Apple has discontinued the ninth-generation iPad following its “Let Loose” event. iPad 9 was Apple’s final tablet that featured a Lightning port.
As a result, the tenth-generation iPad has now become the new entry-level iPad. Additionally, the iPhone maker slashed the price of the tenth-generation iPad from $449 down to $349, making it just $20 pricier than the discontinued $329 iPad.
While all of the iPads Apple sells now use a USB-C port, the company is continuing to sell the first Pencil with Lightning for $99. You can explore the current iPad lineup via apple.com/ipad and compare the features via the Compare iPad page.
Apple discontinues the ninth-generation iPad
Apple launched the ninth-generation iPad in September 2021 with A3 Bionic (an iPhone 11-era chip) and more storage than its predecessor.
At that time, it offered the best price/features ratio of all iPads, but people criticized its outdated design. Because it used a Home button, the device had a thick bezel above and below its 10.2-inch Retina display, like previous iPads.
The tablet swapped the previous model’s paltry 1.2-megapixel selfie camera for Apple’s then-new 12-megapixel camera with a wide 122-degree angle that worked with Center Stage, an intelligent cropping feature for video calls.
Apple no longer offers iPads with a Lightning port
But as the iPad 9’s technical specifications show, the rear camera was the same eight-megapixel shooter as in the iPad Air 2.
The ninth-generation iPad was equipped with just 64GB base storage, which was double the previous model. It was compatible with the original Apple Pencil and supported Apple’s Smart Keyboard via its magnetic Smart Connector.
“Let Loose” brought us the first OLED iPad Pros, a refreshed iPad Air lineup and the new Apple Pencil Pro. The budget iPad and the iPad mini were not updated.