The fourth-generation
iPad (marketed as
iPad with Retina display,
colloquially referred to as the
iPad 4) is a
tablet computer produced and marketed by
Apple Inc. The fourth-generation iPad features new and upgraded components such as the
Apple A6X chip, and the
Lightningconnector, which was introduced on September 12, 2012. It ships with
iOS 6.0, which provides a platform for audio-visual media, including
electronic books, periodicals, films, music, computer games, presentations and web content.
It was announced at a media conference on October 23, 2012 as the fourth-generation of the
iPad line, succeeding the
third generation iPad, and was first released on November 2, 2012 in thirty-five countries. The device was released throughout December in six other countries including China, India and Brazil. The third generation was discontinued following the fourth's announcement.
The device is available with either a black or white front glass panel and can be purchased with various connectivity and storage options. Storage size options include 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB, the available connectivity options are
Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + Cellular with
LTE capabilities.
The fourth-generation iPad received primarily positive reviews and was praised for its hardware improvements as well as the retina display, which was also featured in the device's predecessor. Furthermore benchmarks reveal that the fourth-generation iPad is able to perform
CPU reliant tasks twice as fast as its predecessor. During the first weekend of sales, an aggregated amount of three million fourth-generation iPads and
iPad miniswere sold.
