I get the feeling that the era of truly affordable new iPads is coming to an end. To an extent, this is a result of broader industry pressures. But some factors are under Apple control, and it not headed in a direction conducive to keeping prices down. The biggest factors militating against cheap iPads are macroeconomic problems. Above all is the cost of memory, which is rocketing out of control with the rise of AI datacenters. Apple resisted changing its prices for a long time but earlier in...
