Back in October, Apple debuted its latest tenth generation iPad and gave it a massive revamp, such as thinner bezels, fresh colour options, USB-C and a design philosophy that brings it on par with the more upmarket iPad Mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro. However, Apple also went for some pretty odd design choices, such as having the front facing camera on the horizontal edge instead of the usual vertical side, as well as limiting stylus support to just the first generation Apple Pencil.
According to a teardown by iFixit, Apple has seemingly decided to prioritise having the front facing camera on the horizontal side of the tablet. This means that there is no longer any space to put the Apple Pencil magnets there, which allows you to hold and charge the newer Apple Pencil 2 simply by attaching it to the edge of the tablet.
This brings with it some benefits of course, most notably a big quality of life improvement for those who predominantly use their tablet for video conferencing. By placing the 12MP front camera on the horizontal edge, you have a setup that’s much more natural and convenient for video calls rather than having it on the left when using Apple’s other tablets in landscape mode, something that you’d almost always have it in when using it for video calls. The new iPad 10 also benefits from dual microphones, landscape stereo speakers and support for Centre Stage when it comes to video conferencing.
However, this means that for those who use their tablet mostly for creative work like drawing and taking notes, you still can’t use the newer Apple Pencil 2. Instead, you’re stuck with the older first generation Apple Pencil, which charges via a lightning connector. As such, you’ll need to use the included USB-C to Apple Pencil adapter to juice up your stylus; this accessory is also sold separately by Apple for RM55. It does kind of make sense in Apple’s perspective, as Cupertino would likely want creative professionals to use their more powerful and capable iPad Air and iPad Pro tablets instead, while the iPad 10 targets the more casual demographic instead.
Nevertheless, if you were in the market for a tablet from Apple, the iPad 10 remains the cheapest one you can get from their latest generation of tablets. It’s priced at RM2,099 for the 64GB version with WiFi-only connectivity while for RM2,849 you can get it either with 256GB of storage or with cellular connectivity and 64GB of storage; both 256GB of storage and cellular connectivity meanwhile will cost you RM3,599 instead. Of course, you can also opt for the much cheaper last generation iPad instead, which starts at RM1,599.
