Tech Review: iPad Gen 10: Sleeker, slimmer, smarter

The iPad is Apple’s entry-level tablet computer, below the iPad Pro and iPad Air.

In the new iPad Gen 10, Apple has removed the physical home button and made the display far larger at 10.9 inches versus the 10.2-inch display of its Gen 9 iPads.

The display resolution has also been improved to 2360x1640 pixels from Gen 9’s 2160x1620 pixels.

The new iPad is also just 7mm in thickness and weighs a mere 477 grams compared to Gen 9’s 7.5mm and 487g.

Now that the new iPad no longer has the home button, its Touch ID is integrated with the power button at the top right edge, which is very convenient.

The new basic iPad also does not use Apple’s own lightning port, but the more universal USB-C port. This means that charging the iPad is far easier if you happen to have lost the cable that came with it.

The iPad Gen 10 is powered by Apple’s A14 Bionic with Neural Engine, which delivers 20% better performance than Gen 9. The A14 Bionic has six cores – two performance cores for handling heavy tasks and four high-efficiency cores for handling everyday tasks.

The A14 Bionic’s four-core graphic engine also delivers a 10% boost in performance for extensive graphic tasks like photo and video editing and game playing.

The Neural Engine in A14 has 16 cores, twice more than the A13 Bionic chip. The new Neural Engine can compute 11 trillion operations per second, so the machine learning tasks of the new iPad are 80% faster. The tasks include Live Text recognition in photos and videos, subject lifting from photos and face recognition.

The A14 Bionic chip uses the 5-nanometre process technology, compared to 7nm of A13, so the new chip uses less power. With less power use, you can use the iPad with peace of mind as the battery can last for about 10 hours for general tasks.

While testing, I found the new iPad handled most tasks smoothly. Websites were rendered quickly and smoothly, while there were no performance hiccups with music and video files.

Its bright, high-resolution display is great for watching films streamed via Apple TV or YouTube. Plus, its two landscape stereo speakers expand the sound stage to make games and films more exciting.

I tried the popular Ragnarok Mobile game with a high graphic display setting and it ran smoothly.

The iPad Gen 10 comes with Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connection, compared to Gen 9’s Bluetooth 4.2. The upgraded Bluetooth 5.2 allows quick connection to the AirPods Pro earbuds. The sound quality was also impressive.

Gen 10’s cameras are also an improvement. Now the front camera is at the centre of the landscape edge, instead of on the vertical screen like in previous models. This means video calls offer a far better view of your chat partner. Plus, its location will ensure you are always looking at the camera while on FaceTime or recording clips.

Its back camera now has a 12-megapixel resolution with a brighter f/1.8 aperture lens, compared to the 8MP resolution and f/2.4 lens of Gen 9. The new iPad also lets you record videos at 4K resolution compared to Gen 9’s 1080p.

Like Gen 9, the new iPad supports Apple Pencil version 1, provided you have the USB-C adaptor.

The Apple Pencil opens new doors to creativity as with it you can handwrite notes, draw, sign documents, mark up PDF files or retouch photos with precision.

If you’re used to the more expensive Apple Pencil 2, you may find the earlier version a little unresponsive, but I found that it does the job perfectly well.

Several apps like Notes, Mail, Numbers and Keynote have also adapted to the Apple Pencil and there are plenty available in the App Store.

I found that when I used the Apple Pencil on Notes, the app converted my handwriting into text mostly correctly.

The new iPad runs on iOS 16 which comes with several improved features that allow you to conveniently share and communicate with friends and contacts.

For instance, its Messages app now lets you edit or unsend a message you have just sent. You can also “unread” a message if you want time to respond.

Another useful feature is the function that allows you to remove backgrounds in photos. This function is available in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look and Safari web browser. You simply tap on the subject, hold and a copy option will pop up for you to lift and paste the subject into another app.

The new iOS also allows you to pause videos on any frame that contains text so you can copy, translate, search or share the text.

The iPad can also be expanded with the new optional Magic Keyboard Folio that easily snaps to the Smart Connector on the left side of the iPad Gen 10 and turns it into a notebook.

The keyboard has large keys and is easy to use. There are also 14 function keys that allow you to quickly adjust the volume or display brightness among other things.

The trackpad is also fairly large and allows you to control the onscreen cursor like you would with a notebook computer.

The basic iPad Gen 10 with Wi-Fi and 64GB storage only retails for 17,900 baht, while the equivalent with Wi-Fi and cellular goes for 23,900 baht.

Key specs:

Operating system: iOS 16

Chip: A14 Bionic chip with 6-core CPU, 4-core graphics, 16-core Neural Engine

Cameras: 12MP f/1.8 back camera, 12MP ultrawide f/2.4 front camera

Microphones: Dual

Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.2

Cellular models: 5G, LTE, UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+

SIM card: Nano-SIM, eSIM

Battery: 28.6-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery

In the box: iPad, USB-C Charge Cable, 20W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter

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