I am one of those hopeless iPad - as - a - data processor faithful who keep buy more into the conjectural promise than the on - land world . Ever since Apple put the desktop - classM1 silicon inside the iPad Pro , I have overpoweringly shifted my workflow to Apple ’s pad .
In between the generational upgrades stretch out all the way to the beefyM4 iPad Proand the M3 - powerediPad Air ( 2025 ) , I have also drop months using the 10th - gen iPad as my primary calculation machine . I survived the experience , without losing my job , but with iPadOS scars that continue to linger .
With the 11th generation iPad , Apple is not change the rudimentary formula . The Mary Leontyne Price remain identical , and so does the appurtenance ecosystem . There ’s a new processor this time around , and more internal storage on the base model — all at the same $ 349 inquire price .
It ’s a confusing ticket , found on what it can technically carry out , and what it should n’t be purchased to handle . What come after is a breakdown of what the 11th - gen iPad take to the table , and how far it can go beyond the “ Apple ’s most low-cost tablet ” appeal .
Apple iPad (2025): Specs
Front camera :
iPad (2025) design: Refined familiarity
The iPad ’s computer hardware is one of its core posture , specially at its base asking price . Once again , you get an all - metal 100 % recycled Al chassis that occur in four colors .
The overall footprint remain unchanged , despite the screen size of it going from 10.9 to 11 inches . I love Apple ’s understated design on the iPad , even more so than the iPad Pro , which has a goodish tv camera prominence at the back .
It almost feels like a bargain that this tab costs just over $ 300 , but serves a premium all - metal build . Tipping the scales at just a pound , the iPad is comfortable to hold , and the balanced weight statistical distribution only add together to a secure in - hand flavour .
That matter a deal , particularly for a tablet that is tug primarily as a medium phthisis and periodic workhorse .
Slumping on a sofa while watch Netflix or using it for prolonged go during presentations , the iPad ’s heft and portable size is a full-grown profits . The surface finishing is also not slippery , which is a desirable trait .
Plus , it does a fairly decent task of save smudges at embayment . I have sweaty palms , but it did n’t take too much sweat to pass over the print with a few juiceless swipes . I , however , powerfully recommend a fount or pelt for the iPad .
The metal casing is pretty vulnerable on the turning point , and even against slight bumps , it tends to get flattened . I ’ve never had this happen to any of my tablets , except the iPads . Moreover , it ’s nearly unacceptable to obscure scratch marks on the polished metal open , so there ’s that motivator .
The strong-arm volume and power buttons put up satisfying clicky feedback . For authentication , Apple has once again integrate the Touch ID sensor within the power button . It ’s quick , reliable , and easy to reach .
To avert any clumsy in - hand accommodation , I set up fingermark recognition for my index finger’s breadth and quarter round across both hand . That way , it becomes easier to unlock the iPad , irrespective of the predilection or which paw you ’re holding it in .
iPad (2025) display: Gets the job done
Just like the shape , the exhibit on the iPad continue unaltered . You get an 11 - inch LCD board with a 60Hz refresh rate and resolution human body of 2360 x 1640 pixels , translating to a pixel denseness of 264 ppi . The extremum brightness also remains constant at 500 nits , and there ’s a fingerprint - insubordinate oleophobic finish on the top , as well .
For the Mary Leontyne Price , it ’s a good - quality screen . you may binge - take in your favourite shows and engage in battle of Marathon gaming sessions , without seeing any people of color - pertain issue . The color look well - saturate , the contrast is ok , and the viewing slant are n’t too bad either .
Of course , compared to an organic light-emitting diode , the blacks are n’t as deep , but there is no unsightly light haemorrhage alongside the edges , which is often the lawsuit with budget - centric devices .
I did a healthy scrap of image redaction and tweaked a few light clip , too , without carry into colour disparity snags . The cleverness bod are adequate unless you ’re trying to show directly under the screen .
The board is quite reflective , so you ’d want to keep the brightness figures crank up up . The challenger is n’t doing any better than Apple in this damage segment .
For its intended target audience , the 11th - gen iPad delivers a perfectly serviceable display . It is n’t , however , without its own share of unsuitable oddities . For example , it supports only the first - gen Apple Pencil and the recent model with a USB - C cap .
The 2d - gen Apple Pencil , and the Pro model , are n’t compatible , which means you miss out on features such as hover espial , pressure sensitivity , and barrel roll . Then there ’s the video display assembly itself .
It ’s a non - laminated panel , which means there ’s a gap between the top glass layer and the underlying display unit . As such , you’re able to experience the hollow audio underneath when tapping with the stylus tip , and sketching does n’t feel nearly as seamless , especially if you ’ve put a glass - establish blind guard on top .
A non - laminated screen is not a total dealbreaker , or outright discernible . you could go forward with note - taking and sketching just ok . My baby has used a 10th - gen iPad extensively for label dental scans for a car learning project and has never faced any glaring issues .
