I recently purchased the base model iPad for my daughter along with a Logitech combo touch case a few weeks ago. Her use cases are for study notes, some light gaming and light video editing. I haven’t looked at the base iPad for some time and had worried about the non-laminated display. When I last looked at the iPad, the light bleed on the display was really noticeable and the gap between the panel and glass just looked off. However, I have the iPad Pro 11 inch so am used to laminated high quality display. I considered going the iPad Air (M3) for the better screen and CPU which would definitely benefit the video editing use case. After seeing the base iPad and the iPad Air in-store, I ultimately ruled the Air out due to the additional cost and the video editing not being a primary use case.
The overall experience of iPad A16 is reminiscent of my iPad Pro 2018. The screen while not as good as my iPad Pro is actually really nice, quite bright with vivid colours. It’s not as colour accurate as my Pro but unless they’re side by side it’s not really noticeable. It is fast in everyday use, it doesn’t feel like the budget device it is. Paired with Apple Pencil USB-C it has fit the bill for study notes and the A16 has kept up with her light gaming. For a student, its near perfect and has never felt stretched.
I chose the Logitech Combo Touch case over the Apple keyboard folio because I’ve been using a similar case on my iPad Pro and like the all-around protection it gives to the iPad in addition to the keyboard/trackpad functionality. This case also makes it incredibly easy to just use it as an iPad by detaching the keyboard. I could have saved a bit by just getting a folio case or similar without the keyboard / trackpad.
There are of course some drawbacks to the A16 model vs the Air aside from the non-laminated screen:
The overall experience of iPad A16 is reminiscent of my iPad Pro 2018. The screen while not as good as my iPad Pro is actually really nice, quite bright with vivid colours. It’s not as colour accurate as my Pro but unless they’re side by side it’s not really noticeable. It is fast in everyday use, it doesn’t feel like the budget device it is. Paired with Apple Pencil USB-C it has fit the bill for study notes and the A16 has kept up with her light gaming. For a student, its near perfect and has never felt stretched.
I chose the Logitech Combo Touch case over the Apple keyboard folio because I’ve been using a similar case on my iPad Pro and like the all-around protection it gives to the iPad in addition to the keyboard/trackpad functionality. This case also makes it incredibly easy to just use it as an iPad by detaching the keyboard. I could have saved a bit by just getting a folio case or similar without the keyboard / trackpad.
There are of course some drawbacks to the A16 model vs the Air aside from the non-laminated screen:
- No Apple Intelligence Features - these features are in the M-series iPads;
- Wider colour gamut, better display;
- External display support - the iPad A16 only supports screen mirroring of the iPad display when plugged in whereas the iPad Air has full extended display support;
- Slower USBC transfer speeds;
- Less powerful CPU and GPU with 2GB less RAM; and
- No Hardware Video Encoding capability in the CPU (the M3 model iPad Air)
