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  • - Hey guys, this is Austin.

  • This is the brand new base iPad and at $330

  • it might be the best value Apple product that you can buy.

  • For 2019 the base iPad sees a few upgrades,

  • including some more RAM as well as a slightly larger screen.

  • But for me, there are two major highlights.

  • First of all is the addition of the Smart Connector.

  • Now this is something which has slowly been trickling

  • its way through the iPad lineup over the last few years,

  • and it makes a big difference.

  • As far as I'm concerned an iPad without a keyboard

  • is a great content consumption device.

  • But if I wanna get any real work done, I need a keyboard.

  • And as ludicrously expensive

  • as a Smart Connector keyboard is,

  • it does make a big difference.

  • Now I'm not exactly sure what Apple's smoking,

  • charging you a $160 price tag for a keyboard

  • for a $330 iPad.

  • I started out this video I'm like hey,

  • this is the best value product that Apple sells.

  • Look how great it is and then they charge you the $160

  • for the keyboard.

  • I'm like well, don't worry about that part.

  • So something else that the base iPads still uses

  • is the standard old school Apple Pencil,

  • which means if you wanna charge it,

  • you have to plug it into the Lightning port like this.

  • I can't believe they still charge $100 for this.

  • Look, I don't wanna beat a dead horse here,

  • the pencil's nice, the keyboard's nice.

  • And when you use them together the iPad, the base model

  • really actually does feel surprisingly close to

  • a full iPad Pro.

  • So what I've been doing the last few days is exactly that.

  • This has been my main laptop replacement.

  • And yes, I just said the words iPad and laptop replacement

  • in the same sentence

  • with a completely straight face.

  • - Bull(beep) - No, for real.

  • Now yes, I'm sure you're probably rolling your eyes

  • right now the idea of an iPad, a base iPad,

  • no less being a laptop replacement.

  • But hear me out here,

  • over the last few days of using this as my main system,

  • I've been surprised exactly how usable it really is.

  • I'm not saying like

  • oh, it's usable if you deal with this compromise,

  • or with that compromise.

  • I mean like I've been able to do pretty much everything

  • I need to including Google Docs and YouTube

  • and keeping up with spreadsheets and everything

  • which all sounds really boring.

  • But the thing is,

  • is that this is just as good of an iPad for most situations

  • as the iPad Pro,

  • and it costs like one third the price.

  • A huge part of this comes down to the second major upgrade,

  • and arguably the most important one, iPadOS.

  • Holy (Roblox oof).

  • This makes it so much better.

  • - Wow.

  • - Dude, it is not even close.

  • So in the past when I was using the beta of the iPadOS

  • on my iPad Pro, it was pretty solid.

  • But now the final version is out.

  • And of course it is supported on a wide range of iPads,

  • including the new base model,

  • it makes a world of difference.

  • Probably the number one feature

  • that I really appreciate in this,

  • is a desktop version of Safari.

  • Now ever since the first iPad Pros came out

  • with the keyboard I'm like, oh you know what,

  • I could use this as a laptop.

  • And I've tried and tried, and I've tried,

  • but now that we have a full proper desktop browser,

  • I actually can kind of make it work.

  • Now yes, there's still some small caveats.

  • Safari is certainly not perfect,

  • but it is so much better than before.

  • Things like Google Docs actually works.

  • So does Gmail, so does well,

  • 95% of any web apps I've tried

  • unless they need some sort of plugin.

  • Gone are the days of dealing with terrible mobile apps

  • like Drive or Docs, which were just not good.

  • I mean, using the full versions make a huge difference.

  • I mean literally,

  • this is a full Google Doc, wants to load,

  • I can do everything I'd want.

  • And with the pencil, I can easily select text.

  • I can easily select text.

  • I mean, it makes a big difference.

  • Now, there's certainly other advantages.

  • So the Files have seen major update,

  • which means that you can now download files on the iPad,

  • you have access to a full file structure.

  • So I can set up folders, move files around,

  • it's getting better to sort of share files between apps.

  • And there is some support for external devices such as USB.

  • And it's a little bit more difficult

  • because this is still using Lightning.

  • So you do need to use an adapter

  • or use one of those little USB dongles

  • that has a Lightning port on it.

  • But generally speaking,

  • this has come a long way toward being

  • honestly even more useful than something like a Chromebook.

  • Whereas in the past, it was like Windows,

  • Mac, Chrome OS, iPad.

  • But now it's like iPad, Chrome OS.

