Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ Apple Reimagines the Basic iPad for 2022 Josh Centers For years, we have celebrated the basic iPad as one of the best values in Apple's lineup. For $329, and often on sale for less, you could buy an iPad sufficient for most tasks you'd want an iPad for: reading, Web browsing, and scribbling with an Apple Pencil. The only downside was the increasingly dated design with thick bezels and a now old-fashioned Home button. Now Apple has completely reimagined the iPad. The Home button is no more and its overall design brings it into harmony with its siblings. But with all change comes good and bad. Let's start with the good: * A modern design in four bright colors: blue, pink, silver, and yellow. * A 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display. * The first-ever landscape FaceTime camera in an iPad. * 5G connectivity on cellular models. * USB-C instead of Lightning. * Fast Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. * The new Magic Keyboard Folio accessory with a built-in trackpad. And now for the bad: * The new line-up starts at $449, $120 more than prior iterations. * The Magic Keyboard Folio costs $249, making the total cost nearly $700 if you want to use it as a laptop replacement. * Bafflingly, it still only supports the first-generation Apple Pencil. * Since the first-generation Apple Pencil connects to the iPad via Lightning, you now need a special USB-C to Apple Pencil adapter, which is a separate $9 purchase. You'll need an extra dongle to connect an Apple Pencil. In other news, iPadOS 16 has an official launch date: 24 October 2022. iPad Specs The new iPad has a fresh design and a higher price tag, but how does it compare in terms of specs? Here's a quick rundown of the [1]new iPad's specs and how it compares to last year's model: * 10.9-inch display vs. 10.2-inch in the 2021 model. * A14 Bionic processor vs. the A13 Bionic in the 2021 model. The A14 Bionic was introduced with the iPhone 12. * Ultra Wide 12 MP rear camera with 4K video recording at up to 60 fps. That's a big improvement over last year's model, which had an 8 MP rear camera that only recorded in 1080p at up to 30 fps. * Ultra Wide 12MP front camera with 1080p video recording at up to 60 fps, just like last year. * Touch ID built into the top button like the iPad Air and iPad mini. * Up to 10 hours of Web surfing over Wi-Fi or 9 hours over cellular on a full charge, or about the same as last year. * Support for nano-SIM as well as eSIM. * Storage: 64 or 256 GB, the same as last year. The USB-C connector opens up a host of possibilities, like connecting USB-C thumb drives and hubs. The USB-C connector also makes it easier to connect to external displays. The iPad can connect directly to a USB-C display and, with the right adapters, works with DisplayPort, DVI, and HDMI, and displays at up to 4K at 30 Hz or 1080p at 60 Hz. Pricing and Availability The [2]10.9-inch iPad is available to order now and arrives 26 October 2022. It starts at $449 for the 64 GB model and $599 for the 256 GB model. 5G cellular adds another $150 to the price. Tack on $249 for the Magic Keyboard Folio and $9 if you want to connect a first-generation Apple Pencil. (The Apple Pencil remains $99 and that doesn't include the USB-C adapter.) Which iPad to Buy? The base iPad is still the cheapest in the lineup, but the drastic price increase over last year makes the buying decision harder. For an extra $150 you can get the iPad Air with an M1 processor and Stage Manager support in the upcoming iPadOS 16. It also makes the iPad mini somewhat more compelling, since it's now only $50 more and supports the second-generation Apple Pencil. The one advantage the base iPad has over the rest of the lineup is a landscape front-facing camera, but that's offset by an Apple Pencil connection that's even more awkward than before. While it's no doubt an improvement in many ways, the higher price and requirement of a dongle to connect an Apple Pencil make it less of a home run than its predecessors. References Visible links 1. https://www.apple.com/ipad-10.9/specs/ 2. https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-ipad/ipad/256gb-blue-wifi Hidden links: 3. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2022/10/10th-generation-iPad-scaled.jpg 4. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2022/10/Magic-Keyboard-Folio.jpg 5. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2022/10/Apple-Pencil-dongle.jpeg .