We are in the second quarter of 2024 and we finally have some new iPads to gawk at! Apple just launched the new iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air M2 — both slightly redesigned, and the former being unreasanobly powerful. The iPad landscape has shifted, and it's time yet again to ask — which iPad is the best to buy right now?
The question is comples since all the 2022 models still hold up quite well. iPads are among the best tablets out there, thanks to hardware headroom that allows them to tick for years on end. Video editors, music production apps, drawing tools, and great games are all in the mix — Android is catching up, thanks to Samsung's efforts with the Galaxy Tab S line, but M-class chips are pretty hard to beat.
So, if you look at the marketing materials, features, the specs, or what each iPad can run in terms of software — it may be a bit confusing. All of them seem like they can do the same stuff, some are just... fancier? Why buy an iPad Pro if the base iPad runs the same software? That's why we compiled this list of "best iPads to buy", which kind of sifts through the line and comes up with each notable product — together with the reasons on why you should be looking at that one.
The new iPad Pro was quite a shock — mostly because it debuts the next-gen M4 chip inside it. The M3 is not even a year old and was installed in MacBooks released in late 2023. Now, a faster version of the 3 nm processor is available — and it's currently only found in Apple's newest tablets!
Not only that, but a slight redesign makes the new iPad Pros impossibly thin — 5.3 mm for the 11-inch model, 5.1 mm for the 13-inch model. The selfie camera has been moved to the top landscape bezel, for less awkward video calling experience. And there's a new Magic Keyboard (sold separately), which adds a function key row, bigger trackpad, and aluminum armrest area.
By all accounts, these tablets are the most powerful ones you can buy right now. An argument can be made that iPadOS barely uses all that power — the operating system has seen a lot of enhancements over the last few years, but it's still a bit averse to true multi-tasking and its file system can be a pain to deal with. However, with that M4 chip inside, you will be rendering videos, photo edits, and audio blazing fast. And you will have tons of headroom for the years to come.
The M4 also facilitates higher-quality gaming on the iPad, as it supports ray tracing, mesh shading, and dynamic caching. These are gaming PC grade features and opens the door for more console or PC ports to come to the tablet with ful GFX support.
The bigger iPad Pro's redesign has made its screen grow — now a round 13-inch diagonal. This one has ditched the Mini LED tech of before. Both the iPad Pro M4 11" and iPad Pro M4 13" now come with a new Tandem OLED screen — two layers of OLED for a more accurate color reproduction and more brightness all across. The iPad Pros now hit 1,000 nits max brightness and 1,600 peak brightness for HDR.
Additional premium features include the Thunderbot USB C port on the bottom and quad speaker setup for full stereo. These tablets are specced to the brim.
They are quite costly, starting at $999 for the 256 GB iPad Pro M4 11". You can take those storage options up to 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. The latter two tiers can also come with a nano-etched screen for anti-glare effect, which is another $100 upgrade.
Our recommendation: if you are one who needs to have the latest-and-greatest in mobile tech, it would be hard to dissuade you from the new iPad Pro M4. We like the 11-inch form factor, as it's more compact, easier to prop up anywhere, and use any time throughout the day. The 13-incher offers a ton of screen real estate, but due to its size — you will be using it more as a stationary machine or laptop. As we understand it, though — there's a good number of people that prefer the bigger screen, we just thought it pertinent to mention that it's not super portable.
The iPad Air is getting the iPad Pro's hand-me-downs — the M2 chip now hums inside the new Airs from 2024. This unlocks some more tiny features for the more affordable tablets — like support for Apple Pencil Hover, which was previously exclusive to the 2022 iPad Pros.
Unfortunately, it doesn't have a high refresh rate screen — while pretty and sharp, the iPad Air M2's display is still a 60 Hz LCD panel. Also, the USB C port on the bottom is limited to USB 3 speeds — pretty fast, but not Thunderbolt fast (10 Gbps vs 40 Gbps).
Those features aside — the iPad Air M2 has two speakers in landscape setereo and also has had its webcam move to the top landscape bezel. It supports the old Magic Keyboard accessory (no function row, sorry), and the new Apple Pencil Pro. Also, it comes in a bigger size!
The 13-inch iPad Air is here to satisfy your craving for a large-screened tablet without that iPad Pro price on it. They start at $799 for 128 GB, and the 11-incher is $599 for 128 GB. Of course, accessories are extra as nothing else is in the box.
