One last iPad question

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teethdoc

Pre-takeoff checklist
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teethdoc
Is the retinal display worth the extra $100? It will be used almost exclusively in the plane with ForeFlight.
 
If you hold an iPad 2 next to one of the newer higher resolution displays you can see some difference. If you disguised the two iPads so that you only saw the screen and placed them apart where you could not see both at the same time, at lot of people would not notice the difference. I gave my wife an iPad Air for Christmas. While it is a bit faster and the screen resolution better, I still don't feel the need to upgrade my iPad 2 yet.

With all of that said, if I were in the market for a new iPad, I would not hesitate to purchase the best available at the time so I would have the fastest processor and nicest display to stave off obsolescence as long as possible. You know apps are only going to get more complex requiring the extra processing power and the graphics are going to be geared for the higher resolution screens.
 
You get more than just that display for the $100.
 
MickYoumans said:
If you disguised the two iPads so that you only saw the screen and placed them apart where you could not see both at the same time, at lot of people would not notice the difference.
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In my experience, the difference is enormous and very obvious. I could not go back to a low-res display even if I wanted to... it's extremely noticeable to me.

With all of that said, if I were in the market for a new iPad, I would not hesitate to purchase the best available at the time so I would have the fastest processor and nicest display to stave off obsolescence as long as possible. You know apps are only going to get more complex requiring the extra processing power and the graphics are going to be geared for the higher resolution screens.
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Agreed. Additionally, I assume the original poster was talking about the Mini since that's where the $100 difference applies. In that case, there is a huge difference in hardware between the two aside from the display. The iPad Mini has iPad 2 guts, if you will, while the iPad Retina Mini has iPad 5 (Air) guts. That Retina Mini is going to top-of-the-line for some time, while the regular Mini could see support discontinued much earlier, and will definitely feel slower if you use them side-by-side.
 
I'll agree that the retina display is fantastic, and that there's more processing power that comes with it.

One thing to take note of though is that ForeFlight charts are not displayed at retina resolution. It's kind of inexplicable, since the high-resolution imagery is already on the device / in the program (it pulls it up when you zoom in), but for whatever reason, FF has decided not to display one zoom level higher when actually looking at charts. I've e-mailed them about it, and they "currently have no timeframe to offer for this. I will put your vote down for that and we will keep it in mind as we plan future releases."

That said, the FF interface text etc will look sharper on the retina display.
 
dukeblue219 said:
In my experience, the difference is enormous and very obvious. I could not go back to a low-res display even if I wanted to... it's extremely noticeable to me.



Agreed. Additionally, I assume the original poster was talking about the Mini since that's where the $100 difference applies. In that case, there is a huge difference in hardware between the two aside from the display. The iPad Mini has iPad 2 guts, if you will, while the iPad Retina Mini has iPad 5 (Air) guts. That Retina Mini is going to top-of-the-line for some time, while the regular Mini could see support discontinued much earlier, and will definitely feel slower if you use them side-by-side.
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Thanks guys. That's the kind of thing I needed. Yep, looking at the mini. Looks like I'll go with the newer one.
 
I'm also of the opinion that the retina on a full-sized iPad is unquestionably clearer than the standard display. After using an iPad Air, my iPad 2 looks very pixelated and jaggied.
 
write-stuff said:
I'm also of the opinion that the retina on a full-sized iPad is unquestionably clearer than the standard display. After using an iPad Air, my iPad 2 looks very pixelated and jaggied.
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Same for when I look at my mini after using my Nexus 7.

I have FlyQ EFB on the iPad and Naviator on the Nexus. One of these days I'm going to take the time to do a solid comparison between the two, but the mini is exclusively for FlyQ and I use the Nexus for everything else that I do with a tablet.

The only reason I even still have the mini is because it has a larger screen than the Nexus, and fits my kneeboard perfectly.
 
I went from a full size ipad with retina to a Mini (without retina) when they first came out so it would fit on my yoke better. I always figured there was not much difference cause the text was smaller on the Mini and this accounted for the difficulty in reading (especially light Grey in for flight).

BUT now that I can compare a new MINI with Retina to the one I have, there is going to be an upgrade in the future without question. Or maybe in the next rev foreflight will let me change the color and font to help make it more visible on my Mini.
 
mcmanigle said:
One thing to take note of though is that ForeFlight charts are not displayed at retina resolution.
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This was my biggest disappointment moving up from the original Mini to the Retina Mini. I haven't e-mailed them about it because I just assumed it was already on their roadmap, but if e-mails count as votes, I guess I should!

Try going to airnav.com in Safari and pull up approach plates. They look so much sharper than they do in Foreflight. The difference is stunning.
 
Biggest difference I noticed was that I used a glare-resistant screen protector with my non-retina 1st gen but not with my 3. Not that it's perfect, but better enough to make a difference to me.
 
I use the Air because of the processing power. The display is just a nice add-on for me.
 
Frankly, the issue isn't so much the display is that Apple is killing off support for the older (non-retina) iPads. I can't put the latest FF on the iPad I fly with because the blasted thing isn't supported by the latest iOS releases. Eventually it will need to be upgraded and the current one will end up as a wine cellar inventory control system (soon as I finish the app).
 
flyingron said:
Frankly, the issue isn't so much the display is that Apple is killing off support for the older (non-retina) iPads. I can't put the latest FF on the iPad I fly with because the blasted thing isn't supported by the latest iOS releases. Eventually it will need to be upgraded and the current one will end up as a wine cellar inventory control system (soon as I finish the app).
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I can't blame the developers for wanting to take advantage of the latest and greatest feature sets for their product, and sometimes those feature sets demand things not available in every earlier generation.

It's like complaining that I can't use Excel 2013 on my original IBM PC.
 
flyingron said:
Frankly, the issue isn't so much the display is that Apple is killing off support for the older (non-retina) iPads. I can't put the latest FF on the iPad I fly with because the blasted thing isn't supported by the latest iOS releases. Eventually it will need to be upgraded and the current one will end up as a wine cellar inventory control system (soon as I finish the app).
Click to expand...


You're writing an App for something Numbers can do? Or even Notes? ;)
 
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