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Although Apple\u2019s tablet lineup has undergone several shakeups over the last several years, we long considered the ninth-gen iPad<\/strong> to be the best budget iPad<\/a> you could get. That changed when Apple dropped the price<\/a> of the 10th-gen iPad<\/a> to a more sensible $349 and discontinued its entry-level model. But the 2021 iPad remains a perfectly good slate, especially now that the base model with 64GB of storage is down to a new low of around $224 ($105 off) at Amazon<\/a>, Walmart<\/a>, and Best Buy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As far as hardware is concerned, the ninth-gen iPad is very much a remnant of Apple\u2019s former design language. The 10.2-inch tablet has a traditional iPad look with large bezels, a dedicated home button, and a Lightning port \u2014 not to mention a 3.5mm audio jack for using a pair of wired headphones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Inside, you\u2019ll find Apple\u2019s aging A13 processor, which, despite first appearing in the iPhone 11 in 2019, still offers speedy performance when playing games, watching movies, surfing the web, and tackling all the usual things you might use a tablet for. It\u2019s still beholden to the first-gen Apple Pencil and older accessories like the Smart Keyboard<\/a>, yes, but given its age and price, it\u2019s an understandable tradeoff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you\u2019re concerned about support, rest assured that Apple\u2019s last-gen iPad will be compatible with iPadOS 18 when it launches in the fall. It won\u2019t support any of Apple\u2019s forthcoming Apple Intelligence features<\/a>, though, which require a newer iPad\u00a0Pro or iPad\u00a0Air model with an M1 chip or later. I guess the new calculator app<\/a> will have to do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n