Apple reconfigures tablet line-up, drops iPad 2 in favour of 4th generation iPad

4th generation iPad offers a sharper Retina display and improved processor compared to older iPad 2

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiling the fourth generation iPad in 2012 (Getty Images)

As well as introducing a new iPhone 5C at a lower price point, Apple has also shaken up their tablet range today, dropping the mid-range iPad 2 in favour of the fourth-generation iPad at the same price.

Thanks to the numbering involved the switch might seem a little counter-intuitive, but the fourth generation iPad is the more recent and more powerful model, released in 2012, a year after the iPad 2.

The fourth-generation iPad will now sell for £329 for the Wi-Fi only model with 16GB, with version with a mobile data connection costing £429. The tablet has a 9.7-inch Retina display, Apple’s A6X chip, and run on iOS 7.

This means that all of Apple’s current line-up of tablets use the company’s own lightning connector, with the iPhone 4s the only iOS device still sold by Apple to use the older 30-pin port.

The fourth-generation iPad costs £10 more than the iPad mini with Retina display, Wi-Fi only and 16GB of storage, and £70 less than the iPad Air with the same configuration.

See below for a full comparison of Apple’s new tablet range:

	iPad Air	iPad with Retina display	iPad Mini with Retina display	iPad mini
Specs	9.7-inch screen (264 ppi); A7 chip; 469g	9.7-inch screen (264 ppi); A7 chip; 652g	7.9-inch screen (326ppi); A6X chip; 331g	7.9-inch screen (163ppi); A5 chip; 308g
Wi-Fi	16GB, £399 32GB, £479 64GB, £559 128GB, £639	16Gb, £329	16GB, £319 32GB, £399 64GB, £479 128GB, £559	16GB, £249
Wi-Fi and mobile data	16GB, £499 32GB, £579 64GB, £659 128GB, £739	16GB, £429	16GB, £419 32GB, £499 64GB, £579 128GB, £659	16GB, £349