Every iPad Generation: A Full History of Release Dates

The Apple iPad wholly revolutionized the tablet country erstwhile it archetypal deed the marketplace successful 2010. Its bigger surface combined with beloved iPhone features from iOS combined to connection a caller mode for users to acquisition content, games, and applications. To date, Apple has continued to germinate the merchandise with aggregate merchandise lines, powerfulness rivaling a laptop, and more. It's by acold 1 of the best tablets retired there. Below, we've compiled a database of each iPad procreation since 2010. If you're a erstwhile oregon existent iPad owner, travel done the past 15 years and research the past of the iPad!

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How Many Apple iPad Generations Have There Been?

In total, determination person been 32 antithetic iPad generations since the archetypal iPad released successful April 2010. This database does not number bigger show options arsenic a abstracted introduction but for the archetypal iPad Pro, arsenic the 2 models had antithetic merchandise dates.

Every Apple iPad Generation successful Order of Release

iPad (1st Generation) - April 3, 2010

The archetypal iPad was revealed by Steve Jobs successful January 2010, with the committedness of offering a larger acquisition for those looking for thing past the iPhone. The instrumentality offered a 9.7" display, with the Apple A4 processor acting arsenic the SOC. In total, implicit 15 cardinal units were sold earlier the 2nd procreation model, which arrived 11 months later.

iPad (2nd Generation) - March 11, 2011

iPad (2nd Generation) kept the aforesaid look and show size arsenic its predecessor portion packing successful caller features. This 2nd gen exemplary introduced a camera to iPad for the precise archetypal time, with some a beforehand and rear camera included. Additionally, this exemplary was the archetypal to connection aggregate colors. A achromatic oregon achromatic enactment was disposable to take from successful summation to the caller Smart Folio accessory.

iPad (3rd Generation) - March 16, 2012

iPad (3rd Generation) made monolithic leaps guardant with its caller Retina Display, which provided visuals that looked tremendously amended than immoderate anterior iPad. A caller upgrade was besides made to the camera to let for 1080p video capture, with the A5X spot powering the device. Additionally, cellular models added enactment for LTE data, a monolithic leap from 3G. This exemplary lone lasted connected the marketplace for 7 months and has the shortest lifespan of immoderate Apple iOS instrumentality to this day.

iPad (4th Generation) - November 2, 2012

Just a fewer months later, Apple released iPad 4. In a monolithic caller shift, this exemplary ditched the 30-pin connector successful favour of the Lightning larboard for the precise archetypal time. Using the caller Retina Display, the beforehand camera was upgraded to 1.2 megapixels, offering HD capture. Powered by the A6X, this was besides the past iPad to connection a 32-bit processor. This caller spot besides performed cooler than the A5X, which near for little instances wherever the backmost of the instrumentality would consciousness blistery to touch.

iPad Mini (1st Generation) - November 2, 2012

The first procreation iPad Mini was unveiled successful 2012 arsenic a new, smaller instrumentality that inactive packed each the indispensable iPad features in. The 7.9 inch show is smaller than the accepted iPad's 9.7 inch display, but it inactive provides the aforesaid solution and quality. Most of the interior exertion that Apple utilized to powerfulness the instrumentality intimately resembles the iPad 2, with the main A5 spot arsenic the SOC.

iPad Air (1st Generation) November 1, 2013

iPad Air was the archetypal large revision to iPad since 2011, with a new, slimmer plan created to marque the instrumentality much comfy to hold. The show bezel was shrunk to intimately lucifer the iPad Mini, portion retaining the acquainted 9.7 inch display. Some of the caller features included a 720p front-facing camera, the rear iSide camera, and a important simplification successful weight.

iPad Mini 2 - November 12, 2013

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iPad Mini 2 has the nonstop aforesaid plan arsenic iPad Mini from the outside, but determination were galore improvements made internally. The Mini 2 featured an upgraded Retina Display and the A7 SOC for imrpoved visuals and performance. This intimately resembled some the iPad Air and iPhone 5S internals.

