Gadronics As a techie, it’s easy to get caught up in the trap of buying the most expensive devices with the most features. And, for the most part, it’s still a problem. That said, I recently made the decision to switch to Apple’s cheapest iPad, the budget model with an A16 chip. I’m pleasantly surprised with how incredibly useful it truly is – while costing less than a third of an iPad Pro.
iPadOS 26
I’ve mentioned it in passing before, but iPadOS 26 sort of ruined how I use my iPad. I liked how using my iPad felt different from using my Mac. I did regularly run jokes about the iPad being a fake computer, but that was exactly what made it special to me.
To be more specific, I really liked having an app in full screen, then quickly flicking my cursor over to the right side to pull in an app on Slide Over. Typically, this setup would consist of having Safari full screen, and an additional app like Gmail or Slack on the side.
If I were on a flight, sitting on the couch, or otherwise lounging with my iPad – this was my #1 way of working on the iPad. I even favored writing articles on my iPad over my Mac after a while, simply because it was easier to focus – even though iPadOS RAM management was never perfect. My Safari tabs would often need to reload if I switched between them, but I was willing to deal with that.
Now, iPadOS has a full blown Mac-style windowing system. Some people might be a big fan of that, but to me, this adds more complexity to the iPad than I’m willing to deal with. So, I switched away from my iPad Pro.
Switching to iPad (A16)
For a while, I had switched to mostly using my iPad purely as a tablet, and less of a hybrid laptop. I was never able to get into the new windowing system – it always felt clunky. Really, the main turning point for the downgrade was the fact that a close friend of mine was in the market for an M4 11-inch iPad Pro, so selling mine to him was quite convenient.
Afterwards, I bought an iPad (A16). Direct from Apple it’ll be $349, or $329 for students. Or, if you check out third party deals like those from Amazon, you can score one for just $299. As referenced earlier, thats a third of the cost of an M4 11-inch iPad Pro.
For $600-700 less, what do you give up with the A16 iPad?
Base iPad tradeoffs
First things first, you’re compromising pretty substantially in the display department. You go from an 11-inch OLED 120Hz display with HDR support, a P3 color gamut, 1000 nits of standard brightness, and much much more. The A16 iPad has a much more basic LCD panel, with a 60Hz refresh rate, sRGB colors, no HDR, and just 500 nits of brightness.
On top of that, you don’t have a laminated display – so you’ll have a relatively decent air gap between the display panel and the cover glass. This impacts how the display performs in bright sunlight, and it also impacts the Apple Pencil experience.
If you get over the display compromise, though, you aren’t missing out on a ton. Unless you really want Apple Intelligence on your iPad, since the A16 chip won’t support it.
The A16 iPad still has USB-C, the same great 12MP Ultra Wide selfie camera with Center Stage, and an 11-inch display size. You’ll still have the same set of iPadOS 26 features as all other modern iPads (barring Apple Intelligence features), and you’ll still have a very performant feeling iPad experience. Apple’s A16 Bionic is no slouch.
Wrap up
For my tablet purposes, which for the most part just consists of web browsing, YouTube viewing, and occasional texting and social media – the A16 iPad excels, and I don’t anticipate it to feel slow any time soon.
Plus, the base iPad now comes with 128GB of storage – which provides plenty of space to install an Apple Arcade game for casual playing. It also comes in some bright, fun colors such as Pink, Blue, and Yellow – which none of the other iPads will offer. The iPad Air does come in some nice colors, though they aren’t saturated like the base iPad.
Ultimately, the base iPad has come so far over the years. It still isn’t for everyone, but it’s great for the majority – to the point where I’m even willingly using one. If you want a lot out of your iPad, it’s still not the best. If you just want what a tablet is meant to be though, it’s excellent.
I’d say it easily carries around 70% of the iPad Pro experience, at just 30% of the iPad Pro price. You can pick one up on Amazon brand new for just $299.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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