This won't be an easy review for me. I'm all about bleeding-edge tech. If Apple had introduced a new iPad Pro in March, I'd have snapped it up in a heartbeat and then immediately started dreaming about what might come next.

But this isn't about me. Nor does every product Apple makes in its increasing mainstream lineup have to be for me. Perspective taking is always hard and it's taken me a while to wrap my head around this new normal, but it's become increasingly important to review products in the context for which they're offered.

Would I buy the iPad (5th Generation) — henceforth iPad 5 for efficiency — or recommend it to anyone like me? Not unless there was an urgent need for an extra, cheap tablet to keep in a camper or for car trips.

But would I recommend it for parents, grandparents, kids, or non-tech nerds who just want an inexpensive internet or app device with a big enough screen, easy enough interface, to buy for the first time or upgrade after a long time?

That's the question that needs answering, especially for people who still haven't gotten into computing or online, or have held onto previous generation iPads long enough that they're starting to need a replacement.

For anyone who wants to ditch or diminish their PC, iPad Pro is there — at a price. For anyone who wants a new, full-sized iPad and doesn't want to pay a lot for it, though, is iPad 5 now the best option?

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iPad 5 in brief

For people who want:

A less-expensive iPad
High-res Retina display
Access to the web and App Store

Not for people who want:

A Pro iPad
Laminated wide-gamut display
Apple Pencil and Smart Connector

In brief

It's not iPad Air 3. It's certainly not iPad Pro 2. Apple calls it iPad (5th Generation) but it's not a sequel to the 2012 iPad 4 either. Instead, the new 9.7-inch iPad is more an amalgam of everything that's come before. It's got the form-factor of the original Air but almost as much power as the Pro. It doesn't have Apple Pencil (opens in new tab) or Smart Connector, but it's got the lowest price tag of any full-sized iPad, ever. If you want a Pro, get a Pro. If you want an inexpensive tablet to access the web and the App Store, and a solid upgrade from iPad 2 all the way through iPad Air, get the new iPad (5th Generation).

Buy now from Apple (opens in new tab)

Previously, on iPad...

iPad 5 combines elements of iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2, and iPad Pro 9.7. Rather than repeat review material here, please see my previous reviews.

iPad 5 Price

I don't typically begin reviews talking about price. I typically end them that way. With iPad 5, though, everything begins and ends with the price.

Before the original iPad launched there was a rumor that it would cost $1000. During the iPad introduction event, Steve Jobs revealed the actual price to an "unbelievable" $499. Newer versions of the 9.7-inch iPad, from iPad 2 to iPad Air 2, all kept the same price point, even as older versions hang around at $399. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro raised the cost of entry to $599. iPad 5?

$329

You're not getting a next generation iPad for that price, of course. You're not even getting last year's iPad – there wasn't one, aside from the Pro. What you are getting is an amalgam of several previous generation iPads with a jolt of new internals.

It's an updated version of the screen from iPad Air 1, camera system from iPad Air 2, and chipset from iPhone 6s (the non-X version of the chipset in iPad Pro).

At $329.

iPad 5 Design

iPad 5 is built off the iPad Air platform. Outwardly, it looks like something of a cross between the original iPad Air and iPad Air 2, with a little 9.7-inch iPad Pro thrown in. It's almost like an iPad Air 1.5 but with the missing or minimized plastic RF windows of the Pro.

It's 9.4 inches (240 mm) tall, 6.6 inches (169.5 mm) wide, 0.29 inches (7.5 mm) "thin", and weighs in at 1.03 pounds (469 grams) for the Wi-Fi version and 1.05 pounds (478 grams) for the cellular version.

That's the same "thinness" and weight as the original iPad Air, and 0.05 inches (1.4 mm) thicker and 0.07 pounds (9 grams) heavier than the iPad Air 2 or 9.7-inch iPad Pro. It's one of the most apparent ways in which iPad 5 is more of an iPad Air SE than an iPad Air 3.

I can notice the difference when I'm holding iPad 5 and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and trying to weight them out, but just barely. The visual difference between the two casings is far more apparent. Ultimately, lightness is a boon for usability — you can hold it longer, read longer, watch longer, work longer, etc. iPad 5 is far from a back-breaker, though, which means it's likely not a deal-breaker either.

