iPad 10 Review (2022)

Apple is known for its clever design
Solutions the magsafe connector the
magic keyboard the entire original
iPhone are you getting it they take
features that other companies might just
duct tape together so they can put
another bullet point on the box and they
rethink those features and how they
might work on their device now that
doesn't mean that they get it right
every single time and with this new 10th
generation iPad two competing pain
points are fighting it out there is the
side mounted camera and the oddly
charging original apple pencil they went
head to head here and unfortunately for
artists the pencil well it lost I review
tech for Creative professionals artists
and illustrators and this is how my
reviews work you guys give me a
challenge I turn it into an illustration
using the device that I'm testing and I
tell you what I think so today I asked
for a three-word design prompt what do
you got for me Twitter moose on Rocket
all right I'm down let's go pulling this
iPad out of the box feels incredibly
familiar hold up wrong b-roll that's
from the iPad Air review there we go
okay this is the new iPad and yeah it it
looks like the air it feels like the air
it run guns like the air it's pretty
much got the same screen as the air same
antenna line sync cameras same
fingerprint recognition on the power
button and all of that is a very good
thing the old iPad this is replacing was
basically feeling pretty dated on the
outside even if it was still performing
really well on the inside this is
basically a cheaper air with a few
changes some I love some not so much
let's start with that camera Apple has
been trying to find a workaround for the
side mounted camera on iPads for a few
design Cycles now mostly through
software there are Center Stage feature
tried to take a wider picture and crop
it down into something more natural
looking this new iPad also trades in the
curved edges of the old iPad and brings
in the flat edges that you find on the
iPad Pros the iPad Air the mini and with
those flat sides you would naturally
think that means hey this can now use
the apple pencil too because that apple
pencil needs those flat sides to
magnetically charge and pair right right
we're still using the apple pencil one
why I don't know for sure but I bet it
has something to do with the placement
of that camera it's right along the same
size where they put the magnets in the
charging capability for the pencil too
and if that's why this design trade-off
was made you know I get it there are way
more camera users than there are apple
pencil users but from here it gets a
little bit more confusing Apple switched
from a lightning connector along the
bottom to a USBC connector and again I
think this is a good change if you don't
have the apple pencil that needs that
port for charging but no matter what the
reason you got to bring out the duct
tape here from here on in all new apple
pencil ones are going to be shipping
with a USBC to lightning adapter so that
they can charge using a USBC cable you
can also snag one of these separately
for about 10 bucks if you already have a
pencil and you want to use it with this
new iPad now the charger only works with
USBC cables you can no longer charge
from the bottom of the iPad itself so
how do you pair the pencil that you have
to use a USBC cable and the adapter at
the same time and it will recognize your
pencil so I'm making good progress here
on my line art and apart from charging
the drawing experience is still Top
Notch now the new iPad Pro that reviews
come in a few days subscribe so you
don't miss that uses the second gen
apple pencil and it is added in a hover
feature so now you can see your cursor
when you hover over the display it's
it's pretty cool but that isn't
available here on this iPad it is a cool
feature but I want to get too upset if
you don't have it I have been drawing
this way for years and it's fine also
the folio case is very similar to the
folio cases that you can get for the air
or the pro or the mini I've always liked
these because it props up your ipad a
really nice drawing angle on your desk
so overall this is still a fantastic
drawing experience all around also for
those of you are wondering yes I put
this sketch in the sketches folder of my
intro to digital art course so if you
already have the course you can go grab
it work along with me here also since it
launched three weeks ago it has been
super cool to see the stuff that you
guys have been creating and sharing with
me so keep that up some of y'all are
doing better work than I was doing in my
course and if you're looking to get into
Digital Arts start up a new hobby or
just get better check out
bradsartschool.com and learn more
another thing that's different about
this iPad than every other iPad in this
line is that the accessory connectors
have moved from the back of the iPad to
the bottom of the iPad now even though
this has similar proportions to the air
and the 11 inch pro it can't use the
same magic keyboard accessory to make up
for that they've made a new keyboard the
magic keyboard folio it comes in two
pieces the back is a kickstand piece it
also helps protect your iPad and the
keyboard trackpad connects separately
now that keyboard and that trackpad do
feel really good they feel almost
identical to using a magic keyboard and
once you connect this whole thing
together it feels substantial I'd say it
feels almost like it's doubling the
weight of the iPad now here's the rub
though it's 250 dollars it costs
significantly more than the old key
keyboard accessory and it's almost the
same price as the magic keyboard
accessory for the air and the pros but I
don't think it's nearly as good it's
very similar to the Samsung Galaxy
keyboard accessories and I complained
about those in the keyboard floppiness
so I'm gonna complain about it here the
bottom keyboard is loose and floppy and
when you close it and carry it around it
slides around and it feels I don't know
it feels cheap and what's weird to me is
this is a problem that the magic
keyboard already solved like two years
ago when you start taking in all of
these changes together this is the first
iPad in a long time that feels it feels
a little bit haphazard it doesn't feel
well designed it feels like they're
purposely holding this back so as not to
compete with the iPad Air now in the
past I've been okay with recommending
inferior designs because it meant that
you're saving a lot of money
but
all of these changes mean a more
expensive iPad the price goes from 3 330
dollars to four hundred and fifty
dollars for drawing I've always compared
the entry level iPad to something like
the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite once you
factor in the cost of the pencil the old
iPad is more expensive but my take on it
has always been the iPad is still an
amazing value and if you can swing the
slightly higher price I recommend it
over the Galaxy because personally I
like the app ecosystem better but by
raising that price by 120 dollars you
are changing the value proposition so
I'm torn it's a it's a fine iPad like I
said before and for most people it's
going to be a nice upgrade but for
artists
I just don't see the value if you're
looking for a budget iPad I think I
would recommend last year's 9th
generation iPad because the price is so
good and you get the same exact drawing
experience the same exact pencil a
better pencil charging experience
because you don't have that little piece
that you're probably going to lose and I
get that the new design looks better and
the screen looks better if you like the
new design and it does look good look at
the iPad Air it does cost more I get
that right now it's a little over 500 on
Amazon but if you get that one then you
can get the apple pencil too if you want
a keyboard accessory you can get the
magic keyboard and this is huge that
comes with the M1 processor there are
some new iPad OS features rolling out
like external monitor support and Stage
manager that needs that M1 and with
apple opening up more overhead on the M1
powered iPads we're seeing a lot of cool
Pro level apps that are going to be
rolling out over the next couple months
like DaVinci Resolve and I wouldn't be
surprised if we see more and more of
that sort of thing happen over the next
two years and all of that will be
running well on the iPad Air I always
thought that the iPad Air was a great
value and looking at this new iPad it
seems like an even better value and this
particular iPad falls into that no man's
land where it's got that higher price
point so it's not really a great value
anymore but it's not adding enough of
the things that I care about to justify
the price.