Today Marks the 11th Anniversary of Steve Jobs Unveiling the iPad - MacRumors
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Today Marks the 11th Anniversary of Steve Jobs Unveiling the iPad

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Today marks the 11th anniversary of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiling the original iPad at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

steve jobs ipad 2010
"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," said Jobs, in a press release on January 27, 2010. "iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

The original iPad featured a 9.7-inch display, a single-core Apple A4 chip, up to 64GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, up to 10 hours of battery life, a 30-pin dock connector, and a headphone jack. Notably, the original iPad did not have any cameras. Pricing started at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $629 for the cellular model in the United States.

We've recapped some of the bigger milestones in iPad history below:

  • March 2011: iPad 2 unveiled with thinner and lighter design, dual-core A5 chip, front and rear cameras, and new white color option
  • March 2012: Third-generation iPad introduced with a Retina display, 4G LTE support, and 1080p video recording
  • October 2012: Fourth-generation iPad switched to a Lightning connector
  • October 2012: iPad mini introduced with a smaller 7.9-inch display
  • October 2013: iPad Air unveiled with a 64-bit A7 chip, thinner and lighter design, and slimmer bezels
  • October 2014: iPad Air 2 ushered in Touch ID and a fully-laminated Retina display
  • September 2015: iPad Pro introduced with a large 12.9-inch Retina display, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, A9X chip, and four speakers
  • March 2017: Fifth-generation iPad introduced as an entry-level device with a $329 starting price and the same 9.7-inch display size as the original iPad
  • June 2017: Second-generation iPad Pro gained a ProMotion refresh rate up to 120Hz
  • October 2018: Third-generation iPad Pro marked a major redesign with slimmer bezels, Face ID, and a USB-C connector
  • September 2019: Seventh-generation iPad went from a 9.7-inch to 10.2-inch display and gained full-sized Smart Keyboard support
  • March 2020: Fourth-generation iPad Pro gained a LiDAR Scanner for AR
  • September 2020: Fourth-generation iPad Air redesigned to look like iPad Pro

Looking ahead, rumors suggest that Apple plans to release a new iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display, support for faster 5G networks, and a faster A14X chip in the first half of 2021. A larger 8.4-inch iPad mini and a new 10.2-inch iPad with slimmer bezels like the third-generation iPad Air are also rumored to launch this year.

Tag: Steve Jobs

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Top Rated Comments

The Samurai Avatar
The Samurai
70 months ago
I am most productive with an iPad on the toilet. It's a total game changer.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
smaffei
70 months ago
I had an iPad app in the store a week after the iPad was released. One of the first VNC apps available. Sold it for a $1 and made a couple of thousand by the time it tapped out. Which satisfied my goal: To make enough money to pay for the iPad I just put on my charge card. :)
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I
IamTimCook
70 months ago
And 11 years later hitting "Download and Update" still means download and then finding out later you still need to hit "install" to actually update the iOS. lol :p
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J.J. Sefton Avatar
J.J. Sefton
70 months ago
I snagged one on launch day. I’ve had different versions of the iPad ever since. Currently rocking the 2018 12.9” iPad Pro. Love it.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike_Trivisonno Avatar
Mike_Trivisonno
70 months ago
I went out and bought one immediately! Thanks Steve! American hero!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phil A. Avatar
Phil A.
70 months ago
My dad is still using my old original iPad - I asked him about it at Christmas and he said it still works great. He also finally learned to use FaceTime at Christmas (on an iPhone I gave him, not the iPad which doesn't have a camera) and now uses it all the time :)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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