14 hrs, 47 mins
Battery life of the new ipad
The ipad was so successful when it arrived seven years ago that it almost killed off the bottom end of the laptop market, prompting the company’s thenCEO Steve Jobs to start blathering about a “post-pc era”. Android versions followed, and soon everyone wanted a tablet. But in the last couple of years, they’ve stopped selling. Apple sold only half as many ipads in the first quarter of 2017 as in the same period in 2014, despite offering more models to choose from.
Apple still believes tablets are the future. But it has a new plan. Instead of launching yet another option to add to the 7.9in ipad mini 2 and ipad mini 4, the 9.7in ipad Air 2 and ipad Pro, and the 12.9in ipad Pro, it’s killed off the ipad mini 2, made the ipad mini 4 more expensive, and ditched the ipad Air 2 for a cheaper version. Did you get all that?
So the new ipad 9.7in (no longer Air) is now the cheapest ipad you can buy, at £339 with 32GB of storage. That’s £100 more than the cheapest ipad a month ago, the £239 ipad mini 2, which is now discontinued; but £60 less than the ipad Air 2, which it replaces.
The ipad 9.7in is slightly heavier and appreciably thicker than the ipad Air 2, and its screen loses some benefits introduced in that model. The previous laminated panel made the display feel as though it was right at the surface of the glass, and an advanced anti-glare coating stopped reflections getting in the way. Now it’s back to having a noticeable gap between your finger and the graphics, and reflections are a problem again. It’s still a great screen, extremely sharp and with accurate colour, but it’s obviously been compromised to shave cost and give you a reason to consider spending the extra on the ipad Pro. The Pro also has much better cameras and supports the Pencil stylus.
Nothing else is visibly different from the ipad Air 2. The processor is the A9, as used in the iphone 6S, and our tests show it’s slightly faster than the Air 2’s A8X. As before, a sensible 32GB of storage is standard, but remember you can’t expand it later with a microsd card. What’s changed is battery life: the ipad 9.7in lasted us 14 hours 47 minutes of video playback, more than four hours longer than the ipad Air 2. That’s one change we do welcome.
Heavier than the ipad Air, but retains the sharp screen and costs less
SPECIFICATIONS Apple A9 processor • 32GB flash storage • 9.7in 2048x1536-pixel touchscreen • 8-megapixel rear camera • 1.2-megapixel webcam • 802.11ac Wi-fi • Touch ID fingerprint sensor • IOS 10 • 240x170x7.5mm (HXWXD) • 437g • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/24033
VERDICT: This is an excellent price for an ipad, particularly when you consider the improved battery life
★★★★★
ALTERNATIVE: ipad mini 4 £419 Yes – unbelievably – Apple’s smaller tablet is actually now more expensive, because it’s sold only with a huge 128GB of storage