The entry-level iPad, which provides respectable performance at an affordable price, has long been a mainstay for Apple. For 2022, Apple completely redesigned the base iPad with new features, improved specifications, and a few unexpected updates. Although the numerous cosmetic and internal improvements for the 10th-generation iPad are long overdue and welcome, a $120 price increase somewhat lessens the tablet’s easy-to-recommend attractiveness. However, it is still a very capable tablet and a better option than the majority of other devices in the same price bracket.
Apple iPad 10.9 review: Design
It would be difficult for me to distinguish between the iPad and the most recent iPad Air if you put a gun to my head. The iPad retains the Air’s flat edge shell and rounded edge screen but does away with the home button. Unlike the iPad Pro, there is no Face ID, though. Instead, the iPad’s power button houses a Touch ID sensor. This works nicely, and it’s fortunate that the standard iPad doesn’t have huge bezels and a dated design like the one your father still owns from 2012. Additionally, there are two volume controls and stereo speakers set up for best use in landscape on the right long edge, top, and bottom. The front-facing camera is mounted in landscape mode, which is another indication that this is the most recent iPad. It’s on the long edge for the first time on any iPad model ever. Rejoice! The camera is now in the centre, much as on a laptop, so if you’re standing up horizontally with a case or keyboard like one, you’ll appear normal during video conversations. All other iPads, including the iPad Pro from 2022, have the front camera on the short edge, much like a large iPhone. It indicates that you appear oddly off-screen in a keyboard case during a video conversation. Apple has acknowledged that the iPad’s camera is primarily used for video chats that resemble those made on a laptop by placing the camera on the long edge. For that, you may credit the pandemic.
Display
The thinner bezels on the iPad (2022) allow Apple to fit a significantly larger display in the same footprint, which is more than just a nice convenience. The iPad (2022) ramps things up to a 10.9-inch canvas instead of the 10.2-inch screen we’ve had for the previous three versions of the iPad. More space means more room for movies, games, apps, etc. Since the iPad (2022) is only somewhat wider and taller than the previous model, you receive the extra space while maintaining a tablet form that’s still comfortable to carry. We have never felt cramped on the iPad (2022). When it comes to the display’s quality, the iPad (2022)’s standard nature is readily brought to mind. A 2360 x 1640 resolution LED panel makes up the 10.9-inch screen. Additionally, it has sRGB colors, a maximum brightness of 500 nits, and Apple’s True Tone display technology. The iPad screen (2022) typically appears acceptable, if not occasionally even great. The writing is clearly readable, the colors are lively without being overpowering, and we have had a great time playing Call of Duty: Mobile or binge-watching Abbott Elementary. But disappointment comes from the little things.
Pencil and Magic Keyboard
The newly released Magic Keyboard Folio ($249 / £279 / AU$399) is the clearest indication yet that the iPad 10.9 is designed for work just as much as it is for play. In general, it’s a great and worthwhile addition to your iPad kit, especially if you wish to use the tablet as both an entertainment and a business platform. It’s Apple’s first two-piece Folio cover. The entire rear of the iPad is covered by a single piece of the Magic Keyboard Folio. It has a pill-shaped cutout for the camera and LED flash and uses powerful magnets to hug the chassis. A kickstand that detaches from the folio body and extends to around a 90-degree angle takes up the middle third of the rear. The new keyboard’s long, thin magnet attaches to the iPad’s long edge, which has the new three-contact connector. This rigid bar is then connected to the new keyboard via a flexible strip. This Folio keyboard is the first to have a row of function keys at the top. With the exception of the ‘lock’ key in the top-right corner, which we repeatedly hit thinking it was a backspace key, we like this feature. It’s important to note that we still enjoy using the original Apple Pencil with the iPad 10.9. It’s a fantastic tool for digital drawing and notes. However, it is also a first-generation gadget. Everything about the new iPad 10.9 (2022), down to the new USB-C port, screams next-generation. The Lightning jack on the fake eraser end of the original Pencil indicates that it was created for a Lightning port system. We appreciate Apple’s efforts to grandfather all original Pencil purchasers who wish to update to this new iPad, but that still doesn’t make the new iPad compatible with the most recent Apple Pencil.
Apple iPad 10.9 review: Software
With many of the same features, iPadOS 16 resembles iPadOS 15 in appearance. Unfortunately, this iPad is incompatible with Apple’s new Stage Manager feature, so good luck if you wish to utilize it. If you have an older iPad or are purchasing for the first time, widgets, which you can now install on the home screen, are the big addition here. For some applications and functions, they come in helpful. We ended up utilizing the iPad and keyboard together much like a laptop because Apple lent them to us. When you do this, you seldom use any of the numerous hidden capabilities of the iPad’s software. Split screen mode is more handy if you want to use the tablet and utilise two apps at once, such TikTok and Messages, but the 10.9in screen is too small for real work. Additionally, you get useful Apple features like iMessage, which replicates the functionality of your iPhone’s Messages app, FaceTime on the iPad, and AirDrop, which allows you to wirelessly transfer files, contacts, photos, Spotify playlists, and other items between your devices or to another person’s. One of the greatest Apple software features ever is, without a doubt, AirDrop. We also adore Universal Clipboard, which enables you to copy content from one device and paste it onto another, and Hand Off, which allows you to move calls, FaceTime, and other apps from an iPhone to an iPad and vice versa. We just use it to copy and paste amusing tweets from our iPad’s Twitter app onto our iPhone’s WhatsApp conversations. However, the App Store is where the iPad’s adaptability lies. While using only Apple’s apps could provide you a passable experience, using third-party apps transforms the platform into a true digital canvas.
