iPad (A16) review: Who needs AI anyway?

Best Prices Today: Apple iPad (A16)

$328.86

There are good reasons why Apple’s cheapest tablets, such as the 9th- and 10th-gen iPads, have been big sellers. In theory, Apple’s standard iPad models are designed primarily for educational institutions, but in reality, they offer everything most users want. Most of the time a basic iPad is completely sufficient.

The last of these standard iPads, which came out in 2022, sold quite well despite its initially high price of $449. (It later dropped to a more palatable $349.) This model was the first in the line to have a more modern design, featuring a USB-C port and a Touch ID sensor in the power button, which brought it closer to the top models. But there were compromises too: buyers had to make do with an older chip and mediocre features.

With the new 11th-gen iPad model–also known as the iPad (A16)–Apple has again cut corners compared to the iPad Air and Pro. For example, Apple has selected the low-cost A16 chip from the iPhone 15, which does not support Apple Intelligence… but more on that later.

iPad (A16) design & build quality: Tried and tested

Car reviewers love to discuss “quality feel,” and in a similar way I got an intangible impression of excellence from the iPad. It just feels good. The casing is similar to that of the current iPad Air models, but a little thicker. This is due to the simpler unlaminated display, which takes up more space. The current iPad Pro 11-inch is only 5.3mm thick, whereas the iPad Air is 6.1mm and the iPad (A16) is 7mm. The weight is also slightly higher: this device is 17g heavier than the current 11-inch iPad Air.

The color scheme underlines the fact that the target audience includes younger users. As before, you get a choice of blue, pink, yellow, and silver. Our sample was yellow: a very classy-looking shade of golden yellow. The colors are much stronger than those of the iPad Air models, which are more discreet and “grown-up.” Business users can choose neutral silver.

Eugen Wegmann

iPad (A16) display: Sharp and (too) shiny

The resolution and color reproduction of the iPad’s screen are good, and at 500 nits it’s bright enough for working outdoors. Although it doesn’t support the P3 color space offered by the Pro and Air models, this is irrelevant for most users. It’s also worth noting that while Apple is referring to an “11-inch display” for the first time on this line (the 10th-gen iPad is referred to on the company’s website as having a 10.9-inch screen), the size and resolution are identical to its predecessor.

The display’s main weak point is its highly reflective surface. Although the screens of an iPad Air or mini are also reflective, the reflections are much stronger on the basic iPads. This quickly becomes annoying in unfavorable lighting conditions: if, for example, you’re sitting next to a window or a lamp. However, these reflections don’t bother all buyers and shouldn’t be overstated. A truly matte display is only available on the iPad Pro, and this is not only expensive but also more susceptible to scratches.

iPad (A16) specs: Useful upgrades

When Apple announced this iPad, the big surprise was that it doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. It’s the only current iPadOS or iOS device not to be compatible with Apple’s AI platform.

The iPad doesn’t quite have the specs to run Apple Intelligence, but it does have some useful upgrades. The A14 chip in the 2022 iPad has been bumped to a faster A16 Bionic, which is a solid leap: the A14 was introduced with the iPhone 12, and the A16 in the iPhone 15. The available RAM also increases from 4 to 6GB.

I suspect that the extra RAM in particular could be very useful when iPadOS 19 is released. The new operating system will have many new features and a new interface, and 4GB could quickly become insufficient. With the new iPad, you can be sure you won’t have any performance problems for the next few years, even if you have to manage without Apple Intelligence. You’ll also have to do without some functions such as Stage Manager.

The storage capacity is also a real plus point: even the basic model offers 128GB, which is sufficient for most users. Versions with 256 and 512GB are also available. With the previous model, there was only a choice between 64GB (too little) and 256GB (too expensive).

The audio quality of the stereo speakers, which are positioned at the top and bottom, is good. As in most areas, however, the iPad cannot quite keep up with the iPad Air and Pro.

The volume is completely sufficient for YouTube or Apple TV and the sound quality is acceptable and significantly better than the 9th-gen iPad and earlier. Two microphones ensure good sound quality for Teams and similar.

Eugen Wegmann

iPad (A16) features: Why no Apple Intelligence?

There’s been a lot of speculation as to why Apple has left out its generative AI tools, but the company has so far declined to elaborate. I assume there were two reasons for this: Cupertino wanted to save as much money as possible on this model and not make the iPad too attractive. Its predecessor was one of the best-selling tablets on the market and certainly cannibalized the sales of the more profitable iPad Air.

The A16 looks to be Apple’s new budget chip; it’s even being produced by TSMC for the first time in the US in Arizona, which means it avoids tariffs. Apple production costs are not known, but by choosing the A16 instead of something newer and more powerful, it should be possible to save several dollars per unit.

In any case, the new iPad’s performance is perfectly adequate for education and business users, and some schools may actually prefer for their pupils not to have access to Apple’s AI text tools. Price is key in the education market; school budgets are tight and Apple’s iPad is in strong competition with Google’s Chromebooks.

The pill is pretty easy to swallow in any case because Apple Intelligence’s development is behind schedule and we’ll probably have to wait until iPadOS 19 for the promised new AI version of Siri. Alternatives such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot are available as apps.

iPad (A16) performance: Fast enough

As already mentioned, the iPad has the same chip as the iPhone 15, making it fast enough for most current apps and tasks such as image editing and video editing with iMovie. However, it lacks the multiprocessor performance of an M3 chip, which could become an issue if you’re keen on games and more demanding video projects. In everyday use and when browsing the web, it’s primarily the single-CPU performance that’s required, and you’ll struggle to notice a difference between this device and something with a faster chip.

