Specs Appeal: Comparing the new iPad 11 with iPad 10 and iPad 9

On March 4, 2025, Apple announced the eleventh-generation iPad. The company's latest entry-level iPad is nearly identical to its predecessor, with the most changes hiding inside the device. If you are looking for an affordable tablet, choosing between the iPad 10 (still in stock in many stores and with decent discounts) might not be an easy task. In this Specs Appeal, we compare the last three generations of budget-friendly iPads, so here is everything you need to know.

The iPad 11 is quite a minor spec bump over the previous generation. It is powered by the A16 processor with faster CPU and GPU performance. However, those chips are likely binned as they only have five cores (the A14 in the iPad 10 and the A13 in the iPad 9 have six cores). Despite that, Apple still promises a 30% CPU performance increase over the A14 and a 50% increase over the A13.

Another change over the previous-gen iPad is a little increase in display size. It is now a proper 11-inch tablet, while the iPad 10 has a 10.9-inch display. However, the resolution is the same (so are the physical dimensions of both iPads).

For most users, the iPad 11 is a no-brainer choice, especially if they are buying their first iPad or upgrading from seriously old and unsupported iPads. You get more performance and more storage in the cheapest configuration over the iPad 10. With that in mind, the iPad 10 is also a good pick, but only if you are on a tight budget. You can find the iPad 10 for as little as $279, and in this price bracket, a $70 is a notable difference. The A14 chip is still good for daily iPad usage, so the only reasonable concern here is storage—make sure you are ok with having only 64GB, which might be a bit tough to swallow in 2025.

Also, neither is good for you if you want an iPad with Apple Intelligence (not sure if there are such users, but still). The iPad 11 has the A16 processor, which does not support Apple's AI feature suite. In this regard, you will be much better with a discounted iPad Air M2.

Here are the differences between the iPad 11 (A16, 2025) and the iPad 10 (A14, 2022):

• A slightly bigger display: 11 inches instead of 10.9 inches (still not fully laminated).
• A newer, more powerful processor, albeit with five cores instead of six.
• 128GB in the base model and a new 512GB max configuration.
• 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB.
• Bluetooth 5.3 support.
• Smart HDR 4 for the rear-facing camera
• Cheaper: $349 instead of $449.

And here is a detailed spec-by-spec comparison (changes highlighted in bold):

The new iPad is now available for preorder, with shipments scheduled for March 12, 2025.