iPad Mini 3 - October 22, 2014

iPad Mini 3 utilized the aforesaid hardware and plan arsenic the anterior iPad Mini models, but this instrumentality packed successful Touch ID for the precise archetypal time. This made Apple Pay a anticipation connected iPad Mini. Additionally, aggregate retention options were disposable for the archetypal time: 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB.

iPad Air 2 - October 22, 2014

iPad Air 2 took to the country alongside iPad Mini 3 arsenic the caller flagship iPad. Once again, the instrumentality became thinner and lighter than iPad Air, with the Apple A8X providing lightning accelerated speeds astatine the time. The rear camera received an upgrade to let for slow-motion video seizure and burst photos, and the beforehand camera improved connected the magnitude of airy capable to beryllium captured successful video. It's besides worthy noting that iPad Air 2 removed the mute power connected the broadside for the archetypal time, which made users mute the instrumentality from Control Center.

iPad Mini 4 - September 9, 2015

iPad Mini 4 reflected astir of the hardware changes and upgrades that Apple implemented successful the iPad Air 2, but present disposable successful a smaller signifier factor. This exemplary was the archetypal iPad Mini to shingle things up with design, arsenic it grew successful tallness and width. However, the surface size remained the aforesaid astatine 7.9 inches.

iPad Pro (1st Generation) 12.9" Model - November 11, 2015

In 2015, Apple debuted a caller iPad enactment - the archetypal procreation iPad Pro. Powered by the Apple A9X, this instrumentality was by acold the astir almighty iPad ever created. iPad Pro was besides the archetypal iPad to enactment the Apple Pencil, a instrumentality utilized for drafting and penning effortlessly connected the iPad display. This was a game-changer for artists and creatives alike.

iPad Pro (1st Generation) 9.7" Model - March 31, 2016

A fewer months aft the merchandise of the 12.9" model, Apple released the 9.7" iPad Pro. This exemplary kept astir of the aforesaid features and hardware arsenic the bigger exemplary but with a smaller display. Though, this smaller exemplary lone offers 2GB of RAM compared to the bigger model's 4GB. One of the caller offerings of the 9.7" exemplary was the enactment for Rose Gold arsenic the color.

iPad (5th Generation) - March 24, 2017

iPad (5th Generation) marked the instrumentality of the modular iPad enactment aft 5 years. The Apple A9 powers this device, with 2GB of RAM to enactment applications. One of the large improvements that Apple made from the iPad Air 2 was a brighter screen, with this exemplary featuring a 25% brighter surface than anterior iPads. Apple besides elected to terms this arsenic an introduction model, which allowed much consumers to participate the iPad market.

iPad Pro (2nd Generation) - June 13, 2017

One twelvemonth aft the archetypal iPad Pro, Apple released the 2nd generation, which packed the caller A10X Fusion processor. Additionally, the 9.7" exemplary was upgraded to 10.5", providing users with a larger show to presumption content, articles, and more. The biggest upgrade with the iPad Pro (2nd Generation) was the display, which supported Dolby Vision, HDR10, and offered a 120Hz refresh rate.

iPad (6th Generation) - March 27, 2018

The 6th Generation iPad released conscionable a twelvemonth aft the erstwhile model, with a fewer improvements to show with the caller A10 chip. Apple opted to adhd Apple Pencil enactment to introduction level iPads for the archetypal clip with this model, which allowed for this exemplary to beryllium highly sought aft arsenic a good iPad for students.

iPad Pro (3rd Generation) - November 7, 2018

iPad Pro (3rd Generation) ditched the location fastener for the archetypal time, acting arsenic the precise archetypal iPad to connection Face ID successful replacement of Touch ID. The caller Apple Pencil debuted alongside this model, allowing users to magnetically connect the pencil to the broadside of the instrumentality for retention and charging. Once again, the smaller exemplary received a somewhat larger screen, moving from 10.5" to 11".

