iPad 2022 (Tenth Gen) evaluation: A confusingly good iPad

Apple is again with a brand new iPad, the Tenth-generation mannequin, which boasts symmetrical bezels, a bigger 10.9-inch show, Magic Keyboard Folio help, and the most recent software program model, iPadOS 16.1. However not like earlier commonplace iPads, it now prices $449. Ouch.

At a time when shoppers are chopping again on spending, elevating the worth of your most reasonably priced iPad line is actually one solution to get consideration — or lose it. However after spending the previous week with the Tenth-generation iPad, I can not assist however settle for that Apple, by some means, has managed to justify the $120 upcharge. In a number of methods, the common iPad even beats out the iPad Professional. 

That is one other means of me saying that this 12 months’s iPad lineup is extra complicated than ever earlier than. The vanilla iPad appears practically an identical to the iPad Air and will get a number of options which are excluded from the iPad Professional, and Apple continues to be promoting final 12 months’s $329 iPad, the one outfitted with a house button, in shops. 

ZDNET’s shopping for guides will make it easier to sift by the insanity come vacation buying season, however for this evaluation, it is all about why you must and should not purchase the most recent iPad (Tenth Gen), so let’s discuss that. 

Additionally: Do not know which iPad is nice for you? We break it down

Specs

Design will get a breath of recent air

Because the enlargement to Professional, Air, and Mini fashions, the usual iPad has all the time been taking part in catch-up on the {hardware} aspect of issues. That adjustments this 12 months. In lieu of the front-facing Contact ID and residential button, the brand new iPad has thinner bezels surrounding a bigger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina show, the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the periphery, and twin audio system flank the left and proper sides when the pill is held in panorama orientation. The entire bundle weighs roughly 1 pound.

Assessment: iPad Air (2022): So good I nearly remorse shopping for my Professional

Had this been an iPad Air evaluation, all the things that I simply listed would nonetheless apply. The 2 fashions are an identical in these regards, a lot in order that for those who displayed the common iPad subsequent to the iPad Air in a storefront, I would most likely inch nearer to the previous for one apparent cause: colour.

Now you might be asking, “Did this tech reviewer simply say that colour is the explanation folks will purchase the brand new iPad?” Sure, and I say that with confidence. What do the iPhone 5C, iPhone XR, 24-inch iMac, and new iPad have in frequent? They do not accept the standard spectrum of House Grey, Silver, and Gold finishes. 

Apple clearly has a means with colours and is aware of full nicely that come vacation season, it will not be the processor or software program options that drive gross sales, however the rainbow of devices — meticulously positioned throughout the wooden grain tables of Apple shops in every single place. Heck, go to Apple.com proper now and take a guess at what the corporate thinks will promote you on the brand new iPad.

Additionally: iPhone XR is our best-selling mannequin, says Apple

That is solely half of the story with 2022’s iPad, after all. There are a number of extra adjustments throughout the board that alter the Apple pill expertise — for higher or worse. The plus aspect consists of USB-C help, leaving the iPhone as the ultimate product line not transformed to the common charging commonplace, 5G help for on-the-go duties, and a brand new 12MP ultra-wide digital camera that sits on the longer aspect of the iPad as an alternative of the shorter one. Extra on that later. 

As for adjustments that nobody requested for: a brand new dongle! The Tenth-gen iPad doesn’t help the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil and, with the conversion to USB-C, not has a port to straight plug the unique Apple Pencil into. The answer, as is the case with many Apple equipment, is an adapter (feminine to feminine, Lightning to USB-C) that bridges the pencil and a separate USB-C cable to the iPad. Contemplating the brand new iPad doesn’t have a magnetic strip to station the Apple Pencil on — the brand new panorama digital camera has moved into that actual property now — the dongle and the stylus are simply two equipment you may have to hold round individually. 

What’s a pc? 

It seems like eternally since Apple’s “What’s a pc?” marketing campaign, however the query nonetheless stands with this 12 months’s iPads. Whereas I do not count on the usual mannequin to interchange a full-fledged laptop computer or desktop, Apple actually needs you to suppose that means. 

Together with the Tenth-gen iPad comes a brand new Magic Keyboard Folio. It has a flexible kickstand that offers the pill Floor Professional-like viewing angles, a soft-touch keyboard with a 14-key perform row — you recognize, the shortcuts sometimes discovered on the MacBook Professional keyboard or any productiveness pad — and an excellent $249 price ticket. 

