Part of the appeal of an iPad is owning a device that can accomplish many of the same things as a laptop, but for several hundred dollars less. That’s why it’s often tossed around as a child’s first computer, or for college students, as an ideal notetaking and homework device. If you’re living on ramen to help pay off your debt, a MacBook Air is a luxury.

I get the feeling that the era of truly affordable new iPads is coming to an end. To an extent, this is a result of broader industry pressures. But some factors are under Apple’s control, and it’s not headed in a direction conducive to keeping prices down.

Brand

Apple

Storage

128 GB

The quasi-conspiracy against cheap iPads

Woe to those of you paying even higher prices outside the US

The biggest factors militating against cheap iPads are macroeconomic problems. Above all is the cost of memory, which is rocketing out of control with the rise of AI datacenters. Apple resisted changing its prices for a long time — but earlier in 2026, it finally caved. The cheapest possible new iPad is now $449, $100 more than the beginning of the year.

On top of that, the Trump administration is pursuing both tariff wars and a literal war against Iran, affecting import and other logistics costs. With no sign of those letting up, there’s little chance of prices falling back to 2024 levels. Corporations in general are quick to hike prices, and rarely drop them outside short-term sales events.

Meanwhile, Apple is making costly decisions about what it wants the iPad to be. Some models are transitioning over to OLED screens, which are inherently more expensive than LCDs, at least at the quality level Apple insists on. It’s also leaning hard into Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Though the minimum spec for those technologies is the A17 Pro chip from 2023’s iPhone 15 Pro, the company is already starting to gate some improvements — like increased Siri customization — behind faster processors and more RAM. Expect that to intensify as Apple struggles to keep up with Meta, Google, and Samsung.

Apple isn’t ignorant. It’s aware that iPads are a luxury for many people, since they often can’t replace a Mac or Windows PC entirely, and an iPhone may be enough for the basics. Historically, though, the company has stated its preference for “premium” customers, by which it means richer people with plenty of disposable income. The profit margins are better. So when it does introduce cheaper products, they’re only cheap by Apple’s standards, and really meant to nudge you towards spending extra. If you’ve got the cash for an iPad Air, you’re probably going to buy one, since Apple withholds key features from base iPads including M-series processors, reasonable USB speeds, and Apple Pencil Pro support.

Will Apple really kill off cheap iPads?

Might be time to go secondhand

It can’t afford to target premium customers exclusively, that much is certain. Aside from cutting off much of the public, that would all but surrender the enterprise and education markets to Android, Windows, and Googlebook/Chromebook devices. Even entry-level iPads are too pricey for many organizations.

There’s also the possibility that Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, will actually embrace the budget market. I doubt that, however. He’s been embedded in the company since 2001, and any shift on that scale tends to spook investors, never mind how unrealistic it is to demand eternal growth without risk.

My own expectation is that Apple will put an ever-tighter squeeze on budget shoppers, just doing everything it can to avoid alienating all of them. The real question to ask, perhaps, is whether the company will be successful. We’re already at a point where it makes more sense to buy a used or refurbished iPad, unless you’re among the tiny minority maximizing their performance.