Timing is everything. When the original iPad launched (and we’re speaking less than a year ago), the chipsets that Apple could use in its design were not, in their opinion, powerful enough for some of the features they were thinking of, like built-in cameras. They would work, technically yes, but the point is not well enough to meet Apple’s sense of quality and reputation. Call it pride of craft or elitism, but they like to err on the side of caution in these matters the same way many companies do with issues of safety. What’s astonishing about the iPad 2 is that it took less than nine months for a whole new world of chipsets to arrive to completely change Apple’s mind about those missing features and to give them the confidence to put them back in. In a sense, the iPad 2 is more an iPad 1 than the original was.

Mark II

My point is that nothing has changed in what an iPad is. Everything I’ve ever written or said on television about the iPad remains the same. It won’t replace your laptop or smartphone, it’s a “want” more than a “need”, and offers a more comfortable computing experience built around visually immersive ideas. That it turns on so quickly gives it special appeal in business meetings and boardrooms, but whether it will evolve into the future of computers, we have no better clue. All the questions raised by the original iPad remain, except we now know people will come up with the money to buy one.

The iPad 2 offers rewards for those who were frugal enough to avoid buying the first model. It has a dual-core A5 processor, making it noticeably faster, and souped up graphics chips that Apple promises can offer up to nine times better performance. Yes, you can notice a difference visually, but I think we’ll have to wait for new games to arrive to really test that figure out.

Design

It’s bewilderingly lighter and thinner. There was a time when the heft of a product would give you a sense of its durability, now products like the iPad 2 feel disposable by comparison and yet with its aluminum body, it could probably deflect a bullet.

The speakers and microphone are better placed, but it looks the same. The battery life is the same (a little over ten hours), the storage memory is the same, and even the price is the same. A gyroscopic sensor, like the one in the iPhone 4, has been added, but there are so few apps that use it, you’d be forgiven if you thought the original iPad already had one. You can now get an iPad 2 in white, but that’s more about personal preference. I still like the black myself.

Tablet Photography

The cameras are new. They’re special in that they are very thin. The one on the back is higher in quality and designed for HD video as well as still photos and, like Apple’s other mobile cameras, performs well in low-lighting and takes pictures better than you’d think. The camera on the front is merely VGA, but more than fine for self-portraits and video chatting. This includes FaceTime, Apple’s video calling service, which is just as easy and clever as it is on the iPhone, but still not popular in use. I’m surrounded by people with iPhones and yet can count the number of them who have made a FaceTime call on one hand.

Photo Booth takes on new life partly because you can now use the touchscreen to manipulate the funhouse mirror-like camera effects, but also because you can use it for either camera, on others not just yourself as you’re limited to with a webcam.

There are a number of small tweaks that have been made, both hardware and software, that I could talk about, but they make little difference compared to the changes introduced by two accessories Apple has made for the iPad 2.

Mirror-Out

With the $39 Digital AV Adapter you can connect the iPad 2 to your HDTV and use it as a second screen. The term is “mirror-out”, meaning that it’s a complete duplicate of the iPad screen including menu screens, running apps, and even the ability to switch between landscape and portrait modes. Neither the menu screen or those of most apps have the aspect ratio to fill a widescreen TV, but the effect is still impressive and responsive. Not only can you use it to play iPad games on your TV, but any app, and that’s very useful for giving demonstrations, presentations, and just sharing your apps with others.

It’s a feature only available with the iPad 2 because, as Apple tells me, the first iPad and even the different iPhones lack the chipsets to do it well. They would do so sluggishly and so, Apple would rather they not do it at all.

SmartCovers

For their $45 SmartCover Apple has hidden a set of magnets along the bezel of the iPad 2. Thisallows their case, which is literally just a cover, to latch magically to the side. You just drop it onto the screen and it locks into place. When active the magnets trigger the iPad 2 to go to sleep or awaken as you place or remove the cover. Folds built into the material allow you to roll it up into a stand to prop your iPad 2 for table use.

It’s a clever idea as a piece of Pop Art-inspired industrial design and I’d be happy to see it on a pedestal in a gallery or in a coffee table book, but find it too much a gimmick and novelty to actually use it as a practical, everyday product.

iBetter

It comes down to a simple statement of four words. The iPad 2 is better. Not in any magical way, but for the most simple, consumer reasons. It’s faster, has cameras, and is easier to carry and hold. The first one introduced all the cutting-edge technology to offer genuine wonder, now the next version delivers on value. If you waited to buy, you were smart.