The Current iPad Market – Comparing the Available Devices
The iPad may not dominate the tablet market the way it did early on, but it is still the popular choice for many mobile users. Now take a look at the five tablets that you can buy brand new from Apple. They come in three sizes:
- Small tablets – iPad mini 2, iPad mini 4 with a 7.9 inch screen
- Large tablets – iPad Air, iPad Air 2 with 9.7 inch screen
- Enormous tablets – iPad Pro (there’s actually a bigger-size jump from the Air to the Pro than from the mini to the Air) with 12.9 inch screen—practically a laptop
The Difference Between Each iPad
Let’s start with what sets the iPad Pro apart, besides being gigantic. It’s the only tablet for which Apple makes its own keyboard. You have to get a third-party keyboard for the others. It is also the only device compatible with Apple Pencil. You’ll need a third-party stylus for the other tablets. The Pro is also the only model with four speakers, compared to the usual two.
Differences in appearance primarily come down to size and color since they are all aluminum. While the three newest devices are available in a gold color, the iPad Air and the mini 2 are only available in space gray and silver.
All of the devices have the same screen resolution (2048 by 1536) except the Pro, which is 2732 by 2048. Even at that astounding resolution, the mini still has a higher ppi. The newest devices have a coating to reduce reflection that is not available on the mini 2 or the Air. The same is true of the touch ID feature.
Processor speed increases by device generation. The mini 2 and Air use the A7. The Air 2 and mini 4 use the A8. The Pro uses the A9 chip and clocks in at 2.3 GHz. It’s also the only device with 4 GB of RAM. The Air 2 and mini 4 have 2 GB,r and the Air and mini 2 also have 2 GB.
How much can you expect to pay? Occasionally you’ll find deals, with the starting rretail price for the mini 2 at 9, the Air and mini 4 are 9, the Air 3 is 9, and the Pro is 9. That is the base model of each, which is Wi-Fi only, and has 16 GB of storage (except the Pro which starts at 32 GB).