1. Let Loose iPad event LIVE — New iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more as it happens!
2. OLED iPad Pro — Will it be M3 or M4?
3. iPad Air 6 — Is the M2 chip coming to the iPad Air?
4. Apple Pencil 3 — Or should we say Apple Pencil Pro?
This day had to come, people. It had limped along for years longer than it probably should have, and it's probably best for all of us.
Today, Apple hosted its "Let Loose" iPad event and announced the next-generation iPad Pro and iPad Air as well as its new Apple Pencil Pro and next-gen Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The company also revealed some notable software updates to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.
The company also quickly mentioned that the 10th-generation base model iPad would now start at $349, down from its original launch price of $449 and a much more attractive and reasonable starting point for a base model iPad. So, what happens to the 9th-generation iPad if it only costs $30 less than the 10th-gen now? You guessed it — it's out to pasture for you.
We saw this one coming
While Apple didn't mention anything about retiring the 9th-generation iPad during the event, this isn't surprising. The company rarely announces that it is killing off a product. I think the last time I saw Apple formally announce the retirement of any product was when the company stopped making the iPod.
Now that the 10th-generation iPad came down in price to a much more reasonable $349, this placed the company's latest base model iPad in person position to take the torch from the long-running 9th-generation iPad and let it retire for good. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
This also means that Apple will be retiring the Keyboard Folio it had created for the 9th-generation iPad and we may also see the end of the original Apple Pencil over time as well since the 10th-generation iPad is compatible with Apple's USB-C version of the pencil.
However, this does mean that we're still going to deal with some accessory confusion since the 10th-generation iPad still doesn't support the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil or the new Apple Pencil Pro — or the Magic Keyboard for iPad. It still requires its own version of the Apple Pencil and its own keyboard accessories. Hopefully, Apple will update the base model iPad to support those accessories and there can just be one line of accessories across the iPad lineup, no matter what iPad you are looking to buy.
RIP, 9th-generation iPad. May your Lightning port live on forever.
We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil.
