Tag Archives: 8th

"When you need a tablet at a reasonable price, the iPad should be your first choice."

• Exceptional software with long support

• Great battery life

• Colorful and clear display

• Connects to a robust Apple ecosystem

• 32 GB of basic memory is not enough

• Single tinny speaker

• Still flash, not USB-C

In the technology world, “iPad” is just as general a word as “Kleenex”. As Apple's iPad product range was expanded to include the Air and Pro models, a basic iPad was retained to anchor the group. It's just the iPad. No year, no generation, no name. It's for people who go online or go to a store and say, "I want to buy an iPad today." You can have one for just $ 329.

This is Apple's 2020 iPad – the 8th generation for those who count. It's the perfect tablet for people who just want a computing device.

Hardware, display and design

Apple introduced a brand new design with the iPad Pro line and brought this design along with a beautiful new color palette to the new iPad Air. It hasn't yet achieved the economies of scale that are supposed to be included in Apple's cheap iPad – this looks and feels the same as the last few iPads. What is there to say that hasn't been repeated in years? Apple has perfected this design.

The aluminum plate has a perfectly flat back, pleasantly curved sides and a small bevel that fits perfectly on the front glass. There is no such thing as thriving. It's simply a portal to iPadOS 14. It's an appliance no different from your toaster or Keurig.

The 10.2-inch display is a step down from the iPad Air, but not in its 2160 x 1620 resolution, which produces the same density as the Air. However, you will find that this is not a laminated display. There is a visible gap between the screen and the glass cover that is different from the iPad Air, iPad Pro and any modern smartphone.

Despite this shortcoming, the screen's colors and clarity are superb, and you will only see the gap at certain viewing angles. The maximum brightness is stated as 500 nits, which is sufficient – although I have always set the brightness to 100% outdoors. The lack of lamination can cause problems outdoors, which are more reflective in daylight than most tablets.

If you don't spend a lot of time outdoors, you'll love this display.

I don't really have anything against the old-school iPad's circular Touch ID sensor for functionality, but it feels dated compared to other alternatives like a built-in fingerprint sensor or the sensor built into the side of the iPad Air on the power button. I bet this will be the last iPad with the Touch ID button.

And I hope when the switch is made the screen bezels will shrink too because they look weird. Bezels are useful for holding the tablet without touching the screen, but they don't have to be that big.

The iPad sits comfortably at 1.08 pounds and the weight is well distributed. However, you will be reminded of the age of this design again as it is heavier than the iPad Air and iPad Pro, both of which offer dramatically more features and larger displays. Regardless, it's easy to hold up the tablet with one hand in portrait mode or with two hands while watching a long video.

However, when it comes to audio, video falls short. There is only one speaker on one side, which can be easily covered by your hand and is quite thin. The back is also slippery. If you'd like to help them for an expanded display or input, you'll need Apple's tri-fold Smart Cover – that will bring you back a cool $ 50.

Software, features and battery life

iOS 14 is the biggest change to iPhone software in years, but the same can't be said for iPadOS 14. The iPad benefits the most from moving to iOS 14, as notifications and warnings don't cover the entire screen and there's a new Spotlight -Search interface. That being said, it's effectively iPadOS 13.

Perhaps the biggest new feature is Scribble, which lets you use Apple Pencil to recognize handwriting to text through the user interface. This of course requires a $ 99 accessory and is a whole different discussion.

Unfortunately, iOS 14's app library isn't here, so you can no longer manually manage the pages of apps and folders, which now seems archaic. You also have nowhere to move widgets anywhere on the home screen, which I consider a massive oversight. However, you can pin the widget area to the left third of the main home screen in landscape orientation.

Multitasking remains complicated – there's a lot of power here, but it's hard to spot and seemingly impossible to master. There's an awkward dance of gestures to bring up apps, use the split screen, and trigger floating windows with no hints of detectability – all you have to do is try things out.

iPadOS 14 seems simple, but it hides a steep learning curve for multitasking.

