Apple iPad 4

Available now
23rd November 2012

Apple painted themselves into a corner with the third-generation iPad, which they insisted on calling just the "new iPad". So what happens when you replace that iPad with a newer one? Do you call it the "very new iPad"? That's the problem that Apple have with the fourth-generation iPad or as we will call it.. the Apple iPad 4.

The rather clumsy name that Apple have officially given to this device is the "iPad with Retina display" which still sounds rather like the iPad 3. But then, the differences between the third-generation and fourth-generation iPads are pretty straightforward.

There are two significant changes. Apple have replaced the A5 processor in the previous model with a version of the A6 processor found in the iPhone 5. The A6 has proven itself to be a blisteringly fast CPU and it really is twice as fast as the A5. On a big-screen high-definition device such as the iPad, that extra processing power is going to be very useful when it comes to processor intensive applications.

The second change is the addition of the new Lightning port, as found on the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. This will be a great boost in encouraging third parties to support the Lightning port, and this should help to standardize accessories for future iOS devices.

Briefly, the rest of the specifications include a 9.7" 1536 x 2048 pixel "retina" display, there's a 5 megapixel camera on the back (plus a 1.2 megapixel one on the front), WiFi and UMTS/LTE support, and the cellular version also has GPS and GLONASS positioning system support, which is all pretty much the same as the iPad 3. The iPad 4 also runs iOS 6 out of the box.

The iPad 4 will sell for the same price as the iPad 3, starting at $499 for the WiFi-only 16GB version and going up $829 for the WiFi and cellular 64GB version. In other countries, you can expect the iPad 4 to seamlessly replace the previous generation when retailers switch over stocks.

Consumers should exercise some care when buying an iPad while the stock changeover is taking place. There are very few obvious differences between the third and fourth generation models apart from the size of the connector at the bottom of the tablet. Apple say that the fourth-generation WiFi-only iPad should start to be available from November 2nd with cellular versions shipping a few weeks after that.

Images courtesy of Apple, Inc.