Apple today updated its most popular-sized iPad, featuring a brighter 9.7-inch Retina display and best-in-class performance at its most affordable price ever, starting at $329.
Designed for unmatched portability and ease of use, along with incredible performance and all-day battery life, iPad is the world’s most popular tablet and the primary computing device for millions of customers around the world. Through the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for iPad, customers can do even more, from learning to code with Swift Playgrounds and reading books on the large screen to boosting productivity through Microsoft Office and using multitasking features like Split Screen.
“iPad is the world’s most popular tablet. Customers love the large, 9.7-inch display for everything from watching TV and movies, to surfing the web, making FaceTime calls, and enjoying photos, and now it is even more affordable,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. “New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it.”
iPad features a beautifully bright Retina display with over 3.1 million pixels for stunning pictures and videos, and is enclosed in a sturdy yet thin aluminum unibody enclosure weighing just one pound for great portability and durability. The Apple-designed A9 chip with 64‑bit desktop-class architecture delivers fast processing and graphics performance for apps and games, while maintaining the same all-day battery life* customers have come to expect from iPad.
The front- and back-facing cameras offer exceptional low-light performance and HD video recording, making it fun and easy to FaceTime® with friends and family and capture unforgettable memories using the large Retina display as a viewfinder. Ultrafast wireless means connecting with iPad is quick and easy, and support for LTE cellular bands worldwide helps customers stay connected when traveling.** Apple SIM makes it even easier to connect to wireless data plans right from your device when traveling in more than 140 countries and regions.
Touch ID gives iPad users a simple and secure way to unlock iPad, keep personal information private within apps and approve purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store. With Apple Pay*** on iPad, paying for physical goods and services within apps or on a website in Safari has never been easier.
iPad comes with iOS 10, which brings more expressive and animated ways to communicate in Messages, new ways to use Siri with your favorite apps, beautifully redesigned Maps, Photos, Apple Music and News, and the new Home app, which lets you simply and securely set up, manage and control your home all in one place. Multitasking features including Slide Over, Split View and Picture-in-Picture help you do even more.
Pricing & Availability
• iPad comes in silver, gold and space gray and starts at $329 (US) for the 32GB with Wi-Fi model and $459 (US) for the 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model at Apple.com and Apple Stores. For more information, visit apple.com/ipad-9.7.
• iPad is available to order beginning Friday, March 24, from Apple.com and starts delivering to customers and arriving next week in Apple Stores, through select carriers and Apple Authorized Resellers (prices may vary) in the US and more than 20 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Denmark, India, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Turkey and other countries and regions will follow in April. Brazil, Taiwan and other countries and regions will follow in May.
• Polyurethane Smart Covers for iPad are available for $39 (US) in charcoal gray, white, midnight blue, pink sand and (RED) at Apple.com and Apple Stores.
• iPad mini 4, available in silver, gold and space gray, now offers more capacity for the same price starting at $399 (US) for the 128GB Wi-Fi model and $529 (US) for the 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model at Apple.com and Apple Stores.
• Every customer who buys iPad from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup, in-store or online****, to help them customize their iPad by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.
• Anyone who wants to learn the basics or go further with their new iPad can register for a free workshop at any Apple Store.
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results may vary.
**LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks. Check with your carrier for details.
***Apple Pay is not available in all markets. For a list of Apple Pay countries, click here.
****In most countries.
Source: Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Tidying things up ahead of the spring special event?
At these prices, Apple will move more units. iPad unit sales are finally poised to return to growth!
BTW, we told ya so:
iPads are too expensive relative to the perceived competition and Apple has obviously done a piss-poor job of marketing the iPad family (read: clearly explaining to the hoi polloi why they want an iPad over an Amazon or other Android tablet).
Sticker price is the biggest reason why iPad sales struggle to return to growth (the next biggest reason is that iPads’ useful lives last so damn long, they’re not rapidly replaced).
