The Best iPad (2022): Which Apple Tablets to Buy or Avoid
six iPads six keyboards two pencils and a whole bunch of extras all add up to make buying an iPad actually really confusing and also potentially very expensive so hopefully I can help and let me know in the comments if you have any questions.
App Store will run on any iPad you can
watch the same streaming apps play the
same games use the same productivity
tools and they all support the apple
pencil whether it's the first or the
second gen and they also all support
center stage with the front selfie
camera now of course performance will
vary higher end iPads are faster and in
a handful of cases like the upcoming
release of DaVinci Resolve or if you
want to use Apple's new stage manager
feature you'll need an iPad with an M1
or an M2 Chip to run it but 99 into the
time any app will run on any iPad number
two and this is the big question really
what are you going to be using it for
keep that in mind as I walk you through
the different models and we'll come back
to this at the end number three and
maybe the best iPad isn't actually one
of these it's definitely worth checking
out older or refurbished models as well
because specifically with the new iPad
10th gen.
the older 4th gen iPad Air is actually a
better bet than this and in some cases
cheaper however the flip side of the
argument is that these iPads will last
you a good five years they last a long
time so it's worth buying the best one
you can now so you can wait a little bit
longer to upgrade in the future number
four the extras this can jack up the
price of any iPad but it can also turn
them into almost laptop replacements
number five and if we're being honest no
one really needs an iPad you need your
phone you need your laptop but iPads are
nice in between us and for my money they
are the best tablets you can buy
although there are other options you've
got the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 plus if
you want a premium Android tablet at the
other end of the spectrum a really cheap
and cheerful Amazon Fire tablet is great
for kids or just basic tablet tasks or
if you want to run proper desktop
programs and want the more hybrid laptop
tablet experience definitely have a look
at the new Microsoft Surface Pro 9 which
is actually considerably cheaper than
the new iPad Pro 12.9 especially when
you're out on the keyboard and if you
don't already have a laptop and you're
kind of weighing up should I get an iPad
or a laptop
honestly my money would be on the laptop
I would get either an M1 or M2 air
having said all that the iPad does offer
a unique combination of a big
touchscreen long battery life great apps
and cameras a great range of accessories
and of course the incredibly slick iPad
OS 16 software all in a beautifully
crafted thin and light form factor
do I need one no but do I love using it
absolutely and obviously while this can
be a little confusing the benefit of
having six different uipaths to choose
from is hopefully there is something to
meet your needs and your budget so what
are the differences between them and
which should you go for well if you go
onto Apple's website there's a really
handy table showing the different
features and specs and there's also a
comparison tool and this is a really
simple way to see what you get with each
iPad but you've not come here for me to
tell you to go to a website and do your
own research you want to hear what I
think I hope so let's start with this
guy the cheapest one the iPad 9th
generation pros and cons while Pro it's
by far the cheapest iPad and as I say it
still runs all the same apps despite the
slightly slower a13 processor lots of
people also prefer having a physical
home button that they can press it's
also the only iPad with a headphone jack
which could be a big deal the 64 gigs of
storage is fine and it's also the same
as you get on the air which actually
costs twice as much it also supports the
first gen apple pencil and I think for
kids for schools even for the elderly
this is still a perfectly good iPad pad
downsides well it does look a bit like a
dinosaur compared to the other ones it's
the only one with this older somewhat
data design with these chunky bezels and
this physical home Touch ID button by
the way you don't actually have to use
that this does still support all the
gestures that you get on the other iPads
but it gives you another option this is
also the only iPad without stereo
speakers so the sound is very one-sided
also the screen isn't laminated so
there's a very slight gap between the
glass and the screen itself which I
don't think by itself is a real deal
breaker the cameras particularly the one
