The two newest iPad generations feature a Retina display.
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The most recent version of the Apple iPad -- the fourth generation, released in November 2012 -- includes a Retina display holding 3.1 million pixels at a resolution of 264 pixels per inch. The third generation iPad includes the same Retina display, but the older iPad 1 and iPad 2 models, together with the iPad Mini, do not include a Retina display.
What is a Retina Display?
The term "Retina display" is used by Apple to describe displays running at such a high resolution that individual pixels cannot be discerned by the naked eye. As the normal viewing distance for each Apple device varies, the exact resolution also varies between iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. The first Apple device to claim a Retina display was the iPhone 4, released in 2010, which had a resolution of 326 pixels-per-inch.
The iPad Display
The iPad's Retina display is an LED-backlit, multi-touch display measuring 9.7 inches diagonally. The display is made up of 2048 by 1536 pixels, equaling a total of 3.1 million pixels overall and a resolution of 264 pixels per inch. The screen is finished with an oleophobic coating designed to resist fingerprints. Applications running on the iPad can be displayed in all four orientations -- portrait and landscape both ways -- depending on how the device is positioned.
Other iPad Specifications
The latest iPad is powered by a dual-core A6X processor with quad-core graphics and 1GB of RAM. The device is available in white or black with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage for music, video, photos, apps and other content. The unit comes with a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and a back-facing, 5-megapixel camera, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and optional cellular data connectivity. The overall dimensions of the iPad are 9.5 inches by 7.31 inches by 0.37 inches.
Other iPad Models
The predecessor to the latest iPad, informally known as the iPad 3, has a Retina display but is no longer stocked or sold by Apple. The earlier iPad 2 is still on sale from the Apple website, but does not have a Retina display. The 9.7-inch screen on the iPad 2 runs at a resolution of 1024-by-768 pixels and a density of 132 pixels per inch. The iPad Mini, released alongside the fourth generation iPad, has the same 1024-by-768-pixel grid, but it is reduced to fit a screen size measuring 7.9 inches, equaling a resolution of 163 pixels per inch. Apple does not class this as a Retina display.
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- Sean Gallup/Getty Images News/Getty Images
