The numbers for the iPad aren’t good. Revenue and unit sales were both down again, as usual. But that does not mean Apple has given up on its tablet.
First Apple fleshed out the product line with two high-end iPad Pro models. Now it has gone and built a low-end version, with a fairly big 9.7-inch screen, a recent A9 chip, and a minimum of 32GB of storage.
Most importantly, it’s got a low, low starting price: $329. That price is so important to the identity of this product that it’s mentioned on its online product description page as if it were a feature. The only other modern Apple device that has that characteristic is the MacBook Air, which was last updated two years ago and now serves as the bottom of the Mac laptop lineup, given the arrival of the 12-inch MacBook and the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
Apple ran this same playbook last year, when it introduced the iPhone SE, a throwback to the cute 4-inch 2013 iPhone 5S….