Home > Tablet comparison > Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) vs 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) – which one to choose?

iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) vs iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

73 out of 100
Apple iPad 11
VS
60 out of 100
Apple iPad 10.2
iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

Here we compared two mid-range tablets: the 11-inch Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) (with Apple A16 Bionic) that was released on March 4, 2025, against the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021), which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 3 years and 6 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each tablet
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
  • 57% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1701K versus 1087K)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Ability to record video in 4K resolution
  • Has 2x more RAM: 6GB versus 3GB
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Thinner bezels – 7% more screen real estate
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A16 Bionic
  • 44% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2589 and 1792 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
  • Comes with 859 mAh larger battery capacity: 8557 vs 7698 mAh
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) and 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
6 / 128 GB
VS
3 / 64 GB
124.4
(Excellent)
Value Index
118.6
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Tablet:
iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
vs
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

Display

Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Size 11 inches 10.2 inches
Resolution 1640 x 2360 pixels 1620 x 2160 pixels
Aspect ratio 3:2 4:3
PPI 264 ppi 265 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 500 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 80.8% 73.8%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 96.2% 97.9%
PWM 21120 Hz 40000 Hz
Response time 38 ms 27 ms
Contrast 531:1 1014:1
Screen space comparison
iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
11″ (3:2 ratio) = 55.8 in2
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
10.2″ (4:3 ratio) = 49.9 in2
~11% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 248.6 mm (9.79 inches) 250.6 mm (9.87 inches)
Width 179.5 mm (7.07 inches) 174.1 mm (6.85 inches)
Thickness 7 mm (0.28 inches) 7.5 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 477 g (16.83 oz) 487 g (17.18 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Metal Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Blue, Pink, Yellow Silver, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Area 446 cm2 (69.2 inches2) 436 cm2 (67.6 inches2)
Repairability Average (2.78/5) -
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (56th and 96th place)
iPad Ranking (16th and 25th place)

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) and Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
SoC
Chipset Apple A16 Bionic Apple A13 Bionic
Max clock 3460 MHz 2650 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest		 - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU 5-core Apple GPU 4-core
GPU shading units 640 256
GPU clock 1398 MHz 1230 MHz
FLOPS ~1789.4 GFLOPS ~629.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) and Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 19767 -
Single-core score 2589 1792
Multi-core score 6111 4214
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
CPU 498926 272419
GPU 466010 317618
Memory 202429 149125
UX 534152 347946
Total score 1701517 1087108
Samples [6 tests] [17 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 85%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Section 1 - 12 FPS
Section 2 - 10 FPS
Section 3 - 7 FPS
Graphics score - 2552
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 86%
Graphics test - 11 FPS
Graphics score - 1961
Sources: 3DMark [5]
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-23 (Anr1ll)AnTuTu1729497
📘 2026-07-20 (Giga)GeekBench CPU2702 / 6394
📘 2026-06-17 (Luq)AnTuTu1701517
📘 2026-04-26 (Thành)AnTuTu1744337
📘 2026-04-19 (Faeri)AnTuTu1628541
Add View all (9)
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
No benchmark results yet
Add

Memory

Configuration
RAM
RAM size 6 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iPadOS 18.4 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) iPadOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5)
OS size 23 GB -
OS updates 5 years -

Battery

Capacity 7698 mAh 8557 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (34% in 30 min) Yes (24% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:58 hr 2:45 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:06 hr -
Watching video 07:41 hr -
Gaming 05:31 hr -
Standby 220 hr -
General battery life
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 -
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS No
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 120 FPS (720p)
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
1) Standard: 8 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode -
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.4
Focal length - 31 mm
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor CMOS -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 4.2
Bluetooth features LE -
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No No
GPS GPS, GLONASS GPS, GLONASS
NFC* No No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* - 1
Type of SIM card eSIM Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March 2025 September 2021
Release date March 2025 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $349 $329
Successor - - Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
Sensors - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Keyboard weight - 293 g
Bundled charger Yes, 30 W Yes, 20 W
Further details
Notes on iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021):
    - Supports 1st generation of Apple Pencil.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which tablet would you choose?
50 (84.7%)
9 (15.3%)
Total votes: 59

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