Apple just broke its AI product streak with the wrong device

Apple launched two new iPads today, an M3 iPad Air and A16 base iPad. In somewhat of a surprise, the new entry iPad doesn’t support Apple Intelligence—an omission that’s perhaps passable for a budget device, but that makes the iPhone SE’s recent discontinuation all the more perplexing.

A16 iPad prioritizes cost above all else, including AI support

Over the past year, Apple has been steadily updating much of its product line with support for Apple Intelligence.

• The full iPhone 16 line supports AI features, including the new iPhone 16e.
• Macs have long had the specs necessary for Apple Intelligence, but got a recent AI boost nonetheless by making 16GB of RAM standard for new models.
• Powerful updates to the iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini last year clearly had AI in mind too.

But now, Apple’s latest entry iPad has arrived with no Apple Intelligence. It uses an A16 chip, just one generation removed from the A17 Pro that does support AI.

Clearly, Apple felt that its entry $349 iPad didn’t need AI. Perhaps internal research showed the device’s target market would be fine without those features.

Since the base iPad’s most important feature is its price, I don’t exactly disagree with the decision.

But it really makes me wonder: why didn’t the same thing happen with the iPhone SE?

iPhone SE could have lived on without AI, existing alongside the iPhone 16e

When Apple launched the iPhone 16e at $599, it chose to leave the budget smartphone market behind.

Based on the company’s marketing, the reason was clear: Apple Intelligence support was crucial to the device.

Thus, the company gave its new iPhone a modern A18 chip, 8GB of RAM, and made AI possible—despite the higher price these upgrades brought along.

Offering an iPhone 16 ‘Lite’ model, such as the 16e, isn’t a bad idea. I’m all for experimentation.

But Apple could have done so without dropping the budget model altogether.

It could have kept selling the previous iPhone SE.

Sure, the iPhone SE would likely have needed a USB-C port rather than Lightning. And maybe it could have gotten another small tweak or two.

But Apple mostly could have left the device alone, dropped its price a bit to $399, and retained an option for buyers on a tight budget.

Until now, I’d assumed the reason that hadn’t happened was the need for Apple Intelligence on all new hardware.

Surely if Apple keeps rolling out new AI features all the time, the company must want to move its users on to AI-supported products as quickly as possible.

Or so I thought. But the A16 iPad seems to prove that explanation wrong.

AI product confusion in Apple’s lineup

For whatever reason, Apple has decided that the same rules it applied to the iPhone SE decision aren’t relevant to the entry iPad. Personally though, I’m stumped as to why.

If anything, bringing Apple Intelligence to the entry iPad seems more important since it’s used a lot in education markets that would benefit from features like Writing Tools and ChatGPT integration.

Maybe Apple has just decided that $400 is too low for an iPhone in 2025. I could understand that, especially if price hikes are coming to the iPhone 17 lineup.

Ultimately though, we just don’t know. Apple doesn’t have to explain its product decisions, and we don’t have to understand why one device needs AI and another doesn’t.

Why do you think Apple discontinued the iPhone SE but kept its budget iPad without AI? Let us know in the comments.

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