iPad 2
A third thinner, two cameras, the dual-core A5 and the Smart Cover. Apple kept it on sale for three years.
Released March 11, 2011 · Discontinued March 18, 2014 · From $499 (16 GB, Wi-Fi)
Apple cut a third of the thickness and a chunk of the weight, added two cameras and a dual-core processor, and kept the price. The iPad 2 is 8.8mm thick against the original's 13.4, which you feel immediately, and 601 grams against 680. The A5 doubled the speed. Graphics went up ninefold. Smart Cover arrived alongside it, a magnetic sheet that woke and slept the screen and folded into a stand, and it is one of the better accessories Apple has designed. The cameras were poor, VGA on the front and 0.7 megapixels on the back, and nobody much minded because taking photographs with a tablet still looked ridiculous. Apple kept the iPad 2 on sale for three years, longer than almost any product it makes, because schools kept buying them.
Reviews & Reception
Reviewers welcomed a third off the thickness and recommended it over every rival tablet then shipping. The cameras were the weak point, taking what one reviewer called mediocre still photos, with Apple declining to publish a megapixel figure.
As of now, I can comfortably recommend it as the best tablet for average consumers.
For most average, nontechie users, I would recommend it over the handful of tablet competitors I've tested so far, especially given that the entry price remains attractive.