Last week, there were some yawns produced when it was reported that Apple would announce a new budget iPad. However, the new 2018 iPad, which starts out at $329 and features Apple’s high-powered A10 Fusion chip, has just been announced and has received very positive reviews. CNET gives the new iPad four-and-a-half stars.
“The 2018 entry-level iPad supports the Apple Pencil for art work and annotation, and adds a faster A10 processor. iOS continues to offer the best overall selection of free and paid apps on affordable tablets.”
They don’t like the fact that it doesn’t have the bigger and better screen that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro provides. CNET also noted that with the purchase of the Apple Pencil as well as other necessary accessories, the price of the new iPad equals that of a laptop.
Time ‘s Lisa Eadicicco thinks the new iPad is perfect for those who don’t need the iPad Pro . She noted that the iPad Pro, unlike the new budget iPad provides an updated A10X Fusion processor, includes Apple’s TrueTone technology, has a sharper camera, and can shoot 4K videos. But that’s not something that everybody wants or needs.
The new iPad has been getting a great response on Twitter.
Given that the new iPad Pro is expected to be announced in June, many people are holding out and expect to buy an iPad Pro that looks a lot like the iPhone X. Cult of Mac predicts that the updated iPad Pro models could come in June. The website claims that the new iPad will have slimmer bezels (which may make it more difficult to handle), Face ID, a deleted Home button, and — perhaps — a dual-lens camera.
There were rumors that, like the iPhone X, the new iPad Pro would include an OLED screen. However, according to Bloomberg , this probably won’t happen. In the first place, OLED screens are more difficult to produce in mass qualities than LCDs. They are also a lot more expensive. And it would be extremely difficult for Samsung, which is the only display maker that can produce new OLED screens for the iPads, to produce the new screens due to different constraints.
This doesn’t bother iPad Pro fans since the current LCD screens are top-notch, produce colors accurately, and don’t produce the same kind of backlight bleed that LCD screens did just five years ago. Some even believe that Apple’s latest True-Tone LCD screens are better than OLED screens.
One has to give Apple a lot of credit for making the iPad relevant again. For several years, iPad sales were on the decline since smartphones were getting bigger and many professional users turned to the Microsoft Surface Pro. But since the release of the iPad Pro in 2017, things have been changing. Let’s hope that 2018’s iPad Pro continues to help make the tablet relevant again.