Apple released the second beta of iOS 4.2 for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad last night, and we immediately installed it on our devices. We reported about the beta being a lot more stable and faster on the iPad, together with a brand new (and beautiful) animation for multitasking. We tested the beta on the iPhone 4 as well, and I’ve noticed that the device feels slightly more responsive than before, especially when handling phone calls.
What really keeps on getting my attention, though, is how indeed the iPad feels faster. Hours after the installation and first tests, I still find the animation for opening and switching apps very fascinating - I believe that new animation alone contributes to making the device feel better on this beta. The guys over at iPadevice went a little bit more technical, and released a brief and informative chart about memory consumption on iOS 4.2 beta 2.
As you can see, Apple is slimming down the firmware to make iOS 4 perform well on the iPad, which has got less RAM than the iPhone 4. I can confirm that even with less resources, this new beta brings a more than decent (I would say “very good”) multitasking experience to the tablet. Way better than beta 1.
