Apple’s new iPad: Unboxing the third-generation tablet

Apple’s new iPad just landed at the L.A. Times and it is sleek, slender, fast and beautiful -- not much of a surprise, really.

AT&T shipped over a 4G LTE version of the third-generation iPad, which also runs on AT&T’s HSPA+ network, 3G network, old 2G Edge network and, of course, Wi-Fi.

As you can see in the video above, we unboxed the new iPad immediately. The packaging, what’s included with the iPad and even the iPad itself are nearly indistinguishable from the iPad 2 -- at least until you turn the new iPad on.

The new iPad’s 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution (up from the iPad 2 and the first-generation iPad’s 1,024 x 768-pixel displays) is gorgeous.

As soon as I saw the unlock screen on the new iPad, it was obvious something here was different.

The screen’s image quality is as close as I’ve ever seen any display get to the sharpness of what you might see in a high-end magazine. Even holding the new iPad directly up to my eyes, at about 2 or 3 inches away, I can’t distinguish pixels from one another.

It’s gorgeous and noticeably better than what is found not only on the iPad 2 but also on any other tablet I’ve used so far. It’s very much the same experience as I’ve had on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S -- which is a very good thing.

In my opinion, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S have the best smartphone displays on the market. And while I’ll be taking more time to review the third-generation iPad before I declare it to be the tablet king, I do think this is the best tablet screen I’ve seen thus far.

We’ll have some deeper impressions about the new iPad for you tomorrow here on the Technology blog, and a full, in-depth review will come later.

Stay tuned.

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