Tablets · Model guide · Maker specs
iPad (9th generation)
iPad (9th generation) is worth it only at a very low price or for its Home button and headphone jack; the $349 iPad (A16) adds USB-C and a bigger screen.
Product images
iPad (9th generation), from its Amazon listing.
Credit: Amazon.com (Associates Program). Amazon listing
Product image from the Amazon listing.
In short
iPad (9th generation) is worth it only at a very low price or for its Home button and headphone jack; the $349 iPad (A16) adds USB-C and a bigger screen. This 2021 iPad has a 10.2-inch Retina screen, the A13 Bionic, Lightning and Touch ID in the Home button, and it works only with the first-generation Apple Pencil. Owners who want USB-C, 5G or a landscape front camera should upgrade; A16 has all three.
Who it is for
- Anyone after the cheapest iPad that covers the basics. A used or refurbished one still has a 10.2-inch Retina screen, Touch ID and up to 10 hours of battery on Wi-Fi.
- People who rely on wired headphones or Lightning accessories. It's the last base iPad with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a Lightning port.
- Anyone who prefers a Home button. Touch ID sits in the button below the screen; later base iPads moved it to the top button.
- Classrooms that already own first-generation Apple Pencils and Smart Keyboards, which are the accessories this iPad takes.
Who should skip it
- Anyone who can stretch to a new iPad (A16). It launched on 4 March 2025 at $349, twenty dollars above this model's $329 launch price, with USB-C and a 10.86-inch Liquid Retina screen.
- Artists who want a newer Pencil. Only the first-generation Apple Pencil works; Pencil (USB-C), the second generation, Pencil Pro and hover don't.
- Anyone who wants 5G or a front camera on the landscape edge. Both start with iPad (10th generation).
What sets it apart
- The last base iPad with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and Lightning; the box has a Lightning to USB-C cable and a 20W USB-C adapter.
- Touch ID in a front Home button, which iPad (10th generation) dropped.
- A 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with a 122° field of view, Center Stage and Retina Flash.
- The lowest launch price of the three most recent base iPads: $329, against $449 for the 10th generation and $349 for iPad (A16).
Caveats
- The rear camera is 8MP and records 1080p video, not 4K.
- Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 are older standards, and the cellular model tops out at LTE.
- External displays top out at 1080p, through Apple's Lightning video adapters, sold separately.
Key specs
In the same order on every tablet page, so you can compare models.
| Spec | Value | Source and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 10.2-inch Retina display | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Display type | Retina; LED-backlit IPS Multi-Touch (later base iPads use Liquid Retina) | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Display resolution | 2160 × 1620 at 264 ppi | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Peak brightness | 500 nits | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Refresh rate | Not stated; no ProMotion (120Hz) | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Display features | True Tone; fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. Not listed: wide color (P3), full lamination, antireflective coating | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Sizes | One size, 10.2-inch | Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14 |
| Dimensions | 250.6 × 174.1 × 7.5 mm | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Weight | Wi-Fi 487 g (1.07 lb); Wi-Fi + Cellular 498 g (1.09 lb) | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Finishes | Silver, Space Gray | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs; Apple Newsroom |
| Chip | A13 Bionic with Neural Engine; CPU and GPU core counts not published | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Storage | 64GB or 256GB, no microSD slot; 64GB was double the previous model's starting storage | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs; Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14 |
| Operating system | iPadOS; launched with iPadOS 15 | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs; Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14 |
| Apple Pencil | Apple Pencil (1st generation) only, sold separately. Not Pencil (2nd generation), Pencil (USB-C) or Pencil Pro, and no hover. | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Keyboard | Smart Connector; Apple Smart Keyboard, sold separately | Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14; Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Biometrics | Touch ID in the Home button | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers (later base iPads have landscape stereo) | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Microphones | Two microphones for calls, video and audio recording | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Cellular | Wi-Fi + Cellular model only (A2603): Gigabit-class LTE, nano-SIM and eSIM. No 5G; that came with iPad (10th generation) and iPad (A16) | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Wi-Fi and Bluetooth | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 2x2 MIMO, up to 866 Mbps; Bluetooth 4.2 | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Ports | Lightning; 3.5 mm headphone jack; Smart Connector; SIM tray on cellular models. Video out up to 1080p with Apple's Lightning Digital AV or Lightning to VGA adapter, sold separately | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Rear camera | 8MP Wide, ƒ/2.4; 1080p video at 25 or 30 fps; no 4K | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Front camera | 12MP Ultra Wide, 122° field of view, ƒ/2.4; Center Stage; 1080p video; Retina Flash | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs; Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14 |
| Battery | 32.4Wh; up to 10 hours of web or video on Wi-Fi, up to 9 hours of web on cellular | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Charging | Lightning to USB-C Cable and 20W USB-C Power Adapter in the box; also charges from a computer | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Location | Digital compass, Wi-Fi and iBeacon on every model; GPS and GNSS on cellular models | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| US launch price | Wi-Fi $329, Wi-Fi + Cellular $459, both with 64GB (14 September 2021); 256GB also sold | Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14 |
| Price band | Entry-level iPad ($329–$459 at US launch, before a Pencil or keyboard) | Based on Apple's launch prices |
| Announced | 14 September 2021 | Apple Newsroom |
| Availability | Orders from 14 September 2021, in stores from Friday 24 September 2021; still sold at $329 and $459 beside iPad (10th generation) from October 2022; iPad (A16) is the current base iPad | Apple Newsroom, 2021-09-14, 2021-09-24 and 2022-10-18 |
iPad (9th generation) extras
Specs only this model has.
