There are a number of reasons why it might be important to identify which iPad model you have, or which iPad model you are considering buying. For starters, it might well influence what price you are willing to pay or can expect to receive when buying or selling an iPad.
Luckily, it’s a very easy thing to do. Here’s how to identify which model an iPad is:
— Look at the back of your iPad. Down towards the center bottom you’ll see the word iPad, and below it the amount of storage space it has (16,32, or 64GB). Below that you’ll see some fine print about the iPad. The first line begins with ‘Designed by Apple in California.’ At the end of that line you’ll see ‘Model’ and a 5 character model number beginning with the letter ‘A’. For example, my iPad is Model A1430 – an iPad 3rd gen 64GB WiFi + Cellular model.
— Once you have your 5 character model number you can check it against Apple’s listing of all iPad models, found here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5452
Apple’s listing will tell you which generation your iPad is, when it was released, and whether it is a WiFi only model or WiFI + Cellular.
That’s it. That’s all you need to know in order to identify which model an iPad is.