Hey guys, this is Vadim with Max Tech and today I’m gonna tell you why the 2018 iPad
is the best bang for the buck iPad yet!
But wait, don’t go and buy it just yet, I’ll explain why in just a minute.
First of all, it’s the first and only non-Pro iPad to support the Apple Pencil.
Previously, you’d have to spend at least $650 to get the cheapest iPad Pro, just to
use the Apple Pencil.
And even though the experience isn’t as nice as on the iPad Pro, with its laminated
display and ProMotion technology, you’re still getting a lot for your money.
For example, you’re still getting the same great design and build quality, decent speakers
and all the other bells and whistles.
It’ll do basically everything you want and expect an iPad to do, for a heck of a lot
less than other iPads, even less than the iPad Mini 4.
Most people want an iPad to do things like surf the web, do work for school, use the
apple pencil, use apps, watch movies, play games, and basic stuff like that.
The 2018 iPad, does all of those things, and it does them well.
Obviously nowhere near as well as any of the iPad Pros, but you’re saving half or more
of your cash.
The reality of it is that the iPad Pro is overkill for most people.
It offers tons of features and incredible amounts of power, but most people would actually
be better off saving some cash and going for the regular iPad, and trust me, they’ll
be extremely happy with it.
Let’s start with the display.
It’s 9.7” size is great for most uses, like reading an eBook, taking notes with the
Apple Pencil, watching YouTube videos or shows on Netflix and playing games.
It’s got better than 1080P resolution and it’s using IPS technology, so it offers
great viewing angles.
The size of the iPad itself is great for portability.
You can easily fit it
The speakers also sound pretty decent and they’re loud enough for most use cases.
The only downside is that there are only speakers on the bottom side of the iPad, so if you’re
watching something in landscape mode, it feels a bit weird for all the sound to come from
one end instead of true stereo like on the iPad Pros.
On the plus side, it’s still packing a headphone jack, unlike the 2018 iPad Pro, so it’s
easy to plug in a pair of stereo headphones.
In terms of performance, everything is pretty snappy, but definitely not as quick and smooth
as the iPad Pro, especially the newer models which come with ProMotion 120hz display technology.
Going from one of those models to the 9.7” iPads 60hz display makes every animation seem
a bit choppy, but you’ll never notice is if you haven’t used a newer iPad Pro.
Compared to some Android tablets, however, the performance sticks around and doesn’t
start to slow down after a few months.
Looking at raw performance, the iPad isn’t that much slower than the 2017 iPad Pro, especially
in single core tasks.
In multi-core, there’s a noticeable jump with the Pro, but the 9.7” iPads performance
is still impressive for its low price.
Graphics performance is where you’ll see the biggest difference, with more than double
the score on the 2017 10.5” Pro, and more than triple the score with the 2018 Pro.
With that big of a difference, many people have asked if the 9.7” iPad can play games
like Fortnite, so we tested it out.
We noticed it limits graphics quality to Medium and 30 frames per second, unlike the newer
iPad Pros that can run at high settings at 60 frames per second.
The nice thing is that you can connect a controller like the Steelseries Nimbus.
In game, there were some dropped frames and it wasn’t perfectly smooth but it was definitely
playable.
You could actually have an enjoyable experience playing Fortnite, so it should work pretty
well for almost any other game out there.
Now let’s talk about the cameras.
Honestly, the front-facing camera is horrible, so forget about taking selfies with it.
The rear camera isn’t too bad but it’s way behind any of the newer iPhones.
Finally, Apple pencil support is what makes this an iPad this cheap, really great.
Not only that, but the 9.7” iPad also supports the Logitech Crayon, which the iPad Pro doesn’t
support, and it’s also twice as cheap as the regular Apple Pencil.
The drawing and note-taking experience is much better on the newer iPad Pros since they
have ProMotion technology which reduces lag, along with the laminated display, but for
the low price of $329, it still works great on the iPad.
In terms of battery life, the iPad is pretty great, similar to the 10.5” iPad Pro, which
lasts around 8 hours straight while watching a video with brightness set to a pretty high
80%.
You’ll definitely get more than this since you won’t have the screen on all the time.
Overall, the 9.7” iPad is the perfect iPad for almost everyone.
It just does what you need it to do for a relatively cheap price.
In fact, it’s currently on sale for only $250 on Amazon.
We’ll have a link to that sale in the video description.
Yes, the Pro is much better in many ways, but it’s actually overkill for a lot of
people, especially the 2018 model.
Now wait, don’t buy the 9.7” iPad just yet.
There have been many rumors of two iPads coming out soon, the iPad Mini 5 and the 2019 iPad,
and we’re expecting them to be released at the end of next month, so if you can wait,
I would highly recommend that you do so.
We’re not sure what changes will be made to the new model, but it’s definitely gonna
be improved.
This has been Vadim with Max Tech, thanks for watching and make sure to subscribe so
you don’t miss out on more videos like this one.