Apple is giving its entry-level iPad a 2022 makeover. That means a bigger screen, slimmer bezel, faster processor, a camera upgrade, and a USB Type-C port.
It also means a price hike. The new Apple iPad has a 10.9 inch Liquid Retina display, an A14 Bionic processor, and a $449 starting price… which is up from $329 for last year’s 10.2 inch model.
The 1.05 pound tablet measures 9.8″ x 7.1″ x 0.3″ and features a Touch ID sensor in the power button, a USB Type-C connector on the bottom of the tablet, and a 10.98 inch, 2360 x 1640 pixel Liquid Retina display with 264 pixels per inch, support for up to 500 nits brightness, and support for a 1st-gen Apple Pencil (sold separately).
At the heart of the new tablet is an A14 Bionic chip, with a 6-core CPU, 4-core graphics, and 16-core neural engine. It’s a 2-year-old chip that debuted with Apple’s iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPad Air (2020).
The tablet has a 12MP wide-angle primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide front-facing camera with support for Center Stage (which keeps you in the frame as you move). The camera has also been moved to one of the longer edges of the tablet, making it easier to use FaceTime and other video calling apps in landscape mode.
Other features include stereo speakers, dual microphones, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 and optional support for 5G cellular networks. One thing the new model does not have? A headphone jack.
The new iPad is up for pre-order starting October 18, 2022 with prices starting at $449 for a WiFi-only model with 64GB of storage or $599 for a WiFi + cellular model with 64GB. You can also upgrade to 256GB of storage, but it will cost you an extra $150.
The 2022 iPad 10.9 inch tablet is available in blue, pink, yellow, or silver color options.
They’ve quietly upped the prices on the other models too. The mini is now a lot more expensive than it was a week ago.
Good time to buy it from a third party before they also increase it, if you’re on the fence.
I could understand the price hike if they bumped the base model to 128gb. 64gb is getting long in the tooth.
Wow, USD $450 bucks!
The old model was USD $330 for same 64GB storage, same display, same keyboard support and same Apple Pen v1 support. Differences being the USB-C port versus Lightning Port, No Headphone Jack versus Present, No Home button vs Home button, Thin scanner fingerprint versus Wide scanner, and comes with the Apple A4 chipset versus the A13-Bionic.
The new one is USD $600 for next-tier storage (256GB) while the old model had the same storage but only cost USD $480. The old model was superior.
Think about it, the Apple Pen v1 that’s compatible can charge off the iPad or the included cable and charger. Also Lightning Port has more support and accessories in the Apple ecosystem than USB-C at this moment. Headphone jack is very useful. The Home Button is very helpful for navigation. And the TouchID is much more comfortable on the old model. That A13 chipset is very fast, that an upgrade to the A14 feels very mild. It’s like the difference between the QSD 855 versus QSD 865. Whilst the A15 and A16 aren’t faster, just slightly refreshed and more efficient.
People should just buy the old model with 256GB storage while they can on the cheap. Or just buy an older model iPad Pro around the same price. If you want something faster, get a new model which has either the M1 or M2 chipset. This version is DOA, but the masses will still buy it in hoards because they don’t know better.
Wow. That is a shocking price hike. I was expecting it to go up some, like $349, or even $369, but $449? Yikes!
Unless they continue making the 9th gen iPad and keeping selling it at $329, it’s going to be hard to recommend an iPad to folks who don’t have a lot of money to spend on tech.
With Apple potentially abandoning the budget tablet market, this could create an opening for Android and Chrome tablets. It made sense to pay a little more and buy an iPad because the experience would typically be better, but now, with the
giant price hike, people may be more willing to accept Android and Chrome tablets’ shortcomings.
So now the iPad has a USB-C port, but still only supports the 1st gen Apple pencil which charges in a lightning port. How’s that going to work? Are they going to change the 1st gen Apple pencil to USB-C, or are they going to make you buy a dongle?
<a href=”https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQLU3AM/A/usb-c-to-apple-pencil-adapter>Oh, they’re making you buy a dongle. And both ends of the dongle are female, so you’re going to be charging the pencil with a double ended usb cable in addition to the dongle.
Apple is smart enough to know that Android and Chromebook tablet makers are going to fill that opening with crap.
I’m personally not interested in an iPad, but speaking objectively, at $450 it still seems like a better purchase than anything I can find running Android. The pricing of tablets is terrible all around. You can choose between overpriced iPads, and Android tablets with half of the performance.
The closest competitor to this iPad is the Samsung Tab S6 Lite. The iPad’s A14 chip is more than twice as powerful as the S6 Lite’s Snapdragon 720G. Not to mention Apple is going to give it 5-7 years of updates. Samsung only commits to 4 years, and considering the S6 Lite is already 2 years old, the clock is ticking.
Having said that, I’m not in a rush to spend $450 on a tablet. I think Apple is limiting the appeal of the iPad by pricing the entry-level model this high. The pricing of the entire iPad lineup right now is silly. The iPad Mini is no longer an affordable option, it’s a weird niche product that nobody wants.
In two or three months, prices will drop