We would have purchased iPads for family members this year if they had been updated as they should have been for the holiday season and if the prices were a bit more palatable. Yes, we know what an iPad offers. Yes, we know they’re worth the money Apple’s asking for today; even being last year’s models. But, Apple should really do the math and consider making certain hardware more affordable in exchange for the backend revenue and increased mindshare and market share that will deliver.
For the same reason – mindshare – Apple should make their own Apple displays, even to the point of taking a loss of each and every one, so that other companies’ logos on frankly ugly products that do not match Apple design sensibilities are not in users’ faces all day long. That’s not a difficult concept to grasp; even an inveterate beancounter might be able to get it. — MacDailyNews, January 6, 2017
1.2MP FaceTime HD camera. Seriously, Apple, in 2017 you still make a 1.2MP front cameras?
Apple Pencil support?
That’s a “pro” feature. I might disagree with the “pro” label a bit, but with a price drop on top of a CPU/GPU speed bump, I certainly wasn’t expecting Pencil support to be added.
Looks like a perfect companion to a new MacBook Pro when you need to sketch or work with other reference docs and your MBP screen is a mess of open documents, CAD images, artwork, etc.
I know most people won’t look at an iPad this way, but I sure do.
I mean you can ‘sketch’ on it, but it’s not a ‘Pro’ so you can’t use the Apple pencil.
Damn. What is Apple thinking?
Yawn.
What I reallyI want is an iPad Pro/Pencil upgrade, and a super-fast iMac…
People in Hell want ice water too, but Devil Cook is not going to give it.
I doubt he even knows what a Mac is.
If it isn’t an iPhone, it isn’t an iPhone… and Apple doesn’t care about it. 🙁
I’d consider a WiFi only iPad if Apple, in their infinite greediness, included actual GPS in those models. Interesting how other companies can include GPS in their WiFi-only tables but Apple wants an extra $125 to get this in their LTE models.
Totally agree. I mean, they can include a discrete GPS in a tiny watch now, but not on a tablet? They couldn’t at least piggyback on the GPS of a nearby iPhone?
Did Apple have some leftover components that they want to get rid oF? Or is the iPad Pro not selling well enough due to it’s high price, so Apple has decided to offer a similar size, but less capable model? I sure hope that this isn’t the extent of iPad updates due this Spring.
I smell desperation at this price point.
Why do they introduce new models for iPads that still have the 3.5mm jack? I wish they’d be more consistent.
Probably because the iPhones are the only devices that are so volume-limited (by Ive’s decision, that is) that Apple engineers could not fit an internal D/A audio converter and 3.5mm headphone jack inside. All other products have more than enough volume, and almost all users prefer to have the flexibility of having a legacy connection that is worldwide universally accepted.
If you don’t like having a 3.5mm audio jack, feel free not to use it. If you don’t want to look at it and are afraid of dust and water, then you can buy Port Plugs which seal the opening.
Don’t know about anyone else but I find the iPad to be less and less useful. I’ve got both pros and every time I try to use one for the web I end up grabbing my MBP instead.
So another 9.7 iPad
But when will the mini get a makeover
It’s been 2 years nearly since it was
What about a mini pro
Can’t believe, either that in 2017, that Apple is STILL sticking crappy, low resolution 1.2 mp front facing FaceTime cameras on new iPad models.
I was so pissed off that my large and expensive iPad Pro had that low res, lame ass 1.2 mp front facing camera. 1.2 mp camera IS NOT HD quality, Apple!
Apple, is once, again, lagging behind in technologies on the iPad.
WTF Apple! Is your camera technology stuck in 2012? Or worse, early 2000?
And since when does Apple need a low end introductory tablet?
Are iPad sales THAT BAD!!!!
Why even MAKE this iPad and make it available?
It almost seems like Apple made this iPad from some large surplus of older 12.9 inch screen iPad Pro parts!
It’s not the iPad that is the problem, Apple! It’s the continued dumbing down, feature ommitting, and no REAL useful productivity feature s in the current iOS 10 that is hurting iPad sales! Not the hardware!
A 1.2 mp camera on new iiPads is just lame and inexcusable!
WTF was Apple thinking with this iPad Air 2 replacement?