A new year means a new iPad, and here we are with another model ready for consumers to take home. Is the latest iteration Apple's best, and does it have what it takes to survive the onslaught of tablet competitors heading its way?

Lovely clear screen; Display has much faster touch support; making typing just that much easier and more accurate when you're a fast typist; Still one of the prettiest tablet designs out there; Touch ID fingerprint unlocking included

No flash on the rear camera; Mute and lock switch has disappeared; Still no expandable storage; No NFC

Everybody wishes the iPad 2 had a higher-resolution display like the iPhone 4, but Apple didn't even have to go there yet. All Apple did was put the iPad on a treadmill. The tablet shed some weight and gained some speed to become the iPad 2 , and it's incredible what a difference that makes.

Skinnier profile shows mercy to your joints; Big performance boost makes apps, games and web browsing more zippy; Same 0 starting price and 10-hour battery life

Mediocre cameras make still photos look slimy; Thinner body makes physical buttons on the side a little harder to press

That doesn't mean it isn't a great tablet, because it's certainly one of the best. But if you've already shelled out for an iPad, there's no strong reason to buy an iPad 2 (other than you just want one!).

As always with iOS, the iPad 2 is fun and easy to use; Fast, thin, good looking and a little lighter than the first gen iPad; Sharp, bright and colorful 9.7" IPS display with fingerprint-resistant coating and wide viewing angles.

Apple's iOS is limiting for power users: there's still no file manager or direct access to the file system; Everything must be transferred via iTunes and conduits for various file types are often fragmented inside of iTunes syncing settings.

The iPad Air 2 takes the title (from Apple's original Air) of Best Tablet You Can Buy. The updates aren't enough to force an upgrade from a 2013 Air, but it'll feel like a tablet from another planet if you're still using an original iPad or iPad 2, or an early Android.

Somehow; even thinner than ever; Very snappy performance; thanks to A8X chip upgrade; Fingerprint login; Better cameras

The familiar iPad-family gripes (no MicroSD card slot; reliance on iTunes; Rear camera lacks a flash; Physical mute/orientation-lock switch has been eliminated

It's a very good device. It's fast moving all the apps, and it has got a very good display. Also, the price is very important, but nowadays it is not expensive, so if you want an iPad, you should buy it!

But as I tested out Apple's new iPad Air 2 , I see why people like to shoot pictures with a tablet. Images look great on the large screen, and there's less guesswork about whether or not small details, such as lettering on a sign, will be in focus.

The form-factor didn't change since last year's redesign, but even though the iPad Air 2 is slimmer than its predecessor, Apple didn't sacrifice battery life. The company claims up to 10 hours using Wi-Fi, and in three battery rundown tests I averaged 10 hours and 14 minutes of continuously watching...

Incredibly fast A8X processor makes everything feel more immediate; same great battery life; easier to see in bright sunlight, Comes in gold and has Touch ID

16GB isn't enough storage for the entry level model; Otherwise it's the same as last year's

Besides the Touch ID fingerprint feature, the screen assembly and uprated processor are the headline features. New cameras are a bonus too. Overall the Apple iPad Air 2 is the best tablet you can buy, even though it's been discontinued by Apple. Its performance, attention to detail, quality of build and sheer usability still mean it's a great buy.

The Apple iPad is fading away, so it can make iOS apps even more visible. Apple's obsession with making its iPads thinner and thinner, lighter and lighter every year is a philosophical statement. The computer should disappear; all that should be left is the app. The iPad Air 2 ($499, 16GB) is the least physical object, with the most apps. That's Apple's genius, and something Android tablet makers have trouble matching. That's what has made the iPad our top pick for large-screen tablets since the very first model came out in 2010.The iPad is no longer advancing by leaps and bounds; as I've said before, it's basically a laptop, with a three-year planned replacement cycle rather than the one-to-two-year cycle we see with mobile phones. This year's model has a few key improvements, though, at least two of which are very meaningful: a very powerful processor, and the first multi-carrier SIM card we've seen in the U.S. So yes, the iPad Air 2 pushes the state of the art forward, and is a...

The iPad Air 2 balances seamless ease of use, app abundance, and raw power in its ever-so-slender frame, continuing Apple's reign atop the tablet heap.

Very thin and light; Extremely fast processor; Best app design and selection of any platform; Cellular models can be switched between wireless carriers in software

Expensive; Battery life is just okay

What is an iPad? When Steve Jobs introduced Apple's tablet in January 2010, he delivered an unequivocal answer. "The iPad, if you were to sum it up, is our most advanced technology in a magical...

Terrific display; So very thin; Great battery life; Super fast

No multiuser support; No multitasking; Safari icon still objectively terrible