Apple is giving the entry-level iPad a serious facelift. New chip, dapper colors, Wi-Fi 6 and 5G, improved screen and cameras, and even USC-C port: the 2022 edition of the flagship tablet has it all… except the price!
The rumors were well founded: like Mark Gurman, the Bloomberg journalist who is always very well informed about the Cupertino company, Apple announced Tuesday, September 18 – without a spectacular keynote this time! – several new features in its iPad range. In particular, a new “very short” iPad, its entry-level model, which, in its 2022 edition – the tenth – benefits from a real makeover. New design, new chip (A14 Bionic), new colors (four dapper colors), screen, improved microphones and cameras, Wi-Fi 6, 5G and even USC-C port: the star tablet is back fully boosted with solid technological assets to maintain its supremacy in the market. All this without overshadowing its big sisters, the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which at the same time benefit from a brand new engine, the M2 chip, like the latest Macs!
What are the features of the iPad 2022?
As many had hoped, the new iPad – iPad 10 or iPad 2022, depending on taste – benefits from a refreshed design, clearly inspired by the iPad Air, with flat sides – the corners remaining rounded. Modern and elegant lines, in perfect coherence with other Apple products, from MacBooks to iPhones which have all adopted this style. This freshness is accentuated by the four metallic colors offered (silver, pink, yellow and blue). Enough to satisfy a wide range of tastes, the iPad 10 is intended primarily for a family audience.
Of course, Apple was not content with a simple facelift for this vintage, and the iPad 2022 benefits from many technical improvements compared to the previous generation! Thus, the screen gains in size – therefore in surface – with a diagonal of 10.9 inches instead of 10.2. An increase which is accompanied by a thinning of the borders, which Apple rather improperly qualifies as an “all-screen” design: we are still far from a version borderless, as on some smartphones, which would be difficult to handle in practice – hence the maintaining of borders. If the display technology does not change – it is still a so-called Liquid Retina screen of the LCD IPS type with LED backlighting, and no Oled or mini-Led – the definition increases slightly for reach 2,360 x 1,640 pixels, with a very decent resolution of 264 pixels per inch (ppi) and a very comfortable maximum brightness of 500 nits, more than enough for outdoor use.
Still in the image chapter, Apple has reviewed the cameras of its tablet. The iPad 10 thus features a new ultra-wide-angle front camera with a 12 Mpx sensor, an ƒ/2.4 aperture and a field of view of 122 degrees, now placed on the longest side: a more practical positioning for video calls when iPad is placed in landscape mode. It also benefits from a new rear camera, also with a 12 Mpx sensor with an ƒ/1.8 aperture and x5 digital zoom, promising to take photos “bright and dazzling” but also to shoot videos in 4K, with support for slow motion at 240 frames per second (in slow motion).
The sound has not been forgotten. The iPad 2022 includes two microphones designed to work in concert with the photo-video modules, capturing sound depending on the camera used and reducing unwanted background noise, as well as a pair of new speakers (for the stereo) that promise to improve rendering when viewing videos in landscape mode. On the other hand, there is no longer any question of connecting a wired headset: the iPad 10 does not have mini-jack audio outputs.
In the identification department, the Touch ID sensor, for fingerprint recognition, is still present, but elsewhere: it is now placed on the tablet’s on and standby button, on the upper edge.
Who says new generation also says new engine. And, in the absence of an M1 processor, the iPad 2022 incorporates an A14 Bionic chip, which Apple claims offers performance gains of 20% in processing (CPU) and 10% in graphics (GPU) compared to the A13 Bionic. of the previous generation. Always good to take, certainly, but nothing extraordinary. Apple claims that this new iPad is up to five times faster than the best-selling Android tablet on the market – with a Soc MediaTek MT8768N and the latest version of Android 11, but without specifying the exact model… –, but one can wonder about the interest of this comparison. Undoubtedly a way not to regret the use of a better chip.
On the other hand, connectivity is really making a leap forward. First, because the iPad 2022 takes advantage of Wi-Fi 6, which is much faster than Wi-Fi 5, which promises much faster connections with much higher speeds. Then, because the “cellular” version is 5G compatible, which again allows a speed gain on mobile networks – provided you have a suitable plan, of course! Finally, and this is even a surprise because Apple has anticipated the requirements of Europe by adopting the USC-C format for charging and data transfer instead of the traditional Lightning socket. The iPad 10 is therefore the first Apple mobile product equipped with this universal port, which will significantly simplify the lives of users, as many wished.
Like previous models, the iPad can be accompanied by a keyboard associated with a shell acting as support and protection, the Magic Keyboard. Its new version, equipped with standard size keys with a stroke of 1 mm, promises unprecedented typing comfort. It is still sold as an option at a particularly high price: 299 euros. Whoops ! A price where you can find good complete tablets in the Android world…
What is the price of the 2022 iPad?
No need to wait to buy Apple’s new flagship tablet: the new iPad can be ordered now on Apple’s website for availability from Wednesday, October 26. As you might have guessed with generalized inflation, the increase in component costs and the dollar, prices are up very sharply compared to the previous generation. They vary according to storage capacity – Apple recommends on its site to choose the version with maximum memory from the outset, to anticipate future needs, omitting to specify that there is no possible extension by card … – and connectivity (Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and 5G). Note that it is possible to add a personal engraving for free when ordering. Here are the official rates in detail. Warning the eyes !
- iPad Wi-Fi 64 GB: 589 euros
- iPad Wi-Fi 256 GB: 789 euros
- iPad Wi-Fi + 5G 64 GB: 789 euros
- iPad Wi-Fi + 5G 256 GB: 989 euros