Every iPad Ever Made, in One Interactive Timeline
If you've ever wondered how the iPad went from a chunky 13.4mm slab in 2010 to the 5.1mm wafer Apple sells today, a new interactive project makes that evolution easy to explore. The team behind Sheets.works has published a free timeline covering all 45 iPad models released since the original launched in 2010, spanning every line — iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. It's a companion piece to their earlier Inside Every iPhone project, and it's just as detailed.
The archive
Each model gets its own card with a full spec sheet, covering chip architecture, display size, dimensions, and design changes. The site also maps out 131 distinct colorways across the entire iPad catalog — a reminder of just how many shades of silver, space gray, and starlight Apple has quietly cycled through over the years. Clicking through the timeline, you can watch the hardware shift from a single monolithic iPad to four separate product lines with very different price points and purposes.
The thickness reduction is the headline stat: from 13.4mm on the original iPad down to 5.1mm on the current iPad Pro. That's more than a 60% reduction in just 16 years, driven largely by display and battery technology improving in tandem.
Why it's worth a look
The pricing history is equally telling. The original iPad started at $499 in 2010 — today's entry-level iPad starts at $329, while the base iPad Pro now sits at $999. That spread reflects how Apple carved the lineup into distinct tiers: an accessible entry model, a mid-range Air, a compact mini, and a premium Pro that now competes more directly with the MacBook Air than with Android tablets.
The archive also tracks the chip transition clearly — from the original Apple A4 all the way through the M-series chips that now power the Pro and Air lines. That silicon shift is what turned the iPad Pro into a credible laptop alternative for creative professionals, something the early models couldn't credibly claim.
For anyone who has owned multiple iPads over the years — or is trying to figure out which current model makes sense to buy — the Sheets.works timeline is a genuinely useful reference, not just a nostalgia exercise. The full interactive version is free to use at sheets.works.
