IPad Drops Five Models From iPadOS 27 While Raising Prices $100 to $200

Published by James Harris on June 27, 2026June 27, 2026

Apple is dropping five iPads from iPadOS 27 support while simultaneously raising iPad prices by $100 to $200, meaning owners of the affected devices face a worse software future and a more expensive upgrade path at the same time.

The five models losing support are the 2019 iPad Air (3rd generation), the 2019 iPad mini (5th generation), the 2018 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, and the 2020 iPad (8th generation), all running either an A12 or A12X chip. Apple gave these devices six to eight years of software updates, which is longer than most tablet makers manage, but the timing creates an uncomfortable picture. Every iPhone that ran iOS 26 will support iOS 27. The iPad line is drawing a harder line, and the most likely technical reason is that full windowing in iPadOS 27 probably needs more GPU headroom and RAM than the 4GB ceiling on A12 hardware can reliably provide. Apple pulled a similar move in 2022 when it initially restricted Stage Manager to M1 iPads on iPadOS 16, then walked it back after public pressure and released a limited version for the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros. The iPadOS 27 beta is only about three weeks old, so there is still a window for Apple to broaden compatibility before the fall release.

The precedent from 2022 matters here: Apple has reversed iPadOS feature cutoffs before when criticism reached a threshold, and it could do so again.

On the pricing side, Apple attributed the increases to memory component costs driven by AI infrastructure buildout. The base iPad now starts at $449, up from $349. iPad Air jumped from $599 to $749. The iPad Pro moved from $999 to $1,199. Counterpoint Research told TechCrunch that smartphone DRAM prices rose 50% and NAND flash storage prices climbed more than 90% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, and memory price floors are affecting Apple’s entire hardware lineup, not just iPads. Apple told CNBC that memory prices have jumped more than fourfold since late 2025, which is an extraordinary compression in a short window. For someone holding the 2019 iPad Air, the situation is now doubly punishing: the device is losing software support while the cheapest replacement costs at least $100 more than it did last quarter.

The combination of a support cutoff and a price increase in the same news cycle is what makes this harder to dismiss as routine. Owners of affected devices have less leverage than they did a month ago, and the upgrade math has gotten worse before the fall release even arrives.