iPad Pro easily outsells every other Apple tablet

Trying to decide which Apple tablet is right for you? Knowing which is the most popular might help. And there’s no doubt which one earns the top spot: iPad Pro.

You can probably guess the second most purchased iPadOS model.

iPad Pro by a wide margin

iPad comes in a variety of sizes and price points. The smallest is the iPad mini with an 8.3-inch display. The largest is an iPad Pro with a 13-inch screen. Prices range from $349 to $1,299. The range of options might be a touch overwhelming. One way to choose is to pick the model most people buy.

“iPad Pro remains the most popular model, with almost half of all iPad sales in the most recent quarter,” said Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz, analysts with Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, in a report published on Wednesday.

In the September 2024 quarter, the basic iPad earned the second spot with 33% of sales. It’s the most affordable of Apple’s tablets by a significant amount, so there’s always a market for it. And its share of iPadOS sales increased by 10 percentage points year over year.

A surprise in CIRP’s report is that iPad Air made up only 13% of sales in the July-through-September period. That’s after Apple revamped the model in the spring, putting in an M2 processor and adding a 13-inch option to the 11-inch one. Perhaps this explains the rumor that a further-updated version is on the way in just a few months.

“In the most recent quarter, the basic iPad did better, at about one-third of unit sales, up from just under one-quarter last year. iPad Air gave up share, going from one-quarter down to 13%,” noted the CIRP analysts.

iPad mini is the least popular option, coming in at 9% of sales. Perhaps the updated version that launched recently will give it a boost on sales.