on the back aren't very good and also
the a13 chip inside here is the oldest
of the bunch although it's still pretty
capable and finally while the first gen
apple pencil is fine and functionally
the same as the Gen 2 in terms of
latency and responsiveness there's no
convenient wireless charging or magnetic
attachment but I'll tell you what I do
have a bit of a soft spot for this it's
by far the cheapest and the best value
for money if you just want a cheap and
cheerful iPad my little five-year-old
nephew loves to draw on this and play
educational games it's good to have a
headphone jack and if you add on a
pencil and a smart our keyboard all in
it's about 600 pounds which as you'll
come to see in a minute is actually
quite good value
okay let's move on to its younger
brother the brand new 10th generation
iPad which we thought would replace this
but instead Apple have just added a new
tier of iPad so what do you get for your
449 or 4.99 pounds well first you'll
have a pretty sharp intake of breath
because that's a lot of money for the
base iPad but then we are getting the
much more modern and refined design
touch IDs move to the power button and
the thinner bezels mean they squeeze in
a bigger 10.9 inch screen into a similar
overall footprint as the 9th gen and
with the four very snazzy new color
options this is a damn good looking
tablet lightning is out USBC is in so
charging and plugging in new accessories
is easier we also get stereo speakers
it's also the only iPad with this new
landscape orientation for the selfie
camera even the refresh Pros don't have
this and it makes so much more sense
than now you're centered in the frame of
your video calls lots of people asking
why is this the only one to have that
landscape orientation well I think the
answer is it doesn't support the apple
pencil 2 and on all the other ones
that's where the magnetic wireless
charging strip is that you attach the
pencil to so because this is still gen 1
pencil there's some room to spare for
this camera so hopefully that's
something we see in the other iPads next
year we also get the more powerful A14
chip which did make a difference to more
demanding games even giving me more
Graphics options and it also adds faster
Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 and if you go for
the mobile option which I probably
wouldn't really recommend on this iPad
you can now get 5G rather than 4G
Apple's also created a bespoke two-piece
magic keyboard folio case exclusively
for the 10th gen iPad which makes it
look and feel a lot like a Surface Pro
so yes this is a relatively big upgrade
over the 9th gen iPad but downsides well
it's a good deal more expensive and
functionally they basically do the same
thing also like this cheaper model the
screen is still not laminated we only
get first gen apple pencil support and
also the keyboard folio which is a very
Nifty design don't get me wrong I do
like it but it's
279 pounds it's more than half the price
of the bloody iPad itself which is
frankly ridiculous so without spoiling
my conclusion too much right now I think
this is the joint hardest iPad to
recommend
holy moly look at all that surf shark as
you may have guessed this video is very
kindly sponsored by surf shark VPN but
first why use subshot well as my
plethora of iPads illustrate it can help
you browse the web more safely you can
block ads and malware also one
subscription lets you use an unlimited
number of devices and there's an app for
pretty much everything and their unique
clean web tool helps keep you safe while
browsing plus it's handy to get around
region locked content especially when I
fancy a bit of us Netflix best of all
though there is a new November deal
where if you've entered the code Tech
chap at the checkout you can get 85 off
and three months extra for free and as
always there's a 30 day money back
guarantee I genuinely do use
surfsharkvpn all the time so why not
give it a try Okay moving up the price
ladder next up we have this little guy
the iPad Mini gen 6. and I love this
thing yes you have the argument that why
buy this if you already have a big
iPhone like a pro Max and that's fair
but it's still a significantly bigger
8.3 inch screen and as well as being the
lightest iPad I think this is is the
perfect size for reading gaming carrying
around all day and just being able to
use one-handed
and in many ways it is the little
brother of the iPad Air not quite the
same specs but we do have a very similar
screen that supports a wider P3 color
gamut it's laminated and also has this
anti-reflective coating which the 9th
and 10th gen iPads miss out on it's also
the sharpest screen of any iPad at 326
