I was mostly offline the last week as I on the road visiting family and friends. Catching up on my feeds, I see the reactions to the reviews of the new iPads that are predictable because they have been the same for the last five years or so now. All new iPad hardware is fantastic but hampered by the operating system software. The real problem with these observations is that they are redundant and pointless unless one is reviewing a new release of iPad OS.

All technical reviews are opinion pieces. Ultimately, the author of the review is expressing an opinion about whether the product being reviewed is good or bad and whether the reader should buy the product or not, and I think it is the later point some people are reacting to. Two types of readers/potential buyers exist, a small group of whom have never owned an iPad and another group that will considering upgrading from an older model to a new model.

The decision to upgrade is the tougher one because there are really few reasons to upgrade. The iPad Air I bought in 2020 runs everything I need it to run and will get the latest version of iPad OS when it is released. When I read in a review that iPad OS does not take full advantage of the hardware capability my simple translation is, it’s not worth the money to upgrade. (Ironic side note, the iPad seems to be opposite of planned obsolescence and there seems to be a negative reaction, which makes me wonder whether we are too condition for planned obsolescence. )

Should a person who does not own an IPad buy the latest one? The answer to that question is easier, if they have a need or desire for an iPad they should buy whichever model they can afford. None of the reviews I have read even consider recommending their readers buy an Android, Chrome OS, or Windows (Surface) tablet because it is generally accepted that the iPad is best tablet on the market.

Finally, some of the reviews are really not reviews but instead editorials expressing ways in which Apple could improve the iPad or iPad OS. Editorials usually invite disagreement and so it is surprising when the authors of these articles are surprised by the disagreement as if they don’t know they wrote an editorial rather than a review. If the same story is being written after every release of a new iPad, perhaps it’s time for a different story.