10 iPad 2 Specs & Features Apple Needs to Stay on Top of the Competition

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We’ve just seen a few leaked images of the next-gen Apple iPad 2 and while we wait for Apple to introduce its next-gen tablet, let’s look at the most important specs and features we expect the new iPad to feature in order to stay atop of the tablet game.

I’ve been wondering, for a while now, whether we’re going to see a remarkable new iPad hit stores later down the road, or whether we’re simply going to get a mild iPad refresh, one that would keep the crowds more interested in Apple’s tablet rather than the competition’s offers but one that would be for the original iPad what the iPhone 3GS was for the iPhone 3G. In other words, will we see an iPad S emerge today or a true iPad 2 that would convince you to drop your current iPad where it stands and go for another one?

I could show you all the iPad 2 rumors we’ve seen in the last two quarters (or even longer than that), but I won’t do that here since so many of those leaks either said the same thing over and over again, or were contradicted by later reports. But I’ll tell you what I personally expect from Apple’s next-gen tablet when it comes to the specs and features required to match, or beat the competition’s tablets.

No Retina Display

Let’s start from the display. We heard is thinner than its predecessor but we’re not expecting it to offer double the resolution. Apple should keep the same resolution we have today in order to keep down production costs and therefore prices. Retina Display resolution means a lot more processing power under the hood and a potential strain on a thinner battery that should, at least in theory, offer the same battery life as the current model does. Thus we’d be looking at a more expensive entry-level iPad 2.

Dual Cameras with FaceTime Support

This is by far the most obvious feature of the new iPad. Apple has included FaceTime support in both its iOS and Mac OS environments and since the iPhone 4, the iPod touch 4G and the Macs out there are capable of video chatting, the pearl of Apple’s product lineup can’t go camera-free. On top of that the main iPad competitors already come with dual-cameras on board. But will Apple offer entry-level cameras or at least iPhone 4-like shooters?

Dual-Core Processor

The original iPad already has a 1GHz processor but that won’t be enough anymore. The Xoom, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the TouchPad and the PlayBook will come with dual-core processors so Apple can’t afford to launch the iPad 2 with just a faster processor. We need it to offer two cores to take care of our iPad needs. Although we’re really not ready to call the tablet our main computer, even if it’ll be even more powerful than before, so why is it that we want it to be faster in the first place?

Better Graphics

While a Retina Display is surely not coming, we certainly want a better GPU that would handle mobile gaming and graphic-rich apps. We’ve seen previous rumors that said the next-gen iPad will really offer much better graphics, and this could be an important feature for the device.

More RAM

This is again, a no brainer. The original iPad had 256MB of RAM. That’s not going to cut it anymore and we’d love to see the tablet sport 1GB of RAM although Apple could go for a 512MB upgrade only, with the iPad 2.

More Ports, Thunderbolt included

One of the most annoying things about the iPad is that it has only a regular Apple port. Sure there are various connectors, for it but they’re all charged for extra, which is again, annoying. With the introduction of the Thunderbolt (Light Peak) port in the Early 2011 MacBook Pro models we can only expect that iOS devices will get Light Peak support too. So why not start it all off with the iPad 2? And while we’re at it, we wouldn’t mind a landscape dock connector which would better work with keyboard docks out there.

Overall Design

The iPad is a little too heavy than we would have wanted. Reading books, playing games or even browsing the web becomes quite tiring when holding the device a certain way. That’s why the iPad 2 has to be lighter, while keeping it’s 9.7-inch allure. How would one do that? By using carbon fiber instead of aluminum and by making the device a lot slimmer than its predecessor. And yes, a thinner display is also expected. But a thinner iPad 2 also has consequences, which could affect battery life (smaller battery) or initial iPad 2 stock (not enough ultra-thin touchscreen displays).

Same, or better, Battery Life

Let’s face it, the battery life of the iPad is great and the next-gen tablet should, at least in theory, offer the same, if not better, battery performance. But the iPad 2 is supposed to be slimmer and therefore a smaller battery would be used. Not to mention it will offer some improved specs that could do some extra battery draining.

iOS 5

With the introduction of that Android 2.3 Gingerbread tablet-only OS, Google put some direct pressure on Apple. We can’t wait to see what iOS version the iPad 2 will run out-of-the-box and what to expect from iOS 5. And besides Gingerbread, there’s also a webOS tablet coming soon that looks pretty slick. Not to mention that gorgeous RIM PlayBook that handles itself pretty well in terms of mobile OS. What’s sure is that iOS 4.3 will not be enough to dazzle us. Oh and yeah, iOS 5 will not come with Flash support either. I just have a hunch on that one.

Pricing and Availability

With all the great tablets out there Apple will have a tougher time selling its iPad this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will lose the number 1 spot in the tablet business. But what if Apple sold the entry-level iPad 2 for less than it currently sell the entry-level iPad? And what if the iPad 2 was launched in late March instead of late April? Would that help Apple beat that threatening competition?

Of course there are other features that could help you choose an iPad 2, such as LTE connectivity, Verizon CDMA 3G support, more storage space (starting at 32GB for the entry-level machine), but those aren’t really must-have characteristics, are they?

What do you want from your iPad 2?