iPad — Screen Size, Resolution & PPI

What these specs mean

Tablets live between phone and laptop — held at reading distance (around 30 cm / 12 inches) for books, browsing, and notes; brought closer to the face for video; and used as a drawing surface with a stylus. Anything above 260 PPI looks razor-sharp at normal viewing distance. Refresh rate shows up most in stylus latency: 120 Hz roughly halves perceived lag compared with 60 Hz. Panel type (OLED, mini-LED, LCD) drives color accuracy and peak HDR brightness — the deciding factors when creative work or HDR video is the main use case.

Apple uses the Retina brand for any display where pixels aren't resolvable at normal viewing distance; iPhone Pro and iPad Pro lines add ProMotion (adaptive 120 Hz), Super Retina XDR (OLED with per-pixel HDR), or Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED with thousands of local dimming zones). True Tone automatically shifts white balance to match ambient light.

Frequently asked questions

What is the pixel density of the iPad?

The iPad has a 264 PPI pixel density on its 10.9-inch display — high enough that individual pixels are indistinguishable at typical viewing distance. Combined with the screen's Liquid Retina technology, this determines how sharp text and images actually render.

When was the iPad released?

Apple launched the iPad in Oct 2022. Release date matters when checking software support windows: most manufacturers commit 5–7 years of security updates and 3–5 years of major OS upgrades from launch.

What operating system does the iPad run?

The iPad ships with iPadOS. Apple typically delivers OS updates over-the-air — check the device's Settings app or Apple's support page for the latest available version.