pixels per inch up from the 264 average
on the others although it's a fairly
Mana point we also get second gen apple
pencil support and also a slight bump in
performance with the a15 chip downsides
well it is smaller so you're not going
to get that big screen tablet iPad
experience and if you are going to use
this like a laptop replacement or you
can do multitasking it's a bit cramped
on this and particularly also keyboards
Apple doesn't sell a bespoke magic
keyboard for this because it's just too
small you can get separate Bluetooth
keyboards and ideally you want to use a
full size one because otherwise the keys
can be quite cramped I've also found the
battery isn't quite as good as the other
iPads if 10 hours is broadly the average
I'd say I get closer to 9 with the mini
but more simply if you want a small
tablet this is the one to get then we
have the iPad Air and at 669 pounds it's
a hundred more than the mini and also
170 more than the 10th gen iPad now the
area is really interesting because when
I made my last iPad buying guide about
six months ago now I kind of felt that
this didn't really have a place but
actually now with the refreshed uh pros
and also the new 10th gen iPad I think
it's coming to its own and actually I
think now this is one of the best
options the biggest upgrade is the M1
chip and in benchmarks it's quite a
significant Step Up in fact if we
compare all six of course the M2 in the
pros is still faster particularly in the
graphics department but the M1
represents the most significant upgrade
the M1 also comes with a media engine so
it's much faster for video editing and
which I presume is why only this and
also the pros with the M2 will support
the new DaVinci Resolve video editor
that's coming soon
similarly Apple's used stage magic
feature which adds a deeper level of
multitasking and gives you a slightly
more desktop feel to moving and resizing
apps is again only on the M1 and M2
pair that with a fantastic albeit very
expensive magic keyboard you've got the
USB 3.1 Port plus we have apple pencil 2
all together the air becomes a pretty
capable productivity Hub and almost
almost a laptop replacement
now to be honest with you in regular
day-to-day use you probably wouldn't
notice that much difference in speed
between the cheapest 9th gen iPad and
the air with that more powerful M1
simply because this is well firstly
still limited by those kind of slow iPad
OS animations but more importantly it's
also still at least 60 hertz only the
pros get that smoother 120 hertz and I
think overall there's a lot to like
about the air there's not a whole lot to
complain about except for being well a
little bit pricey accessories are also
more expensive and also as I say not
really feeling the benefits of the M1
most of the time
okay four down two to go still with me
let's talk about the iPad Pro 11.
and the iPad Pro 12.9 these have just
been refreshed as well although to be
honest it's not a particularly exciting
upgrade we have the M2 Chip which takes
the already ludicrously fast M1 and
makes it well even more ludicrously fast
with a roughly 10 faster processor 30 to
35 faster graphics and also a 40 faster
neural engine for all that AI Wizardry
the Pro Models also have more RAM either
8 or 16 gigs of the stuff but honestly I
would be impressed if you ever really
need this kind of performance unless
you're doing some intense 4K video
editing 3D rendering or some bespoke
Medical Imaging maybe or perhaps you
just want to max out Genji impact and
any kind of frame drop is just not
acceptable so they're faster and also
they're the only iPads to get the new
Wi-Fi 6E support that's six gigahertz
Spectrum although of course you will
need a 60 router or router for my
American friends to take advantage of
that and also get ready to be amazed
because with the new Pros the apple
pencil can now hover above the screen
which gives you a little preview of
where your pencil is or what it's going
to do although only a handful of apps
like pixel made 2 and a few of Apple's
own supported and also Samsung's had
this for what like a billion years now
we also get Bluetooth 5.3 and also smart
hdr4 for the photo so the camera is a
little bit better it's a pretty
underwhelming refresh but that doesn't
take away from the fact that these are
still the best and most powerful and
most versatile iPads you can buy because
while the iPad Air is very capable and
obviously has the M1 chip the most
noticeable upgrade going with one of the
pros is that higher 120 hertz Pro motion
refresh rate every swipe and scroll
feels smoother and games that support
120 hertz feel so much faster and
perhaps more importantly for any Keen
