Survey Says Consumers Love New iPad, Hate Cost and Price of 4G LTE Wireless Plans

In a newly released ChangeWave survey of 200 owners of Apple’s ‘new iPad,’ consumers overwhelmingly approve of the Apple’s third-generation iOS tablet. Overall approval rating jumped a full 8 percent from older iPad models, with 82 percent of the survey group being very satisfied with the tablet. Combined with the ‘somewhat satisfied’ category, the new iPad garnered 98 percent of the vote in satisfaction. With those surveyed, only 2 percent were somewhat unsatisfied with the tablet and none of the respondents expressed extreme dissatisfaction.

According to the survey, early reported issues with the tablet, such as heat and battery life reporting, were not an issue. In terms of heat complaints with the tablet, 89 percent of the 200-person sample size say that they have not had any issues while a small 7 percent said that it’s not much of a concern for them.

In terms of features that users like the most, the high resolution Retina Display tops the mark, with 75 percent saying that it’s the best quality about the third-generation tablet. Long battery life, 4G LTE, the Apple A5x dual-core processor with quad-core graphics, and the 5-megapixel iSight rear camera all garnered about the same number of votes with between 18-22 percent. These were the major upgrades on the new iPad compared to the iPad 2.

Not surprisingly, though, cost remains a big issue with the new iPad. Though Apple had upgraded a number of features between models, the new iPad costs the same as the iPad 2 when that device launch, with a base price of $500, or over double the $200 entry point of the 7-inch Kindle Fire. According to ChangeWave, 26 percent of respondents cited price of the tablet as a cause of dislike while 23 percent highlighted the cost of 4G LTE data plans. When the original iPad had debuted, Apple revolutionize the non-smartphone data category by working with AT&T to offer a $30 unlimited data plan that’s contract-free. Those days are long over as AT&T and Verizon now offer comparable tiered contract-free data plans, though the former does not allow tethering with its plans at this time. Other minor concerns were the size and weight of the tablet, amount of storage, integration with other devices, excessive heat, and short battery life; each of those factors garnered between 6 to 8 percent on the survey.