Apple’s latest iPad delivers high value for a low price relative to its brethren, just like the iPhone SE. That’s kind of the whole point of the device.
It lets Apple compete more effectively with Chromebooks, Windows tablets, and Android tablets. And it lets people use a full-sized iOS-flavored tablet without breaking the bank. Which is pretty cool.
This thing doesn’t have the best performance, display, camera, or sound that you can get on an iPad. That doesn’t matter. You’re getting a solid iPad at $329. Cool. Accessible. For lots of people. It’s what Apple should have done maybe five years ago. But Apple decided to wait before checking if a lower price could make the iPad more popular.
I suspect the strategy will work. It’s good enough, which, I think, is all Apple needs for lots of people to buy it.
Maybe my favorite part of the 2017 iPad is the battery life. Using this thing for 16 hours, on and off, on one charge is really nice. (Apple claims you can use it for browsing, watching videos, or listening to music for up to 10 hours.) It’s enough for a tablet, considering that, at least today, a tablet is a secondary device, and you usually have a computer or a phone to fall back on when the battery dies. It just went on and on. The 32.4Wh battery will take a few hours to charge back up, but that’s in line with previous iPads.
Image Credit: Jordan Novet/VentureBeat
Thanks to the A9 chip first introduced in the 2015 iPhone 6S…