New Apple iPad review: Not the best tablet you can buy, but the best one you will

It's not the Pro. But if you're not one either, this might be the tablet for you

A guest draws the bones of the hand on Apple's new 9.7-inch iPad during an event held to introduce the device at Lane Tech College Prep High School on March 27, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The latest iPad is the fastest, most capable Apple has ever made that doesn't have the word Pro in its title. It's also the lowest debut price for a full-size iPad. At £319 it's £30 cheaper than last year's model. I've been testing the tablet since its announcement.

Design

This iPad looks exactly like last year's entry-level model and in most respects is a dead ringer for the first iPad Air (it's a little thicker and heavier than the iPad Air 2 but looks identical in other ways). This means that it has narrow bezels on the tablet's long sides, thicker ones at top and bottom. And on the models with cellular connectivity as well as wi-fi, it has a rubbery panel along the top edge on the rear (the most recent iPad Pro models have a thinner antenna band on the back instead).

In other words, it still looks slick and attractive but when you compare it to the latest iPad Pro 10.5 with significantly thinner bezels, for instance, it begins to look a little over-familiar.

But that's the overall story of this iPad, in fact: it's great, except when you compare it to the significantly pricier iPad Pro.

It's when you look at the changes on the inside that you realise this is a significant upgrade to last year's fifth-generation iPad.

Pencil

This is the big change and it is a real step forward. The iPad Pro is compatible with Apple's elegant stylus, the Pencil which is great to hold and feels almost like writing on paper when you're scribbling on the tablet. Until now, only the Pro models have been compatible with the Pencil, because of the need for a fast-enough processor and an enhanced touch sensor - the layer on the screen which responds to your touch.

The iPad, which has had multi-touch from day one back in 2010, can on this version quickly, smoothly and flawlessly pick up your every touch with the Pencil while simultaneously ignoring the heel of your hand as it rests on the glass. It's smart enough to know if you're holding the Pencil upright or at an angle and since Pencil and iPad work together to understand the level of pressure you're exerting, the result is a seamless, versatile experience. Not everyone needs the Pencil but when you use it for drawing and painting apps like Procreate, it becomes very appealing.

Two other things to note about the Pencil: it only works with this iPad and the Pro models. Secondly, it's just dropped in price as well, from £99 to £89. Not cheap, then, but a useful and chic accessory.

Display

The screen, although it now has a different touch sensor, looks the same as before, so it lacks the True Tone capabilities of the iPad Pro, which measures the colour of ambient light and adjusts what it shows on screen to ensure it looks just as it should.

But this iPad includes Night Shift, the system which warms the colour spectrum onscreen at night so that it's more restful on the eyes after dark.

The display on the Pro feels more solid than here - there's a tiny bit more flex on this screen, though it's still perfectly fine to use. When the basic iPad is so advanced, as this one is, you start looking for even small differences which can justify the extra cost of the iPad Pro, which starts at £619. That's £300 more, though the storage capacity is 64GB, not the 32GB on the entry-level model, for instance.

Connectivity

It may have the Pencil, but the new iPad doesn't have the Smart Connector which debuted, with the Pencil, on the first iPad Pro. This connector means you can magnetically attach compatible keyboards to the Pro. Here, instead, you must use a Bluetooth keyboard instead.

This works fine, but the nature of Bluetooth connections is you sometimes have a moment of latency while the wireless connection is made. Once you've used the instant, always-connected system of the iPad Pro, it's not quite so easy to go back.

Performance

The sixth-gen iPad has an A10 Fusion chip inside it, first seen in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Which means it's not quite as fast as the A10X Fusion found in the latest iPad Pro, but is a step forward from the A9 chip in last year's model.

Whatever the technical specs, it's how it works that matters and this is a smoothly responsive, slick performer.

The battery life is as strong as on other iPads, that is, around 10 hours of use between charges.

The iPad lacks the four stereo speakers of the iPad Pro (there's a stereo speaker on the bottom edge of the tablet here) but audio is still fine.

Verdict

There's no denying, the Apple iPad Pro is a better machine in every way. But with the addition of Apple Pencil compatibility, the two tablets just got one step closer in performance terms and for most people, the gap will now be close enough, but the price differential big enough, that they will plump for the entry-level iPad. Not just because it's the lowest debut price for any iPad, and it's cheaper than the iPad Mini 4, though the price certainly helps. But because it's a real performer. It's long-lasting, I'd wager, as every iPad has boasted the same durable and exceptional build quality. What's more, it's versatile, powerful and it looks great.