Apple Inc. says its tablet-style iPad computer represents a whole new category of consumer-electronic devices, ideal for watching videos, surfing the Web and reading electronic books.
Here is how it stacks up with other Internet-connected portable devices that consumers are already using:
The iPad is easier to stash and carry than most laptops. The device weighs just 1.5 pounds, compared with a few pounds for the typical laptop. At a mere half-inch thick, the iPad is also thinner than most laptops. But with a maximum of 64 gigabytes of storage, the iPad can’t hold as many photos, movies and songs. The iPad comes with only a touch-screen keyboard; Apple will sell an add-on dock with a physical keyboard like most laptops have.
Smaller laptops known as netbooks use less-powerful chips than regular laptops, and as a result they don’t handle video or other processing-intensive tasks well. The iPad uses a new chip that is custom designed by Apple and that CEO Steve Jobs has described as extremely fast.
Browsing the Web, watching video and reading books are more comfortable on a big iPad than a tiny smart phone. The iPad’s screen measures 9.7 inches diagonally, nearly three times that of Apple’s iPhone, at 3.5 inches. However, while the iPad has a built-in microphone and could work with Internet-based phone services such as Skype, it’s not a telephone. And it doesn’t fit in your pocket, the way the iPhone does.
Using the iPad’s touch screen to buy books and start reading seems fast compared with the navigation required on Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle, which requires pushing physical buttons on the device because it has no touch screen. But the iPad has a glossy screen, so it might not be as easy on the eyes as the Kindle and other e-readers, which generally sport grayscale “electronic-ink” screens that aren’t susceptible to glare.
Worth noting is that today’s Apple iPad launch is only for the WiFi version. Those looking for the 3G version will need to wait a little longer for it to be released. If you are contemplating the iPad over the Kindle, you will want to check out our Apple iPad versus Amazon Kindle article. You could also install the Amazon Kindle store for iPad app to get the best of both words.
We expect future versions of the iPad to have a built-in webcam, possibly even multi-tasking support in future iPad OS upgrades (which Apple will charge for). Don’t expect Flash for the iPad anytime soon.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage