Apart from the iPad Pro range, this latest iPad is the fastest, most capable Apple has ever made. So, do you need it and why on earth would anyone buy an iPad Pro?
I’ve been trying out the new iPad since it was revealed last month, testing it independently and comparing it to the top-of-the-range iPad Pro 10.5, its big brother in every way.
At first glance, this iPad is identical to last year’s entry-level tablet, which also means it looks the same as the first iPad Air (the second one, which vanished this time last year, was a little thinner and lighter but otherwise nearly the same, too).
It’s only when you compare it to a Pro that you can see the differences.
The iPad Pro has narrower bezels on every side, especially on the long sides, making for a sleeker, snazzier machine that squeezes in a noticeably bigger screen into a gadget that is barely any bigger. Because this design has been around for a few years now, it is beginning to look a little familiar, though realistically it is only in direct comparison to one other tablet (the iPad Pro) that this really shows.
Picture on its own, though, and the new iPad looks chic and classy, especially at this price.
Price is a big part of this review, so let’s get into that now. The iPad costs $329 for the 32GB model, $429 for the 128GB version. Add in cellular connectivity and the prices are $459 and $559 respectively. Those are the only choices you have to make, apart from which color you want, silver, space gray or gold.
Incidentally, if you’re buying the iPad in the UK, prices start at £319, which is £30 cheaper than last year’s model and the lowest debut price for a full-size iPad.
Bear in mind that the cheapest iPad Pro 10.5 costs from $649, though it's worth noting that the storage starts at 64GB on the Pro. In any case, this is much cheaper, however you slice it.
One other way the design differs from the iPad Pro is the aerial section on the cellular-capable models of the iPad. On the iPad, the section where the aerial sits is covered by a rubber panel while on the Pro this is a more discreet affair, with a thin antenna band the only interruption to the aluminum back.
The sixth-gen model has one advantage over the iPad Pro: the camera is flush to the tablet's back. The Pro camera stands up (but it is more powerful).
But if the externals of the new iPad underwhelm because they're like last year's, the tech changes inside are considerable.
Display
The screen looks identical to last year's but it now has an improved touch sensor (the layer on the screen which responds to your touch), to allow compatibility with the Apple Pencil, which we'll come to momentarily. This display is great and it's only when you compare it to the True Tone smarts of the iPad Pro screen that you can see the difference. True Tone measures the color of ambient light and adjusts what it shows on screen to ensure it looks just as it should.
But this iPad includes Night Shift, the system which warms the colour spectrum onscreen at night so that it's more restful on the eyes after dark.
The iPad display, compared to its Pro sibling, feels a little bit more flexy against the Pro's solid feel. Both are fine, but quietly different from one another. When the basic iPad is so advanced, as this one is, you start looking for even small differences which can justify the extra cost of the iPad Pro.
Pencil
This is a tremendous change. When Apple launched its first Pro tablet, the elegant stylus called the Pencil was one of the headline extras. Now, it's compatible with the most affordable iPad, too. The accessory itself is unchanged: it feels great in the hand and using it feels almost like writing on paper. The Pencil works with the iPad's multi-touch capabilities in a sophisticated way. It can tell how hard you're pressing, what angle you're holding the Pencil at and so on. And it perfectly, flawlessly, knows to ignore the heel of your hand as you rest it on the iPad display.
The result is a seamless, versatile experience. Not everyone needs the Pencil but when you use it for drawing and painting apps like Procreate, it becomes very appealing. The addition of it to the entry-level tablet really makes you begin to question who on earth would need an iPad Pro.
One other thing to note about the Pencil: it only works with this iPad and the Pro models.
Connectivity
It may have the Pencil, but the new iPad doesn't have the Smart Connector which debuted, with the Pencil, on the first iPad Pro. This connector means you can magnetically attach compatible keyboards to the Pro. Here, instead, you must use a Bluetooth keyboard instead.
This works fine, but the nature of Bluetooth connections is you sometimes have a moment of latency while the wireless connection is made. Once you've used the instant, always-connected system of the iPad Pro, it's not quite so easy to go back.
Performance
The sixth-generation iPad has an A10 Fusion chip inside it, first seen in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Which means it's not quite as fast as the A10X Fusion found in the latest iPad Pro, let alone the A11 Bionic chip found in the latest crop of iPhones, but is a step forward from the A9 chip in the fifth-generation iPad.
I've used the iPad for multi-tasking, for playing games and other apps and never, not once, has it been anything less than speedy.
The battery life is around 10 hours of use between charges., matching other iPads.
This iPad lacks the four stereo speakers of the iPad Pro (there's a stereo speaker on the bottom edge of the tablet here) but audio is still fine.
Verdict
So why would you buy the iPad Pro when this machine is so slick and powerful? Well, the Apple iPad Pro is a better machine in pretty much every way: faster, better display, neater design, lighter weight, thinner form factor.
But for most people, the advances made on this tablet are likely to be enough. This is an astonishing tablet for the price: fast, efficient and with access to that gorgeous Apple Pencil. The two tablets are closer in performance than ever. Sure, there's no keyboard connector, but Bluetooth keyboards aren't bad and the multi-tasking here is nearly as good as on the Pro models.
If price isn't a concern, definitely go for the superior iPad Pro, but if you don't, you're unlikely to be disappointed here. Apple hasn't undercut the Pro, but it's really beefed up the entry-level model more than it ever has before.
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