Surprisingly, the new iPad is even compatible with Final Cut Pro, whereas models with the M1 chip are not. However, some functions of the editing software are not supported.

It’s worth pointing out that the A16 chip in the iPad is slightly weaker than that of the iPhone 15. Here, we get a 5-core CPU and a 4-core GPU. By contrast, the iPhone 15 gets an A16 with a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU, so we’re losing a core in each department. Only the Neural Engine is the same, offering 16 cores in both iterations. This version of the A16 is presumably based on product binning, deliberately selecting chips with fewer functional cores at the production stage.

In our speed benchmarks, single-core performance–important for apps and the web–was outstanding. The iPad Air M3 was just under 10 percent faster in the Speedometer and JetStream benchmarks. The iPad Air scored 33 points in Speedometer, while the iPad (A16) scored 29.7 points.

Foundry

Testing did however reveal some weaknesses in graphics performance… which is no wonder, with only four cores in action. Whereas the iPad Air (M3) scored an excellent 46,007 points in the Geekbench 6 graphics benchmark, the iPad (A16) achieved less than half that, with 20,123 points. The iPhone 15 scored 22,589.

In the demanding Wildlife Extreme test, the iPad’s score of 2,675 was significantly lower than the iPad Air’s 6,446 and the iPhone 15’s 3,013.

More positively, overheating was not a problem for the iPad. In the 20-minute test using APSI Bench, performance was only reduced to 93.94 percent. With the much faster iPad Air (M3) the figure was 86.57 per cent.

IDG

iPad (A16) accessories & connectivity: Some limitations

Like its predecessor, the iPad (A16) only supports the simpler Apple Pencil with USB-C and the first-gen Pencil. This could be because many schools have bought these input devices. However, this is annoying for owners who already have a second-gen Pencil or even a Pencil Pro. These accessories are simply not recognized.

You can see the Smart Connector interface on the side, but it’s positioned differently from other iPads. Of Apple’s own iPad cases, only the Smart Folio cases and the bulky Magic Keyboard Folio are compatible. The latter is not cheap and offers a completely different concept to the elegant Magic Keyboards for iPad Pro and Air.

Don’t forget that you can also easily connect the iPad to a USB-C monitor. If you already have a mouse and keyboard attached to the monitor, you can start working immediately. Unfortunately, the display does not support the Stage Manager function, which is more convenient for this working mode.

I felt the absence of a headphone output, but this has been missing since the 9th-gen iPad. On the plus side there’s a USB-C port which, with the addition of a few inexpensive adapters and hubs, gives you a wide range of options such as SD cards, HDMI and audio.

The USB-C port on the bottom is unfortunately slower than on other iPads. While the iPad Pro and Air can transfer data to an external SSD at high speed, this iPad offers only USB 2.0 speeds. When copying to an external SSD from LaCie, we measured 37 MB/s for a video file, and performance can be significantly slower when you’re working with many small files. In contrast, the current iPad Air achieved just over 700 MB/s in our test.

Apple has cut back a little on Wi-Fi support: the current iPad Air and Pro support the fast Wi-Fi 6E, while the iPad (A16) still has to make do with Wi-Fi 6. However, this is not a problem for most consumers who won’t have a router with Wi-Fi 6E anyway.

The models with mobile network support support 5G via eSIM. A physical SIM card is no longer supported.

Eugen Wegmann

iPad (A16) battery life: Impressively long-lasting

Apple promises “up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‐Fi or watching video.” That’s the same estimate as on the previous generation and every other iPad generation.

Of course, we didn’t take Apple’s word for it and ran our own tests. We let a TV show run on a continuous loop with the screen set to maximum brightness and True Tone disabled. (Apple uses a screen brightness of 50 percent for its measurements.) The 7,544mAh battery lasted for six hours and ten minutes, just like the 10th-gen iPad. It also lasted seven hours in our web surfing test at 50 percent brightness.

These are very useful numbers overall. The iPad could probably only be a little more power-efficient if it was equipped with an OLED display.

iPad (A16) camera: Little change

As with the previous model, the front camera is positioned on the long edge, which is the optimal placement for video calls. Technically, nothing has changed here: it’s a 12MP camera with support for Center Stage, a brilliant feature that uses machine-learning technology to pan and zoom in and get the perfect shot during a FaceTime call or other videoconference.

The rear camera is still 12MP. Light intensity and resolution are also moderate, with up to 5x digital zoom. Unfortunately, there’s no flash, a function that is reserved for the Pro models.

Video recordings are still possible at up to 4K and 60fps, and video image stabilization is also available.

Should you buy the iPad (A16)?

For $349/£329, you get a first-class iPad with good performance and sufficient storage space. However, graphics performance is a weak point; there are better models for gamers. The iPad Air and Pro are superior in many areas and offer better displays, but they are very expensive. More casual users should also consider the elegant iPad mini, which offers a smaller but better display and higher performance and is often overlooked.

The lack of support for Apple Intelligence is regrettable, but it will probably be another year before the function is fully developed. And in any case, ChatGPT and Gemini are available as standalone apps on the iPad so you’re not missing out completely.