Color options include silver, space gray, and gold. There's no rose gold, which remains exclusive to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. (And there's no (matte black), jet black, or (Product) RED either, all of which remain exclusive to iPhone 7.)

The lack of rose gold is irksome for those of us who like to match all our gear. In 2016, I had rose gold for just about everything. Now I have more of an eclectic mix. Maybe some colors simply don't sell as well, or Apple wants to keep some colors exclusive for premium products. Either way, I miss the options.

There are no speaker grills on the top of iPad 5 because it lacks the four-speaker system of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. That leaves just the dual, stereo speaker grills on the bottom, like iPad Air and iPad Air 2. There's also no mute/rotation lock switch, which Apple offered on iPad Air but eliminated on iPad Air 2 and subsequent iPads. There's also no camera bump like on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro because iPad 5 doesn't have the newer, larger camera system but rather the older, smaller 12.9-inch iPad Pro system.

So, iPad 5 looks like... an iPad. It's part of the same design language that dates all the way back to the 2012 iPad mini. Rumor has it Apple is working on a new, more edge-to-edge design language for iPad. But that would be for the next-generation, not for iPad 5.

iPad accessories

Thanks to iPad 5 sharing the same dimensions as the original iPad Air, it's largely compatible with existing iPad Air accessories. That doesn't just include the obvious accessories that connect over Lightning cable or Bluetooth, but covers and cases as well.

iPad 5 Display

The iPad 5 display has the same "retina" density as previous-generation 9.7-inch iPads going back to 2012 — 2048x1536 pixels at 264 pixels-per-inch (ppi). If you've used any iPad since iPad 3, then you already know how that looks. If not, from a normal viewing distance, the grid of dots disappears and all you see is the text and images on the screen.

It's sRGB, same as all the other iPads up to and including the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which means no DCI-P3 wide color gamut or True Tone ambient light matching like the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. So, no deep reds, vibrant greens, or white that looks less blue or yellow and more like paper.

Unless you've been using a 9.7-inch iPad Pro, though, you probably won't notice. (And if you have, you're probably not buying an iPad 5 to replace it.)

For anyone on an iPad 2, the screen will be a terrific, Retina-level upgrade. For anyone using iPad 3 to iPad Air, it'll be slightly better — and considerably lighter for all but the Air. For anyone on iPad Air 2, though, it'll be a diagonal step back.

That's because iPad 5 lacks the anti-glare, laminated display, introduced on iPad Air 2. It does have the far more advanced individual calibration methods Apple has implemented in recent years, which balances at the sub-pixel level. But images don't look as though they're trapped inside the glass they way they do on iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro. They look like they're painted beneath it.

So, you'll experience more glare on iPad 5 than other recent iPads. If you mostly use your iPad inside you won't have a problem. If you like to take it to the park and sit beneath the midday sun, you'll need to find a spot of shade or angle yourself to minimize it.

iPad 5 Cameras

We live in an age of 12 megapixels, 4K mobile cameras, with optical and cinematic image stabilization, that shoot in wide-gamut and can apply depth-of-field effects on the fly. In an age of 5-megapixel, 1080p, Retina Flash selfies and boomerang videos. The iPad 5 camera system, though, is of a previous age.

iPad 5 optics are more in line with the 12-inch iPad Pro — which is to say an iPhone 6 or iPad Air 2 camera system with an iPhone 6s Image Signal Processor (ISP). That means 8 megapixels, 1080p video out back and 1.2 megapixels, 720p video up front. Yeah.

If this were a new Pro, it would be show-stopper-level outdated. For a low-cost iPad, it'll be an improvement over everything from iPad 2 to iPad Air, and an ever-so-slight improvement over iPad Air 2.

It does have Live Photos, though. You can both record and playback Apple's moment-captures on iPad 5, which is great.

iPad photography has never been taken as seriously as iPhone, despite how powerful a large viewfinder can be for novices and professionals alike. I think that's beginning to change, though. At least I hope it is.

For now, iPad 5 will work for taking everyday photos or videos in relatively well-lit situations, "scanning" papers to digitize, making fun solo or family projects, taking FaceTime or video calls, and similar tasks.

iPad 5 Internals

Inside every iPad 5 is an Apple A9 system-on-a-chip (SoC) with integrated M9 motion co-processor and 2 GB of RAM. It's not the A10 Fusion found in iPhone 7 or even the A9X found in the iPads Pro, but it's the exact same SoC that powers iPhone 6s.

