The iPhone 4 is going strong. I took some pictures today and noticed how much faster the capture is — significantly faster than the 3GS. Between the faster processor and additional memory the performance for everything it does is better. One thing I had not anticipated, however, is the impact of the iPhone 4 on the iPad for those who own both. What I mean by that is the perception that the iPad is not as good as it could (and surely will) be in the Fall when it gets the upgrade to iOS 4.

Task switching is really nice and when you get used to the double push of the home button on the iPhone 4 you begin to expect it to be the same on the iPad, but of course it is not the same. It is not there at all. There is not multi-tasking on the iPad. I am sure Apple did not intend to have the iPhone make the iPad look bad but I think that for many users that have both of the new devices they will begin to get impatient that the iPad doesn’t have some of the advanced features of it’s little brother. The folders made by possible by iOS 4 are really great. In stead of 100 apps spread across 8 screens I now have many of them in folders and everything is contained on half as many screens. The same 100 or so apps are spread across the eight screens on the iPad and while some apps are unique to each device, many are common but in different places. I already finding myself thinking how nice it would be if the iPad had the Navigation, News, Aviation, Shopping, Utilities, Productivity, etc. folders that the iPhone has. Hmmm. Will I begin to get frustrated with the iPad? Maybe a little. The main difference for me is the session time with an app. With the iPhone it tends to be short while on the iPad it tends to be more for reading and surfing of longer duration.

And then there is the Retina display I described in the last post. The iPad has a great display but it is not Retina. Could it be? Seems likely. If you look a bit further at the specs you also see that the iPhone 4 actually has more memory than the iPad. Hmmm. So there are some clues as to what may be coming. Seems likely that we will see a new iPhone once a year in the summer and maybe a new iPad once a year before holiday shopping time. No regrets on my part having the “magical” iPad early even if it gets replaced with a lighter, faster, thinner, brighter one in six months. Gazelle will be there to take care of the “trade-in”.