Audio
Here is where we first notice a difference from the model from the previous year. Apple divided the pair of speakers and moved one to the opposite edge of the iPhone, allowing us to now enjoy a much more distinct and well-separated stereo experience. Simply put, when using the built-in speakers, the iPad sounds better than ever. Clear vocal performances, believable bass, and a more expansive, well-balanced sound overall are all there. you can read our article on Apple iPad 10.9 review. The iPad’s speakers won’t leave you regretting the tinny music you frequently experience on mobile devices when your headphones are out of reach, even though a decent wireless speaker will undoubtedly sound better. Speaking about headphones, the improvement is less noticeable while using cans. On the latest iPad, the headphone jack has sadly been removed, leaving only the USB-C port and Bluetooth for wired and wireless music, respectively. With the Mark Levinson No. 5909, which uses wireless technology, we discover that the delicate background atmosphere in Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver is more clearly portrayed. These minor particulars give the song more depth and complete its already amazing display of dynamics and timing. Similar to the picture, improvements to headphone performance are subtle, but once you start noticing the slightly bolder and more precise details, it’s clear that the 10th Gen is a well-rounded enhancement.
Camera
At least one of the two lenses on the iPad 10.9 is a significant improvement over the cameras on the iPad 9th generation. We now have a 12MP wide, f/1.8 lens on the rear in place of the previous 8MP wide camera. The Autofocus with focus pixels and 12MP rear camera on the iPad Air are extremely comparable. It can also record videos in up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The 12MP ultrawide camera on the front appears to be substantially unchanged from the FaceTime camera on the iPad 9th generation. The camera combines its 122-degree ultra-wide field of view and continued support for 1080p footage to provide CenterStage. This software-based function rotates the viewport within that enormous frame to keep you centred on the screen. Every time we made a video call, people on either side of us would be amazed at how our camera seemed to be on some kind of clever gimbal. It’s actually extremely effective. Speaking of video chats and the FaceTime camera, this brings us to perhaps the biggest distinction between this tablet and the rest of the iPad lineup: Apple has finally relocated the FaceTime camera to the device’s long edge. Now that we may gaze directly at the screen or at the thin bezel above it, we no longer need to remember to look at the left side of the iPad while it is in landscape mode, which is how we conduct all of our video conversations. We hope iPad air owners are envious since it seems so much more natural.
Hardware and performance
This is not shocking; the A14 Bionic chip in the iPad 2022 should be more than adequate in terms of speed, given that it is the same CPU found in the iPhone 12. When playing games like “Primal Impact,” in which you fight off three enemies simultaneously with a sword, the iPad performed admirably, with smooth animations. It was only slightly sluggish when climbing over rocks. The iPad 2022 performed far better than the iPad 9th generation, scoring 1,580 on single-core and 4,400 on multi-core on Geekbench 5, which measures total performance. The iPad Air, on the other hand, achieved a substantially higher 1,707/7,151 thanks to its M1 chip. Regarding graphics, the iPad 2022 completed the 3DMark Wild Life test with a score of 8,579 and a frame rate of 51.4. Compare it to the 9th generation iPad’s 8,000 and 47.9 frames per second. As a result, the graphics have been slightly improved. Unsurprisingly, the iPad Air scored a higher 17,966 and 107 frames per second. Strangely, the new iPad took a little longer than the iPad 9th generation to complete our video transcoding test in Adobe Premiere Rush—29 seconds as opposed to 27 seconds—even though both times were quick. The 22 second mark was met by the iPad Air. We tested the Verizon 5G cellular connection that came with our review unit using the Ookla Speedtest app. We observed barely 38 Mbps downloads and 4.09 Mbps uploads close to our home in central New Jersey, whereas midtown Manhattan had download speeds of over 100 Mbps. Your location and signal quality have a significant impact on your 5G performance.
Apple iPad 10.9 review: Battery life
You may most likely omit the bundled 20W charger since the iPad 2022 should keep up with you for the majority of the day on a charge. The iPad 10th generation performed admirably in the Tom’s Guide Battery Test, which entails continuous web browsing at a screen brightness of 150 nits, lasting 10 hours and 57 minutes over Wi-Fi. The iPad 2021 had a longer runtime of 11:59, but as we’re still testing, the iPad 2022 could close the gap with additional runs once we average the findings. The iPad Air’s battery life was 10:09 less. We’re happy that the iPad 2022 supports USB-charging because, in our testing, it did lead to quicker recharge times than the previous model. Compared to the iPad 9th generation with Lightning, which only reached 19%, the new iPad reached 26% in 30 minutes. Although it’s not a great jump, we’ll go for it.
Price and availability
On October 26, the new iPad 2022 will go on sale. The base model’s price is $120 more expensive than the least expensive iPad 10.2-inch model, starting at $449/£499/AU$749. 5G cellular connectivity costs $599/£679/AU$999 per month if you’d like it. You still only receive a meagre 64GB of storage for that money. You can choose to upgrade to a much larger 256GB, but doing so will cost you an additional $150 for either model. It’s important to note that the iPad 10.2 (2021) is still available from Apple for the lower starting price of $329/£369/AU$549
Conclusion
The iPad is a cultural icon, the most widely used tablet in the world, and an item with a successful track record for Apple. The business continued to release other models along the road, like as the mini and Air, but the basic iPad held firm in its place as the tried-and-true, basic Apple tablet experience. Apple has attempted to create an iPad “second coming” with its eleventh generation. The base iPad can now shine on its own and is no longer forced to live in the shadow of its rivals. The iPad (2022) is a welcome improvement over the iPad’s dated design from the previous decade, but both new and seasoned users will experience growing pains with the new design. The otherwise successful redesign of the iPad is marred by a new price point that forces it to awkwardly sit between two other iPads and some perplexing design decisions made by Apple.
