Here’s what you need to know about the all-new iPad and all-new iPad mini
Big things? Meet small packages.
At its “California Streaming” event this week, Apple unveiled several new products including the iPhone 13 family of smart phones, and the Apple Watch Series 7. We knew Apple would have new iPad hardware sometime this Fall, but many had anticipated a later event to showcase them. In stead we got two new units this week including a 9th generation of the entry-level iPad, and a completely redesigned iPad mini. Let’s start with the entry level iPad:
The new 9th generation iPad features the same form factor as the last few generations, which means it’s still compatible with all of the existing cases on the market, including Apple’s Smart Keyboard. It’s also compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil.
New this year are the addition of the A13 Bionic system-on-a-chip first introduced last year with the iPhone 12. This replaces the A12 Bionic found on last year’s model. That means it’s going to be faster, and capable of improved image processing for better quality photos.
Speaking of cameras, the iPad now has a 12 MP ultra-wide camera on the front, which enables the new iPad to use Center Stage. That’s Apple’s technology that allows the iPad to automatically pan the camera during a video call as you move around in the frame. Imagine you’re teaching a class and moving around a table while you’re working. Center Stage is like having your own camera man moving the camera to follow you. It can also zoom out to allow for two people to be in the frame when a second person joins you. A really cool feature during an era in which video conferencing and online classes are more utilized than ever.
The new iPad also gets a display enhancement with the addition of True Tone. This feature uses an ambient light sensor to determine the lighting conditions of the iPad’s environment and adjust the display’s color temperature automatically to always give you the best reading and viewing conditions.
If you have a fairly recent iPad, there’s no need to rush out and buy one of these new models unless you want to take advantage of Center Stage. But it’s great to see steady, regular improvements come to the entry-level iPad line, and if you’re still rocking a five-year-old or older iPad, this would make for a great upgrade.
Now to the new mini:
For fans of the iPad mini, it’s been a rough few years. Updates have been few and far between. But this week’s update is a big, big deal (no pun intended). First of all, the new iPad mini has been completely redesigned to take on the design language of the iPad Air and iPad Pro. It has flat-edged sides, and thin, uniform bezels all around the screen. Like the iPad Air, it doesn’t have Face ID, but instead moved the Touch ID sensor into the sleep/wake button on top. The display has also been increased in size from 7.9-inches to 8.3-inches, but thanks to the smaller bezels, it still sits in the compact form factor you’d expect from an iPad mini. It comes in four colors: Pink, Starlight, Purple, and Space Gray.
It’s powered by the A15 Bionic introduced with the iPhone 13, and it now supports 5G cellular networking if you opt for a cellular model. It now supports the Apple Pencil 2 just like its big brothers. It also adopts USB-C, which offers faster connectivity to things like flash storage devices or digital cameras.
If you’re a fan of small iPads, this will be a tremendous upgrade for you. Despite being smaller, it’s more expensive at $499 than the entry level iPad ($329), but it also features a lot of advanced technology not available on the cheaper, larger model. This will appeal though to people who might otherwise consider the entry level model or even the bigger iPad Air. I think I still prefer a larger iPad myself (I use the 13-inch iPad Pro), but I’m very much looking forward to seeing one in person to see what that combination of a larger screen in that small chassis is like to use.