On the Quality of the iPad 2 Camera

Charlie Sorrel:

It’s extremely likely that the iPad 2 and the iPod Touch share the exact same camera (although we won’t know for sure until iFixit tears one open to see). It seems that it will be fine for movies, and bad for photos. […]

Indeed, based on the published specs and a few test photos I shot at last week’s iPad introduction event, the iPad 2’s cameras are either identical or very similar to those in the iPod Touch — and definitely not of the caliber of the iPhone 4’s. Here’s a test photo I snapped with an iPad 2 in the hands-on demo area, and a corresponding photo taken with my iPhone 4.

Chris Stout argues here that the iPhone 4’s camera might not even fit in the iPad 2. I’m sure Apple could have found some sort of higher-quality camera that would have fit; the question is simply a matter of trade-offs: quality vs. cost. They could have added more RAM, or fashioned it out of solid gold instead of aluminum, too.

Still, for a device that costs a minimum of $500, it would be nice to have a better image sensor, rather than these bottom-of-the-barrel ones Apple insists on using. Will we ever get one? It’s starting to look rather doubtful.

Yes, I’m sure there will never be another iPad.

★ Tuesday, 8 March 2011