One True iPad

Let’s get this out of the way up front: The iPad lineup is a mess. I think of a product lineup as more cohesive when there are certain factors — one of them being a clear, default model that most accurately represents the iconic essence of the product. iPhone is pretty clear because the one true iPhone is the base model iPhone with a number and no other qualifiers. That is exactly what one should expect.

With that product, there will be some with lower specs and some with more luxurious attributes. But the one you put out to the world is the one you see as best reflecting your idea of what that product is. It has been a long time since the iPad had that kind of clarification.

For years, the base model iPad with no qualifiers has felt more like an iPad SE. It is not so much the iPad as it is the cheap iPad that is not quite up to the standard of what Apple sees as the true iPad. For that, you had to climb the price and spec ladder to some ill-defined destination.

Now, Apple has updated the base model iPad to its rightful place as the one true iPad. Everything else is either a downmarket play, or a specialty boutique play. We finally have an iPad that is truly worthy of being called “the iPad” and not just “an iPad.”

The only challenge to that claim is iPad Air. It stands as an outlier at the moment. It definitely has a higher feature-set that comes at a higher price point. The definitional product in a line has to have defining features. The screen on the air is the definitional iPad screen It need not be any better at this time. But it certainly shouldn’t be any worse.

There shouldn’t be a standard screen that is not Retina or P3 color capable. There shouldn’t be a large screen that is not laminated. I don’t believe 120 Hz is a necessity. But it is getting close to just being a standard expectation. The new iPad falls short on the display. That said, the 9th generation iPad display looks great. This new display will not disappoint the target audience at all. But it does seem to be the least Apple can get away with doing.

I also believe that going with the A14X chip is flirting with controversy. We should have expected at least the same chip that goes into the TV. That is not to say that the A14X is slow. But it is already too old to get newer features such as Stage Manager. That is not a pro feature. And it shouldn’t be artificially limited to certain devices when new devices could easily take the better chip. It doesn’t need an M1. But the A14X seems like artificial differentiation that will hurt end-users today.

Those are most of my gripes. We now have to get into why I still believe it is the new default:

Price

I will begin with my most controversial take. The price is better at $450 than it was at $330. The reason is that the product began its life at $500. That price allowed Apple to include all the features they needed to without having a price that was too inflated and unsustainable. I contend that $330 is just courting price shoppers while cutting margins too thin to included everything that makes an iPad an iPad.

I would rather Apple had bumped the price up another $50 and include a better screen or better chip or both. They should never make those types of critical compromises on the defining product in the lineup. Even so, the higher price allows Apple to make a much better product than the one they are still selling for $330. We see the kind of product Apple makes when they try to court budget over quality and value. A $500 iPad would be a better value.

Size

A part of me believes that the iPad mini is the perfect size for this type of device. But that is not the part of me that has to struggle with reading the screen. The device is great to hold and carry. But the OS was designed for something bigger. I believe the design of the OS is still tuned for a 10” to 11” display. There are ways to scale it bigger. But it doesn’t do well when scaled smaller.

This 10.9” size is pretty close to optimal. I think it is roughly as big as a screen can get without feeling like it is too big to hold and use. We have to remember that the iPad is a tablet and not a laptop. We are meant to hold it while using it.

The evidence of this is the 12.9” iPad Pro. It is almost too small to be a laptop. But it is way too big to be a tablet. It is an awkward size. The new iPad is right at the place of being full-size without being oversized.

The Camera

iPads don’t need amazing cameras. That is a reasonable place for Apple to save a little money. But they do need to be good enough because there are plenty of iPad photographers and videographers. Pictures and videos shot with an iPad look great, especially when they are just going to get crushed down and sized for the web.

The real change is not in the quality of the front camera but the placement. For the first time, Apple is acknowledging that the right place for the camera is on the long edge for horizontal orientation. I shouldn’t have to make a case for why that is. Most people just know it. Now, Apple does too.

It is obvious that Apple will eventually engineer around the problems that keep them from doing this on the other models that get the magnetic Apple Pencil. Since they had no such constraint for this model, they were free to go ahead and do the right thing by the front camera.

People will actually be able to do a Zoom meeting with the camera that is on their device without looking like you are staring off to the side. People will be able to vlog with the new iPad without additional gear. The new camera placement makes this a far more compelling and useful device than the iPads suck in the old way of doing things. This is a more impactful feature than a laminated screen in my opinion.

Apple Pencil

It is really easy to hate on the original Apple Pencil that the iPad is currently stuck with. I get it. The Pencil 2 is nicer in almost every way. But I say, so what! The Pencil 2 is an elevated experience, not necessarily the default experience. Just consider the price of the accessory. Not every entry iPad buyer is going to want to spend that much on a tool that is mostly geared for digital artists.

There are many great styluses out there that work perfectly well with iPad. Not one of them connects directly into the iPad. Yet that doesn’t make them bad devices. The Logitech Crayon is an intriguing choice because it was actually made in partnership with Apple. It does have a way to connect directly to the iPad. It has an even better pairing mechanism. And it costs significantly less than the Apple Pencil. The only thing it lacks is pressure sensitivity. If you are not a serious artist, you won’t miss it.

That’s why I think the 1st generation Pencil is still great if you are really serious about drawing. But I suspect those really serious about digital art are getting one of the Pro models anyway. I plan to give the Crayon a try just for review purposes because I am not an artist and don’t care about the Pencil anyway.

Don’t get me wrong: I have both versions of the Apple Pencil. I keep trying to find ways to use them. But I never manage to do it. I suspect that is the experience of most people who went out and bought one. Apple made the right decision to ignore the Pencil 2 and go with the centered camera instead.

Performance

Yes, I have already complained about the lack of an A15 that would make it compatible with the lesser form of Stage Manager. That said, I still believe that iPad has plenty of performance for everything the typical user would want to do. You can game like a champ and even edit your 4K video if that is what you’re into. You will not be able to do it using Stage Manager. But you will be able to do it.

Thing is, most people don’t do any of the things that can push even an A14X to its limit. It is performant enough for the kind of person who is interested in buying the device. It is just that a more powerful chip is being used in the entry iPhone. I believe the tablet should have at least that regardless of how well it runs on lower specs. At $450, this unit should have a future longer than a couple of years. Buyers will be upgrading sooner than they want to because there will be other software features down the road that will require a better processor.

The definitional product of a line should have all the basic features of the shipping OS. We might quibble over what we consider basic. But Stage Manager does not strike me as professional grade. There is a world where you could do two or three overlapping app windows on an A14X. It is the flagship feature on the current OS. It should be on the titular iPad.

Conclusion: Wither the Air?

At $600 and no center camera, iPad Air is out of the running as the definitional iPad. It also has no access to the new Magic Keyboard Folio. The Air is like a stripped down Pro instead of like a souped up standard edition. I think a lot of people that would have chosen the Air over the standard iPad are now going to go for the new iPad without giving the Air another thought. It has nothing that makes it worth the price that they would care about. It is $600 with nothing So what happens to the Air? At the moment, it is the redheaded stepchild. Just remember that when it was first introduced, pundits were saying the same thing about the 11” Pro. The iPad line hasn’t been clean for a long time. It would seem like the only way to clean it up is to drop one of the products. This year, that product would have to be the iPad Air. A year ago it was crowned king of the line. This year, its, off with its head!

I will be testing the new kit hopefully on day one. The only iPad I currently have is my mini. And that is insufficient due to the OS. The Pros can’t be justified due to the price. And the Air inherits none of the new features I care about. For me, it is the iPad 10 or bust. I’ll report back in a weak or so.

David Johnson