Apple?s 7th generation iPad
When we?re all hearing and talking about the future next-gen iPad Pro and even more recently, the iPad Air 4th generation/iPad Mini 6th generation that Apple is supposedly going to refresh, it?s very easy to forget Apple?s most underrated product and most popular iPad which people ultimately buy: The 10.2″ iPad. Apple?s most popular iPad because of the insane price: $330! Those who buy this tablet don?t care about the improved specs on the iPad Air and the ?PRO? features on the iPad Pro. A simple and working iPad will do. This particular product is a compelling tablet on the market, but its in need of some upgrades to go with in 2021. Which is why we?re going to discuss the current state and the specs that need to be taken care of, and its next debut.
The Good Place
The present-day status of this iPad is a tablet that has a starting price of $330! Wow, what might you get in a price like this. Well, for starters, has a 10.2? Retina display, an Apple Silicon A10 Fusion processor chip, Touch ID, max storage of 128GB, and support for generation Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard.
Despite being old, in a video made by a reliable Youtube channel ?Max Tech?, the A10 fusion chip is able to outperform the 2020 Surface Go 2?s Intel Pentium Gold in Geekbench 5. The 2019 10.2″ results in a Single-core performance of 769 and a Multi-score of 1404 points, whereas the Surface Go 2’s (2020) Single-core of a comparably low 417, and a Multi-core score of again, a low score of 970 points.
Touch ID, one of the best ways to lock and unlock your device with a touch of a finger and faster than writing your password. To this day, this hardware is still relatively new.
Support for keyboards to utilize Apple?s Smart Connecter to achieve great lengths of writing as if this was a laptop.
Apple?s very own first-generation Apple Pencil, a wireless stylus pen, to use to recreate art on a iPad with close to zero lag.
What the Heck, Apple!
Currently, I have the option of buying this wonderful piece of tech for free, but I?m holding off. But why, I mean if its such a great deal. Well, I currently am using the 2016 9.7″ iPad Pro to this day and if you pit this iPad against this tablet, whoo what an easy win for such an old tablet. My current iPad has a A9 bionic chip, whereas the 10.2″ has a A10 fusion chip. Huh? The A10 fusion was built four years ago and sure the A9 is inferior to the A10 Fusio. But, for a ?new? iPad on Apple to be selling with a four-year old chip is preposterous. Again, sure it works but for how long will it? The beauty about iPads is that they are able to live for a long time such as 4?5 years. Will that serve a good life in the long run? On top of that, the 2016 Pro has True Tone, fully laminated display, anti-reflective coating, and some insignificant more! The iPad has none of these features. It?s a iPad Pro to see such little improvement and ?evolution? makes no sense.
So, what should happen
The best way to put this iPad to the right track is to make it somewhat like the iPad Air 3 (2019) model and at least better than the 2016 iPad Pro. How so though?
Processor
With all of the leaks and rumors present about the iPad Air 4, for the iPad Air to grow, it could a superior chip, the A13 bionic chip found even on the iPhone SE. From that, the door could for an A12 chip for the iPad 8th generation as A12 is below A13, thus not cannibalize iPad Air sales. The A12 is relatively on two year old yet powerful and would be more than enough of a upgrade for this entry level device and would provide a long life. The budget iPad basically takes the left-overs of all the other iPads.
Display/Design
Display wise, this tablet could slim down those bezels for a more appealing look. Also, it may be high time to incorporate True Tone, which automatically adjusts the display?s color balance to match the environment you?re in. From experience, I love it. Another change could be adding anti-reflective coating. Reflectivity my friend will positively annoy and anguish you. Lastly, the main complaint for almost everyone when buying this device is the fact that the display
Design wise. Simple: same design. If we?ve tuned in all of the rumors that leakers and analysts are giving, there have been so little leaks close to nothing about this iPad. Because Apple isn?t going to drastically re-image this tablet.
