Apple iPad 2020 review: faster and more familiar

The new 2020 edition of the iPad, now in its eighth generation, is still an iPad. It’s great for iPad stuff: watching movies, reading, surfing the web, editing photos, etc. Starting at $ 329 for a 32GB version, it’s a remarkable deal.

In recent years, Apple has made a relentless effort to get the iPad to overcome the old criticisms that it is “just a great iPhone.” It has become more of a computer, capable of performing tasks that were previously the exclusive domain of laptops.

So the thing about the “iPad stuff” is there’s more now: more things you’d like an iPad to accomplish, even the lowest-tier iPad. Although this iPad with its new A12 Bionic processor is still legitimately cool, some parts are starting to feel stuck in the past. It’s great, but some of its limitations are starting to take its toll.

ipad hardware

The 8th generation iPad has not changed from the last generation. It still has a 10.2-inch screen that looks great even though it doesn’t have some of the more high-tech features of more expensive iPads. If you’ve used an iPad Pro and are concerned about things like ProMotion or a laminated display, you are not here yet.

Neither does the design of the iPad Pro, it has only reached the Air. That means this iPad still has insanely large bezels on the top and bottom. It makes the iPad feel a bit out of step with the rest of the devices and tablets you’ll see in 2020, where bezels are the exception rather than the rule.

Touch ID is still on the large circular fingerprint sensor, which is as satisfying as ever to click. There is also a headphone jack, and I really think that’s an important feature for this particular device. Apple wants to bring the iPad into classrooms, and the idea of ​​trying to hang up dozens of Lightning or Bluetooth headphones sounds like a nightmare.

Because Apple keeps the same design, that means it keeps the Lightning connector too. I think we’ve reached the point where I can safely call that a bug. USB-C is no longer something that’s reserved just for professionals – it’s in the iPad Air and all Android phones regardless of price, and it’s also in every Chromebook Apple is trying to replace in classrooms.

I understand the hassles and problems of USB-C, and I also understand that the cost of switching from Lightning to USB-C is not trivial. But now it’s the standard, and the iPad should adapt. I believe the same about the iPhone, by the way, but I realize that the switching costs are even higher than for the iPad.

The iPad has a couple of cameras, but there is nothing to get excited about. They are better than what you’ll find on competing tablets, but very hard to match. find Competitor tablets for the iPad in this price range. For me, the most remarkable thing about the cameras is that the front is in the wrong place: on the side in landscape mode.

If you have the iPad connected via its smart connector to a keyboard, it will be in landscape mode. That means your camera is off on the left side rather than the top center, making video conferencing awkward.

Finally, the same hardware means that the iPad has the same support for the Apple Pencil, the first-generation $ 99 Apple Pencil, I should point out, with its weird Lightning charging connector and easy-to-lose cap. I can see a little lag when using it compared to what I get on an iPad Pro, but not enough to say it’s a problem.

It’s several harsh things I’ve said about iPad hardware, so let me emphasize the essential context: it’s an iPad! That means it is thin, light and strong. The fact that Apple achieved this design quality many generations ago does not detract from the current quality.

iPad specifications

The only major change Apple made with this generation of iPad was switching to a new processor, the A12 Bionic. It adds a graphical boost and a neural engine for some AI tasks, but to me its importance is that the iPad still feels fast overall and that it will continue to be a computer that will last you for years.

You can get it with cellular connectivity, but if you spend the extra $ 130 on that, I think you should probably consider jumping into the Air.

But the biggest spec on the iPad is storage in the $ 329 base model: an embarrassingly low 32GB. That is simply not enough. Even the iPhone SE is a minimum of 64GB, which is what this iPad should have. For more, you should move to the $ 429 model, which is 128GB.

I say this knowing full well that many Chromebooks in this price class come with an equally miserable amount of storage. But the difference is that the iPad has a massive library of insanely good apps that need to be stored locally on the tablet. Chromebooks are designed to work primarily with web applications and cloud storage. Locally stored Android apps aren’t that important to them yet.

If you get the base model with 32GB, expect to manage your storage a lot more. Photos, videos, games, and apps take up a lot of space and you’ll reach your limit pretty quickly.

iPadOS

The new version of Apple’s tablet software, iPadOS 14, is not a major change from last year. The biggest new feature to me is Scribble, which allows you to enter text using Apple Pencil directly into text fields. It’s neat, but only good for small snippets of writing. For the rest, use Apple Notes, which has excellent handwriting recognition.

As a tablet operating system, iPadOS has a couple of quirks, but overall it’s really solid. It feels fast and fluid, and once you get the hang of split screen, you can do a lot of things at once. The iPad also has a huge library of apps, most of which work well in split-screen view. I really enjoy using iPadOS, and I can do pretty much all my work on an iPad, including this very inexpensive one.

But it also has two critical flaws that I am less and less willing to forgive.

The first is that it is a very annoying device for video conferencing. If your child is on “Zoom School,” know that Zoom, Meet, or any other group video calling app on the iPad is frustrating. Unless that app is the most important full screen app, your video gets cut off. So if you slide a window or even switch the split screen, everyone will know that you are doing something else in another window.

The biggest problem I have with iPadOS is that it doesn’t support multiple users.

If you want to give your iPad to your child or someone else in your home, you are giving your entire digital life. There’s no getting around it: no kids mode, no blocking certain apps behind a password or Touch ID, nothing. Compare that to other computing platforms: Mac, Windows, Chrome OS, Linux, many Android phones, heck, even Apple TV support multi-user.

The iPad does not. Not every household can afford to buy multiple iPads, so sharing one in a household should be easier. Amazon’s Fire tablets don’t compare to the iPad in terms of app selection or hardware quality, but they do have Excellent options to turn them into shared family devices.

Even if it stipulates that everyone should get the $ 429 128GB model, the 8th-gen iPad is a very good deal. Apple’s keyboard costs $ 159 on top of that, but less expensive third-party options now exist.

As I use it, I am continually impressed with how well the iPad works and how much I can do with it. No other computer makes it so easy or fun to go from editing photos to playing games to relaxing and watching Netflix. And while there is a bit of a learning curve, even this iPad can be used to do real work.

This iPad is very good at the traditional “iPad Things”. But the list of things we ask of our iPads since we are stuck at home is growing. The iPad stuff includes using Zoom. The iPad stuff should involve using the same charger that we use for our laptops. IPad stuff involves sharing the device with members of our family or even roommates.

That’s the thing with iPads – they’re great, but they could be so much more.

Photograph by Dieter Bohn / The Verge