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Apple iPad 7 Announced: New 10.2-Inch Tablet With Old A10 Chipset

The Apple iPad 7 has some exiciting new features like a 10.2-inch screen and an optional keyboard – but it’s shipping with an old chipset too.

Last updated on

12/09/2019

Published on

September 10, 2019

Andrzej Tokarski

Together with new iPhones and details about its upcoming subscription services, Apple introduced a new 10.2-inch iPad today. It’s the 7th generation of simple iPads and it’s the successor to the 9.7-inch iPad 2018 (review). The new tablet will be released in over 25 countries starting on September 30th. In the US, prices start at just 299 US Dollars for the education market and at 329 Dollars for everybody else. It’s the first standard iPad that you can get with an official keyboard cover, next to the first Apple Pencil. Let’s check it out in more detail.

Apple iPad 7 10.2-inch on* Amazon

Apple iPad 7: What’s New?

A couple of things have changed compared to the predecessor. The most important change is the new 10.2-inch display. It’s grown by 0.5-inches and get’s close to the 10.5-inch iPad Air (review) now. With a total of 3.5 million pixels, it offers a resolution of 2160 x 1620 pixel. Apple continues to use a standard LCD IPS panel which they call Retina Display. Especially for this price range, it’s very bright with 500 nits.

For me, the most interesting new feature is the optional keyboard cover. I like to work with my iPad Pro when I’m traveling and it’s great that we’re getting the option with the cheapest iPad too. The accessory is called Smart Keyboard and you connect it to the tablet using its magnetic PIN connector. It looks quite similar to the keyboard for the iPad Air. Update: It is the exact same iPad Air keyboard.

Apple iPad 7 Keyboard

If you want to get the keyboard, you’ll have to pay 159 US Dollars extra. Apple is going to offer layouts for over 30 languages including German, Japanese, simplified Chinese, French and Spanish.

Another new feature is its body. While all iPads feature a full aluminum body, this is the first one made of 100% recycled aluminum. However, according to Apple, you won’t notice any differences. It should continue to feel very high-end. You’ll be able to get it in silver, space grey, and gold. Like its predecessor, it’s just 7.5mm thin.

The 10.2-inch iPad 7 is the first one to directly ship with iPadOS out of the box. This version of the iOS operating system will be released together with the tablet on September 30th. Starting on this date, it’ll be available for the iPad Air 2 and newer, all iPad Pro versions, the iPad 5 and later, as well as the iPad Mini 4 and 5.

Apple iPad 7: What Stays The Same

So, yes there are some interesting new features. However, many aspects continue to stay the same. For instance, the iPad 7 continues to use the Touch ID fingerprint scanner instead of Face ID. An no, we won’t get USB C. Instead, you’ll have to continue to use the Lightning port. It’s also important to know that you’ll be able to use it with the first Apple Pencil – but Apple Pencil 2 is not supported.

It’s a bit disappointing that the new iPad ships with the Apple A10 Fusion chipset. Yes, that’s a pretty old processor by now that sits inside the previous iPad 2018 already. Sure, it’s not a slow SoC and the iPad continues to be faster than many cheap Android tablets. But it’ll be on shelves for at least a year and people will use it for up to five years or so.

Apple iPad 7

Read: These Are The Best iPads You Can Buy

Storage options stay the same too. You’ll be able to choose between 32GB or 128GB of internal storage. And if you want, you can get it with cellular LTE 4G connectivity too.

The cameras offer a resolution of 8 and 1.2 megapixels. So, nothing is changing here.

What do you think of the new 10.2-inch Apple iPad 7? Sure, it’ll be the best choice for everybody looking for an inexpensive iPad starting from today. But if you own the 2018 iPad already, there are very few reasons to upgrade. The screen might be bigger and you can get an official keyboard but the processor and features like Touch ID stay the same.

Apple iPad 7 10.2-inch

Read now: Our Apple iPad 7 10.2-inch Review

The Apple iPad 7 offers an excellent value for its price. It is the perfect tablet for many - especially if you don't want to spend more than 400 to 500 Dollars. Even though the Apple A10 Fusion processor is an older one, its performance continues to be very good. Yes, the 10.2-inch Retina display is not laminated but it is very sharp and bright. I also like that you can use the Apple Pencil and the official keyboard cover with the simple iPad now. In addition to that, iPadOS is a good operating system with great multitasking support.

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