Every Web designer knows how large a 1024×768 pixel screen is, right?
As I explore the relationship between iPhone and iPad applications I started thinking about the screen dimensions and proportions of the iPad screen.
The iPad has the familiar home button and a similar bezel between the screen and the device edge, but so does my MacBook Pro. I fell into the trap of imaging my 15″ MBP display freed of it’s keyboard as a stand in for the iPad.
Not so. After some measuring and basic calculations I scribbled out a paper prototype. The screen is small. Much smaller than I expected or was imagining. Putting it side-by-side with an iPhone was especially enlightening — the dimensions not related and that changes how to handle buttons and other controls. Size matters and it changes how I am designing for the iPad.
Want to save some time, download the form for yourself. Here is a PDF for printing or an Adobe Illustrator file if you want to use it for mockups.
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Thanks for this info. It wasn’t easy to find comparative iPad/iPod/Kindle size CAD elsewhere, having done a simple “ipad size” Google search.