designer drawer or doodler it makes the
pencil feel much more responsive design
wise the pros are very similar to the
air although they forego the fun colors
in favor of well a beefier camera system
for a start we have this Ultra wide lens
and also a lidar sensor for better
augmented reality although I mostly use
it for taking more accurate measurements
and it can also improve focusing in low
light portrait shots it's a nice extra
but not something you use that often
also whereas all other iPads use Touch
ID the Pro Models get face ID thanks to
the true depth camera the pros also get
much better sounding quad speakers which
are genuinely Epic
and also the USBC Port has been upgraded
to usb4 so you can actually connect this
up to a 6K display which of course
includes Apple's own Pro display xdr
now the 11-inch Pro as it says on the 10
has an 11 inch screen 0.1 inch bigger
than what you get on the air or the 10th
gen iPad that's not really a big deal
what is a bigger deal is it's a bit
brighter 600 nits of SDR versus 500 nits
on the air but that's nothing compared
to the screen you get on the 12.9 inch
pro this is bloody gorgeous and actually
it's the same screen basically as you
get on a MacBook Pro because uniquely to
the biggest and of course the most
expensive iPad is this mini LED screen
which not only gives us much better
contrast close to OLED levels of Inky
blacks and Rich colors albeit with a
fair amount of blooming in some cases
but you can see particularly with the
black bars around a video or movie just
look at the difference
but wait there's more because the mini
LED screen also boosts the brightness to
a thousand nits in SDR and a peak of
1600 in HDR to be honest I had hoped the
mini LED screen of the 12 9 would find
its way onto the 11 with this year's
refresh but sadly not and so I think
that leaves the 11 inch pro in a bit of
a weird space to somewhat mitigate the
higher price of these Pros they do come
with 128 gigs of storage as standard and
there's also a whopping two terabyte
option if you really do have very deep
pockets and then of course you've got
the usual 5G magic keyboard and pencil
options as well so aside from the size
the mini LED screen and of course also
the price the pros are essentially
identical but the question is is it
worth paying 350 pounds more which is
actually more than the price of the base
iPad by itself is it worth paying that
much more to get the 12.9 well in my
opinion if you're gonna go for a pro
model you may as well go for the proper
pro model yes it's very expensive but
chances are if you are buying one of
these you want that performance you want
that big screen size and perhaps it is
going to be a laptop replacement for you
so the bigger screen size not only makes
multitasking and Stage manager easier to
use but also the bigger magic keyboard
is a little bit more comfortable as well
and also once you go mini LED it's kind
of hard to go back downsides are the
pros well they are eye-watchingly
expensive it's also a case of
diminishing returns with their M2 Chip
yes it's more powerful but you're not
really going to see it very often
there's also just a lot of stuff that
you probably don't need I mean hover pen
Wi-Fi 6E very few people have 6E routers
how often are you going to use the ultra
wide lens and also remember the
Fantastic M2 MacBook Air is the same
price as the Pro 12 9 and that's before
you add the expensive magic keyboard
which actually if you can which actually
combined also makes it heavier than the
MacBook
and breathe let's wrap up let me tell
you which I think is the best iPad and
straight away out of the six I think
there's only really three that you
should consider and that is the base 9th
gen iPad iPad Air 5th gen a 12.9 I think
these three are the best options
although of course if you do want a
small iPad get the mini but actually and
I mentioned this at the beginning but I
reckon the best option is to get the
previous generation iPad and hopefully
save some money in most respects the
older 4th gen iPad Air is still better
than the new 10th gen iPad so an older
air or Pro could be a great option
unless you can make use of Apple's
pretty decent trading scheme and maybe
also if you're eligible for one of their
discounts like you're a student or a
teacher
but if I had to pick one of these
I reckon the best option is the iPad Air
yes it's a little pricey but it'll
probably last you forever and having an
M1 chip kind of underscores that this is
in the future iPads and not the older
ones with the a series chips but that's
just me what do you think which one of
these would you go for or none of the
above let me know in the comments below
thank you so much.
