Not many will be lamenting the loss of the Home button as the fingerprint sensor makes it much easier to unlock the iPad. It is closes to the power button and it makes much more sense ergonomically to have it there.
The one big change that the iPad brings is the type-C charging port — introduced with Pro and Air models earlier. The iPhone now remains as the lone member of the Lightning club.
The USB-C is supposed to charge the iPad faster but of course that depends on the charger you use. What USB-C also bring aboard is the ability to transfer data faster than the lightning port. The 10th-gen iPad, however, supports USB 2.0 speed, so it won’t really make much difference.
What’s really flummoxing is that this iPad still supports first-get Apple Pencil, which as one might have guessed charges through the lightning port. The Apple Pencil 2nd gen isn’t a new product — launched in 2018 — and yet a 2022 iPad model doesn’t support it. So this means that if you want to use an Apple Pencil then you will have to get the first-get, which this iPad can’t charge. Apple’s answer is a dongle, which is priced at Rs 899 but is a rather useless device to carry otherwise. It is really difficult to recommend this iPad to anyone who harbours the notions of using an Apple Pencil as it doesn’t make sense at all.
The Pencil harakiri aside, this is a gorgeous looking iPad. Apple has added a bright colour options that make the iPad more appealing than others. The colours and looks might be just be the biggest reason why people may pump for this iPad over the previous generation model. Silver, blue, pink and yellow are the colour options and they all look great. Even the silver coloured unit we got to review is extremely pleasing to look at.
The iPad weighs around 477 grams and even though the screen size has been increased it weighs less than the previous generation model. But the width has increased and it has become slightly thinner as well.
The 10.9-inch Retina display looks much bigger and not just because of the size but because the Home button has been dropped. Frankly, the Home button iPads had started to look dated and it’s a welcome move from Apple to remove it for good. The iPad now is the same size as the iPad Air but it’s not the same display. Confused? Let me explain. Since it is an entry-level — or a form of entry-level — iPad, it doesn’t really get the bells and whistles.
For instance, the bezels are still wide but that’s also the case with the iPad Air. Apple continues to give an anti-glare display and not a laminated one. Now you may say that we are genuinely nitpicking but the truth is that this isn’t an entry-level iPad any more. So when the iPad Air, mini and the Pro all get a laminated display, the lack of one on the new iPad does rankle a bit. Having said that, most people perhaps will not even notice that this isn’t a laminated display but once you have actually used one, it is hard to go back to a non-laminated display. It was fair game to see these features missing in the entry-level iPad but as we said not on one that costs considerably more.No surprise to see the iPad not getting ProMotion as so far that’s exclusive to the Pro models only.
Still, without the frills, the 10.9-inch display delivers a smooth experience. Watching videos on the iPad still is an experience that remains unmatched in most tablets.