  • We can make a 3D chart to show that so as I move my hands,

  • it's all nicely animated.

  • - [Ken] No.

  • - We do have the budget for that.

  • - [Ken] No.

  • - No it is certainly not perfect.

  • Even though the upgrade from two to three gigs of RAM,

  • I still do run into some issues in Safari

  • where I'll have five or six tabs open,

  • and we'll start reloading them in the background although

  • to be fair it's fairly fast on that front.

  • And there's some other things like yes,

  • I wish I did have a little bit more performance,

  • the A10 is decent, and it's actually surprisingly usable.

  • But of course, having the A12, the A12X

  • would be a little bit quicker, a little bit more snappy.

  • But generally speaking,

  • all the things that are major differences

  • between the base iPad and the Pro are nice to have,

  • not need to have,

  • I can get the same things done on this.

  • It's maybe just a touch slower,

  • it's maybe not quite so smooth.

  • You don't have the higher refresh rate display

  • or quite as nice of audio

  • but the general experience is nearly identical,

  • which is incredibly impressive.

  • I mean, we look at a lot of very cheap $200, $300 laptops,

  • and honestly with iPadOS being as good as it is,

  • I think I'm gonna have to stop recommending some of them.

  • I mean sure, if you specifically need Windows

  • by all means go for it.

  • But for a lot of people,

  • you're getting a better experience with the iPad.

  • And that's something I've never been able to say before.

  • The better comparison is with the iPad Air,

  • which also came out earlier this year.

  • Now we put it side by side with the base iPad,

  • you'll see that the Air is a little bit thinner,

  • but beyond that they're actually surprisingly similar.

  • So the Air does have a slightly larger 10.5 inch display

  • compared to 10.2 inch on the base iPad.

  • And the laminated glass does look a little bit better.

  • There's no screen gap unlike that base iPad,

  • but in real world use,

  • I really can't tell a huge difference.

  • They're both very vibrant,

  • they're both both very bright,

  • resolutions are nearly the same.

  • Honestly, the Air is a, it's a decent iPad,

  • it's a good choice but over $170 more expensive,

  • it's kind of hard to justify.

  • Now the design is certainly been around for a while.

  • However, there are some good sides to that.

  • Touch ID is well, still here,

  • not quite as fast as Face ID but it's fine.

  • And you of course do have the headphone jack.

  • Now camera-wise well, that's a little bit of a downgrade.

  • This is what the video looks like coming out of

  • the iPad base model.

  • It is the very old school 720p camera

  • and well, it works for FaceTime I guess,

  • but not really that well, to be totally honest.

  • It's a little bit of a downgrade.

  • Probably the biggest differences is in the specs.

  • So the base model iPad sticks with the same Apple A10

  • from last year's iPad,

  • whereas the iPad Air has the A12,

  • but in my few days of using this base iPad,

  • it hasn't really bothered me.

  • I mean yeah, it's a little bit slower but beyond that,

  • I mean, it's surprising at how much the iPhone 7 processor

  • can really handle here.

  • This is not blisteringly fast, you know what,

  • it's actually kind of fine even for some gaming.

  • Now with iPadOS now supporting

  • PS4 and Xbox One controllers,

  • this actually isn't a bad little portable console.

  • So first up, we have Fortnite

  • and there's actually some interesting things about Fortnite.

  • So not only do we actually have proper resolution scalers,

  • we can change it to 20, 30 or 60 as our FPS cap.

  • We also can change the resolution, change the quality.

  • And as far as I've tested,

  • this actually looks better and runs smoother

  • than on the Switch.

  • - [Gamer] Yeah, don't kill Austin.

  • (gun fires) (laughs loudly)

  • Yoh kill, no, no, don't kill him, don't kill him.

  • - Ever since the first iPad Pro came out,

  • I've really wanted to use an iPad as my everyday laptop.

  • I mean between the form factor which you just can't beat,

  • the all day battery life, the great screen.

  • And of course there are inherent advantages

  • to going with iOS and things like security

  • and app compatibility.

  • But there's always been something to hold me back.

  • I'm not gonna sit here and pretend

  • that I'm ready to throw my laptop in the garbage just yet.

  • There's still cases like editing

  • that I prefer to use a laptop for.

  • However, for the most part,

  • this is really enough to replace most of what I do.

  • And specifically with the $330 base model,

  • it is hard to argue that this is not the best value

  • Apple product that you can buy today.

  • Sure, the higher end iPads are nice.

  • But this really is all you need.

- Hey guys, this is Austin.

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