The Apple M4 may be all fancy with its ray tracing, but rest assured that developers will be making apps and games for as many devices as they can — this includes old iPad Pros with M1 and M2, iPad Airs, and even the iPad mini. Point being, if you go out and buy an iPad Air right now, it'll be good for years to come.
Our recommendation: for $600, you get the Apple iPad Air M2 (2024) with 128 GB of storage. That's not too bad, however, right now, retailers still have old stock of the iPad Pro M2 (2022). These also come with 128 GB of storage at the base tier, but also have 120 Hz screens, quad speakers, and Thunderbolt ports. While supplies last, the old iPad Pros will be hands down the better deal. In a few months, however, the iPad Air M2 will be your only choice in that particular mid-price class. The only thing that's unique about the iPad Air (2024) is the Apple Pencil Pro support.
120 Hz screen is still a fantastic way to experience iPadOS
Tons of power on tap
USB Type-C Thunderbolt port is super-fast and useful
The quad speakers sound great
Dependable battery endurance
The Bad
Accessories for the full experience are expensive
3rd party mice will be a bit awkward
iPadOS has made strides in multi-tasking, but UI feel is still sticky and confined
The iPad Pro line from 2022 has the M2 chip, the hover feature for the Apple Pencil gen 2, support for Magic Keyboard, Stage Manager, a Thunderbolt port, quad speakers and 120 Hz screens. These are great tablets — take it from an author that's actually still rocking the iPad Pro M1 (2021) on a daily basis.
When paired with a Magic Keyboard, these veer towards the realm of laptop replacement, especially the big iPad Pro 12.9". Though, we are quite partial to using the smaller one for its portability, and plugging it into an external monitor when we want a desktop environment to work in.
Our recommendation: as we mentioned above, if you can find one of those old Pros instead of a new iPad Air — it's definitely a better deal. Even the base 128 GB storage tier will serve most people nicely, plus you get ultra-fast Thunderbolt speeds with the USB C port here. If you are looking to do video or audio work on an iPad, maybe more storage is the better choice.
The 10th gen iPad is now the cheapest Apple tablet you can buy, as the 9th gen has been phased out. But the good news is that the iPad 10.9 has dropped in price, down to $349.
It supports the base version Apple Pencil (gen 2) and its own Magic Keyboard Folio, which also happens to have a function key row, drawing envy from owners of the original Magic Keyboard.
These iPads have a USB C port on the bottom, but it's limited to USB 2 speeds. Their 60 Hz screens are not laminated and you can clearly see the panel is at a distance from the glass, with a "sunken in" effect. But they do have dual speakers in landscape stereo, and the selfie cam on the landscape top bezel.
They are not "premium" and don't support advanced workflow features like Stage Manager. But, as a tablet, basic Internet or multimedia machine, or for drawing — they work quite well. For $350, they are quite good, actually.
Our recommendation: For $349 (often discounted), this model comes with 64 GB of base storage. Not excellent in 2024, but doable. You can't fill it up with too many games, though, so consider the use case. Upgrading this iPad's storage will cost you a total of $499 for the 256 GB model. At this point, you are very close to the price of an iPad Air M2 — $599 for 128 GB. And that's the one we would pick, if we were doing a storage upgrade anyway.
Perfect size and weight for reading and jotting down notes
Unrivaled performance on a small tablet
Punchy stereo speakers
USB Type-C
2nd-gen Apple Pencil support
The Bad
Unimpressive display, wavy scrolling in portrait mode
The 2021 iPad mini 6th generation looks and behaves like a tiny iPad Air. It’s got the new all-screen front look, it has a Touch ID sensor in its oversized power button, it even has stereo speakers in landscape orientation, it supports the 2nd generation Apple Pencil, and has a USB Type C port. There’s no Magic Keyboard support here — the mini is too tiny for that.
The iPad mini has some quirks — like a very noticeable "jello" effect when scrolling the screen. It's obviously going to remain this way, too, as Apple's response to complaints was basically "Well, that's what LCD screens do". But, if you can get past that, it's a perfectly good tablet for reading, surfing, and maybe even binging YouTube.