iPad Mini (5th Generation) - March 18, 2019

Four years aft iPad Mini 4, Apple released a refresh of the beloved smaller iPad model. While the plan erstwhile again mostly remained the same, the internals of iPad Mini (5th Generation) were vastly improved from its predocessors. A True Tone Retina Display is utilized connected the device, with different upgrades including 3GB of RAM, enactment for Apple Pencil, and Bluetooth 5.0 support.

iPad Air (3rd Generation) - March 18, 2019

The 3rd Generation of iPad Air launched successful aboriginal 2019, coming 5 years aft the erstwhile iPad Air model. This instrumentality was precise akin to the smaller iPad Pro model, featuring a 10.5 inch show and an A12 Bionic SOC. Apple besides included a 7 megapixel camera to regenerate the outdated iPad Air 2's 1.2MP camera. Alongside these additions, Bluetooth 5.0 & Apple Pencil enactment were besides added to supply diagnostic parity crossed the full iPad lineup.

iPad (7th Generation) - September 25, 2019

iPad (7th Generation) greatly improved the show from its predocessor, with a larger 10.2 inch Retina display. However, the processor mostly remained the same, moving from the A10 to the A10 Fusion. This near galore to tendency for much show gains. Besides this, a astute keyboard connector was added to the backmost to let for accessories to beryllium utilized with this model.

iPad Pro (4th Generation) - March 25, 2020

The 2020 iPad Pro utilized the A12Z processor to supply overmuch faster speeds than the iPad Pro (3rd Generation). RAM was accrued connected these models, moving up from 4GB to 6GB. One of the large iPad accessories that Apple released for this instrumentality was the Magic Keyboard, which provided a trackpad and rodent relation for iPad. This launched with the caller iPadOS, a modified mentation of iOS specifically tailored for iPad.

iPad (8th Generation) - September 18, 2020

iPad (8th Generation) offered the aforesaid 10.2 inch show recovered connected the 7th procreation models, but present packed a large show upgrade. The A10 Fusion was replaced with the A12, providing speeds up to 40% faster than its predocessor. Compared to the different iPad models connected the market, galore felt the ample bezels gave an older feel, but this introduction exemplary proved to beryllium palmy for Apple.

iPad Air (4th Generation) - October 23, 2020

iPad Air 4 made monolithic changes to the iPad Air line. First and foremost, the show was wholly reworked, eliminating the location fastener and stretching the surface to 10.9 inches. Touch ID remained arsenic the cardinal entree feature, but it was moved to the remainder fastener since the location fastener was removed entirely. Additionally, large upgrades were made to the camera, with a caller 12 megapixel rear camera implemented alternatively of the iPad Air 3's 8MP camera.

iPad Pro (5th Generation) - May 21, 2021

iPad Pro (5th Generation) was a monolithic leap guardant for the flagship iPad model, with the M1 SOC implemented wrong the device. Previously utilized for MacBook, this processor is susceptible of dozens of tasks that anterior iPads could not travel adjacent to. Alongside this update, Apple besides changed the show to mini LED Liquid Retina XDR. This provided a overmuch much vivid image, which is noticeable successful movies, videos, and images.

iPad (9th Generation) - September 24, 2021

iPad (9th Generation) was the last destination for galore salient features. This was the past iPad to diagnostic a headphone jack, location button, and Lightning connector. Utilizing the A13 Bionic, the caller iPad offered a important summation successful show connected the latest games, applications, and much erstwhile compared to the 8th Generation iPad. This exemplary besides featured a caller 12 megapixel front-facing camera, which utilized the caller Centre Stage diagnostic to automatically support subjects successful framework during video call.

iPad Mini (6th Generation) - September 24, 2021

The 6th Generation of iPad Mini brought the biggest plan alteration yet. The show was reformed to lucifer the newer iPad Pro and iPad Air models, which region the location fastener to connection 1 seamless screen. Notable improvemnts see the surface size, which moved up to 8.3 inches, and the summation of USB-C larboard isntead of the lightning connector.

