Apple just released its new tablet called “the new iPad 9.7”. Sure this is the cheapest a new 9.7inch iPad has ever cost but don’t pop the champagne yet, a lot of corners have been cut to achieve at such a low price.
The screen has remained the same at 9.7 inches with a 1536*2048 resolution as other high end Apple tablets, but the True Tone Display functionality is no longer present. This feature ensured that colors are still accurate regardless of how dull or bright the screen was. Also, the anti-reflective coating that helped with outdoor legibility is also gone.
The processor has also been downgraded from the previous iPad, this time we have the Apple A9 which is a bit less powerful compared to the A9X used in the iPad Pro last year. Fortunately, the RAM has remained at 2GB.
Selfie camera is a mere 1.2 MP shooter that is only good for video chats but poor for photo taking. Luckily, the rear one is 8MP but has no flash, no 4K video recording and no Live Photos mode. Last year, the iPad Pro came with 4 speakers, this new one has gone for half of those.
The battery has been pegged to last 10 hrs just like other iPads. In case you use 4G, the longevity ends at 9hrs. Speaking of 4G, other iPads have “4G LTE Advanced”, but this new one settles for 4G LTE, it’s the slower and older variant.
From the announcement, it was clear that Apple has discontinued its iPad Air line. The line was characterized with super slim tablets with the last iPad Air 2 being only 6.1mm thin. At 7.5 mm thin, this new tablet has dropped the Air name and has gained some weight too.
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Apple also released red color versions of the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. Red Apple products are usually called Product(RED), they are special in that every purchase of them contributes the the Global Fund to support the HIV/AIDS programs. All their specs remain the similar to the non-red coated iPhones.
All in all, this new iPad is not a successor to the amazing iPad Pro from last year, it seems Apple wanted to appeal to the budget conscious market. The company has shaved off some features but it has retained the fundamental ones in order to lower the price. This is a smart move from Apple considering that tablet sales have really been dropping lately, the only wise play is to cut the cost to make this gadgets attractive again. I won’t be surprised if this new iPad 9.7 breaks sales records of the previous one.
