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The new 2018 iPad, announced at Apple's education event is getting a lot of attention at the moment. It's no surprise: finally Apple has delivered a stellar iPad for a low price.
The standard iPad has been a bit stagnant in recent years, which we’ve seen in slumping sales figures. But has Apple done enough with the latest iteration for it to be a compelling purchase again?
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0:00
The new 2018 iPad announced Apple's education event is getting a lot of attention at the moment
0:05
It's no surprise as Apple has finally delivered a stellar iPad for a low price
0:11
The standard iPad has become a bit stagnant in recent years, which we've seen resulting
0:15
in slumping sales figures. But has Apple done enough with its latest iteration to make it a compelling purchase again
0:33
Inside the box looks like any other iPad. You get the usual Apple stickers, lightning cable and power adapter
0:39
The brand new iPad though, yeah, looks exactly the same as the 2017 model it's replacing
0:45
There isn't any kind of external change. While that's a good thing if you've already got a collection of cases, I feel the design
0:51
is really starting to get long in the tooth. It's not really changed since the iPad Air from 5 years ago, only getting slightly thinner
0:58
The volume and lock buttons are in the same place, touch ID is going strong and there's
1:02
still a headphone jack. All of the usual colours are available, silver, space grey and gold, so there's not much to
1:08
talk about in terms of design. A lot of people are complaining about the screen not being laminated, so there's still
1:14
an air gap. It's where you can see a small gap between the display and the glass on top at certain angles
1:19
Personally, I don't think it's that bad, unless you're specifically looking for it
1:23
The laminated screens of the newer Pros do look amazing and you can tell the difference
1:27
when you upgrade. But that doesn't make the screen of the standard iPad bad in any way
1:32
One thing I have noticed is that the lightning connector is recessed in on an angle, so I
1:36
struggle to put it on charge sometimes which feels like I'm forcing the cable in
1:39
I'm not too familiar with the recent entry level iPads as I've been picking up the iPad Pro models, so let me know in the comments section down below if this is normal
1:47
While the outside is pretty boring, it's the internals that have had all of the attention
1:51
Apple has swapped out the A9 chip from last year's model, which originally came from the iPhone 6s, to the A10 chip from the iPhone 7
1:59
They're calling this the A10 Fusion, but it's pretty much the same chip with a fancy new title
2:05
Even though the processor is from a phone that was released back in 2016, it does add
2:08
a decent performance boost on last year's budget iPad. I don't have one to hand, but a quick Google search shows the Geekbench scores of the new
2:16
2018 model to be 44% faster than the previous one. That means games can play great, even the more taxing ones
2:23
Apps run fast and can multitask, although only two at a time
2:27
There's nothing to get overly excited about in terms of performance, it's just a nice bump from the previous generation
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Battery life is also great on the new iPad, getting around 11 hours of use on average
2:37
Playing games, streaming YouTube and Netflix videos, drawing and colouring in. It's actually my 4 year old daughter who's been using the new iPad more than me, as that's
2:45
who I've picked it up for. And she can easily use it for the course of a day and still have 30% battery left when
2:50
it's her bedtime. The biggest upgrade to the 2018 iPad is Apple Pencil support
2:57
Until now, that's been a luxury exclusive to the Pro line of iPads, which might be the
3:01
reason why the Apple Pencil hasn't been all that popular. It's a brilliant accessory that I love using, but not everyone wants to spend $649 for the
3:09
entry level Pro, then the additional $99 for the Pencil. Adding this to the cheapest $330 iPad should see a big boost in the Apple Pencil
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It's great for scribbling down notes quickly, or if you've got any artistic talent, it's
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great for drawing or even colouring in. What the entry level iPad doesn't have that the Pro models do though, is the ProMotion display
3:30
On the Pros, the displays have a 120Hz refresh rate to make using the Apple Pencil more accurate
3:35
and eliminate any latency. Using the Apple Pencil here though on the iPad with it's 60Hz screen feels fine to me
3:42
and it's only going to be a small minority who can tell a huge difference
3:46
Speaking of the iPad Pro, I've found myself comparing it to my 2016 9.7 inch iPad Pro
3:51
a lot. It's surprising how much they have in common. Not only do they have the same screen size and body, but they're super close in terms
3:58
of performance. I mean, just look at these Geekbench scores. You can pick up the older 9.7 inch Pro for around $410, but for that extra $80 you're
4:07
getting stereo speakers, improved cameras and a smart connector. So you'll have to factor in whether that $80 is worth it for you
4:14
So has Apple done enough for people to start buying the iPad again
4:18
Well yes and no. Where Apple have been clever is with the education sector
4:22
Advertising this for education, keeping the price low, upping the power and adding Apple
4:26
Pencil support makes it ideal for the classroom. While it's still double the price of the average Chromebook that many schools and colleges
4:32
love, the build quality and how easy the odds are to repair will make them more appealing
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than ever. But what about the rest of us? Well if you've been panning for an iPad that you can use an Apple Pencil with without
4:42
splashing out for the top end Pro, or if you've just been putting off upgrading your iPad
4:46
Air or iPad 2 for a while, this is the iPad to buy
4:50
It's low price point and great performance do make it a worthwhile purchase for a lot of people
4:54
Plus, if you are upgrading, it's going to be a lot thinner and lighter
4:57
If you've already got a 2017 iPad though and you don't want to use an Apple Pencil
5:01
there's really no reason at all. All Apple has done is upgrade the processor and add the Apple Pencil support
5:08
Personally I think the next iPad Pro, rumoured to be announced in September or even as soon
5:11
as this year's WWDC, will be the one to get excited for
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Well that's it for this video but let me know in the comments section down below if you're planning to pick up the new iPad or if you've already got one, what's your thoughts
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I'd love to know. If you enjoyed this video or found it useful, as always, go ahead and hit that like button
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down below, subscribe if you haven't already and I'll catch you in the next one
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