How to Tell If Your iPad is an iPad2 Model

Is your iPad is the original iPad version, or is it the iPad2 version that just came out March 2011? Afterall, the box of the iPad2 just says "iPad".

And if you are buying an used iPad2 from someone, you might have good reason to wonder. Or perhaps you got it off eBay or Amazon, as many people did since the stores were all out of iPad2's.

Is this an iPad2 or is it an original iPad pretending to be an iPad2?

The easiest way to tell if it is an iPad2 is to look to see if it has cameras. Actually, the iPad 2 has two cameras - one on the front and one on the back. The original iPad has no cameras.

The camera is quite tiny. If you are not sure what the camera looks like, then another way to tell if your iPad is iPad 2 or not is to look at the model number. You can look at the model number on the back of the product and compare it with the model numbers listed on EveryMac.com

The iPad2 comes in three models depending on the connectivity it is capable of. And these are their respective model numbers:

• WiFi (model A1395)
• Wi-Fi/GSM/A-GPS (model A1396)
• WiFi/CDMA/A-GPS (model A1397)

So if the back of your iPad shows model number A1395, A1396, A1397, then you've got an iPad2.

But if the model number on the back of your iPad shows A1219 or A1337, then you have the original iPad -- iPad1 (although no one calls it iPad1, they just call it "original iPad" to distinguish it from iPad2).

The A1219 refers to the original iPad with only WiFi capabilities. The A1337 model refers to Wi-Fi/3G/A-GPS capable version of the original iPad.

A second way to tell whether you have an original iPad or an iPad2 is to tap "Settings" on the Home screen.  Then tap "General", then tap and "About", and then tap "regulatory".  There you should see the model numbers mentioned.

If you just go to "General" and "About", you will see a "Model" with numbers that look a bit different.  Don't look at that.  That is actually more like an order number.

For each model of the iPad and iPad2, you can have different amount of standard RAM memory: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB. This is the amount of memory you have to store all your photos, videos, data, etc. It is stored in RAM memory. There is no hard drive. The iPad is too thin for it.

You can see how much memory your iPad has by looking at the back of the product.

For each model, you can also either have black or white. You can tell which you have by looking at the color of the product on the front of the product.

The back of the product itself, however, will not actually have the words "black" or "white". But the box it comes in will have a sticker with the words "black" or "white" labelled. This is so that store staff can pick the right color product off the shelf for you.

You can also see the memory and model number on the back of the box itself. But if the product is opened stock (meaning there is no shrink-wrap around the box), then you better rely on looking at the back of the product itself.

Even if the box is wrapped in shrink-wrap, it is more reliable to look at the back of the product. Afterall, anyone can put an original iPad in an iPad2 box and shrink wrap it. Shrink-wrapping machines are common.

On the back of the iPad2, you should see ...

"Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China"

Plus a serial number and a few other bits of spec.

Article written April 2011 and is opinion at time of writing.  Author may receive compensations from the display ads and links on the page.