same games use the same productivity
tools and they all support the apple
pencil whether it's the first or the
second gen and they also all support
center stage with the front selfie
camera now of course performance will
vary higher end iPads are faster and in
a handful of cases like the upcoming
release of DaVinci Resolve or if you
want to use Apple's new stage manager
feature you'll need an iPad with an M1
or an M2 Chip to run it but 99 into the
time any app will run on any iPad number
two and this is the big question really
what are you going to be using it for
keep that in mind as I walk you through
the different models and we'll come back
to this at the end number three and
maybe the best iPad isn't actually one
of these it's definitely worth checking
out older or refurbished models as well
because specifically with the new iPad
10th gen.
the older 4th gen iPad Air is actually a
better bet than this and in some cases
cheaper however the flip side of the
argument is that these iPads will last
you a good five years they last a long
time so it's worth buying the best one
you can now so you can wait a little bit
longer to upgrade in the future number
four the extras this can jack up the
price of any iPad but it can also turn
them into almost laptop replacements
number five and if we're being honest no
one really needs an iPad you need your
phone you need your laptop but iPads are
nice in between us and for my money they
are the best tablets you can buy
although there are other options you've
got the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 plus if
you want a premium Android tablet at the
other end of the spectrum a really cheap
and cheerful Amazon Fire tablet is great
for kids or just basic tablet tasks or
if you want to run proper desktop
programs and want the more hybrid laptop
tablet experience definitely have a look
at the new Microsoft Surface Pro 9 which
is actually considerably cheaper than
the new iPad Pro 12.9 especially when
you're out on the keyboard and if you
don't already have a laptop and you're
kind of weighing up should I get an iPad
or a laptop
honestly my money would be on the laptop
I would get either an M1 or M2 air
having said all that the iPad does offer
a unique combination of a big
touchscreen long battery life great apps
and cameras a great range of accessories
and of course the incredibly slick iPad
OS 16 software all in a beautifully
crafted thin and light form factor
do I need one no but do I love using it
absolutely and obviously while this can
be a little confusing the benefit of
having six different uipaths to choose
from is hopefully there is something to
meet your needs and your budget so what
are the differences between them and
which should you go for well if you go
onto Apple's website there's a really
handy table showing the different
features and specs and there's also a
comparison tool and this is a really
simple way to see what you get with each
iPad but you've not come here for me to
tell you to go to a website and do your
own research you want to hear what I
think I hope so let's start with this
guy the cheapest one the iPad 9th
generation pros and cons while Pro it's
by far the cheapest iPad and as I say it
still runs all the same apps despite the
slightly slower a13 processor lots of
people also prefer having a physical
home button that they can press it's
also the only iPad with a headphone jack
which could be a big deal the 64 gigs of
storage is fine and it's also the same
as you get on the air which actually
costs twice as much it also supports the
first gen apple pencil and I think for
kids for schools even for the elderly
this is still a perfectly good iPad pad
downsides well it does look a bit like a
dinosaur compared to the other ones it's
the only one with this older somewhat
data design with these chunky bezels and
this physical home Touch ID button by
the way you don't actually have to use
that this does still support all the
gestures that you get on the other iPads
but it gives you another option this is
also the only iPad without stereo
speakers so the sound is very one-sided
also the screen isn't laminated so
there's a very slight gap between the
glass and the screen itself which I
don't think by itself is a real deal
breaker the cameras particularly the one
on the back aren't very good and also
the a13 chip inside here is the oldest
of the bunch although it's still pretty
capable and finally while the first gen
apple pencil is fine and functionally
the same as the Gen 2 in terms of
latency and responsiveness there's no
convenient wireless charging or magnetic
