If you want to review the history of iPad releases, this is your post. We review the dates on which Apple has presented and launched each and every one of its tablets and they already have a few behind them. And in addition to its presentation, we also tell you the format that is usually used for it, since it is not always the same.
How Apple tablets are usually presented
Far from what you might think, Apple does not follow the same line to present its iPad. In fact we can find different ways to present them depending also on whether you have other products in the bedroom ready to be presented.
Events (edit)
Apple holds several events a year. The most fixed is that of its WWDC (World Conference for Developers) and in which they only present software as a general rule, but also usually celebrate others to present iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch and, of course, iPad. This format is not always used, but it is common to see how some tablet models are taught for the first time in one of these appointments.
These events are usually held in person, either at Apple headquarters or in a special theater or conference room. The press, developers or other guests of the company attend there. However, as of 2020, they began to be held electronically for health reasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The iPad presented at an event have been these:
- From the iPad range:
- iPad (original)
- iPad 2
- iPad (3rd generation)
- iPad (4th generation)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (8th generation)
- From the iPad Air range:
- iPad Air (1st generation)
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- From the iPad mini range:
- iPad mini (1st generation)
- iPad mini 2
- iPad mini 3
- From the iPad Pro range:
- iPad Pro 9.7 ″
- iPad Pro 10.5 ″
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (5th generation)
Press release
This is usually a very common format for the iPad launch and that serves the company as an alternative to events. These are published on the company’s press website and in addition to publishing all the information regarding characteristics, prices and launch date, photos and even videos of the product are also added.
And although we may tend to think that this format is less glamorous and can be given more when the iPad in question does not bring very outstanding news, the truth is that we have come to see really interesting iPad presented in a press release. In the same way that some less cutting edge iPads have had space at a company event.
These are the iPads that Apple has presented via press release:
- From the iPad range:
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- From the iPad Air range:
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- From the iPad mini range:
- iPad mini 4
- iPad mini (5th generation)
- From the iPad Pro range:
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (4th generation)
Are they presented and released at the same time?
It doesn’t have to. In fact, the most common thing that happens is that Apple presents an iPad and it is not available on the market for a few days and even weeks. There have been cases in which it has even been necessary to wait a month to be able to see them in the windows of the company’s stores.
What they usually do prior to launch is open a reservation period in which users can pre-purchase the tablets. In any case, we insist on emphasizing that there is no common standard and direct presentations and launches have also been seen on the same day, so in the end Apple plays a lot of misunderstanding in this regard by not setting a standard.
Dates the “normal” iPads came out
The iPad to dry, usually accompanied by the year of its launch or the number of its generation, is the most basic range of Apple tablets. At the time they were the only ones and therefore if they were the most powerful, but the arrival of the ‘Air’ and ‘Pro’ conditioned their positioning relegating them to being the entry range. It is a range that was normally presented at the beginning of the year, although in the latest versions it has been launched at the end of the year.
iPad (original)
- Submission date: January 27, 2010
- Release Date: April 3, 2010
- Base operating system: iOS 3.2
- Latest Software Version: iOS 5.1.1
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad 2
- Submission date: March 2, 2011
- Release date: March 11, 2011.
- Base operating system: iOS 4.3
- Latest software version: iOS 9.3.6
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (3rd generation)
- Submission date: March 7, 2012
- Release Date: March 16, 2012
- Base operating system: iOS 5.1
- Latest software version: iOS 9.3.6
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (4th generation)
- Submission date: October 23, 2012
- Release Date: November 2, 2012
- Base operating system: iOS 6
- Latest Software Version: iOS 10.3.4
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (5th generation)
- Submission date: March 21, 2017
- Release Date: March 24, 2017
- Base operating system: iOS 10.2.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (6th generation)
- Submission date: March 27, 2018
- Release Date: March 27, 2018
- Base operating system: iOS 11.3
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (7th generation)
- Submission date: September 10, 2019
- Release Date: September 10, 2019
- Base operating system: iPadOS 13.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad (8th generation)
- Submission date: September 15, 2020
- Release Date: September 18, 2020
- Base operating system: iPadOS 14
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Yes
IPad Air release date
This is considered the intermediate range in Apple tablets. In recent times it is one of the most popular iPads for taking some of the great functions of the ‘Pro’ models, but at a lower cost than these. There is no clear date for them, since it has been presented at the beginning or end of the year indifferently.