iPad Air (5th Generation) - March 18, 2022

iPad Air (5th Generation) launched with an unbelievable upgrade to its internals: the blazing-fast M1 was packed in, which provided speeds up to 60% faster than the 4th procreation iPad Air. This exemplary wide did not battalion galore caller features successful extracurricular of an updated USB-C larboard for faster transportation speeds and a 12MP front-facing camera.

iPad (10th Generation) - October 26, 2022

iPad (10th Generation) brought the introduction level exemplary successful enactment with the new, slim iPad plan that archetypal appeared connected iPad Pro. The location fastener was wholly removed, allowing Apple to agelong the surface to 10.9 inches. Some of the large features included a Liquid Retina Display, the A14 Bionic, scenery speakers with aggregate microphones, and 5G capabilities. Additionally, enactment for 4K video signaling was implemented. Though ultimately, the improvements implicit the 9th-gen iPad were reasonably limited.

iPad (10th Generation)

A repositioned 12-megapixel front-facing camera, upgraded design, a faster A14 Bionic processor, and a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina show marque this iPad a standout.

iPad Pro (6th Generation) - October 26, 2022

iPad Pro (6th Generation) upgraded the M1 for the much almighty M2. New features for this refresh included Wi-Fi 6E support, Bluetooth 5.3, and Smart HDR 4. Overall, this refresh brought minimal but satisfying upgrades to the premium device.

iPad Pro 12.9

The beefiest iPad you tin buy, acknowledgment to its M2 processor, agelong artillery life, and assortment of retention options.

iPad Air (6th Generation) - May 15, 2024

The latest iPad Air exemplary brought galore caller changes and upgrades, with a caller 13 inch exemplary disposable for the archetypal clip ever. Apple upgraded the 5th Generation model's M1 to the M2, which is simply a important upgrade with accrued CPU and GPU performance. Storage options from 128GB to 1TB are available, and Apple has adjacent updated the iPad Air to connection Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.

Apple iPad Air 13-Inch (M2)

iPad Pro (7th Generation) - May 15, 2024

It tin beryllium hard to spot the differences betwixt iPad Pro (7th Gen) and iPad Pro (6th Gen), but Apple packed plentifulness of worthwhile caller features into the latest model. First, the M2 spot is agelong gone - the M4 is here. This is the archetypal instrumentality disposable with the processor, and it does not disappoint. Additionally, iPad Pro (7th Generation) utilizes an OLED show for the precise archetypal time, which is simply a large upgrade implicit the anterior generation's mini LED display.

Apple iPad Pro (7th-Generation)

iPad (11th Generation) - March 12, 2025

Almost 3 years since the past iPad (10th Generation), Apple somewhat softly announced the newest upgrade to its foundational tablet: The iPad (11th Generation). The large upgrades see treble the magnitude of starting retention and a much almighty A16 Bionic chip, which Apple states is "30% faster than the erstwhile generation." Curiously absent from the newest iPad is immoderate motion of Apple Intelligence, which has been astatine the forefront of astir caller announcements from the tech giant.

iPad (11th-Generation)

iPad Air (7th Generation) - March 12, 2025

Alongside the 11th-generation iPad, Apple besides announced different spec upgrade for its entry-level tablet. The newest iPad Air comes little than a twelvemonth aft the erstwhile procreation and features an M3 processor, stronger than the M2 successful erstwhile models, though not rather arsenic almighty arsenic the iPad Pro's M4. Unlike the caller iPad, these iPad Air models are each astir Apple Intelligence. The 7th-generation iPad Air is already up for preorder, with Apple releasing modular 11 and 13-inch models successful 4 antithetic colors. It's worthy noting the caller iPad Air models are the aforesaid terms arsenic past year's release.