For the most part, the iPad has dominated the tablet market – and that probably won’t change anytime soon. In recent years, however, I think many people have struggled to find reasons to buy a new iPad – especially when previous generations have been so good. While this probably isn’t a big deal yet, I think it raises some questions for the future.
Stagnation of iPad hardware
The iPad lineup, with the exception of the OLED iPad Pro redesign, has remained extremely consistent. There’s the $599 iPad Air with a basic 11-inch LCD screen and Touch ID, the iPad mini with a smaller design at $499, and the cheap iPad at $349.
The iPad Air, while not changed much since its last redesign in 2020, has retained its $599 price tag. Meanwhile, it has become cheaper to buy an old iPad Pro. If you want an M1 or M2 11-inch iPad Pro, you can easily buy one for under $600, and these will have Face ID, 120Hz, Thunderbolt, better speakers, brighter screens, and more. – all for about the same price as the iPad Air.
The stagnation of the iPad lineup certainly won’t drive customers to competitors, but I think it will eventually cause people to stop buying new iPads. Either they will be happy with their current device and take longer to upgrade (as has been the case for many people with a 2018-2022 iPad Pro), or if they buy a new iPad, they will buy an older model.
How the iPad Could Improve
With the MacBook Neo, even the cheapest iPad faces tough competition from within. Why would you buy a $349 iPad and a $249 keyboard when you can just get a MacBook Neo – with double the storage? This isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison for everyone, but there’s certainly a lot of overlap.
Outside of the iPad Pro and iPad mini (and even then, the foldable iPhone will probably steal some of the iPad mini’s appeal) – it feels like much of the iPad line is lacking in appeal. As previously noted, the iPad Air has had nothing but chip issues over the years. It took center stage and eventually moved the selfie camera to landscape orientation, but the upgrades were incredibly slight.
The iPad Air could probably use some new features, like 120Hz, more core storage, and Face ID. The iPad is probably a good fit, although the keyboard should almost certainly be cheaper.
If Apple wants its iPad sales to remain consistent, it should probably put a little more effort into making the hardware more appealing to both new and existing customers.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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