Apple’s Redesigned iPad Has a Bigger Display and USB-C; Coming to Singapore and Malaysia
Apple has launched a new version of its base iPad model, which looks a lot like an iPad Air but with lesser specs. Surprisingly, the 10th gen iPad isn't replacing last year's vanilla iPad, but is being sold alongside it with a higher price tag.
When we say it looks similar to the iPad Air, we mean it looks almost exactly like a carbon copy of it, though it does come with extremely vibrant new colours as well as a new front camera design that could actually be a practical switch-up. First up, the base iPad now gets a bigger display from its predecessor's 10.2-inch size to a large 10.9-inch screen.
Instead of the curved edges of last year's model, the new version gets flat edges, harmonising it with the design language of Apple's higher-end tablets. The iconic home button has also been removed — which might be bad news for some diehard fans — but it still has Touch ID on the top of the device, making way for uniform bezels.
Under the hood, the new iPad runs on the A14 bionic chip (the same SoC running on the iPhone 12 series) and the rear camera got upgraded from an 8MP sensor to 12MP, supporting 4K recording with up to 240fps slo-mo videos. Up front is where it gets interesting as the 12MP selfie shooter has been moved from the top of the iPad to the landscape edge, making it Apple's first tablet to have a landscape-oriented front camera.
Connectivity has also been improved with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, as well as 5G compatibility for the cellular version. Additionally, it is equipped with USB-C instead of the lightning port, but a big caveat for this change is that for some reason, the 10th gen iPad only supports the first-generation Apple Pencil which charges via a lightning connector. What that means is that to charge an Apple Pencil with this tablet, you have to carry around the included USB-C to lightning adapter.
Apple's redesigned iPad will be coming to Singapore on 26 October while the availability has still not been revealed on the company's Malaysian site. Here is the new tablet's pricing in both markets:
Singapore:
10th gen iPad (64GB) — S$679 (Wi-Fi) / S$909 (cellular)
10th gen iPad (256GB) — S$909 (Wi-Fi) / S$1,139 (cellular)
Malaysia:
10th gen iPad (64GB) — RM2,099 (Wi-Fi) / RM2,849 (cellular)
10th gen iPad (256GB) — RM2,849 (Wi-Fi) / RM3,599 (cellular)
Apple has redesigned the base iPad with uniform bezels and removed the iconic home button.
The new tablet has a landscape-oriented front camera and comes with 5G compatibility.
The lightning port has been swapped for USB-C, but it is only compatible with the first-gen Apple Pencil, requiring an adapter to charge the stylus.
The 10th gen iPad will be available in Singapore starting 26 October.