If you're trying to decide which iPad to buy, you may be wondering which models your fellow tablet buyers are going for – well, some new data has revealed which ones are the most popular follow Apple's recent 2024 refresh.
According CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) data, during the June 2024 quarter the iPad Pro (2024) extended its lead over its fellow Apple tablets, becoming the most popular iPad by quite some distance.
During that period, 42% of iPad buyers went for an 11-inch or 13-inch iPad Pro, despite it starting the new model starting at the fairly lofty price of $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. In second place was the base iPad at 35% of sales (the same as 2023), which may seem a slight surprise considering the latest model is the iPad 10.9 (2022), but it did also get a $100 / £100 price cut this year.
The two iPad models that have slightly shrunk in popularity, compared to June 2023, are the iPad Air (which 12% of buyers went for) and the aging iPad mini. There's a chance that the iPad Air is stuck in something of a middle ground between the Pro and base model, while the iPad mini (2021) is now a few years old.
With rumors persisting that an iPad Mini 7 is still in Apple's plans, albeit only with a minor processor upgrade, it's understandable that iPad buyers are largely skipping that model.
CIRP also points out that we'll also likely need to wait a few months to get a true idea of the impact of Apple's 2024 iPad announcements, but this June quarter data gives us an interesting snapshot of how its tablets break down.
What's coming next?
This data shows that the iPad Pro appears to be eating into the popularity of the iPad mini and, more surprisingly, the iPad Air. In some ways, that's understandable - the iPad Air is oddly no longer Apple's lightest iPad and the new Pro is Apple's ultimate tablet, arguably making it the more future-proofed purchase.
Still, we may see that Air and Pro data even out at the year progresses and the iPad Pro still isn't a full laptop replacement, as we discovered when trying to use it as our main computer for a few weeks.
The question for many will be which iPads Apple is planning to launch next – and the latest rumors from July suggest those will be an 11th-gen entry-level iPad and a 7th-gen iPad mini. We don't know exactly when we'll see them, but the latest speculation suggests both could land before the end of the year.
Whatever happens with the base iPad and iPad mini, you shouldn't expect to see a foldable iPad appear anytime soon. According to respected analyst Jeff Pu, that model has been pushed back to 2026, which means our options will likely be non-folding iPads for a while yet.
