Why you can finally replace your laptop with Apple’s cheapest iPad
With the release of Apple’s iOS 26 and the affordable 10.9” iPad, users can now replace their laptops for web browsing, content consumption, and document editing, thanks to enhanced multi-tasking features, a unified visual style, and the powerful A16 chip. Picture: Apple
Image: Apple
Following the release of Apple’s iOS 26 earlier this week, it has ushered in a new age of budget computing with the iPad.
The OS update has seen radical updates to the User Interface, with users now able to manually resize any app window. This in turn promotes much more seamless multi-tasking.
In fact, the OS update across iPhone, iPad, and Mac has finally become unified with its ‘Liquid Glass’ visual style.
With this transition, apps on the iPad now look exactly the same as those on Mac, with the ‘stop light’ three-button system. That’s, of course, the red close button, the dark yellow minimise button, and the green maximise button.
Enhanced User Experience: Improved Files App and A16 Chip Power
The pointer has also been changed from a circle to a more accurate arrow, another move towards uniformity with the Mac.
The Files app has also been radically improved to move it closer to the file browsing capability in the Mac’s Finder app.
All this in addition to the release of Apple’s cheapest 10.9” iPad earlier this year, and you have a device fully capable of replacing a laptop for web browsing, content consumption, and document editing.
A16: A Dark Horse in Apple’s Lineup
The A16 is also more than capable of basic photo editing, for, say, thumbnail creation for YouTube videos or running design software like Canva.
With the powerful A16 chip and the increased base storage to 128GB from 64GB of the previous, there’s adequate space for your documents.
It’s true you will have to add a keyboard and a mouse to truly be able to replace a laptop— but if you avoid Apple’s prohibitively expensive Magic Keyboard, it will still keep your total outlay well under R10,000.
The A16 is now truly a dark horse in the Apple lineup, never mind the iPad range.