3 Reasons the iPad 4 Is a Great Buy

Apple has officially brought back the fourth-generation iPad to replace the iPad 2 as the company’s entry-level iOS tablet. At $399 for the 16GB version, the iPad 4 (or as Apple is calling it now: the iPad with Retina display) is the cheapest iPad that you can buy right now, making it $100 less than the flagship iPad Air.

When the iPad 2 was still around, $399 was a bit steep for a tablet that was creeping up on its three-year birthday. It’s an ancient device now, equipped with very last-gen components and not even a Retina display, but Apple was set on selling the tablet for an overpriced $399, since schools and businesses still seemed to be interested in mass-purchasing the older tablet.

However, Apple finally thought it was time for the iPad 2 to move on and re-release the iPad 4 to the public, with a lone 16GB version for those on a budget looking to buy an iPad. With that said, here are three reasons why the iPad 4 is an absolute steal.

$399 Is Dirt Cheap

The iPad 4 is still a very-capable tablet. Obviously, the iPad Air is a lot quicker and comes with better performance, but that doesn’t mean apps and games won’t perform well on the iPad 4; the A6X chip inside of the fourth-gen iPad can still handle pretty much anything you throw at it.

The iPad 4 also comes equipped with a Retina display and Apple’s new Lightning connector, so even though it’s a last-generation product, it still comes with the company’s latest features.

Because of that $399 is quite a deal for a tablet like this. The iPad 4 is $100 cheaper than the iPad Air. Of course, that $100 will get you faster performance and a lighter tablet overall, but there’s nothing to complain about with the iPad 4.

Refurbished Models

With the new $399 price tag of the fourth-generation iPad comes an even cheaper price on refurbished models. Currently, you can grab a WiFi + Cellular iPad 4 for $449 on Apple’s Refurbished Online Store, with a 64GB version priced at just $529 for those who need the extra capacity.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any refurbished WiFi-only models, but different versions come and go all the time in Apple refurbished section, so we should see WiFi-only models appear at some point, most likely priced somewhere between $350 and $375, if we had to take a guess, which is even more of a steal, considering that refurbished Apple products are practically brand new.

Updated Features

As mentioned earlier, the iPad 4 is eons better than the iPad 2. The $399 price point on the iPad 2 was a bit ridiculous, considering how old and slow the device was, but now that it’s replaced by the iPad 4, $399 is a perfect price for a last-generation tablet.

The fourth-generation iPad comes packed with an A6X 1.6GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM. It was also the first iPad to have its storage space bumped up to 128GB, making it the only option at the time for those wanting to cram every part of their digital life onto the tablet. Obviously, Apple is only selling the 16GB version officially, but you can easily get a used 128GB model (or any other storage capacity) on eBay, Craigslist or through the aforementioned Apple refurbished store.