We’ve been waiting for a hardware update for Apple’s entry-level iPad for months. But with this week’s launch of the iPad mini (A17 Pro), it seems unlikely that we’ll see any updates to the full-size iPad until the rest of the year. As it turns out, Mark Gurman was right. So why was the base model iPad not updated at all this year when the rest of the iPad lineup was refreshed this year?
The entry-level iPad was last updated in October 2022, when Apple announced the 10th generation with a more modern design, fun, bright colors, USB-C, and an A14 chip. However, this model started at $449, so it wasn’t an immediate replacement for the 9th generation iPad, which starts at $329. So Apple wanted to keep that model in the lineup for more budget-conscious users.
It wasn’t until May 2024 that Apple lowered the price of the iPad 10 by $100, so the model now starts at $349. Therefore, Apple may immediately discontinue the iPad 9 and further streamline the iPad lineup along with the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models that Apple updated at the time.
Fast forward to this week’s announcements, and the biggest new feature in the updated iPad mini was support for Apple Intelligence, made possible thanks to the A17 Pro chip. As you know, the A17 Pro, A18, and A18 Pro are the only SoCs that officially support Apple Intelligence, as the minimum requirement to support Apple Intelligence is an Apple Silicon chip with at least 8 GB of memory. So at this point, Apple couldn’t put an SoC with that amount of memory in a more affordable model like the standard iPad, especially when Apple had just lowered the price of that model.
Apple could end that by upgrading the iPad to use an A16 chip instead of the A14 chip. But it seems perfectly clear that Apple really wants to support Apple Intelligence in the next update of all its products. Therefore, it is likely that we will see an update to the basic iPad sometime next year. Apple’s goal with the standard iPad has always been to make it as affordable as possible. The M2 chip has been around for a while, and it’s now cheaper to produce, so it’s possible that that iPad will have an M2 chip. But I highly doubt this, since Apple has always recycled A-series chips (not the X or Pro versions) from older previous generation iPhones and put them into those iPads. Does that mean the iPad 11 will be equipped with an A18 chip? who knows? It’s been over two years since the last update, the longest we’ve seen this model so far, so the future of the base iPad is starting to get very interesting.
Until then, we don’t recommend purchasing that iPad directly from Apple. Especially when prices start at just 64GB for $349, and the 256GB version costs the same as the iPad mini 7 (128GB) at $499. Not to mention, increasing storage to 256GB requires a $100 upgrade, so there’s only a $100 difference between the iPad 10 (256GB) and iPad mini 7 (256GB). You’ll get a much better deal selling it through other resellers, and if you really want the basic iPad, you might save even more money by buying it used.
Currently, the A17 chip upgrade makes iPad mini the most affordable Apple product that supports Apple Intelligence. This year’s iPad updates create the most powerful lineup ever, with each updated model featuring Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E, Apple Pencil Pro support, and most notably, Apple Intelligence.
