When products start to approach their peak level of functionality, there isn't really a whole you can do to improve them.
And that’s really how it feels with Apple’s latest iPad release – the iPad 8th Generation.
It’s been given yet another revamp. But there’s not a whole lot to shout about, even though it remains a very good tablet.
DESIGN
Not a lot new to say here really.
Available in silver, space grey and gold, the latest iPad looks and feel much the same as its predecessor.
It has a 10.2 inch display, with a large enough bezel surrounding it.
At the bottom of the screen is the home button with TouchID built in which works fine, although those used to using FaceID as standard now on higher end iPads and iPhones will probably find it a little tardy and imprecise.
The power button is on the top as normal and the volume controls remain on the side.
Also at the bottom are the two stereo speakers, which deliver reasonable but not scintillating sound.
On the left side is the magnetic connector for the Smart Keyboard (not included) which isn’t fantastic, but is ok.
It doesn’t deliver that same satisfying laptop-like click when you touch the keys, but for general everyday use it does the job.
One major niggle though is an issue with iPadOS 14 (and iOS14) that is causing significant lag when writing in Notes and other applications using a keyboard.
I found it almost rendered Notes useless after a short time because it isn’t possible to type at speed, and from what I can tell nobody has yet found a fix, although Apple is apparently working on one.
DISPLAY
The 10.2 inch Retina Display with a 2160x1620 resolution is equally unremarkable.
That’s not to say it is bad – it is isn’t. In fact, it is very good. It is bright and responsive and clear.
But it isn’t new and maintains the size and type of screen introduced during last year’s iPad spruce up.
It’s a level below that offered on the iPad Pro and Air – no Liquid Retina displays here.
But it will be fine for most people’s requirements, apart from maybe when it comes to running very high-speed video or graphics, given the refresh rate is only a more modest 60Hz.
It does support Apple Pencil, however, which is good if you are a pencil/stylus fan.
PERFORMANCE
If the iPad 8th Gen has anything to shout about it’s the bump it received in the engine room.
The A12 Bionic chip is a step up from its predecessor offering 2x the graphics performance and a 40% improvement in the CPU.
And while that’s not the highest spec that Apple has to offer it certainly is an improvement.
Pretty much everything does happen fast and it can handle having multiple apps open at the same time, although at times there can be a pause in opening apps.
That may be an iOS issue which is likely to be resolved in time.
In the storage department you can choose either 32GB or 128GB.
The latter is a pretty decent amount, the former probably a little small for most people, particularly if you are going to be storing much in the way of images and video.
There’s a fairly rudimentary 8MP camera on the rear and a 1.2MP FaceTime HD camera with flash to the front.
Most people won’t be rushing to take photos with an iPad, so they are adequate.
The device records 1080p HD video at 30fps as well as slo-mo 720p at 120fps.
There are dual microphones for calls, video recording and audio recording.
Battery life, as always, depends on what you are using the iPad for.
But certainly it will last a good day with heavy ongoing use before you need to charge it again.
OTHER
Much of what you might class as "new" in the iPad 8th Gen actually comes from iPadOS 14 and is related to use of the Apple Pencil.
For example, the operating system now has shape recognition – so if you draw a shape using the pencil and pause at the end of the movement, the iPad will make it geometrically perfect.
Note taking is also made easier, with handwriting recognition, while it is also now possible to make a calendar entry from a handwritten date.
You can also add a phone contact by tapping on a hand written number.
There is also a feature called Smart Selection which lets you select handwritten text using the same gestures used for typed text.
So for example with two taps you can select an area of work and with three taps you can select a line of written text.
You can also change the colour of written text, and cut and paste a whole section of it somewhere else.
iPad OS14 also delivers a range of other features like redesigned widgets, new app design and makes incoming calls appear smaller on the screen, rather than taking over the whole thing.
CONCLUSION
Starting at €392 the iPad 8th Generation isn’t all that cheap, even though it is a lot less expensive than the iPad Air and iPad Pro.
The design hasn’t changed, nor too has the screen and from a hardware point of view apart from some increased performance you aren’t really getting much extra versus what went before it.
But it probably still remains the best all round basic tablet out there for reasons of functionality and form.
iPadOS 14 brings new features and as with most things Apple, there is a simplicity and integration to it all that makes using it easy.
So if you haven’t upgraded a tablet for a while or are looking for one for the first time, you could do much worse.
But if you are looking for a big leap up from a more recent iPad that can already run iPadOS14, you might want to wait another year until something a bit more innovative comes along.
