Why The Basic iPad Is The Best Deal In Tech

Apple is notorious for selling expensive products, with the exception of AirTag and the basic iPad.

iPads have gotten more powerful over the years, with iPad pros now being equipped with the super efficient M1 processors, and the newest A15 chip being integrated into the Mini and Air.

With all these show stopping power and efficiency, It is unsurprising that the basic S$499 iPad with its old design and lower tiered processor is overlooked.

But the 9th generation iPad deserves a feature for its performance, accessory support and integration with the Apple ecosystem, especially at its price.

Let’s explore why the base model iPad is easily the best deal in tech.

Performance

First up, performance. It is arguably not very important in a media consumption tablet at this price point, which is mostly used for binge-watching Netflix or note-taking.

But make no mistake, the iPad 9th generation comes with a still blazing fast A13 chip that was introduced with the iPhone 11 back in 2019. It handles everyday tasks like gaming, video streaming without breaking a sweat.

If you want quantitative evidence, the similarly priced Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 or any android tablet for that matter does not even match up to the sheer performance of the A13 on geekbench.

	Base Model’s Price (S$)	Geekbench Single Core Score	Geekbench Multi-Core Score
iPad (9th generation)	499	1334	3272
Galaxy Tab A7	468	309	1355
Xiaomi Pad 5	488	781	2800

I mean, the iPad can even run real Photoshop, not Photoshop Mix, or Express found on Android tablets.

However when you move on to heavier tasks like video editing and large file exports, the iPad may show signs of slowdown.

You can’t expect a S$499 machine to handle everything right?

Accessory support

Next, the vast support for quality accessories like the 1st generation Apple Pencil and a pin connected keyboard extends the iPad’s capabilities beyond what a regular tablet does.

The 1st generation Apple Pencil with tilt and pressure sensitivity (S$139) lets your creative juices flow freely as you sketch away.

The pin connected Smart Keyboard sold by Apple (S$239) basically turns your iPad into a Surface Go/Pro look alike as the keyboard flips on itself to protect the iPad’s screen.

The Smart Keyboard does not require any charging or a bluetooth connection to function, it just works like it’s part of the iPad.

A bluetooth mouse can be connected to your iPad too. And with iPadOS’ optimisations for mouse support, using it will be a breeze.

With the keyboard and mouse together, the iPad can theoretically replace your laptop.

The caveat is, these accessories don’t come cheap at all, and can cost up to 50% of your iPad’s purchase price. Further, there is no usb-c port and the pin connection on the side of the iPad is proprietary, so no 3rd party options exist. 

But the fact of having these quality options in the first place awards the iPad with more brownie points.

Apple Ecosystem

The basic iPad is the cheapest tablet that gets you into the “Apple Ecosystem” and allows you to benefit from it.

The Apple Ecosystem refers to the complementary features that are enabled when you own multiple Apple devices.

Handoff enables you to open browser tabs on your iPhone when you switch to your iPad instantaneously. This is great if you are reading a long article and decide to switch over to a larger screen.

SideCar allows you to extend or duplicate the display on your Mac using the iPad, abolishing the need for an external monitor, especially in the era of WFH.

But if you don’t own other Apple devices, these features are simply additional benefits until you get another device in the ecosystem.

App Support

Don’t let not having another Apple device deter you though. Even without leveraging on the Apple Ecosystem, the smorgasbord of optimised, exclusive iPad apps that are available blows Android tablet apps out of the water.

Apps are what you will be using all the time. As mentioned earlier, real Photoshop with its large suite of features is available on only iPad along with other favourites like Notability and Vectornator.

What’s more, apps on iPad are generally of higher quality than android tablet apps. 

As a beginner iOS developer myself, I can attest that making iOS apps are much simpler than Android since we only have to design for a few screen sizes compared to the thousands on the latter.

So if a developer wants to launch a new app, which operating system do you think they will develop first?

The basic iPad does not get excluded from accessing these apps by virtue of being the cheapest model.

Like all iPads with the A15 / M1 chip, the basic iPad with A13 runs iPadOS 15. It is also eligible for at least 3 more years of software updates.

This means your favourite apps won’t stop working for your basic iPad since it will continually be updated by Apple.

Thoughts

Really, what you are getting with the more expensive iPad Air (S$879) is a faster processor which you may not really require, a newer design with FaceID, and support for the 2nd generation Apple Pencil.

But nothing is perfect. While the iPad 9th generation provides you with everything you need on a tablet, the non-laminated display that causes unwanted refractions and colour distortion and the expensive accessory options can be hard to accept.

Nonetheless, at just S$499, S$469 (students), we can’t really complain. Other tablet manufacturers also sell expensive accessories, and their build quality may not be as good.

Circling back to my initial argument about value, the iPad proves itself to be an amazing bang for its buck, since it nails all the fundamental features of its more expensive cousins.

If you are looking for the best deal in tech, you just found it.

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