Apple iPad 2 (Wi-Fi & 3G Version, AT&T)

In early 2010, Apple rewrote, or one could argue, revivified, the tablet-computer market with the original iPad. With the success of Apple's tablet, makers started scurrying to catch up, and we saw product after product that attempted to siphon off some of the iPad's mojo. More than a year and 15 million iPads later, we are only now starting to see a few, such as the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, that can even be considered competition. But with the iPad 2, Apple takes the standard-bearer of tablets and makes it thinner, lighter, and more powerful. And perhaps just as exciting, those that opt for the 3G version are no longer strong-armed into using AT&T as their wireless carrier, since, like the latest iPhone, the iPad 2 is available in discrete versions that run on AT&T's or Verizon's network.

For a full review of the Apple iPad 2, read our deep-dive analysis of the Wi-Fi version. Indeed, most of the core features are exactly the same between the Wi-Fi and 3G versions. Here, we'll concentrate on the performance of the 3G version of the iPad 2, as well as take a closer look at the differences between the two versions of the iPad 2.

Key Features of the 3G iPad 2

The 3G version of the iPad 2 is almost identical to the Wi-Fi version in every way. It's ever-so-slightly weightier than the Wi-Fi version—by 0.02 ounce to be exact, such a small amount that it's hardly worth considering. Once you activate your cellular plan (click here for a breakdown of costs associated with the various plans), your 3G service will automatically default to being active on the device. To turn it off (to preserve battery power, for instance), just tap on the Cellular Data menu under the Settings icon, and tap the slider to Off. Here, you can also turn data roaming off (important for avoiding a costly bill when traveling outside of the boundaries of your data plan) and view your account status.

3G Performance

To test the iPad 3G's data service performance, we used three tests. We ran all three tests outdoors, in six areas of Manhattan: The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the island's Upper East Side, Grand Central Terminal in Midtown East, Times Square in Midtown West, Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District, Union Square, and on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, in downtown Manhattan.

The first trial we ran was SpeedTest.net's Speed Test, which measures download and upload times on the 3G network. Since this test can be highly dependent on outside-network traffic factors and other variables, we won't use numbers to compare it with other tablets. What we did learn from this test, though, is that, while AT&T's service may not always be quite as bad as its reputation, we certainly did see huge variances in numbers, depending on whether we were in a busy area or a low-traffic area. As we suspected due to past experience, and as we had seen before on our iPhone, AT&T's service in ultra-busy Union Square is abysmal. When we sat in relative solitude in a park near the Brooklyn Bridge, however, the performance was outstanding.

Posted in: Apple,Tablet