The new iPad makes no sense
by Monica Chin from The Verge - All Posts on (#64XBY)
Seriously, what is this? | Image: Apple You heard me. What's up with this entry-level iPad?
The iPad had one thing going for it: price. At $329, the entry-level model has been a real pain in my neck as a laptop reviewer for the past year. Every time I've wanted to recommend a budget laptop, Chromebook, or tablet, I've had to caveat that the iPad exists and might be a better deal. For multimedia or as a secondary device that didn't need to accommodate, say, an enterprise workload, $329 was a steal. It was the sole reason I could say just get a tablet" to some people without immediately being laughed out of whatever room I happened to be in.
But the 10th-gen entry-level iPad starts at $449 - a 36 percent increase. That's very much not counting the keyboard you're supposed to...