, whereas it's perfectly smooth on the 3rd generation.

Perhaps a little harder to tell in this picture, but Flipboard is stunning on the 3rd Generation iPad (right) compared to the 2nd Gen (on the left).