But if you ’re used to stylus remark on a laminated screen , the divergence is easy to spot . What I would recommend though , is putting a screen door sentry duty on the iPad ’s screen . Pronto , that is . Apple ’s screens , even those with the ceramic guard , are notoriously prone to getting scratched .
The iPad is no exception . I ’d commend go with one of those flimsy , paper - alike CRT screen guards , or a lustrelessness defender . Overall , this display does n’t let down for what you ’re ante up for it .
iPad (2025) performance: A smooth-sailing journey
Apple has armed the iPad with the A16 processor , which offers a 5 - nucleus CPU , a 4 - core GPU , and a 16 - magnetic core nervous locomotive . It ’s the same processor that we last see on the iPhone 14 series . ground on my experience with theiPhone 14 Pro , this silicon should ideally fell on the iPad .
Well , it does so , but in somewhat weird way of life .
For daytime - to - day tasks such as vane browsing , social media surfriding , streaming videos , and mass medium editing , the tablet feels like a breeze . Editing in the Photos app is liquid , and my experience with Photoshop Express and Filmora was n’t too bad either .
The moment you attach the Magic Keyboard and endeavor to push it as a computer , the jitter become ostensible . Apps do n’t crash flat away , thankfully , but with tear - CRT screen multitasking and running a healthy few apps in the background , the touch liquidness of an Apple equipment is middling wanting .
I could experience the abbreviated stutter with switching between apps and the animations also did n’t feel as suave , especially when compared to the fluidity of using an iPad Pro . It did n’t feel virtually as snappy as theiPad mini , which comes with the more powerful A17 Pro processor .
The backdrop imagination management seems passably aggressive , and I noticed numerous instances where apps reloaded . I ’d like to point out , however , that I was run imagination hogget such as Teams , Slack , Asana , and Trello in the background , alongside a 12 web web browser tabs and Apple Music streaming via Bluetooth .
That ’s not the form of work load the iPad is made to handle with its circumscribed amount of Aries , but it still got the chore done . Can it manage the body of work that I am used to with my iPad Pro ? It can , but with less fluidness and give a whole bunch of feature , such as Stage Manager and Apple Intelligence .
After a abbreviated set of edits ( half a 12 transition , text animations , and international sound recording overlay ) on a short upright video , the iPad took 1 second , and 54 seconds to export the cartridge holder . The iPad Pro with the M4 Si get out it off in barely over 40 seconds .
That ’s the kind of useable functioning interruption you get , but it ’s not too sorry , given the request price . If you edit short clip occasionally , the iPad can handle them . Just do n’t anticipate it to blaze out through work flow in DaVinci Resolve . My first such daring attempt in LumaFusion ended up with an exportation clash .
Where the iPad exceeded my expectations was game operation . In Diablo Immortal , I had a fun metre finish quest with the frame charge per unit set to 60fps , and paradigm resolving on High . These are not even the best graphics preset , but even with passably high nontextual matter preferences , the equipment onus reaches its peak value .
As far as the visual experience goes , I did n’t break away into any jarring frame drops or relentless optic woes . Next , I moved to Devil May Cry : eyeshade of Combat , which is another graphically intensive title . I rig the resolution , grain , and shadow preferences to High while crank up the frame limit to 60FPS and image quality to HD .
Once again , the game paced before smoothly , and even during intense melee fight segments , thing were fluid . There was no worrisome heating plant even after seance lasting 15 - 20 minute each . The situation with Call of responsibility : Mobile was not unsurprisingly smooth , as well .
The biggest surprise for me was Warframe , arguably one of the most demanding non - metallic AAA game out there . Even with the graphic preferences set within the gamy range , the gameplay experience was deliciously bother - free .
There was some episodic gyroscope - interrelate detail red , but otherwise , the space - ground RPG game deliver an engaging experience on the iPad . In a nutshell , you may have an enjoyable gaming experience on the iPad , but do n’t expect it to run titles likeResident Evil Villageat peak graphic preferences .
Coming to the bench mark figures , the 11th - gen iPad Is rough 48 % faster at exclusive - pith and 38 % faster at multi - core work flow on Geekbench . On the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress trial run , the new iPad is approximately 10 % mightier than its predecessor .
What surprise me the most , was the impressive constancy of 87.7 % on the tenseness test , which runs a imitation graphics workflow for 20 loop topology . There ’s only a throttling worth 9 % after the first test test , and the performance remains roughly on the same line for the next 19 consecutive streamlet .
For comparison , Qualcomm ’s latest and greatest , the Snapdragon 8 Elite , scored twice as much on the same stress test , but render a constancy account of just 46.9 % , while bear witness a sustained operation drop after each cycle .
The Apple tablet also runs a fortune cool than expected , especially compared to Qualcomm and MediaTek central processing unit under free burning encumbrance . That also explains why it was able-bodied to run involve game at tidy nontextual matter options with easiness .
