Apple iPad 10.9" (10th-gen)

The Apple iPad 10th gen is an excellent tablet in many ways – it’s just too expensive.

The new iPad 2022 (10th gen) delivers almost everything you could want in a modern tablet, offering a larger display than last year’s iPad along with a sleeker design, faster A14 Bionic chip and USB-C charging. The Magic Keyboard is comfy to use, and I like the repositioned front camera, too. But this tablet costs $120 more than the 9th gen iPad, and the 1st gen Apple Pencil is too awkward to charge.

This iPad is more like an “Air lite,” and it’s a common strategy for the company. In 2020, Apple took the iPad Pro design and put it in the iPad Air and subsequently bumped the price. Now Apple is doing that again, taking the Air design, putting it in the base model, and making it more expensive. My hope is that within a year or two, Apple adds support for the second-generation Pencil to this model and cuts the price below $400 again. That would make for an iPad that is easy to recommend. But for now, despite a number of improvements, this iPad is sandwiched between two models that probably make more sense for most buyers.

Apple has successfully migrated the base iPad from its classic, first-gen Air looks to an iPad Pro-influenced design, and the result is a high-quality, versatile tablet that will satisfy the broadest set of users, from fun-lovers and content-consumers to those looking to get some work done (with the addition of a separately purchased keyboard cover). While the price hike is dismaying, and the lack of Pencil 2 support is just plain wrong, the iPad 10.9 more than earns its keep, and is a worthy addition to our Best Tablets list.

Yes, the standard iPad is the most basic model, but don't let that fool you—it’s more than capable of managing everyday tasks like word processing, web browsing, note-taking, reading ebooks and textbooks, plus even gaming. That's thanks to Apple's A14 Bionic processor (the same one that’s in the iPhone 12). Performance has been smooth sailing in my week with it. Then again, I could say the same for the ninth-gen iPad.

As a package, then, Apple's offer this year really does feel well suited to its target audience. I suspect a lot of people who might consider an M1 MacBook Air would be just as much at home doing the same tasks on the new iPad with the Magic Keyboard Folio. I wish the latter was $50 to $100 less expensive, but it's still a pairing that starts at $698 — or $848 with the useful integrated 5G that Apple continues to withhold from its laptop range.