Storage
The $400 iPhone SE (2020) is able to get 64 gigabytes of storage. This iPad is only around $50 cheaper. Heck, even the new Pixel 4A comes at a price of $350 and manages to receive 128 gigabytes of storage! With that said, we should be able to get at least 64 gigabytes of storage for the starting option. This much of a gain can make a difference. Instead of only 32 gigabytes for a long-term device. The 2018 11″ iPad Pro came with 64 gigabytes at first, then upgraded to 128 gigabytes for the same price. Lets do that again!
Release Date?
Apple has been refreshing this iPad every year since 2017 and I don?t think they?d like to skip this year. The expectation is that the next iPad will be launched in September or later in autumn this year. However, it could be delayed because of the pandemic. Also, it?s likely that Apple will unveil it alongside the iPhone 12 series.
The current 10.2″ iPad was announced in September 2019. Bear in mind that iPad launches have been sporadic unlike the iPhone. They are usually launched in the spring or autumn time, with an exception of one in June. The list below has some iPads from the past.
March (Spring)
- iPad Pro 9.7″: March 2016
- iPad Pro 12.9″ (2020): March 2020
- iPad Pro 11″ (2020): March 2020
June
- iPad Pro 12.9″ (2017): June 2017
- iPad Pro 10.5″: June 2017
September & October (Autumn)
- iPad Pro 12.9″ (2018): October 2018
- iPad Pro 11″: October 2018
- iPad 10.2″ : September 2019
Other than the iMac that was rolled out on August 4th, I wouldn?t expect anything to show up this month as September and October are only a few blocks away. After WWDC (2020), the next event will be the iPhone event. These events occurred in autumn such as the the iPhone 7 in September 2016, the iPhone X series in October 2017, and the iPhone 11 series in last September WITH the 10.2″ iPad. Because this device was released last year, Apple doesn?t like to keep products that are over a year old. Thus, this iPad?s next debut will be in September event.
Reliable Apple Leaker ?Jon Prosser? who has successfully leaked the iPhone SE information and many more, tweeted out on July 29th with the following tweet.
Twitter- @jon_prosser.
We can notice the ?New iPads? statement as it is plural. This shows that obviously more than one iPad will be refreshed including this version.
His leak turned out to be true as during Apple?s Q3 2020 earnings call, Apple?s CFO Luca Maestri confirmed that the release of the iPhone 12 will be slightly later than usual. An Apple news channel, ?9to5mac? wrote an article that captured the following quote below on what Maestri said.
?I said in my remarks that a year ago we launched new iPhone in late September. And I said that this year, the supply of the new product will be a few weeks later than that.?
This however isn?t so simple. What this actually means is that Apple will hold their most likely online iPhone event in September which Apple tends to do, but won?t release the products until a later date. This is because of the heavy impact the pandemic has had on the supply chain. We?ve seen this example with the iPhone X as they launched it in September even though they weren?t able to ship that iPhone until November. Thats the most logical explanation where history repeats itself.
Komiya
Another leaker by the name of ?Komiya? tweeted out the two possible dates of the event. The 8th or the 22nd. And believe it or not, this seems reasonable. The second week of September is when Apple likes to announce all their new stuff. So if the pandemic was non-existent, it would most likely be on September 8th. However, because time of filming the event and the costs to have a very high quality online event, it could be delayed further in the month. Similar to how WWDC 2020 was on June 22nd this year though typically they happen at the beginning of the month. The same concept applies here. Either Apple won?t let the pandemic ruin their tradition and keep it on the 8th, or delay it to a later date.
So, with both leakers logically correct and with confirmation from the CFO, it seems that the iPhone 12 will be shipped in October alongside with iPad 8th generation.
In short, if you are on the market for said product, wait two months as of today and you will get some more promising features, all under $350. And you will be happy with your new iPad 8th generation!
About Me: I?m a twelve-year-old funny weird geek who?s passionate about life, electronics, and other stuff.
Other TECH articles written by me:
- 2020 13″ Macbook Pro ($1,799)- Review- The Good, The Bad, The Mac
- Trust Intel Macs or Trust ARM Macs