iPad Air (1st generation)
- Submission date: October 22, 2013
- Release Date: November 1, 2013
- Base operating system: iOS 7.0.3
- Latest software version: iOS 12.5.4
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Air 2
- Submission date: October 16, 2014
- Release Date: October 22, 2014
- Base operating system: iOS 8.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Air (3rd generation)
- Submission date: March 18, 2019
- Release Date: March 18, 2019
- Base operating system: iOS 12.1.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Air (4th generation)
- Submission date: September 15, 2020
- Release Date: Oct 23, 2020
- Base operating system: iPadOS 14.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Yes
Presentation and launch of the iPad mini
The smallest Apple tablets are those that are in a different range than the rest because they are halfway between the iPad Air and iPad. It is one of the ranges that has been most endangered in its existence by the arrival of the large-screen iPhone, although Apple has continued to launch new versions and in fact it is expected to continue to do so. Normally its launch occurs at the end of the year, although in its last generation it changed when it was presented in the first quarter.
iPad mini (1st generation)
- Submission date: October 23, 2012
- Release Date: November 2, 2012
- Base operating system: iOS 6
- Latest software version: iOS 9.3.6
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad mini 2
- Submission date: October 22, 2013
- Release Date: November 12, 2013
- Base operating system: iOS 7
- Latest software version: iOS 12.5.4
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad mini 3
- Submission date: October 16, 2014
- Release Date: October 22, 2014
- Base operating system: iOS 8.1
- Latest software version: iOS 12.5.4
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad mini 4
- Submission date: September 9, 2015
- Release Date: September 9, 2015
- Base operating system: iOS 9
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad mini (5th generation)
- Submission date: March 18, 2019
- Release Date: March 18, 2019
- Base operating system: iOS 12.1.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Yes
When the iPad Pro came out
The iPad Pro, unlike the previous ones, offer several screen sizes within the same generation. In this way we have seen how in this powerful range of tablets there have been launches at different times of the year. In recent times, Apple’s custom has been to launch them at the beginning of the year. Below you will find them ordered by date and not by size.
iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (1st generation)
- Submission date: September 9, 2015
- Release Date: Nov 11, 2015
- Base operating system: iOS 9.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 9.7 ″
- Submission date: March 21, 2016
- Release Date: March 31, 2016
- Base operating system: iOS 9.3
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 10.5
- Submission date: June 5, 2017
- Release Date: June 13, 2017
- Base operating system: iOS 10.3.2
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (2nd generation)
- Submission date: June 5, 2017
- Release Date: June 13, 2017
- Base operating system: iOS 10.3.2
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 11 ″ (1st generation)
- Submission date: October 30, 2018
- Release Date: November 7, 2018
- Base operating system: iOS 12.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (3rd generation)
- Submission date: October 30, 2018
- Release Date: November 7, 2018
- Base operating system: iOS 12.1
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 11 ″ (2nd generation)
- Submission date: March 18, 2020
- Release Date: March 25, 2020
- Base operating system: iPadOS 13.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (4th generation)
- Submission date: March 18, 2020
- Release Date: March 25, 2020
- Base operating system: iPadOS 13.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Do not
iPad Pro 11 ″ (3rd generation)
- Filing date: April 20, 2021
- Release Date: May 24, 2021
- Base operating system: iPadOS 14.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Yes
iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (5th generation)
- Filing date: April 20, 2021
- Release Date: May 24, 2021
- Base operating system: iPadOS 14.4
- Latest software version – keeps updating
- Does Apple still sell it? Yes
Chronological order of all models
Previously we have seen iPads ordered by ranges, but if what you want to see is a history of all the models in the strictest chronological order, this has been:
- iPad (original)
- iPad 2
- iPad (3rd generation)
- iPad (4th generation)
- iPad Air (1st generation)
- iPad mini (1st generation)
- iPad mini (2nd generation)
- iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3
- iPad mini 4
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 9.7 ″
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad Pro 10.5 ″ and iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (2nd generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (1st generation) and iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (3rd generation)
- iPad mini (5th generation) and iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (2nd generation) and iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (4th generation)
- iPad (8th generation) and iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 11 ″ (3rd generation) and iPad Pro 12.9 ″ (5th generation)