Apple may have killed the 2021 iPad, but Amazon and other retailers are still selling it in various configurations.
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Apple may have stopped selling iPads with headphone jacks, but that doesn’t mean you can‘t buy one. Despite the fact Apple dropped the ninth-gen iPad from its official lineup this week, you can still purchase the tablet from multiple third-party retailers for the time being. Until they run out of stock, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are still selling the last-gen iPad starting at $249 ($80 off) with 64GB of storage and Wi-Fi.
Apple’s entry-level iPad from 2021 has a 10.2-inch screen, an A13 Bionic chip, and a 12MP front camera that supports Apple’s Center Stage feature. It’s also compatible with the first-gen Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard and is the only iPad that still has a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly tablet for entertainment purposes, the 10.2-inch ninth-gen iPad still offers excellent value for your money. It’s $100 cheaper than its larger, 10.9-inch successor with an older A13 Bionic processor, yet it runs the same software and can do a lot of the same things. It’s still plenty fast for basic tasks like streaming, playing games, and making video calls.
Granted, we wouldn’t recommend buying it if you need a tablet for daily work, but the last-gen iPad is also fine for some light productivity. It supports the same apps, after all, while you can even take notes with the first-gen Apple Pencil — though you’ll also have to buy that from a third-party retailer like Amazon. And while it lacks the 10th-gen iPad’s USB-C connector, again, it’s the last iPad with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which might make up for that if you aren’t ready to let go of your old wired headphones.
