Apple’s presents a rather confusing iPad lineup to the casual buyer with four tiers: the basic iPad, the premium iPad Air, the most powerful iPad Pro, and the smaller iPad mini. Across these four model groups, there are six model choices, including the newest 10th generation basic iPad, the still-available 9th generation iPad, and two sizes of iPad Pro displays: 12.9-inch and 11-inch. CIRP has found that, when combining the two screen sizes, iPad Pro continues to be the iPad lineup’s best seller.
Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz for CIRP:
Combining the two screen sizes, iPad Pro continues to lead the market, with about half of total sales in the most recent period. iPad Air, iPad, and iPad mini each have 15-20% of total sales.
If we compare these sales to the year-ago June 2022 quarter, we see some interesting shifts. The top-of-the-line 12.9-inch iPad Pro saw its share of sales decline from over one-third to one-quarter in the past year. Similarly, iPad Air saw its share decline from 24% to 19%.
Within the iPad Pro pair, the less-expensive 11-inch model increased its share from 16% to 26%. At the other end of the spectrum the least-expensive iPad mini saw its share grow from 9% to 16%.
iPad Model Sales
As product lines age, the most expensive models attract less attention. The most loyal customers, who jump at the latest models, have already upgraded. Newer customers gravitate to cheaper models as they may be uncertain about how the device will fit into their lifestyle.
So despite the lack of rumors, this may be a very good time for Apple to update the iPad model mix. It would be ambitious to upgrade the barely year-old iPad Pro 12.9 inch. The narrowing value distinction between the four 11-inch options could warrant a realignment, with a more obviously superior iPad Pro and perhaps a more distinct iPad Air.
MacDailyNews Take: It makes sense that the 11-inch iPad Pro is the bestselling iPad: it’s lightweight (Wi-Fi model: 1.03 pounds (466 grams); Wi-Fi + Cellular model 1.04 pounds (470 grams)), powerful (Apple M2 chip: 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 100GB/s memory bandwidth, 8GB RAM on models with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage, 16GB RAM on models with 1TB or 2TB storage), and offers superfast Wi‑Fi 6E – all starting at just $749.
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