The new iPad’s display is surprisingly worse than iPad Air — here’s how

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You may want to rethink buying the new iPad

The iPad 2022 range, plus Magic Keyboard
(Image credit: Apple)

The recently announced iPad 2022 appears to have an inferior display compared to the iPad Air 2022.

At a glance, the tablets share many similarities. Both are roughly the same size and weight, feature 12MP cameras and even have identical storage configurations. The two tablets also share 10.9-inch Liquid Retina displays with a resolution of 2360 x 1640 and 500 nits. However, the new iPad’s display lacks several features you may not be aware of.

As MacRumors reports, the new iPad doesn’t have an anti-reflective coating, which helps minimize glare. In addition, the slate only supports sRGB colors instead of the P3 wide color standard. The display is also not fully laminated.

iPad 2022

The iPad 2022's display lacks anti-reflexive coating, only supports sRGB colors and isn't fully laminated. (Image credit: Apple)

This news is certainly disappointing, especially in light of some of the iPad’s other issues. For example, since you can't magnetically attach the first-gen Apple Pencil to the iPad to charge it, you'll need to shell out $9 for a Lighting to USB-C adapter dongle. The new Magic Keyboard Folio, which costs $249, also doesn't seem as sturdy as the iPads Air's Magic Keyboard at first glance.

The other major difference is the M1 chip powering the iPad Air. Features like Stage Manager are currently only possible on iPads with an M1 processor, which is part of iPadOS 16.  

The iPad 2022 is set to launch on October 26. We expect to review the Apple tablet and put it through our gauntlet of benchmark tests. At that time, we’ll have a better idea of how it stacks up against the best tablets and best iPads. Hopefully, we’ll find that the new iPad, despite its apparent flaws, could be worth purchasing for some people.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our iPad 2022 vs iPad Air 2022: What should you buy? comparison to get a better understanding of how the two tablets compare.

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Tony Polanco
Tony Polanco
Senior Computing Writer

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.