The "Fusion" in A10 involves two dual-core processors, one a high-powered set for performance, the other a lower-powered set for battery efficiency, and it enables features like simulated depth-of-field photography. The X in A9X references double the graphics cores — 12 instead of 6 — and more memory to compute more pixels and push them around faster, for truly pro-level apps like intensive 3D modelers.

A9, though, is still plenty powerful for a 2048x1356 consumer-grade iPad. It's been driving the (internal resolution) 2208x1242 pixels of iPhone 6 Plus for over a year-and-a-half without any processor-level problems.

Here are the Geekbench scores, by way of comparison (higher numbers are better):

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Header Cell - Column 0	Chipset	Single-core	Multi-core
iPad 5	Apple A9	2400	4400
iPhone 7	Apple A10	3306	.5426
iPad Pro	Apple A9X	3200	5500
iPad Air 2	Apple A8X	1810	4530
MacBook 2016	Intel Core M	3271	6447
MacBook Air 2015	Intel Core i7	3522	6700

So, iPad 5 isn't the leap over the iPad Air 2 that iPad Pro was, especially for multi-threaded operations. But for single-threaded operations, which includes most user interactions, it's a respectable hop.

Realistically, very little outside high-end graphics apps, extremely intensive photo filters, or bleeding-edge games will peg an Apple A9 chipset. If you're coming from anything other than an iPad Air 2, things will be hockey-stick-graph better. Even coming from an iPad Air 2, the single thread improvement is enough to make everything seem snappier and more responsive.

iPad 5 also rated for the same 10-hours of battery life Apple's been promising for iPad going all the way back to the original. I've only had time to put it through a couple cycles, and I'm not using it as a primary computer or drawing canvas the way I do iPad Pro, but so far it's meeting if not exceeding my expectations. I'll update after I've had some more time with it, though.

2GB of RAM means iPad 5, like iPad Air 2 and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, can run two full-on apps, side-by-side, at the same time. You can browse the web and take notes at the same time or keep your messages open while working on your presentation. You can also watch picture-in-picture video, so you don't miss the movie while looking up the cast and tweeting about it at the same time.

iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro have been able to do this since the feature became available but for anyone on an older iPad, it'll mean a huge boost in productivity or just plain convenience.

Storage options include 32 GB, if you want a light, thin client to watch movies and work with online, or 128 GB if you want to store a lot of photos, videos, games, and documents.

Wi-Fi is dual-band 802.11ac MIMO and Bluetooth is 4.2. Same as all other modern iPads. That means you can connect to everything from hotspots to AirPods quickly and efficiently. The cellular model also supports 21 bands of LTE. That's two less than the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but one more than the 12.9-inch model and iPad Air 2.

If you have pro needs, you should absolutely get the pro iPad with A9X — or better, wait for Apple to drop an update pro iPad with A10/X. Otherwise, iPad 5 will be just fine for everyday apps and games.

iOS 10 + Apps

iPad is more than just hardware. It's iOS and the App Store that brings the hardware to life. Currently on version 10.3, iOS includes a variety of built-in apps for everything from web browsing to mail, photography to ebooks, maps to movie-making. It also gives you access to to the thousands upon thousands of tablet-optimized apps in the App Store that help you do — pretty much everything else. Nothing else offers this much high-quality, tablet-optimized software and it all runs just fine on iPad 5.

iPad 5 Conclusion

When iPad 2 launched, the line-up outside the Apple Store was... different. Some of my high school teachers were there. So were the fathers and mothers of my friends, uncles and aunts, even their grandparents. And there were kids. Lots of kids.

There was something about iPad 2 that appealed to the mainstream in a way traditional PCs never had. They were simpler, more approachable, more friendly. So, they got iPad 2, and they held on to it. Because it worked and it kept on working.

Retina didn't compel many of them to upgrade, nor did the advent of Air. But that was six years ago. This is now. And in that time, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, and even iPad Air, capable and sturdy as they may be, have aged. They can't all run all of the apps any more or use new features like split view. And so the people who bought them and held on to them are starting to look for what's next.

Again, it's tough to review a product that's not meant for me. I look at the specs and features and... nope, nope, nope. Everything from the display to the camera to the chipset to the accessories are better on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. And it's hard not to just recommend that for everyone.

But it's not for everyone. It's not for anyone who doesn't want to spend $599 just to get in the door. Which is why iPad 5 exists and starts at just $329.

At $329, a lot of those nope, nope, nope, nopes... don't disappear, but become well, well, well, wells...

It's not an iPad Pro 2 or an iPad Air 3 and it's not meant to be. Those would cost premium iPad dollars. iPad 5 is more like an iPad Air SE, and it costs less than ever. Just $329.

My mom upgraded from an original iPad Air to an iPad Pro last year but she's an artist and Apple had her at Pencil. Several other members of my extended family are still on older iPads and aren't able to run newer versions of iOS or use newer features like split-view. They're starting to think about an upgrade but they don't want to pay Pro prices for it.

For them, iPad 5 moves beyond even a well and becomes well-qualified yes.

See at Apple (opens in new tab)

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

37 Comments

Funny, I'm hugely excited about this iPad. I'm getting one and will keep it for years. I'm getting one for a family member too. I think a lot of other friends and family members will be getting them too. I need writing (in portrait!), photo editing, multitasking, Touch ID, and Bluetooth. I don't need an Apple Pencil. I don't want a landscape writing Smart Connector keyboard. I want the laminated display, but I don't need it. If I had an iPad Air 2, I would keep it. I'm used to an iPad mini 2, which means I won't notice what I'm missing. Apple needs better Pro features on the iPad Pro. A bigger "goldie locks" screen would be such a feature. The laminated display is another. (True Tone I would turn off.) Being able to used a second iPad as a second screen would be another great feature. (Apple has set up for that pretty well: combine a 10.5 and a 7.9 or a 12.9 and a 9.7 for a nice even match.)
As an owner of the iPad1 I shake my head while holding it in hand. At the same time two iPad2's still provide a valued service (for my mom and my 6 year old). Processing is not the problem, it's storage (16gb). I love and respect Apply products but from any vendor, all features can be considered as a borderline gimmick. Look at latest offering of MS Office365. Many of us still only use about 2-4% of its capability since 2000. Today Office 2003 still works for me. I think many poeple chase bling and features while there is a huge market for products that offer great "base" functionality at an affordable price. With that said I too am looking at the iPad 5 to maybe replace my 2's. Funny as those iPad 2s (for now) will be velcroed in the house to function as Sonos keypads, continuing to provide months (if not years) of service).
I agree about reuse. I bought every iPad except the 4 and the pro 9.7. I still have most here, except that we gave some away, as after my daughter stops using hers, it's given to a friend who can't afford it. Otherwise, my wife refuses to let me buy a new one for her, so she takes my last year's model. Some of the older ones we still have are reused for less demanding tasks as you have done. I have two in my shops. The only one that's not still used is the original model.
I'm also very keen on this iPad. The chance big that I'll be upgrading my iPad 3 to this iPad 5 Sent from the iMore App
Simply looking at the current tablet market landscape will show that this was a very smart move from Apple. The tablet market is nothing like that of the smartphone. Majority of the people who buy iPads want it for consumption of media and to games to keep their kids occupied. This is why up until recently the iPad 2 was still being sold.
Now there is a much lower barrier of entry for those looking for an iPad
Not sure why this comment was given a thumbs down as its 100% correct. (Okay it may not have been a thumbs down once I looked again) Come the holidays you will find the iPad 5 on sale for 250ish and maybe even a gift card thrown in around black Friday. Apple needs to get more, and newer, iPads in the hands of people. This is why Amazon is selling disposable fire tables as portals to the ecosystem and consumption devices. A majority of people with tablets just want to be able to surf the internet, facebook, twitter etc., and watch videos. The Pro, and pro spec devices, are niche markets as Rene tried to point out, but honestly it came off more as bagging on what might be the best tablet for the money. Anyone reading this review who was just looking for an opinion on the iPad 5 may read this has "well its good enough" when in reality it's the best buy for most people looking for a new tablet.
I get visibly uncomfortable when I see you put iPad's and iPhone's face down on bricks or other types of masonry. I'll never understand why you guys do that, but thanks for the excellent review.
Because the screens are more scratch resistant than the back.
Doesn't matter, it's masonry, very rough.
