Phil Schiller Talks About the Development of the Original iPad in New Interview

In a retrospective on the technology of the last decade, The New York Times has shared a new interview with marketing chief Phil Schiller, covering the debut of the iPad in early 2010.

Schiller says that the ‌iPad‌ was conceived when Apple began looking at a future computer device that could be sold under $500. Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO at the time, said that to reach that price point, things need to be removed "aggressively."

original ipad 2
Apple cut the clamshell design and the keyboard, prompting the ‌iPad‌ team to work on multitouch technology, which would go on to debut first in the 2007 iPhone.

And so the team started working on multitouch technology. During that process, a human interface designer, Bas Ording, showed us this demo where he pretended to scroll and the whole screen moved up and down with realistic physics. It was one of those "holy crap" moments.

Apple set the ‌iPad‌ aside to focus on the ‌iPhone‌, but once the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ was launched, Apple returned to working on the tablet form factor. Schiller says that it was "easy to imagine" what needed to be taken from the ‌iPhone‌ to make the ‌iPad‌.

When we got back to the iPad, it was really easy to imagine what to take from iPhone and what needed to be different to create the product it would be. It really helped.

The New York Times piece on the ‌iPad‌ also includes a tidbit from Walt Mossberg, former technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, who worked closely with Jobs. Jobs invited Mossberg over to his home to show him the new ‌iPad‌ ahead of its launch.

Mossberg says he was impressed with the thinness of the ‌iPad‌, and Jobs was "careful" to demonstrate how it "wasn't just a big ‌iPhone‌." The most impressive part, though, was the price. Mossberg initially guessed $999 when Jobs asked what he thought the ‌iPad‌ might cost, twice the actual $499 price tag.

He gave me this wicked smile, and he said, "You're going to be really amazed if that's what you think. It's way lower than that."

Since the ‌iPad‌ first launched in 2010, Apple has released new versions on a yearly basis, and in 2019, the line has grown to encompass multiple pricing and design choices. There's the 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models at the high-end, the middle tier 10.5-inch iPad Air, the tiny 7.9-inch iPad mini 5, and the low-cost 10.2-inch seventh-generation ‌iPad‌.

The New York Times also looks at several other technological advancements and changes that took place over the course of the last decade, including the development of Siri, Apple's 2016 fight with the FBI, and the 2011 death of Steve Jobs.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday May 27, 2025 9:10 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of May 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X ...
iOS 26 Mock Rainbow Feature

No iOS 19: Apple Going Straight to iOS 26

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:56 am PDT by
With the design overhaul that's coming this year, Apple plans to rename all of its operating systems, reports Bloomberg. Going forward, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS will be identified by year, rather than by version number. We're not going to be getting iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26. iOS 26 will be accompanied by iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature 2

Apple Rumored to Redesign the iPhone Every Year Through to 2027

Tuesday May 27, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly preparing to implement significant iPhone hardware redesigns each year for the next three generations. According leaks from the Chinese supply chain disclosed by Weibo user "Digital Chat Station," Apple plans to carry out a series of phased industrial design changes affecting different parts of the iPhone across three consecutive years: 2025, 2026, and 2027. The changes...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Teases Long-Awaited iPad App

Monday May 26, 2025 10:23 am PDT by
The popular messaging app WhatsApp has teased a long-awaited iPad app, which would be offered alongside its existing iPhone and Mac apps. The official WhatsApp account on X today reacted with an eyes emoji to a post saying that WhatsApp should release an iPad app. This could be a hint that Meta is gearing up to release WhatsApp for iPad, which has already been available for beta testing via...
WWDC 2025 Banner

WWDC is Just Two Weeks Away: Here Are the Biggest iOS 19 Rumors

Monday May 26, 2025 8:12 am PDT by
WWDC 2025 is just two weeks away as of today, with Apple's opening keynote scheduled for Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, tvOS 19, visionOS 3, and other software updates, along with new Apple Intelligence features. In some years, there are also hardware announcements at WWDC, but there are no...
Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT

Report: Apple Planned to Offer Starlink-Like Home Internet Service

Tuesday May 27, 2025 7:08 am PDT by
Apple had plans to offer a Starlink-like satellite home internet service in collaboration with Boeing, The Information reports. Starting in 2015, Apple held discussions with Boeing about "Project Eagle," a plan to launch a service to provide wireless internet services to iPhones and homes. The companies would have launched thousands of satellites into orbit around the Earth to beam internet...
macOS 26 visionOS Inspired Feature

macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs

Thursday May 29, 2025 5:31 am PDT by
The next major version of macOS, now dubbed "macOS 26," is rumored to drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia. According to individuals familiar with the matter cited by AppleInsider, the following Macs will not be supported by the next version of macOS: MacBook Pro (2018) iMac (2019) iMac Pro (2017) Mac mini (2018) MacB...

Top Rated Comments

The Mercurian Avatar
71 months ago
What happened to the 'under $500' part ?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Falhófnir Avatar
71 months ago

What happened to the 'under $500' part ?
In fairness they now offer a whole range of iPads under $500, down to as little as $329!
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macfacts Avatar
71 months ago
Still no calculator app for the iPad. Super fail
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFather Avatar
71 months ago
Deleted.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Classie Avatar
71 months ago
I never get tired of reading stories from Apples development history
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Elitegate Avatar
71 months ago

What happened to the 'under $500' part ?
The current-gen iPad is 329$, and you can find that one even cheaper from third-party. iPad mini is 399$ and the Air is 499$. They are all below 500$, except the Pro, but that's not something the average tablet buyer needs, and Apple knows that.

iPads are cheaper than ever before, and they get better every year. Chipset Performance, Display etc...
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)