Upcoming low-cost iPad will have a design based on the third-generation iPad Air

Although it is a practice hated by some consumers, recycling older premium designs in affordable products that hit the market two or three years later is not something new for Apple. However, the upcoming low-cost iPad will not just copy the design of the iPad Air that Apple introduced back in 2019, since the new tablet is also rumored to come with a few refinements.

According to Chinese supply chain sources that were quoted by Japanese website Mac Otakara without being named, the ninth-generation low-cost iPad that's scheduled to hit the market later this year has the same 10.2-inch screen size as its sibling that arrived two years ago, but it brings down the thickness to just 6.3 mm and the weight to 460 grams (from 7.5 mm and 490 grams in the current eight-generation iPad).

In addition to the above, we should also expect a faster processor and 4 GB of memory. The best part of it all is that the price might be pushed down to US$299 from a previously rumored US$329. That would be "low-cost" considering Apple's prices but remains to see if it will be low enough to make the next-gen iPad a worthy choice when facing this year's upcoming Android slates.

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