Apple iPad 6th Gen (9.7-inch, 2018)

Great value ; Slim and light, yet powerful ; Apple Pencil compatible ; iOS is the best tablet operating system

Reflective screen ; Average rear camera

The new iPad is an iPad Pro on a budget. You get many of the same features for a fraction of the price, and that makes it hugely compelling.

More affordable Good screen quality Powerful for the price

Apple Pencil costs extra Design unchanged

The iPad 9.7 is a great tablet for those that want just that: a tablet. It's short of the power and performance of the iPad Pro range, but the addition of Apple Pencil compatibility and the A10 chipset bring it pretty close, and for a lot less cash. It...

Excellent, balanced picture quality ; Added HDR support ; Punchy, natural sound ; Cheaper than last year’s model

Sound and vision upgrades are slight ; HDR isn’t as transformative here as you might expect

It’s not worth upgrading from last year’s model, but the new iPad is still the best tablet available at this sort of price

Apple Pencil support ; Powerful A10 Fusion chipset

No cheaper that previous model

The budget iPad from 2017 has been updated – Apple says it's an iPad for education, but it's actually a really impressive tablet for the general user who wants to get a great experience – and having the Apple Pencil support on there as well is great.

Apple Pencil support ; Cheap (for an iPad) ; Has a decent turn of speed

No keyboard connector

However, for any consumer who’s not interested in the educational apps, it’s a little disappointing that the only hardware improvement comes in the form of a slightly faster processor – after all, not everyone is all that bothered about stylus support....

Powerful enough to handle most tasks ; Has way more apps than other tablets ; Pencil support gives it new versatility

Still no anti-reflective screen coating ; Small gap between screen and glass ; No multi-user support

The best iPad for most people – if you want a versatile tablet for work and play, this is it

Great battery life ; All the power you need ; Even better with an Apple Pencil

Same old design as previous iPads

The best tablet on the market, without the price tag of the iPad Pro.

Rear flash and much improved cameras ; Super-fast processor ; Option to use Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard ; Thin and beautiful ; Pink colour option

High price (even higher than at launch) ; Smaller Smart Keyboard isn't easy to type on accurately ; Camera lens sticks out at rear

You can now use the Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard with your mid-size iPad, instantly making the iPad Pro 9.7 an appealing device for work on the go, and particularly for creative design work and note-taking; and quad speakers make it a superior...