Here's How Much An iPad Cost In 2016 Vs. 2026

In March of 2016, Apple introduced the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. As a follow-on from the first-ever iPad Pro that came the prior fall, it provided a more compact form factor to its cohort's 12.9-inch screen. They both ran the A9X chip and had storage options starting at 32GB going up to 256GB. A basic iPad Pro 9.7-inch would set you back $599 (about $843 as of writing when adjusted for inflation) while a 12.9-inch model would go for at least $799 ($1,123). Fast forward about a decade and we are, indeed, paying much more.

The iPads available in early October 2026 were launched in the fall of 2025. The 9.7-incher has grown up to 11 inches while the iPad Pro 12.9 has been rounded up to 13 inches, and their prices have jumped by 42% in relative terms for the smaller one, and 33% for the bigger one. For the base model with 256GB of storage, you will pay $1,199 for the latest 11-inch Pro, or a whopping $1,499 for the 13-inch model. And that's not even getting to where you'd be paying for the glare-reducing nano-texture glass upgrade.

In fairness to Apple, the company has added newer hardware and more capabilities. Both devices have displays that take up more surface area than before, LCD technology has been switched out for more versatile OLED, and the phone-focused A-series chip has swapped for the powerful M5 processor, also used in the company's Mac computers.

Still, Apple's price hikes are a tough pill to swallow, especially when it's coming from a company that's often criticized and mocked for its high prices to begin with. But what about Apple's more accessible non-pro models? Has techflation come to haunt everything just as badly?

Apple came into the holidays for 2016 with three iPads besides the iPad Pro models and two of them were iPad Minis—the iPad Mini 4 came from the previous year while the iPad Mini 2 was into its third year on the roster. The display on the most current iPad Mini, released in 2024, is 0.4 inches larger than its predecessors and, yet, the tablet itself is ever so slightly smaller in volume. Interestingly, the company made price and stock adjustments for the sales season, bumping base storage from 16GB to 32GB and charging $269 ($373 based on Consumer Price Index numbers for August 2026) for a Wi-Fi-only iPad Mini 2 and $399 ($553) for an iPad Mini 4. Today, a 128GB iPad Mini will set you back $599.

The thin-and-light 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, two years old at the time, saw similar price changes as the iPad Pro, just at a slightly lower performance tier. The models from March 2026 are the company's eight generation, coming in 11- and 13-inch sizes. They use an M4 processor which is slightly older than the one powering the Pros. Additionally, by virtue of the size change, the devices themselves are slightly larger and heavier than their ancestors from 2014, too. Just as with the iPad Mini 4, you could get a 32GB iPad Air 2 starting at $399 ($553). An M4 iPad Air with 128GB starts at $749.

Even when accounting for inflation, we are paying more for newer iPads in 2026 than we did a decade prior. The entry-level 11-inch iPad now costs $449 instead of $349 after Apple raised prices in June 2026 in response to AI-driven component demand.