Overall , the 10th - gen iPad is a middling authentic performing artist , and thanks to the native iPadOS optimization , it runs cool and smooth . It ’s just not the tab you hand for when perks like beam of light - trace nontextual matter and high visual fidelity are the prime criteria .
iPad (2025) battery: A reliable companion
Apple claims a 10 - hour battery life on the iPad . In my tests , it did n’t fare any different . On days that I was not press it as my computing gimmick for employment , my engagement was mostly restricted to read comic , watching videos , or reading research paper .
With that kind of recreational employment , I did n’t have to charge the iPad for two to three day in a dustup . The idle battery uptake on the iPad is fantastic . Moreover , enable low - baron mode does n’t take any meaningful hit on the downcast - wager usage , so you have that append incentive for battery survival .
While shape full - steam with a unite Magic Keyboard , the best per - charge gas mileage I mystify was around 6 - 7 hours . I had at least three confabulation platform running in the screen background , an adequate turn of chore direction apps , an email client , medicine , and two browser app windows .
The screen brightness usually was go down around the 70 % mark , with TrueTone incapacitate . For a machine that remains fluid at that kind of workflow and cost as much , I ’d say the iPad fares well in the bombardment section .
It ’s not the fastest charging gadget out there , though . It takes well over two hours to amply juice up an empty tankful . And to last a full solar day of oeuvre sitting in a cafe , I had to behave a 10,000mAh magnate bank on me . As far as play goes , it would squarely depend on the kind of titles you coddle in .
Playing Warframe at the best graphics preferences potential nurse up nearly 20 % barrage fire succus in or so half an hour . With casual games , such as Alto ’s Odyssey or Donut County , you’re able to play them on a stretch for around four to five hours , and still have some power left in the tank .
iPad (2025) software: iPadOS is fine, yet frustrating
This is where the site gets tricky . The tone of iPad running on the 11th Gen iPad is the vanilla extract experience . It ’s a nicer way of order it lacks the most modern legerdemain that Apple ’s tablet OS has to volunteer , for good or worse .
If you require an iPad in the first place for amusement , digital learning , or canonic World Wide Web - based work , the iPadOS 18 experience will serve . There are , however still some chinks in the armor . For example , Android now permit a fantastic window resizing experience , while iPads are infuriatingly rigid .
Stage Manager , which gives iPadOS a makeover similar to macOS , is also miss . That perquisite is restricted to tablets with the M - series silicon with at least 8 GB of RAM . However , that does n’t excuse Apple ’s deceptive work here . OxygenOS , for case , offers a fantastic multi - app multitask prospect called opened Canvas .
Samsung ’s DeX mode also does a fantastical occupation . If you ’re someone who is eyeing break up - view work in landscape painting mode , get ready to hit the cmd+tab shortcut on the keyboard for app switching . A lot . I ’ve never liked the hidden slide - away approaching for the third - app window , but it might just beseem your taste .
The bountiful young lady is Apple Intelligence , which again mandate a minimum of 8 GB RAM and sets a public presentation baseline for the A17 Pro processor . The AI stack is significantly immure behind the contender , and a healthy few features are a hit or overlook .
A case can be made , however , for a few of those procreative AI tricks such asWriting Tools . For a twist that is often found in the backpacks of school kids , the note - taking experience could use a lift with tools like proofreading , stylistic variant , summarization , and format changeover .
It ’s just queer that thegap depart by Apple ’s misfiring AI efforts has been speedily lapped up by Google ’s Gemini , and in quite some eager fashion . Just take a look at the vapourous number of control nub tools tied to Gemini , which you’re able to also put on the Lock Screen , by the way .
It ’s just a cherry on top that they work reliably and deliver a much better experience than Siri , or the whole Apple Intelligence stack , in general . I can easily recommend using Gemini as the default assistant on the iPad , at least in the current shape of iPadOS .
On the positive side , iPadOS has a fantastic app ecosystem . It ’s safe and more well - optimized than its Android similitude . But at the same time , you ca n’t help but feel the software experience losing its innovative steam , all in the name of conversance and reliability .
iPad (2025) verdict: An easy pick
The 11th Gen iPad is conversant , yet objectively good than the10th Gen exemplar . For the same price , you are now getting twice the onboard storage at 128 GB and a quick central processor . It has a endearing build lineament , offers a sharp display , and happens to be a dependable performing artist .
The 12MP CenterStage front television camera put up a fantastic video - calling experience . For $ 349 , the 11th Gen iPad is a lot of pill goodness , and overwhelmingly the best tablet deal out there . The whole hardware - software camaraderie on display here is just unvanquishable .
Where it stings is the peripheral tax . For the low - stakes computation requirement with this introduction - grade tablet , I can easily urge pass over Apple ’s gear and switching to choice such asthe first-class ESR Geo Digital Stylusand third - party keyboard case from the ilk of Logitech .
Overall , you ca n’t go wrong with the baseline iPad in 2025 , especially if getting the most time value out of an investment funds is your primary concern .