Apple probably knows that the typical basic iPad customer will multitask far less than those who buy an Air or Pro. However, don't let that stop you from making the most of it.

With the A12 Bionic processor and plenty of screen, there is a lot you can do when you dig into the depths of gesture controls for multitasking. And the iPad never skips a beat – with two or three apps at the same time, even with other apps in the background, it never misses a step. The iPad is clearly packed with specs to handle the high features and capabilities of an upcoming iPadOS 17, not 14.

The only place not ready for the future is storage. The base of 32 GB is simply not enough. After a few days, I had already used 23 GB – but luckily I ordered a 128 GB model. I suggest everyone do the same. It's just a shame Apple is hollowing you out for another $ 100 or 30% more to get it.

As expected, the battery life is fantastic. The 32 watt hour cell offers a long service life. Apple advertises its usual "10 hours of surfing the Internet or watching videos", which of course is by no means representative of the use of iPads. I used it a few hours a day for a full work week, keeping up with a mix of any kind of light load from social media apps, email, and messaging, and YouTube and podcasts – and I didn't have to charge anything Once. The iPad is especially good at sitting idle for hours (or days) without using a noticeable amount of power. If you're not actively using it, the iPad won't go blank.

Unfortunately, along with the relics of design and the Touch ID sensor, the iPad continues to use Lightning for charging. Let's hope this is the last iPad to use the old port and that it will connect to every other iPad (and MacBook as well as Android phone) on USB-C. It's just so much better. At least the charger in the box is now USB-C on the wall side.

The iPad has a rear camera, but it might as well not. The 8 megapixel sensor is useful for taking photos of receipts or sending an explanatory message to a friend, but that's about it. The 1.2 megapixel front camera handles video calling tasks in the app of your choice (up to 720p). The quality is roughly equivalent to that of a laptop, but lags behind a modern telephone. The ease with which you can make a FaceTime call with loved ones is more important in many ways than the quality of the camera itself.

Our opinion

The 8th generation iPad isn't exciting, but it's an exceptional tablet for $ 329. Easy to learn and use, iPadOS 14 can be extremely powerful for multitasking and light productivity work if you spend time learning. The battery life is exceptional and the display is great for the money. The hardware looks and feels old, but it's incredibly effective – and most importantly, it's built to last a long time, both physically and in terms of internal specs.

To say that the iPad costs $ 329 is a misnomer, however. For that money, you only get 32GB of storage, which is not enough. You have to spend $ 429 to get 128GB. Ouch. Basically, you need a smart cover that every iPad needs. That's $ 50 more. So it's really a total package of $ 479.

But even at $ 429, it's impossible to find a better tablet experience. Yes, if you need a keyboard to turn an iPad into a work device, consider buying a Chromebook instead of a keyboard accessory for $ 159. If you are on a budget as a tablet, nothing better than the iPad can be done.

Are there any better alternatives?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 is cheaper and of a similar size. But iPadOS is completely superior to Android on tablets, and the app selection is so far ahead that it deserves no comparison. The Tab A 10.1 is only a better choice if you are on a very tight budget and don't need the tablet other than just to surf and watch media.

If you need your iPad for work or school, there is a good argument why you shouldn't buy an iPad. Once you get the higher storage option and the Apple keyboard, you are well within the realm of buying a laptop. A Lenovo Chromebook Duet or an Asus Chromebook Flip are better choices, but then you have to miss out on the iPad app ecosystem.

How long it will take?

Apple has an exceptional track record of updating the software on its tablets. For example, iPadOS 14 will be available from 2017 through the 5th generation iPad. You are expected to receive at least three annual software updates for this iPad, and it is clear that there is enough internal hardware to run it.

The Lightning charging port and Touch ID sensor with a physical home button are areas that feel old faster. However, these are only a minimal part of the experience compared to being able to keep using the latest software and apps for years to come.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you don't have the budget for an iPad Air and just need a basic tablet as a secondary device for casual use, there is no better choice than the iPad. Just be aware of the potential budget scare when looking to buy the 128GB model and a smart cover for it.

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