We had a pretty good idea that it was going to be pricey, and now we know it’s going to be pricey. Announced at an event currently taking place in San Francisco, California, the iPad 2 has been made official and will be available in two colors (black and white) when it launches Friday week (March 11). Aside from having a 33 percent slimmer design (it's thinner than iPhone 4), the iPad 2 packs a new chip that Apple is calling the A5. It’s dual-core, packs twice the speed and nine times faster graphics but retains the same low power consumption as the A4. It’s got that same 10 hour battery life; two cameras, one on the front and one on the back; a built-in gyroscope; and HDMI out via a small adapter that allows you to charge at the same time.
It’s available on both AT&T and Verizon and Apple is keeping the same $499 base price for the 16GB WiFi-only model. From there, prices go up as far as $829 (that’s for the 64GB 3G model). However, Apple was quick to point out that five out of six of the iPad models are priced at under $799, which seemed to be a sly little dig at the $799 Motorola Xoom.
Apple also revealed something called Smart Covers. This is a line of covers that clip onto the side of the iPad 2 and magnetically stick to the front of the device. Peeling it away will wake up the device and it can be folded up in a number of different configurations for multiple ‘standing’ options. The Smart Covers come in a range of colors in either polyurethane or leather and will cost $39 (poly) and $69 (leather).
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