Apple introduced a new 10.9-inch iPad featuring a complete redesign, new color options, and flatter edges. The device's new look is slicker and thinner and draws directly from the iPad Pro and iPad Air designs, with sharper edges, slimmer bezels around the display, and no home button.
Design is not the only way Apple is streamlining the look and feel of its family of tablets. In fact, the new iPad 10th gen now sports a USB-C port instead of a Lightning one, and Touch ID integrates into the sleep button, just like the iPad Air. The old Apple proprietary connection remains available solely on the iPad 9th Gen, which the company keeps selling as the new entry-level model.
One of the most notable differences from the higher models is the implementation of a FaceTime camera on the top landscape edge of the tablet, a small change that we wish Apple to introduce on all its tablet families. The camera's new position avoids awkward face positioning and facilitates eye contact during video calls in landscape mode, supporting the Center Stage function thanks to the camera's new 122-degree field of view.
Apple has also updated the new iPad chipset, which is now the A14 bionic. What hasn't been updated, though, and it's a bit of a bummer, is the compatibility with Apple Pencil 2nd Generation. The new tablet only works with the first-generation Apple stylus, which still sports a Lightning connection. To charge the Pencil, users must use a Lightning to USB-C adapter. Apple justified this choice with the fact that within the target group of this new device, 1st generation Apple Pencils are pretty popular, and therefore potential customers will be able to use the stylus they already have without being forced to upgrade.
That could save users money to spend instead on the new detachable Magic Keyboard Folio with keys and trackpad. The new accessory comes in a novel two-piece design that makes it easy to fold and transport and attaches to the device with the same three-dot smart connection developed by Apple on its higher-tier iPads.
The new iPad 10th gen will be available in Apple Stores worldwide on October 26th. It comes in four colors (Silver, Yellow, Pink, or Blue), two storage configurations (64GB and 256GB), and either with or without 5G cellular connectivity.