It is not the most basic iPad you can buy. It’s powered by the Apple A15 Bionic chip, which is quite overkill and has plenty of overhead for the coming years. We assume the iPad mini will be getting a lot more iPadOS updates. However, don't even hope for Stage Manager or a desktop environment on an external monitor. The iPad mini can still connect to a big display, but you just get screen mirroring, not the work environment that the iPad Pros and iPad Air M1 get.
If you are looking for an affordable iPad, don't veer towards the mini. The iPad 9th gen and even the iPad 10th gen will give you more bang for your buck. Yes, the iPad mini is fantastic, as it is small and powerful, but the screen is far too tiny for most tablet usage. This one is specifically for those that want and enjoy a Kindle-sized experience.
Our recommendation: Starting at $499 for the 64 GB Wi-Fi only model, this tablet is not meant for those looking for a bang-for-buck deal. If you want a good iPad experience for a bargain — go back to the base iPad 10.2 (2021). The mini is meant for a specific type of customer that wants that small device — maybe fans that are looking for a backup iPad for situations where the Pro is just too big.
What's the difference between an iPad and an iPad Air?
The iPad Air branding has shifted meaning throughout the years. The original iPad Airs were named after their incredibly thin bodies, and back in 2014, they were the de-facto flagships of the Apple iPad line.
Nowadays, the Apple iPad Air is the connecting link between your base level iPads and the high-end Pro tablets. The Air moniker basically denotes nothing, as their size, thickness, and weight is near identical to its siblings'.
The current iPad Air 5th generation is a fantastic buy — they are powered by the Apple M1, they support the second generation apple pencil, and the same Magic Keyboard that attaches to the Smart Connector of an iPad Pro.
What should you consider before picking the perfect iPad for you?
Size: even if money is no issue, the large iPad Pro 12.9 is not for everybody. It's large and hefty, and weighs as much as a laptop when attached to Apple's smart keyboard. On the other end of the spectrum — the iPad mini is extremely portable but will often feel far too small for most users. The good news is that the rest of the iPads come in a more-or-less-standard size — yes, the iPad 9th gen has a 10.2-inch screen and the base iPad Pro has an 11-inch screen, but due to different bezel thicknesses, these tablets are of similar size.
Purpose: think about what you will be using the iPad for. Binging Apple TV+ or gaming will be better on the standard sizes, whereas reading ebooks and browsing the daily news will feel great on the small iPad mini. Video, photo, or even audio editing will feel best on the large iPad Pro 12.9", especially paired with a precise Apple Pencil, but if you want to do these things on the go — the iPad Pro 11" will give you the balance between power and portability.
Storage: iPads come in different storage capacities, with options ranging from 64 GB to 1 TB. Generally, we find 128 GB to be quite enough for the typical heavy user, but if your work involves large video and audio files, you will want to make the jump to at least 256 GB.
Display: The iPad Pro models have a high resolution, high refresh rate display and ProMotion technology for smooth scrolling. The 12.9-inch model is the only iPad to have the mini LED screen, so if you want the absolute best iPad display, that's the one to look at.
Processor: If you want to make use of the Stage Manager multitasking and have a desktop environment on an external monitor, you need a higher-end iPad with an Apple M processor. The only exception here are iPad Pro 2020 models, which have the A12Z.
Price: The basic iPad has an MSRP of $329, but often drops to $299 or even $249. It's good money for a pretty good tablet. But if you want pro features on a budget — the iPad Air 2022 is your best bet. Obviously, the iPad Pro line is more of a "money is no issue" solution.
Operating system: Apple is known to keep updating its mobile devices for about 5 years post release. So, if you are shopping second-hand or new-old-stock, make sure you check what year the model was released in. If it has about two years of expected support left — it's still an OK buy. Anything less than that is a questionable investment.
Battery life: All iPads aim for about 10 hours of screen-on time with mixed usage. Even the Apple iPad mini can last quite a bit on a single charge, so we'd say battery life isn't a huge concern when picking an iPad.
Connectivity: Typically, base iPad models come with Wi-Fi only. That's Wi-Fi 6 on iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad 10th gen. If you see yourself using the tablet on the go a lot, and hotspotting your phone sounds like an inconvenience, then look for the cellular models. Though, they add $100+ to the price tag, so we have to ask again — is a hotspot from your phone that much of a headache?
Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.
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