Sheesh! Ok, we get it, it's not for you. You don't have to keep pointing out how much more serious you are, as though we won't know that unless you keep telling us. I also use the iPad Pro 12.9". But I've tried this one out, and quite frankly, for most everything, the performance matches it. It's actually faster with some games, as the lower screen resolution enables faster rendering and display. I don't have a Pro 9.7 to compare it to, but it's also faster than my old Air 2. The screen is about the same, though Apple is correct about it being brighter than the one in the iPad Air 2, which I compared it too. Truthfully, you really need to concentrate to feel the difference in weight between the 5 and the Air 2. A lot will depend on which hand either is being held by, as one will always be stronger. Switch back and forth. But it's just a third of an ounce in 16 ounces, so it's minuscule. Overall, this is a great tablet.
While I feel the same way, I also empathize with Rene. He loves to see what Apple will come up with next. This feels like last years iPad, which is fine for me and most others, but he wants the "real" 2017 iPad. This is anticlimactic for any iPad Air 2 or Pro owner that wants to upgrade. Point being that his sentiment is common throughout the customer base. (By the way, the screen is supposed to be worse: it's not lamented.) I'm sure they'll announce new Pro models with new innovative features this year. (And then Samsung will copy it later.)
Samsung has not copied Apple on the tablet for a while now. Samsung came with the small tablet first, and they have had the pencil as S Pen from 2011 when Apple was still laughing at the Stylus. Sent from the iMore App
Facts are lost on some people.
That's not true. Their 10.1" tablets were all 16:9, the newer, more expensive ones, are the same as Apple's, at 3:2. That's a major design change right there, as is the stylus. Performance however, is way inferior, using last year's chip, which is odd, though I suppose it's cheaper.
I understand, but he can say it once, at the top of the article, and then - just leave it alone. It's the constant reminding us that he's a high end guy that bothers me. I use the iPad Pro 12.9", so I sort of get it. But do a review that's for the device itself, and not what you want others to know you use. Or, give it to someone else to review. Andrew Cunningham, from arstechnica just did a great review on this model.
It's all about upgrades. Hence the trade-offs to get the low price.
More important than device revenue, upgrades allow users to get iOS updates. Many (one in my house) iPads can no longer get the latest iOS and Apps.
5th Gen will be a big success. And no one will pay attention.
I thought about buying one at Apple store last weekend (to replace my wife's iPad Air 2) but couldn't get past the lack of laminated display. A big difference in image quality IMO. Overall, it's a nice upgrade from the original Air and earlier generation iPads, but only marginally better at best compared to Air 2.
"It's not the latest and the greatest..." But it *is* the latest, isn't it?
While my iPad is getting a little long in the tooth and I would like to replace it at some point in the not too distant future, I have put off the upgrade for a while, simply due to their going backwards with the screen in this new iPad model. Downgrading from the laminated screen that has been on iPads for several years now, to the old design, which makes the iPad thicker the the previous model is a stupid decision and is evidently purely a move to get people to go for the much more expensive iPad Pro model.
"is evidently purely a move to get people to go for the much more expensive iPad Pro model." No, it's a move to enable them to lower the price. Laminated screens are expensive. Taking that out was probably the single biggest thing that let them lower the price so far.
No, it's not. It's to get people using older devices to upgrade to a much better one that will continue getting OS upgrades for years to come, and thereby, able to use the newest apps, and the newest versions of apps that cutoff at older OS versions. Some of you guys are making way too much of the limantated screen. I've got my old models, and the difference in laminated vs non laminated isn't all that much. This new, brighter screen, goes a long way to make up the difference.
I just wanted to put 2 thumbs up for your response. I fully agree and am happy Apple has done this. It's was kind of not expected from Apple, it's a great surprise. Sent from the iMore App
Even though I would have loved to replace my iPad Air (first gen) with an iPad Pro, I ended up opting for the new iPad. The Air is a great machine, even three+ years on. But there were a few things that made me want to upgrade, especially the Touch ID, faster processor, and updated Bluetooth. I found that I couldn't really justify the price of the Pro for my usage, but the new Air offers the upgrades that I wanted at a price I wanted to pay. So while I wish I had the display benefits of the Pro and the smart connector for an attachable keyboard, in my actual usage the new Air is a really fantastic choice and price.
THE disappointing thing is that Apple charges in Europe 409 Euro ( = ± 438 USD) iso 329 USD, this 33% up can not be explained by sales tax!