attachment but I'll tell you what I do
have a bit of a soft spot for this it's
by far the cheapest and the best value
for money if you just want a cheap and
cheerful iPad my little five-year-old
nephew loves to draw on this and play
educational games it's good to have a
headphone jack and if you add on a
pencil and a smart our keyboard all in
it's about 600 pounds which as you'll
come to see in a minute is actually
quite good value
okay let's move on to its younger
brother the brand new 10th generation
iPad which we thought would replace this
but instead Apple have just added a new
tier of iPad so what do you get for your
449 or 4.99 pounds well first you'll
have a pretty sharp intake of breath
because that's a lot of money for the
base iPad but then we are getting the
much more modern and refined design
touch IDs move to the power button and
the thinner bezels mean they squeeze in
a bigger 10.9 inch screen into a similar
overall footprint as the 9th gen and
with the four very snazzy new color
options this is a damn good looking
tablet lightning is out USBC is in so
charging and plugging in new accessories
is easier we also get stereo speakers
it's also the only iPad with this new
landscape orientation for the selfie
camera even the refresh Pros don't have
this and it makes so much more sense
than now you're centered in the frame of
your video calls lots of people asking
why is this the only one to have that
landscape orientation well I think the
answer is it doesn't support the apple
pencil 2 and on all the other ones
that's where the magnetic wireless
charging strip is that you attach the
pencil to so because this is still gen 1
pencil there's some room to spare for
this camera so hopefully that's
something we see in the other iPads next
year we also get the more powerful A14
chip which did make a difference to more
demanding games even giving me more
Graphics options and it also adds faster
Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 and if you go for
the mobile option which I probably
wouldn't really recommend on this iPad
you can now get 5G rather than 4G
Apple's also created a bespoke two-piece
magic keyboard folio case exclusively
for the 10th gen iPad which makes it
look and feel a lot like a Surface Pro
so yes this is a relatively big upgrade
over the 9th gen iPad but downsides well
it's a good deal more expensive and
functionally they basically do the same
thing also like this cheaper model the
screen is still not laminated we only
get first gen apple pencil support and
also the keyboard folio which is a very
Nifty design don't get me wrong I do
like it but it's
279 pounds it's more than half the price
of the bloody iPad itself which is
frankly ridiculous so without spoiling
my conclusion too much right now I think
this is the joint hardest iPad to
recommend
holy moly look at all that surf shark as
you may have guessed this video is very
kindly sponsored by surf shark VPN but
first why use subshot well as my
plethora of iPads illustrate it can help
you browse the web more safely you can
block ads and malware also one
subscription lets you use an unlimited
number of devices and there's an app for
pretty much everything and their unique
clean web tool helps keep you safe while
browsing plus it's handy to get around
region locked content especially when I
fancy a bit of us Netflix best of all
though there is a new November deal
where if you've entered the code Tech
chap at the checkout you can get 85 off
and three months extra for free and as
always there's a 30 day money back
guarantee I genuinely do use
surfsharkvpn all the time so why not
give it a try Okay moving up the price
ladder next up we have this little guy
the iPad Mini gen 6. and I love this
thing yes you have the argument that why
buy this if you already have a big
iPhone like a pro Max and that's fair
but it's still a significantly bigger
8.3 inch screen and as well as being the
lightest iPad I think this is is the
perfect size for reading gaming carrying
around all day and just being able to
use one-handed
and in many ways it is the little
brother of the iPad Air not quite the
same specs but we do have a very similar
screen that supports a wider P3 color
gamut it's laminated and also has this
anti-reflective coating which the 9th
and 10th gen iPads miss out on it's also
the sharpest screen of any iPad at 326
pixels per inch up from the 264 average
on the others although it's a fairly
Mana point we also get second gen apple
pencil support and also a slight bump in
performance with the a15 chip downsides
well it is smaller so you're not going
