Apple debuts new 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, available to order today starting at $649 and $799 respectively
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple is refreshing the iPad Pro line a year after it cut prices across the lineup — the September 2016 update dropped the 12.9-inch Pro to $799 and pushed base storage to 32GB (last fall's storage-and-price reshuffle). Today's move adds an entirely new size: a 10.5-inch Pro with A10X and a 120Hz display at $649, slotting between the retired 9.7-inch price point and the unchanged 12.9-inch tier.
The significance is segmentation rather than specs alone: the Pro name now spans two sizes at two prices, which sets up the ladder Apple later formalized when it introduced a cheaper 10.5-inch iPad Air at $499 alongside the mini in 2019 (the Air/mini relaunch).
First-order effects
- Buyers ordering today get a new mid-size option at $649 with 64GB base storage — double the 32GB floor Apple set in 2016 — while the 12.9-inch Pro holds its $799 entry price despite the hardware refresh.
- The 9.7-inch Pro effectively exits the lineup, its $599 slot absorbed by the larger 10.5-inch model rather than a direct replacement.
Second-order effects
- The wider price gap between Pro ($649+) and standard iPads gives Apple room to reposition older designs down-market, a play it executed two years later by moving the 10.5-inch form factor into the $499 iPad Air.
- Competing tablet makers face a Pro line that now covers both a portable and a large-screen tier at aggressive entry prices, squeezing the mid-range where most non-Apple tablets sit.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 'Pro' becomes a brand tier detached from any single screen size — confirmed by 2022, when the Pro line had migrated to M2 chips starting at $799 and $1,099 (the M2 iPad Pro generation), leaving budget tiers to Air and mini.
- Tablet pricing structurally inflates at the top while the entry point is defended by rebranded mid-tier hardware, letting Apple span the market without discounting the flagship.
The trend: Apple is turning the iPad into a tiered ladder — Pro models ratcheting up in price and capability while recycled form factors cascade down into Air and mini — so one silicon platform covers every price band.