Apple quietly kills the old-school iPad and its headphone jack

1 week ago

Along pinch introducing a caller iPad Air and iPad Pro during its Let Loose event, Apple softly killed its ninth-gen iPad — besides known arsenic nan past iPad pinch a headphone jack. The 10th-gen iPad is now nan sole entry-level iPad successful Apple’s charismatic lineup and, arsenic such, has received a $100 value cut.

Released successful precocious 2022, nan 10th-generation iPad arrived starting astatine $449, aliases astir $120 much than guidelines entry-level iPads from erstwhile years. Apple justified nan value summation pinch caller iPad Air-like features, for illustration a 10.9-inch surface and USB-C support.

However, we ne'er believed nan value summation was warranted. After all, nan now last-gen iPad Air was often connected waste for astir nan aforesaid price, but pinch a faster processor, a nicer display, and compatibility pinch a wider scope of accessories, for illustration nan second-generation Apple Pencil.

That’s why we often recommended nan ninth-gen iPad to users connected a budget. It besides lacked support for nan second-gen Apple Pencil, and its creation was outdated, but it was still a speedy intermezo instrumentality that was often connected waste for acold little than its 10th-gen sibling. It was besides nan past iPad to athletics a 3.5mm headphone jack, which was a bully perk for america old-school wired headphone fans.

Still, astatine $349, nan 10th-generation iPad is now yet much sensibly priced, which makes it a batch easier to recommend. And while it’s a shame Apple nary longer sells nan ninth-gen iPad, headphone jack fans can, astatine slightest for now, still bargain it for $249 from third-party retailers for illustration Amazon, Target, and Best Buy.