to get that big screen tablet iPad
experience and if you are going to use
this like a laptop replacement or you
can do multitasking it's a bit cramped
on this and particularly also keyboards
Apple doesn't sell a bespoke magic
keyboard for this because it's just too
small you can get separate Bluetooth
keyboards and ideally you want to use a
full size one because otherwise the keys
can be quite cramped I've also found the
battery isn't quite as good as the other
iPads if 10 hours is broadly the average
I'd say I get closer to 9 with the mini
but more simply if you want a small
tablet this is the one to get then we
have the iPad Air and at 669 pounds it's
a hundred more than the mini and also
170 more than the 10th gen iPad now the
area is really interesting because when
I made my last iPad buying guide about
six months ago now I kind of felt that
this didn't really have a place but
actually now with the refreshed uh pros
and also the new 10th gen iPad I think
it's coming to its own and actually I
think now this is one of the best
options the biggest upgrade is the M1
chip and in benchmarks it's quite a
significant Step Up in fact if we
compare all six of course the M2 in the
pros is still faster particularly in the
graphics department but the M1
represents the most significant upgrade
the M1 also comes with a media engine so
it's much faster for video editing and
which I presume is why only this and
also the pros with the M2 will support
the new DaVinci Resolve video editor
that's coming soon
similarly Apple's used stage magic
feature which adds a deeper level of
multitasking and gives you a slightly
more desktop feel to moving and resizing
apps is again only on the M1 and M2
pair that with a fantastic albeit very
expensive magic keyboard you've got the
USB 3.1 Port plus we have apple pencil 2
all together the air becomes a pretty
capable productivity Hub and almost
almost a laptop replacement
now to be honest with you in regular
day-to-day use you probably wouldn't
notice that much difference in speed
between the cheapest 9th gen iPad and
the air with that more powerful M1
simply because this is well firstly
still limited by those kind of slow iPad
OS animations but more importantly it's
also still at least 60 hertz only the
pros get that smoother 120 hertz and I
think overall there's a lot to like
about the air there's not a whole lot to
complain about except for being well a
little bit pricey accessories are also
more expensive and also as I say not
really feeling the benefits of the M1
most of the time
okay four down two to go still with me
let's talk about the iPad Pro 11.
and the iPad Pro 12.9 these have just
been refreshed as well although to be
honest it's not a particularly exciting
upgrade we have the M2 Chip which takes
the already ludicrously fast M1 and
makes it well even more ludicrously fast
with a roughly 10 faster processor 30 to
35 faster graphics and also a 40 faster
neural engine for all that AI Wizardry
the Pro Models also have more RAM either
8 or 16 gigs of the stuff but honestly I
would be impressed if you ever really
need this kind of performance unless
you're doing some intense 4K video
editing 3D rendering or some bespoke
Medical Imaging maybe or perhaps you
just want to max out Genji impact and
any kind of frame drop is just not
acceptable so they're faster and also
they're the only iPads to get the new
Wi-Fi 6E support that's six gigahertz
Spectrum although of course you will
need a 60 router or router for my
American friends to take advantage of
that and also get ready to be amazed
because with the new Pros the apple
pencil can now hover above the screen
which gives you a little preview of
where your pencil is or what it's going
to do although only a handful of apps
like pixel made 2 and a few of Apple's
own supported and also Samsung's had
this for what like a billion years now
we also get Bluetooth 5.3 and also smart
hdr4 for the photo so the camera is a
little bit better it's a pretty
underwhelming refresh but that doesn't
take away from the fact that these are
still the best and most powerful and
most versatile iPads you can buy because
while the iPad Air is very capable and
obviously has the M1 chip the most
noticeable upgrade going with one of the
pros is that higher 120 hertz Pro motion
refresh rate every swipe and scroll
feels smoother and games that support
120 hertz feel so much faster and
perhaps more importantly for any Keen
designer drawer or doodler it makes the
pencil feel much more responsive design
wise the pros are very similar to the
air although they forego the fun colors
