From£349 FROMApple,apple.com/uk FEATURES10.2inRetinadisplay,
A10Fusionchip,32GBor128GBstorage,Wi-Fi(add£130formobileconnectivity)T
hemostimportantthingabout
Apple’snewcheapiPadisthatit
doesn’tfeelcheapinanyway.
Notonlyisit nearlyphysicallyidenticalto
themoreexpensiveiPadAir,it’salsoan
extremelyslickandfasttablet.Fora lotof
people,it haseverythingyou’llneed– a sharp
10.2-inchscreen,a speedyAppleA10
processorandtonsofapps.ButtheiPadAir
stilloffersanupgradeinalmosteveryarea,
for£130more,sothequestionwhetherthis
reallyisenoughforyouoverall,orwhether
you’dbebetteroffwithitsbigbrother,orthe
iPadmini.
Let’sstartwiththemostimportantpart
ofa tablet:thescreen.The10.2-inchdisplay
herehasa notableamountofextravolume
comparedtothe9.7-inchdisplayofthe
previouslow-costiPadmodel(thoughthey’re
thesameotherwise,really,soit’snotworth
upgradingfromlastyear’s).Obviously,it’s
nicetohavea biggerscreenforgamesor
moviesandstuff,butthat’sjustgravyreally.
Theextrahandypartaboutthebiggerscreen
isthatit’sbetterforhavingmultipleappsside
byside– thescreenispracticallythesame
sizeastheiPadAir,andjustassharp.With
theslickAppleprocessor,plustheoption
ofconnectinga keyboardcover(Apple’sis
hideouslyexpensiveat£159,butverygood),
thisisa prettycapablecomputer,actually.
However,whilethedisplayhere
isperfectlynice– it’sclear,andthenatural
coloursareappealing– theiPadAir’sscreen
Thebesttabletyou isevenbetter:it appearsbrighterandmore
cangetforthisprice.A
greatmediamachine
andlow-costcomputer- butwouldanupgrade
suityouevenbetter?
+++++++
Zippyperformance
Greatbuildquality
SameA10chipas
previousmodel
N oTr u eTo n escre enVERDICT
vibrantthankstoitswidecoloursupport,
it’slaminated(sothepixelsarecloser to the
surface),andit hasTrueTone,which means
it shiftsitshuetobemorecomfortable to read
innaturallight,whichmakesa bigdifference.
TheiPadmini’sscreenalsohasallthese
advantages,thoughit’sonly7.9inches, so
isn’tasgoodforside-by-sideapps.
There’ssupportforApplePencil, and
it worksjustaswellasonothermodels. This
iPadsupportstheoriginalApplePencil v1,
whichhaswiredcharging,unlikethe more
usefulv2unit,butthedrawingfunction is
justasgood.
Thespeakersareloudandreally clear –
greatforvideos.Lookinside
TheAppleA10chippoweringeverything
hereisa coupleofyearsbehindtheA12 you’ll
findinmoreexpensiveiPadmodels, but it’s
noslouchatall.Foropeningappsand f litting
aroundiOS,everythingisveryslick and fast.
Someintensiveapps,andespecially games,
willopena bitfasteronmorepowerful
devices,butthedifferenceislessthan you’d
think.OuronlyconcernisthatApple might
stopsupportingit withupdatessooner than
theA12– that’syearsawayinanycase, but
theA12ismorefuture-proofedoverall.
Alongthoselines,theA12alsoincludes extra
cameraprocessingtechforbettershots – the
camerahereisnothingspecial.
ThebasicnewiPadcomeswith32GB of
storage,butyoucanupthatto128GB, whichA new bigger screen for the cheaper tablet
Apple iPad (2019)
GEAR iPad (2019)
The new iPad is just a little thicker and heavier than the iPad Air, but it makes little difference in practice.