| Spec | Value | Source and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Last Lightning base iPad | Lightning port with a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box, plus a 3.5 mm headphone jack; iPad (10th generation) moved to USB-C and dropped the Home button | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Home button | Home button with Touch ID below the screen; later base iPads put Touch ID in the top button | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| In the box | iPad (9th generation); Lightning to USB-C Cable; 20W USB-C Power Adapter | Apple iPad (9th generation) tech specs |
| Previous model | iPad (8th generation): A12, 32 or 128GB, 1.2MP front camera with 720p video; also sold in Gold | Apple iPad (8th generation) tech specs |
| Next model | iPad (10th generation): USB-C, landscape Center Stage front camera, A14, 10.86-inch Liquid Retina display | Apple iPad (10th generation) tech specs |
What you’d gain with iPad (A16)
Two generations on, the base iPad is a different tablet. Lightning and the headphone jack gave way to USB-C, the 10.2-inch Retina screen grew into a 10.86-inch Liquid Retina display, and the Home button went, with Touch ID moving to the top button. The front camera moved to the long edge for landscape calls, cellular models gained 5G, and external displays went from 1080p to 4K at 60Hz. The chip went from A13 to A16.
| Spec | iPad (9th generation) | iPad (10th generation) | iPad (A16) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | 10.2-inch Retina, 2160 × 1620 | 10.86-inch Liquid Retina | 10.86-inch Liquid Retina |
| Chip | A13 Bionic, core counts not published | A14: 6-core CPU, 4-core GPU | A16: 5-core CPU, 4-core GPU |
| Port | Lightning, 3.5 mm headphone jack | USB-C (USB 2.0, 480Mb/s) | USB-C (USB 2.0, 480Mb/s) |
| Touch ID | Home button | Top button | Top button |
| Apple Pencil | 1st generation | USB-C, 1st generation | USB-C, 1st generation |
| Cellular | LTE | 5G | 5G |
| US Wi-Fi launch price | $329 (September 2021) | $449 (October 2022) | $349 (March 2025) |
If the headphone jack is the reason you’ve kept yours, no newer base iPad has one. iPad (9th generation) vs iPad (10th generation) covers the move to USB-C in detail.
Screen
Its 10.2-inch Retina screen packs 2160 × 1620 pixels at 264 per inch and is rated for 500 nits, with True Tone and a fingerprint-resistant coating; lamination, P3 color and an antireflective coating aren’t part of it. The later 10.86-inch models keep the same pixel density, just with more screen.
Video calls
Center Stage uses the Ultra Wide front camera to keep you in frame, but the camera sits on the short edge. With the iPad in landscape on a keyboard, it’s off to one side, so you look at it from an angle on calls. iPad (10th generation) fixed that by moving the camera to the long edge.
Battery and charging
Its 32.4Wh battery is bigger than the later base iPads’ batteries, yet Apple gives it the same rating: up to 10 hours of web or video on Wi-Fi, 9 on cellular. The 20W USB-C adapter in the box charges it through the Lightning to USB-C cable, and it also charges from a computer.
Price
It launched on 14 September 2021 at $329 for Wi-Fi and $459 for Wi-Fi + Cellular, both with 64GB, with a 256GB model above that, and reached stores on 24 September 2021. Apple kept selling it at those prices beside iPad (10th generation) from October 2022. A new iPad (A16) launched at $349 in March 2025, so a 9th generation makes sense only well below that. Before you buy, compare the price with a new A16 and check apple.com/ipados for the iPadOS versions this model still gets.
Sources
- Amazon product listing — accessed 2026-09-20
- Apple Newsroom — Apple’s most popular iPad delivers even more performance and advanced features — accessed 2026-09-19
- Apple Newsroom — iPhone 13 lineup, new iPad mini, and ninth-generation iPad arrive worldwide — accessed 2026-09-19
- Apple Support — iPad (9th generation) tech specs — accessed 2026-09-19
Frequently asked questions
Should I upgrade from iPad (9th generation) to iPad (A16)?
Yes, if you want USB-C, the bigger 10.86-inch Liquid Retina screen, a front camera on the landscape edge or 5G. Your first-generation Apple Pencil still works on A16 through Apple's USB-C adapter. If you depend on the headphone jack or Lightning accessories and the iPad still runs your apps, keep it.
Does iPad (9th generation) have USB-C?
No. It charges and connects through Lightning, with a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box. USB-C came to the base iPad with the 10th generation.
How much RAM does iPad (9th generation) have?
Apple doesn't say. The 3GB figure in many listings comes from teardowns, not from Apple.
Is iPad (9th generation) still sold new?
Not as Apple's base iPad. That's iPad (A16), which launched on 4 March 2025, so a 9th generation for sale today is used, refurbished or old stock.
Official product page: iPad (9th generation). Tech specs: iPad (9th generation) specs.