What you're actually paying for
The base iPad has always been Apple's awkward middle child. Too expensive to be a casual impulse buy, too compromised to satisfy anyone who's used a Pro or Air. The 2025 model gets the A16 chip, which is fast, absolutely, but also a chip that Apple has been binning into devices for a couple of years now. Starting storage is finally 128GB, which removes one longstanding frustration. That matters practically: a year's worth of photos, a few downloaded shows, some apps, and you're not constantly juggling space.
The things Apple still hasn't fixed
The display is not laminated. That means there's a visible gap between the glass and the screen, which gives everything a slightly sunken, less premium feel compared to the Air or Pro. It's a detail that sounds minor until you've used a laminated panel daily and then switched back. The bezels are chunky by modern standards. There's no promotion, so you're capped at 60Hz. These aren't dealbreakers, but at £329 they are genuine compromises you should price in before buying.
The broader weakness of this tablet category is worth naming: iPads are brilliant at consumption and light creation, but they remain awkward productivity tools unless you spend considerably more on keyboard accessories. The base model especially so, since it still uses the older Lightning-era connector... actually no, it has USB-C now, which helps, but multitasking in iPadOS remains more limiting than a cheap laptop.
Who this is actually for
Students who need something reliable for note-taking and research. Parents after a durable screen for a child. Someone replacing an ageing iPad 9th or 10th gen. In those cases, £329 makes reasonable sense. If you're hoping to replace a laptop, it won't, and you'll end up spending more trying to make it do so.
