This is the new iPad (2022): a necessary renovation but that goes up in price

The iPad is Apple's cheapest tablet, the entry model of a device that has become an icon.

Yes, there are many tablets on the market, and many at very good prices, but a quick look at the catalog of games and apps in the Apple AppStore is enough to realize that we are talking about a device that plays in a different league.

But for this 2022, I bring

.

Apple's cheapest tablet is now a little less.

This year it has undergone a design change and looks more like the iPad Air released in 2020 (and updated with an M1 processor this year).

It is a good example of design to follow but it also means that

.

Much of the blame rests with a stronger dollar (every iPad, even the previous model that remains on sale, has gone up in price), but it's a blow to a tablet that's otherwise taking steps in the right direction. adequate.

Almost always.

YOUR FACE IS FAMILIAR TO ME

The new iPad finally does away with what little remained of the original tablet design.

It loses

and TouchID, the fingerprint sensor, happens to be on the power button.

This allows the screen to grow and stretch almost to the edges.

Like the rest of the iPads, it

it, which is just as thick as the iPad Air's (slightly thicker than the Pro's).

This means that it goes from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches and grows in resolution as well, although it's not as advanced as the Air's screen and more prone to reflections.

It also loses the Lightning connector and uses a

.

Its processor is an A14 Bionic, which is the one used by the 2020 iPhones.

With this A14 you have power to spare for just about anything you ask an iPad to do, from gaming to 4K video editing.

It's not going to do it as fast as an iPad Pro, but considering it's the entry-level model of the tablet, it's surprising.

The autonomy, in addition, remains practically intact despite the increase in screen and power, with

.

THE FUTURE

The most interesting thing about this iPad, the truth, is that despite the fact that it is the entry model, it seems to give a clue as to where the future of the range is headed.

This is the first iPad to change the position of the video conferencing camera, which is now on the side edge when held vertically.

As Apple has been adding accessory keyboards, mouse support, and desktop-inspired features from MacOS to iPadOS,

.

The iPad can still be used vertically, of course, and it is the most comfortable way to use it when you want to read a document or a website, but there are times, such as when making a video conference or working, when landscape mode it is more logical.

The new camera has higher resolution, too, and the Center Stage feature, which lets you frame the person speaking even when they're moving.

In general, it is comparable to the one that the iPad Pro now has, although in a much more logical position, really, and without FaceID.

NOTES ON ACCESSORIES

In addition to the camera, the iPad has also changed the position of the proprietary connector for keyboards.

Now it is on one of the sides and thanks to it Apple has created a much more versatile cover, the Magic Keyboard Folio.

Like the Magic Keyboard on the iPad Pro and iPad Air, it's

, but it comes in two parts.

One is a magnetic back cover that includes a kickstand, the other is the keyboard itself that attaches magnetically to the bottom of the tablet when used horizontally.

This set gives the iPad a versatility that the most expensive models in the catalog do not have.

When you want to watch a movie, for example, simply leave the magnetic cover on with the kickstand.

If it is necessary to work, the keyboard is added and that's it.

The price to pay (

, which is quite a lot) is that when you close the keyboard on the screen, it can dance a bit due to the flexible support it has as a hinge.

The keyboard is also more complete than the Magic Keyboard, with a row of function keys.

Although fully unfolded the set takes up more space on a table than the Magic Keyboard, it's much more interesting as an accessory and I expect future iPad Pro and iPad Air designs to include the connector on the side for a similar accessory.

But on this iPad, one of lime and one of sand.

As I've pointed out before, the tablet ditches the Lightning port in favor of USB-C.

Trouble is, it's

, which was usually charged and synced using the tablet's Lightning connector, comically plugged in like a lollipop stick.

With the new iPad it is not possible.

For those who already have an Apple Pencil, Apple sells an adapter for 10 euros that transforms the Lightning connection into a USB-C port for wired charging.

It can be charged by connecting a USB-C cable between iPad and Pencil or directly from a power adapter with a USB-C port.

This situation is not as strange as it may seem at first.

The first-generation Apple Pencils already included an adapter for wired charging, although it was a male Lightning connection adapter to a female Lightning port.

Thanks to this adapter, the pencil could be charged, in addition to the aforementioned "lollipop" mode, using any Lightning cable.

Now the adapter that will be included in the box is USB-C.

But this solution of an adapter and the jump to always using a cable

, almost as if Apple had forgotten until the last minute about the problem that the jump to USB-C would pose for this apparently quite popular accessory.

Ideally, the first-generation Apple Pencil would have been redesigned with a USB-C connector that would allow it to be charged in the same way that the Lightning version could be charged before, and that eliminates the need for a cable or adapter. or make the leap to the second generation Apple Pencil, which is magnetically charged.

By the way,

.

It was understandable when it was connected directly to the tablet because it was physically impossible to use it, but it seems absurd now that it is connected via a cable.

It is, along with the higher price, perhaps the only stumbling block of a tablet that, finally, lives up to the rest of the iPad range.

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