Moreover the worth, my one grievance concerning the folio-style accent is that it isn’t essentially the most lap-friendly — except you could have lengthy legs. As is the case with all kickstand-supported covers, the 2-in-1 design requires an excessive amount of vertical house to station in an optimum method. I would argue that the iPad Professional’s hinge-based Magic Keyboard wins out on this regard.

Pair the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard Folio with iPadOS’ split-screen operations and picture-in-picture video taking part in, and also you get a semi-Professional iPad. I say semi-Professional as a result of whereas the brand new iPad runs on the identical iPadOS 16.1 software program as the most recent Professional mannequin, it would not get the entire multitasking options, like Stage Supervisor. Maybe that is Apple’s means of differentiating the iPad fashions, but when you are going to supply $250 equipment, then customers ought to get simply as a lot on the software program finish to reap the benefits of the {hardware}.

So far as the iPad’s efficiency goes, I have been very happy with what you get for the cash. I paced the pill by rounds of 4K video-editing through iMovie (what I suspected most customers shopping for this mannequin would use), taking part in Wild Rift and Asphalt 9 at 60 fps, and doing extra regular duties like internet looking and streaming motion pictures. The A14 Bionic chip dealt with all of that gracefully, with solely a touch of heating right here and there. 

Assessment: iPad Professional (2022): I am cautiously optimistic. Or silly

How the common iPad beats the Professional

That stated, my “first impressions” sizzling take continues to be ablaze: The iPad beats out the iPad Professional mannequin in two regards. The primary is Apple’s personal equipment. The 14-key perform row on the Magic Keyboard Folio is unique to the usual iPad, despite the fact that Apple additionally simply launched a refreshed iPad Professional. 

The second space the place the common iPad edges out the Professional is digital camera placement. Usually talking, having the digital camera positioned on the lengthy aspect actually does convey an enchancment to the way you’re introduced in video calls and images. 

Naturally, each video begins with you on the heart, broad angle or not. Usually, it is much less disorienting than when the digital camera is positioned to at least one aspect like on the iPad Professional. Contemplating how possible you might be to make use of this iPad for FaceTiming with household, digital lectures for sophistication, and collaborating throughout work conferences, this easy {hardware} design makes all of the distinction for the better good. 

Additionally: How one can use your iPhone as a webcam with Continuity Digicam

Battery and charging

To be sincere, I used to be initially underwhelmed by the Tenth-gen iPad’s endurance. Whether or not it was needing to assimilate the pill into my workflow, or the truth that I used to be downloading apps left and proper, or perhaps a little bit of all the things, the battery life was brief. I ended my first two days at round 20% to 30% by the top of every night time.

Thankfully, that hasn’t been the case in the course of the second half of my weeklong testing — and I totally count on the 7 to eight hours of use that I get per day to proceed for the foreseeable future. I have to say, although, standardizing USB-C throughout all of the iPads has been a godsend. As an alternative of getting to hold a devoted Lightning cable for the usual mannequin, I solely want one charger to energy my smartphone, laptop computer, wi-fi earbuds, and now, iPad. 

Additionally: This automotive charger doubles as an emergency gadget

Backside line

Clearly, the elephant within the room with this 12 months’s iPad is its worth: $449 will not be a small ask, particularly compared with the $329 iPad (ninth Gen) that Apple nonetheless sells, and the truth that you are solely getting 64GB of onboard storage. Simply my preliminary batch of apps and companies stuffed up 15GB on my tester. 

When you’re buying on a finances, final 12 months’s iPad ought to take advantage of sense — Apple clearly thinks that, too. However I can not assist however examine the Tenth-gen iPad with the remainder of Apple’s hierarchy, all of which stay pricier and, in a number of elements, are inferior to the vanilla mannequin. Within the broader context, this is what I would counsel shopping for now: 

iPad: If you would like a modernized, do-no-wrong Apple pill that achieves 70% of what the Professional can do.

iPad Mini: If you would like a compact and transportable iPad that is nice for note-taking and studying e-books.

iPad Professional: If you would like a productiveness workstation that helps contact and stylus enter. 

The largest query mark for me is what occurs to the iPad Air, now that the usual iPad is sort of the identical measurement and weight — and prices considerably much less. What’s sure is that Apple’s lineup of iPads is extra convoluted than ever earlier than, but when the aim of the revamped design is to sway potential patrons downmarket, then it might all come to fruition come vacation buying season. 

Options to think about