There’s no denying that Apple‘s next-generation iPad Air and iPad Pro models are impressive. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, but with something as simple as a price cut, I think the company just turned its base iPad model into the best one.
Today, Apple officially kicked off its long-awaited “Let Loose” event and revealed the next-generation iPad Pro and iPad Air, as well as its new next-generation Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard. Additionally, the company announced new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.
While the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models were certainly the most spectacular, almost as an afterthought, the company was quick to mention that the base 10th-generation iPad model was getting a price cut and would not start at $349 instead. $449. Then the event ended and Apple released press releases about everything except its basic iPad.
Even though the company wants to highlight the features of its new iPad rather than the price cut it’s giving an existing one, I couldn’t help but walk away from the event thinking that a $349 starting price for the 10th-generation iPad now has made it the iPad to beat: iPad Airs and iPad Pros and all.
The base iPad model has a lot to offer
While the new iPad Air and iPad Pro have all the fancier features, the base iPad model has a lot going for it. It already features the same industrial, rounded design as the iPad Air and iPad Pro.
It leaves behind the design of the ninth-generation iPad, which is very timely considering Apple just killed off that incredibly old model.
While the base model iPad’s display isn’t an iPad Pro OLED, it doesn’t need to be. It’s a basic iPad! There are plenty of people who just want an iPad for what you get with iPadOS rather than what you get with hardware features like OLED and better cameras (who takes pictures with their iPad anyway?). The screen size is similar to the iPad Air: enough for most people who use the iPad for some basic tasks and entertainment.
The 10th generation iPad also comes with some decent speakers and a decent camera that’s already horizontal, something the iPad Pro has ONLY been updated to do… in 2024. The base model also comes with a USB-C port, and since then All Apple devices are making the switch, you will be ready to charge with your made cable, without needing to carry different cables for different devices!
You could also argue that the base model iPad has the best colors… because it does. The colors of the base model are more fun than the colors of the iPad Air, especially the iPad Pro.
The base iPad model also has the best price.
While all of the above already makes the base model iPad a great option, what really sets it apart from the iPad Air and iPad Pro is thrice. When it was initially released, it was priced at $449, a big increase compared to the 9th generation iPad’s base price of $329.
Fortunately, Apple seems to have learned that lesson and has now lowered the price of the 110th-generation iPad to $349, a much more reasonable and affordable price for an entry-level iPad. With the base configuration of the iPad Air at $599 and the base configuration of the iPad Pro now at a whopping $999, the base iPad model is now almost twice as cheap as any other iPad with a similarly sized screen.
If there’s one thing that makes the iPad Air or iPad Pro a better buy, aside from needing specific performance or features, it’s that the base iPad model doesn’t yet support the best Apple Pencil or Magic Keyboard. Those products are currently reserved for the most expensive iPads, so if you want the Apple Pencil Pro or the new Magic Keyboard, you’ll have to make the jump to the Air or Pro.
However, if you don’t need those types of accessories or can live with the Apple Pencil USB-C or the Magic Keyboard Folio that Apple makes for the 10th-generation iPad, the value you get with the 10th-generation iPad simply can’t. get hit.
I think a lot of people are about to buy an iPad, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a lot of those people bought an existing iPad but cheaper than the new one Again, I think the iPad became the iPad for most people by simply making it $100 cheaper.
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