Pricing and Availability
The iPad 2 is launching on March 11th (that’s 9 days from now). Strangely, it looks like Apple will being selling the iPad 2 at 5:00pm (no time zone specified) rather than the moment that the doors open.
The pricing structure has remained untouched which means that you’ll see a range of prices depending upon memory size and the WiFi or 3G option.
The cheapest that you’ll be able to buy the iPad 2 from Apple will be the 16GB WiFi-only version for $499.
Here’s the full pricing breakdown:
WiFi-only
WiFi + 3G (prices are identical for Verizon/AT&T)
The iPad 2 is launching with carrier support from both Verizon and AT&T for 3G service. Depending upon the carrier that you choose, you’ll be getting one of two devices. This means that if you purchase the Verizon version of the iPad 2, you won’t be able to switch to AT&T service, and vice versa.
It doesn’t look like Apple will be offering pre-orders for the iPad 2. If you don’t want to wait in line, online orders start on March 11th; the same day that the device becomes available in stores.
Overview Video
As Apple usually does, they’ve produced some rich media for the launch of the iPad. Thanks to Gear Live, we can show you Apple’s official iPad 2 video below:
Hands-On and Photo Booth
After Apple’s March 2nd announcement, they gave the media a chance to play with the iPad 2. Here’s a great hands-on video of the device from Engadget. Joshua can’t help but mention how quick the iPad 2 seems, and from the looks of the page turning animations in iBooks, it looks really fast!
He also plays around with the new Photo Booth app that comes pre-installed on the iPad 2. If there’s anything I learned in high school, it’s that 95% of technology grant money gets wasted because kids would rather play with Photo Booth on the Mac than use the computer to it’s potential. With Photo Booth on the iPad, schools finally have a mobile option to waste that money on!
Gallery and Tracking Page
As usual, we’ve got a full iPad 2 tracking page that you should check for detailed specs, stats, device comparisons and more. There’s also a gallery for you to peruse, and I’ll throw some choice shots below:
no matter how cool the hardware is you’ve still got the boring curated approved iOS apps. in a few years when tablets are truly mainstream all the no-rules no-limitations innovation will be coming from the Android community, while iOS just keep releasing the same apps over & over with a different coat of paint.
everytime these events go down it just reminds me how much I love the open marketplace of Windows & Android.
although I do always recommend Apple products to my mom or other moms/kids, never colleagues.
Welko, I hope you’re right. I’d love to see innovation win. The biggest issue is that Apple has a really controlled experience (a great one) across their line of iOS devices. Within Apple’s rules, devs are pretty much able to create applications that are as complex as they need to be for Apple’s target audiences (which is mainstream consumers, not techies). And because they keep the experience so controlled, many of the apps are of an incredible quality.
Still, as a techie, I’d never be able to live with vanilla iOS. Without jailbreaking and going beyond their walls, the iPhone would fall way short of my expectations. For techies though, that extra step beyond the wall is an option, so they sort of get the best of both worlds. If Apple ever permanently ended the ability to jailbeak, I’d be on Android in no time.
Is that a Micro-SD card slot? Memory incresed and faster? USB?
There’s no MicroSD slot and no USB port.
Nice thorough review on this one Ben! Keep up the great work! Philip
Thanks, Ben. Your review is very informative!