Depending on the country, it would seem like quite a bit of the difference could be sales tax. Remember that sales tax isn't added to the price of an item in the US, so the US price is without any tax. This means 20%, or more (depending on country) of the price is likely VAT. The remaining 10%, or so, is likely the cost of translating/printing brochures, possibly difference in cost of the various power plugs used in Europe, etc.
Yes it can. The 20-21% VAT makes a big difference. Plus, countries in the EU charge import taxes that are pretty high when compared to what we have here. Additionally, costs to ship to the EU is higher than to the USA, which just has the Pacific Ocean in between. Then when you include state and local taxes in most states here, the difference is easily explained. It's not Apple, believe me. No company want to charge more for different areas.
I feel like you are underselling the significance of Apple promoting a product that is actually aimed at regular consumers, value-wise. The iPhone SE doesn't count IMO, as you are taking a hit in functionality b/c of the reduced screensize. For the iPad though, you get a full sized, sufficiently powerful iPad that people can actually justify buying. Trying to market the Pro as a PC replacement is a iffy proposition, IMO. Quality easy computing for the masses? That's the ticket!
In 2010 when the very first Ipad came out, it cost about as much as a generic consumer laptop. Since then, laptops have gone down in price quite a bit. Now once again, the entry level ipad is priced to compete with the cost of a generic windows laptop. I doubt that is accidental.
"it's not a sequel to the 2012 iPad 4" Why not? It seems to me that it is indeed the sequel to the ipad 4 when you consider the naming
I agree with this. After considering things, I've decided this is technically the upgrade to the iPad 4 -- despite the fact that the Air 2 was discontinued. I believe Apple revised their stance, since the Air series was still relatively expensive, and the Air 2 was technically replaced by the iPad Pro 9.7". Apple kept the Air 2, despite the fact it was technically "replaced," for the same reason the iPhone 6s is still being sold. But, now that there is a new "basic" iPad, Apple no longer needs the Air 2 to be the "cheaper" 9.7" iPad.
I was looking for an inexpensive tablet and bought the 128 GB model. After using it a while, I was quite disappointed (and annoyed) by occasional stutters while scrolling in Safari or Photos. This is completely absent in the Air, Air 2 or Pro. I therefore bought a WiFi Air 2, which scrolls silkily smoothly and is noticeably lighter (the difference is 37 grams, not the 9 grams mentioned in the review). The GPU has 6 cores compared to the 8 in the Air 2, though the clock speed is a little higher (I saw graphics benchmarks which were a tie with the Air 2). The scrolling jitter was not fixed in the new OS (10.3.1). Finally, the price at Best Buy was $30 less for the Air 2. The new iPad and Air 2 screens are very similar - I really don't care about the screen gap. In bright sunlight the new iPad is brighter but more reflective - a wash in my opinion. For what I do, I don't care about the 30% CPU speed advantage. The Air 2 is still very fast.
Sorry, I goofed - the weight difference is 32 grams (not 37).
I am still using an iPad 3 and it just works, however, I have been wanting to try Swift Playground which does not support the iPad 3. We also have an iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in the family.
Seeing the glare on the screen of the iPad 5 I am not sure I will be comfortable with it. There is also a big difference in the quality of photos compared to the iPad Pro, however, I am not a big fan of taking photos with a tablet, especially at events. I actually hate it when people are blocking everyone else's view by holding up their tablets. Can't they afford a $99 point and shoot camera or use their phones ?
I think I will wait for a price drop of the 9.7" iPad Pro.
I'm not sure what you complaint is about the glare on the screen of the iPad 5 -- the glare should be no different than what you get on the iPad 3, which is also not laminated and has no anti-reflective coating. I am disappointed that they didn't upgrade, at a minimum, the front camera of the new iPad. It seems like they should have been able to put in a 5mp camera in front for little additional cost, and it would be a big improvement for one of the main uses of the iPad, Facetime.
I m not sure I am that excited to upgrade from my iPad Air 2. I still love and use it well every day and it still serves me well. I upgraded from the original to the 3 then the 3 to the Air, then Air 2 because I got a really good price on it. I just don't feel that itch and my wallet thanks me for it.
There's no reason to upgrade from the Air 2. Apple isn't aiming this model at you.
Well it has arrived in South Africa at at price of ZAR5999 (US$433.20). A good price locally even though it's still much higher than the US price but a US$100+ Sent from the iMore App

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