Apple iPad (2021) review: The people's iPad

Note: This review was first published on 4 October 2021.

The iPad gets a spec bump, again

The iPad is Apple’s most basic, erm, iPad. It’s now in its 9th-generation guise, but you probably can’t tell because it has looked this way since 2019. Apple’s strategy for its most basic iPad is simple to understand: make it as cheap as possible so that more people can afford it, but also as feature-packed and powerful as possible so that people still want it. 

What’s not new?

To make it as affordable as possible, Apple has decided to reuse as many components as possible and only update what’s necessary. 

Normally, this is not a good thing. But when you are trying to build something that is designed to be as affordable as possible, there are some upsides. Since the chassis is identical, it means owners of the last year’s iPad and even the iPad from the year before can reuse their cases. Accessories can be reused too because this new iPad continues support for Apple’s first-generation Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. And because this iPad still has a Lightning port, owners will be able to reuse their charging cables and power adapters. Oh, and this is now the only iPad that has a headphone jack.

The downside to all of this is that the iPad is starting to look really dated. Those conspicuous bezels above and below the display are relics from another age. And for readers who are concerned about design, those curved edges don’t fit the current aesthetics of Apple’s newer devices like the iPhone 13, iPad Pro, or iPad Mini.

To be fair, none of these things really impinge on your usage of the tablet. Fact is, this iPad does just about all of the things that Apple’s pricier iPads do but perhaps less elegantly. The thing that really gets me though is that its speakers are still on one side. It’s an egregious oversight that I have written about last year. I get that it keeps costs down but if you are like me and mainly use the iPad in landscape mode as a content consumption device, having sound only come out from one side can negatively impact your level of enjoyment. Or maybe I’m just a fusspot. Let me know.

What’s new?

Happily, Apple has updated the most crucial components of the iPad. We begin with the display. It’s still a 10.2-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2160 x 1620 pixels and a pixel density count of 264 pixels per inch, but it now has True Tone technology so it will automatically adjust the display to match the lighting of the room. We take True Tone for granted because it’s become almost ubiquitous but it does make the display look nicer especially if you use your iPad in a place with predominantly warm lighting. Crucially, it looks nice enough and I don't think you'd hear many complaints about sharpness or colours.

Also new is the front-facing camera. Last year’s iPad had a perfunctory 1.2-megapixel unit that was best described as serviceable. This year, however, Apple has fitted its new 12-megapixel ultra wide unit with a 122° field of view with a camera-tracking feature called Centre Stage. Using machine learning, the camera analyses subjects in the frame, tracks them, and keeps them in the middle of the frame even as they move about. 

I have written more about this in my iPad Pro review and you might want to read up more about it. But what you need to know is that it works well and the video quality is quite good. But because what we are actually seeing is a crop, image quality drops very quickly if the lighting is poor. More so, it seems, than the other iPads with this feature because this particular iPad relies on an older generation image processor. Still, it can be a handy tool if you often find yourselves in virtual meetings.

Another major update is the processor. Inside the 9th-generation iPad is the A13 Bionic processor which debuted with the iPhone 11 in 2019. It might be an older processor that’s built on an older 7nm process, but as you’ll see in the benchmark results on the next page, it remains very competitive. 

And finally, the last update that Apple has made to the entry-level iPad is more storage. The base model used to only have 32GB of storage which is sad and inadequate. Fortunately, storage now starts at 64GB, which, frankly, still isn’t much, but at least it is twice what it used to have. Also, Apple isn’t charging users any more than it used to – now,  that is surprising. Storage for the step-up model has also been doubled from 128GB to 256GB, but for this model, expect to pay S$80 more than you would last year.

Performance analysis

Despite using one of Apple’s older processors, the 9th-generation iPad remains a good performer. Naturally, it’s no match for the shiny new iPad Mini, iPad Pro, or even last year’s iPad Air, but it's more than a match for the latest Android hardware. It's about as quick as a Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Z Fold3 on Geekbench and was over 30% faster on 3DMark Wild Life. Mind you, these Android phones are powered by Qualcomm’s newest flagship Snapdragon 888 processor.

In the real world, I only experienced slowdowns and dropped frames when playing Genshin Impact on its “High” settings. So, yes, this iPad will run just about anything you throw at it – just maybe not newer graphics-intensive games on high settings.

Battery life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

• Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
• Constant data streaming through email

Although battery capacity hasn't changed, the latest iPad lasted about 20 minutes or 5% less in our intensive battery test. Still, it lasted well over 5.5 hours at maximum screen brightness which is quite respectable. It also ran for over 1.5 hours longer than the iPad Air and over an hour more than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Is this still the best iPad for most people?

Apple’s strategy for its basic iPad must be working because here we are now with what is really the same iPad as last year and the year before but with some improved bits. And as uninteresting as that may be, I don’t think many people would complain. 

For businesses and schools, whom I suspect Apple had one eye on when designing this iPad, it means that they can replace their one or two-year-old iPads with this new model and reuse whatever accessories they might already have. The transition would be mostly seamless and that must be attractive to commercial entities.

On the other hand, consumers will be happy that this iPad can do just about anything that its pricier siblings can but at a lower price. Yes, the display is not quite as nice, it’s not as powerful, the speakers are still only one side, and the pencil doesn’t attach and charge magnetically at the side, but it absolutely nails the essentials. 

Furthermore, the entry-level model now comes with a much more usable 64GB of storage. The cynics would say that it’s still not a lot, but I think it’s sufficient for readers who intend to stream most of their content and who have much of their data in the cloud. Besides, if you require more storage, there’s the step-up model with 256GB. Lest we forget, this is Apple’s most basic iPad and I’d rather they keep prices down as much as possible.

But be warned, S$499 only gets you the basic Wi-Fi only model with 64GB. Opt for more storage or cellular connectivity and prices start to go up real quick. Add accessories and it is possible to end up with an iPad that’s over a grand. As I said last year in my review of the 8th-generation iPad, “Apple doesn’t really do cheap.”

Still, this is Apple’s most affordable tablet. And for anyone who is looking to replace their old iPads or simply looking for a tablet as a secondary device to stream content, read the news and books, play mobile games, I reckon this 9th-generation iPad is all the tablet they will ever need.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.