The Basic iPad
Pixel-for-pixel, the base model iPad is the best value for most users.
As of this writing, this product is one of the most back-ordered products on Apple.com. No, it's not the Polishing Cloth (Delivers: January 21, 2022), nor is it the 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro (January 27, 2021). With a delivery date now slipping into February, it's the inconspicuous $329 9th generation iPad. Not mini, not Pro, not Air, just iPad. The basic iPad.
Now in its ninth generation, the suffix-less iPad is Apple's best-selling iPad. But I think price alone doesn't capture the narrative around why this iPad remains so popular. I would argue that dollar for dollar, this is the best value iPad you can buy.
The 9th generation can be easily overlooked when viewed through a tech-forward lens. It has a decade-old design, 2-year-old processor, limited RAM, only supports the old guard of iPad accessories, no 5G, lightning port, smaller 10.2-inch non-laminated sRGB display, and is thicker than any other iPad on sale. Sure it's cheap, but looking at it from the laundry list of what it lacks, it risks being overlooked.
But this is the iPad I steer many of my family and friends to when contemplating a tablet, and the reason is that despite its dated design, it's the most well-equipped iPad for most people's needs. My family and friends don't need to squeeze every last Hz of performance out of the CPU or GPU, so the A13 offers more than enough headroom for them. They don't need cellular, never mind 5G, and most pay no mind to the display; they don't notice the lack of lamination, sRGB colour, or the lack of anti-reflective coating. My friends & family don't record 4K video on their iPad, nor are they demanding a better audio profile from the speakers like those found on the iPad Air & iPad Pro. They don't need USB-C or Thunderbolt data speeds, nor do they detect the slight latency of the Apple Pencil because the free rubber stylus they picked up at some conference a few years back is more than good enough. There is no feature, or collection of features in devices like the iPad Air 4 that most of my friends and family need or appreciate enough to justify spending a minimum of $270 extra (nearly the cost of another entry-level iPad) to jump to the base-model iPad Air 4.
Instead, when I look at their priorities, they want an economical device with the familiarity of their iPhone. And in terms of use case, they want a combination of FaceTime, the ability to browse the web/social media, play games, read, and watch content. The $329 iPad is perfectly spec’d for those tasks.
And In 2021, Apple has added features that make this iPad a significant upgrade over even the 2020 edition. Most notably, the iPad now has a 12MP ultra-wide front camera with Center Stage, a fantastic upgrade in the era of so much more digital communication. The abysmal 1.2MP excuse for a front-facing camera around since 2012 has finally been discontinued, with the new iPad front-facing camera on par with Apple's top-tier Apple devices; a welcome change given the shifts in digital communication over the past two years. Base storage has doubled for the first time since 2017, which is especially consequential as the previous 32GB entry configuration was scarcely enough storage for the most sparing user, even with limited apps and content stored in the cloud, making the it hard to recommend confidently. But the doubling of storage to 64GB helps the entry model iPad feel more future-proof in a way the 32GB model didn't.
The 9th generation iPad is the best iPad for most users in most use cases, so the problem becomes not which iPad they should get but finding one in the first place.