in favor of well a beefier camera system
for a start we have this Ultra wide lens
and also a lidar sensor for better
augmented reality although I mostly use
it for taking more accurate measurements
and it can also improve focusing in low
light portrait shots it's a nice extra
but not something you use that often
also whereas all other iPads use Touch
ID the Pro Models get face ID thanks to
the true depth camera the pros also get
much better sounding quad speakers which
are genuinely Epic
and also the USBC Port has been upgraded
to usb4 so you can actually connect this
up to a 6K display which of course
includes Apple's own Pro display xdr
now the 11-inch Pro as it says on the 10
has an 11 inch screen 0.1 inch bigger
than what you get on the air or the 10th
gen iPad that's not really a big deal
what is a bigger deal is it's a bit
brighter 600 nits of SDR versus 500 nits
on the air but that's nothing compared
to the screen you get on the 12.9 inch
pro this is bloody gorgeous and actually
it's the same screen basically as you
get on a MacBook Pro because uniquely to
the biggest and of course the most
expensive iPad is this mini LED screen
which not only gives us much better
contrast close to OLED levels of Inky
blacks and Rich colors albeit with a
fair amount of blooming in some cases
but you can see particularly with the
black bars around a video or movie just
look at the difference
but wait there's more because the mini
LED screen also boosts the brightness to
a thousand nits in SDR and a peak of
1600 in HDR to be honest I had hoped the
mini LED screen of the 12 9 would find
its way onto the 11 with this year's
refresh but sadly not and so I think
that leaves the 11 inch pro in a bit of
a weird space to somewhat mitigate the
higher price of these Pros they do come
with 128 gigs of storage as standard and
there's also a whopping two terabyte
option if you really do have very deep
pockets and then of course you've got
the usual 5G magic keyboard and pencil
options as well so aside from the size
the mini LED screen and of course also
the price the pros are essentially
identical but the question is is it
worth paying 350 pounds more which is
actually more than the price of the base
iPad by itself is it worth paying that
much more to get the 12.9 well in my
opinion if you're gonna go for a pro
model you may as well go for the proper
pro model yes it's very expensive but
chances are if you are buying one of
these you want that performance you want
that big screen size and perhaps it is
going to be a laptop replacement for you
so the bigger screen size not only makes
multitasking and Stage manager easier to
use but also the bigger magic keyboard
is a little bit more comfortable as well
and also once you go mini LED it's kind
of hard to go back downsides are the
pros well they are eye-watchingly
expensive it's also a case of
diminishing returns with their M2 Chip
yes it's more powerful but you're not
really going to see it very often
there's also just a lot of stuff that
you probably don't need I mean hover pen
Wi-Fi 6E very few people have 6E routers
how often are you going to use the ultra
wide lens and also remember the
Fantastic M2 MacBook Air is the same
price as the Pro 12 9 and that's before
you add the expensive magic keyboard
which actually if you can which actually
combined also makes it heavier than the
MacBook
and breathe let's wrap up let me tell
you which I think is the best iPad and
straight away out of the six I think
there's only really three that you
should consider and that is the base 9th
gen iPad iPad Air 5th gen a 12.9 I think
these three are the best options
although of course if you do want a
small iPad get the mini but actually and
I mentioned this at the beginning but I
reckon the best option is to get the
previous generation iPad and hopefully
save some money in most respects the
older 4th gen iPad Air is still better
than the new 10th gen iPad so an older
air or Pro could be a great option
unless you can make use of Apple's
pretty decent trading scheme and maybe
also if you're eligible for one of their
discounts like you're a student or a
teacher
but if I had to pick one of these
I reckon the best option is the iPad Air
yes it's a little pricey but it'll
probably last you forever and having an
M1 chip kind of underscores that this is
in the future iPads and not the older
ones with the a series chips but that's
just me what do you think which one of
these would you go for or none of the
above let me know in the comments below
thank you so much.
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