iPAD (10TH GEN)- A BEAUTIFUL DISAPPOINTMENT

APPLE'S NEWEST TABLET IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO BE A BUDGET OPTION AND TOO LIMITED FOR MID-MARKET BUYERS.

-  DAVID PRICE

It can be hard to get excited about the cheapest model in a range. Apple's standard iPad has for years offered a blend of strong value and respectable specs without creating much of a buzz because the features it offers are either weaker than those on the Air, mini, and Pro models, or arrive several years later.

This latest iPad, however, may change that perception. It does some interesting things, particularly in terms of its position within the range-but not all of those things are good. Being interesting can be a mixed blessing.

DESIGN AND BUILD: BRIGHT, COLORFUL, AND MODERN

mid-market. Battery performance was disappointing, too, and the less said about the Apple Pencil situation, the better.

There's presumably a subsection of consumers out there for whom the 9th-gen is too basic and the Air too expensive, but it can't be large.

And it's hard to see how the people who are in the subsection will even realize, given the confusing nature of this opaque, overlapping range.

From very first impressions, it's clear that Apple has given the humble iPad a glow-up, particularly if you've got one of the bright new colors. I tested the pink model, which is vibrantly gorgeous in the flesh, but from publicity photos, the other colors look just as joyous. This is the first iPad in years to not offer even the choice of a black or dark-gray finish: your options are silver, pink, yellow, or blue-and these are much brighter shades than the comparatively somber blue, pink, and purple offered with the latest iPad Air and mini. (In our iPad Air review [fave.co/3VfdisQ], I described its subtle purple hue as a "grown-up color.")