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.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

The Samurai Avatar
61 months ago
I am most productive with an iPad on the toilet. It's a total game changer.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smaffei Avatar
61 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)
Mike_Trivisonno Avatar
61 months ago
I went out and bought one immediately! Thanks Steve! American hero!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J.J. Sefton Avatar
61 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)
IamTimCook Avatar
61 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)
Phil A. Avatar
61 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)