I deliberately skipped the 2nd gen, planning on buying the 3rd, but it doesn't sound like I should buy this one either..............

I don't know if I'd necessarily agree. Just spend some time looking at images you know in store before buying, and make sure you are happy it isnt a unit affected by either of the colour casts.

Thanks E.J. for reply. I am going to purchase an iPod3 for my wife and will get it with enough memory that it will be of use to me as well. hcarl

Interesting that Consumer Reports said that the screen is the best they tested??

CR doesn't have a clue about color calibration They like bright and they like saturated and they like high resolution.

E.J. Now that it has been a few months how does your iPad3 look now?

I just went & bought my 3rd ipad after two "bad" ones when they came out. One had a yellow cast & one had a magenta cast, I now have another brand new "yellow" cast ipad again! I will try your blow dryer trick and give it time if it really worked for you & you were happy with the end results.

Thanks,
Michael

iPad screens are just not what they are touted to be. The colors are garish and they change with time. I've gotten so used to mine at this point that I can't really comment anymore. I should run a calibration reading on it again just to see but it really doesn't matter. Serious photographers only use an iPad to show their photos anyway and those that look at them are wowed by the saturated colors even though they are a bit over the top. I've tried dozens of them and they all are off color wise and oversaturated. But this sells. The whole retina display craze is a marketing thing for super bright, heavily saturated garish looking screens but since Apple is touting them, they must be good...

Tell me how you really feel.
So truly you have not seen a "good" ipad 3 that compared to your Ipad2 ?!

Thanks for the info. Now to decide.

I have come to the conclusion that pretty much all Apple screens suck compared to what is available elsewhere these days. Unfortunately the rest of the hardware is unmatched on other platforms.

iPad - garrish colors and they shift over time
Mac Book Air - 6 bit display with lousy color accuracy
Mac Book Pro - not even an IPS panel???
Mac Book Pro with Retina - marketing gimmick with no software that actually uses the screen so you are pixel binning defeating the whole purpose of the screen to begin with
iMac - they still ahven't fully solved the yellowing of the bottom half of the screen
Apple 27" monitor - not even a wide gamut monitor - you can do much better!

Almost all of them have a ridiculously glossy finish.

Apple screens are grossly overrated. They have done an awesome job marketing them and eye candy with super saturated colors sells but for the serious photographer, you can do a lot better if screen is the only criteria.

Was this true for the iPad 2 as well?
If the primary reason for buying an iPad was to use it for a photo portfolio, do you think one would be better off getting an iPad 2?

No the iPad 2 had a narrower gamut but was more stable and not quite as garish. As for your second question, I don't think portfolios are that much about accuracy but rather about wowing the person on the other end of the iPad and candy sells so the eye popping colors do make an initial impression that most untrained eyes prefer.

Apple software supports it, does it not? Sure looks great on Aperture IMO.

OK, no software that the vast majority of people here use
I'm just frustrated and disappointed with Apple, especially their screens.

I just speced out a Lenovo W series that obliterates anything that Apple offers on every single specification except the screen resolution and it costs significantly less and is a much better imaging platform as it has the best and most accurate screen currently available in a laptop. As my MBA gets long in the tooth (two generations behind the current model) I am seriously considering a Windows 7 laptop but haven't fully made up my mind yet.

Are you basing the comment, "best and most accurate screen" on the spec list for it, or is there some place that has published this info(or you've tested one)?

Based on personally running calibration software on them. Plus they aren't glossy.

Yeah, the glossy finish is troublesome, but it saves me time in the morning, I can check my emails and shave at the same time!

Boy things changed fast around here - just bought a 27" Apple Thunderbolt display for my MacBook Pro based on E.J.'s advice when I asked for advice a couple of weeks ago

"Postby E.J. Peiker on Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:13 am
It's essentially the same monitor as the 27" iMac. That monitor is fine for photo editing but requires significant calibration with a good calibration package. Do not place it with anything bright, like a window or a lamp that must be on behind the user as it will reflect strongly.
E.J. Peiker"

Now this, "I have come to the conclusion that pretty much all Apple screens suck ...Apple 27" monitor - not even a wide gamut monitor - you can do much better! - E.J."

Scotty, I probably used too strong of words but my point was that for the premium prices that Apple charges, their screens are no better than others yet they market them as being the best thing ever, especially the retina stuff which simply does not live up to the marketing hype, especially on the iPad and MacBook Pro. The 27" Apple monitor is a very good monitor. it is not as good as some others but it is a good monitor but at the price point should have a wider gamut. now the vast majority of people this will never impact in any way but a company that made its name in graphics art should offer absolute state of the art accuracy in their monitors yet they have no monitor like this. Relative to the hype they "suck" Rest assured, especially if you have calibrated it well, you have a good monitor, probably the best one Apple makes.

Thanks for the update E.J. & I did buy i1 Display Pro for calibration - your logic does make sense!