I recently got an iPad 8th Gen, with an Apple pencil for my graphic designing needs. It has been more than a month of heavy usage for the iPad, the ideal time for presenting an in-depth review.
Let us jump right into it.
Here’s what I got, from the inspire store in Nagpur.
- Apple iPad 8th Gen (128GB WiFi + Cellular) for Rs. 48,000/-
- Apple Pencil (1st Gen) for Rs. 8500/-
- Neopack case for the iPad for Rs. 2000/-
Starting with the iPad:
The Physical Appearance
The bezels are prominent with the good old physical home button with Touch ID function as well. The thickness has reduced as compared to the earlier models.
The Software Side
The iPad booted with iPadOS 13 and has received 14.4.2 updates till the date of writing this article. The iPadOS offers a few upgrades/changes over the iOS. The usual left swipe from the home screen squeezes in with the app icons being in place, unlike the iOS for other handheld devices. The control centre can be pulled down from the right top corner and does not fill up the screen. In the last month, I haven't seen a single app fail to open or crash.
User Experience
The navigation throughout is buttery smooth, lag-free and easy on the eyes. The app switcher now has a large thumbnail style and has made switching apps more efficient with the real-time thumbnails of the apps running in the background. The battery life lasts for more than a couple of days with normal usage and a whole day for sure with heavy graphic designing apps like Procreate.
Moving towards the Apple Pencil:
I have a first generation of the Apple made stylus. Only the first-gen is compatible with the 8th gen iPad. The pencil has a cap on its back that covers the male lightning port that is used to charge the pencil with the iPad’s charging port or with the attachment that comes with the pencil.
Then there are certain times when the pencil refuses to function but that is easily solved by physically connecting it with the iPad. The charging speed is amazing, goes from 30% to full within 10 minutes.
The Apple pencil seems like an expensive deal until you start using it, the pressure-sensitive tip, the rapidly charging battery and the seamless integration with the iPad makes writing or drawing with it amazing, as simple as writing on paper.
The combination may seem like an expensive deal for the common user but if you plan on taking notes, making digital art with the iPad, choosing the apple pencil as the stylus will be the best choice. To know more about using the iPad for note-taking, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!
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