Hands On the New iPad

If the computer were invented today, what would it look like? It would be powerful enough for any task. So mobile you could take it everywhere. And so intuitive you could use it any way you wanted — with touch, a keyboard, or even a pencil.¹ In other words, it wouldn’t really be a “computer.” It would be the new iPad.

The Great

• Fast A10 Fusion performance
• Works with Apple Pencil
• Fun augmented-reality apps
• Good battery life

The Not

• Thick bezels
• Apple Pencil
• keyboard and cover at additional cost

The Conclusion

The new 9.7-inch iPad provides plenty of power, long battery life and Apple Pencil support, all for a really great price. What are you waiting for..? Go update.

The iPad still packs a sharp, 9.7-inch display into a compact and lightweight aluminum package. But the overall aesthetic is a bit tired in an age of shrinking bezels on phones; the thick black border around the screen feels somewhat antiquated even for the iPad’s relatively low price. The budget iPad from 2017 has been updated – Apple says it’s an iPad for education, but it’s actually a really impressive tablet for the general user who wants to get a great experience – and having the Apple Pencil support on there as well is great

The Design

The  design feels solid, and I didn’t feel that much strain when holding the device up to browse the web, check my email and play with AR apps for long stretches. The iPad weighs a very manageable 1.03 pounds for the Wi-Fi version (the LTE model weighs 1.05 pounds), and it measures just 0.29 inches thick.

The trusty old Home button sits beneath the screen to handle Touch ID for logging in, and there’s a Lightning connector on the bottom for charging and a headphone jack up top

The 9.7-inch display on the iPad packs 2048 x 1536 pixels, so it’s plenty sharp for watching movies, playing games and working on reports. It’s also bright and colorful; as I watched the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War on this panel, I could make out individual wisps of the Scarlet Witch’s red hair dappled in sunlight, and the details of her leather jacket didn’t get lost in the shadows.

The Pencil

The main feature of the new iPad is the fact that it’s Apple Pencil-compatible, something that’s not been seen since the launch of the iPad Pro range. Apple’s entry-level iPad now supports Apple Pencil, which means you can use the $99 accessory to draw, take notes and interact with a growing number of Pencil-enabled apps. This is the first ‘normal’ tablet from Apple to take advantage of the accessory, and it’s designed to give students a chance to ditch the notepad and use only the iPad for class.

A tool so precise that Disney animators use it, the Apple Pencil felt completely natural to use in my testing. Writing with it will be hard to actually input though, and that’s partly down to the fact that most people have forgotten how to actually write words down, and partly because the feel of the screen under the Apple Pencil still feels too slippery to write properly.

If you slow down it’s not too bad, but you can’t note-take as fast as with a pen and notepad.

The Final Thought

With a power upgrade and the support for the pencil all at a cheaper price whats not to like. The ipad is already best in class, there are tablets then there is the iPad. Speaking as someone who worked the front retail lines in the mobile universe, you cant give tablets away but everyone wants an iPad.