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

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.

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Top Rated Comments

The Samurai Avatar
76 months ago
I am most productive with an iPad on the toilet. It's a total game changer.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
76 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)
76 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
76 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
76 months ago
I went out and bought one immediately! Thanks Steve! American hero!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phil A. Avatar
76 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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