Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
And what a display it is. Both generations have beautiful screens, and the iPad mini with Retina dis-
play sports Apple's exclusive high-definition Retina display, which is easily the most beautiful
screen we've ever seen on a tablet.
Other things we love include the iPad's plethora of built-in sensors. It has an
accelerometer
to detect
when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape mode — and instantly adjusts what's on the
display accordingly.
The screen rotates, that is, unless the Screen Orientation Lock is engaged. We tell you
more about this feature shortly.
A light sensor adjusts the display's brightness in response to the current ambient lighting conditions.
In addition to the aforementioned sensors, iPads also have a three-axis gyro sensor that works in
conjunction with the accelerometer and built-in compass. And the iPad mini with Retina display also
sports an M7 motion co-processor.
Last, but definitely not least, is Siri, a voice-controlled personal assistant happy to do almost any-
thing you ask.
In the following sections, we're not just marveling about the wonderful screen and sensors. Now it's
time to take a brief look at the rest of the iPad's features, broken down by product category.
The iPad as an iPod
We agree with the late Steve Jobs on this one: The iPad is magical — and without a doubt, the best
iPod Apple has ever produced. You can enjoy all your existing iPod content — music, audiobooks,
audio and video podcasts, iTunes U courses, music videos, television shows, and movies — on the
iPad's gorgeous high-resolution color display, which is bigger, brighter, and richer than any iPod or
iPhone display that came before it.
Here's the bottom line: If you can get the content — be it video, audio, or whatever —
into iTunes on your Mac or PC, you can synchronize it and watch or listen to it on your iPad.
And, of course, you can always buy or rent content on your iPad with the iTunes Store and
iBooks apps.
Chapter
3
is all about syncing, but for now, just know that some video content may need to be con-
verted to an iPad-compatible format (with proper resolution, frame rate, bit rate, and file format) to
play on your iPad. If you try to sync an incompatible video file, iTunes alerts you that an issue ex-
ists.
