There are no bad iPads. That’s the best news about Apple’s tablet lineup: 15 years after Steve Jobs first debuted the device, the iPad is the best tablet on the market, and it’s not particularly close. Apple’s App Store is enormous and filled with great apps, Apple’s performance and battery life are consistently excellent, and the iPad is still the company’s most versatile device. That’s one easy answer to your question: yes, if you want a tablet, you should buy an iPad. Even last year’s iPad, or heck, last-last year’s iPad, is still a solid device. Buying an older but better device — last year’s Pro instead of this year’s Air, for instance — is a tried-and-true iPad formula.
But which of all those good iPads should you buy? That’s never been more complicated. Apple sells six different iPads — the Pro in two sizes, the Air in two sizes, the Mini, and the regular ol’ iPad — all of which come with different specs and accessory options. It’s all too much.
I’ve tested every iPad currently on the market and have been an iPad user and reviewer since the very first model. (I’m pretty sure I got a job in 2010 because I had a brand-new iPad with me at the interview, but that’s another story.) After using all these tablets and all these accessories, I think I can help you make the choice.
What to consider when buying an iPad:
iPads are incredibly versatile gadgets, so we test them in as many real-world ways as possible. We use them for video chats, we play high-end games and casual ones, we edit complex video, we fall asleep on the couch watching Netflix. We pay close attention to performance, battery life, durability, and compatibility with important apps and accessories. We’ve reviewed every iPad on the market, along with their most important competitors, and track software updates closely as they change the devices’ appeal.
Yes, this is obvious, but it’s good to know how much you want to spend before shopping — otherwise, you risk succumbing to Apple’s incredible ability to always get you spending just a little more. You can get a new iPad for as little as $350, or you can spend well over $1,000 for a top model. Knowing how much you want to pay will guide you to the right models. It might even guide you to older models; sometimes the last-gen iPad, at a steep discount, can be the one to buy.
The most common iPad size these days has a roughly 11-inch screen. This is probably the right size for most people: 11 inches is ideal for a wide variety of things and is flexible for both holding in your hands and using with a keyboard. If you primarily plan to use your iPad for reading, you might want to go with something smaller; if you intend to replace a laptop with an iPad, you might want a bigger model. Be warned, though: a 13-inch iPad is a truly humongous thing.
Apple’s accessory compatibility is somewhat fragmented across its iPad lineup. It has four different Pencil stylus models, three different keyboard attachments, and a wide variety of case options. While some iPad models share accessories with others, not all of them do, so if you want to use a specific accessory with your iPad, it’s important to make sure both are compatible before you buy them.
Your iPad buying journey starts with one crucial question: what kind of iPad user are you? There are, broadly speaking, two types. The first and most common iPad user mostly uses it like a larger iPhone: it’s a bigger screen on which to send emails, do the crossword, watch Netflix, and do other fairly casual activities. The second type of iPad user, on the other hand, uses it like a touchscreen Mac: it’s for video editing, 3D modeling, creating presentations, crushing spreadsheets, and generally Doing Work of all sorts. You’ll also email and Netflix, of course, but you want your iPad to be a primary computing device.
I think I can safely assume most people fall into the first category. (Honestly, I also think a lot of people who believe they fall into the second category… mostly don’t.) For them, the choice is actually simpler than you’d think:
The best iPad for most people
$279
The Good
- The cheapest iPad by far
- Comes in lots of fun colors
- Plenty capable for casual use
The Bad
- The worst screen in the lineup
- No Pencil Pro support
Screen: 10.9-inch, 2360 x 1640 resolution / Processor: Apple A14 Bionic / Storage: 64 or 256GB / Port: USB-C / Cellular: 5G (optional) / Speakers: stereo / Compatible accessories: Apple Magic Keyboard Folio, Apple Pencil (USB-C)
If every iPad is a good iPad, the cheapest iPad is the obvious place to start. Apple’s base tablet is still a really solid tablet and a really good deal: you could buy the $349 tablet and the (wildly overpriced but still very nice) $250 Magic Keyboard Folio for the price of the iPad Air. The 10.9-inch screen is the right size for most iPad things, the camera is good and located in the right place, it supports the Apple Pencil — though not the newer Pencil Pro — and even its now-outdated A14 Bionic chip is plenty for most casual iPad users. All the other iPads do have slightly nicer screens, particularly the antireflective coating that helps mitigate glare, but that’s almost certainly not worth the additional price.
The only thing the base iPad is missing these days is Apple Intelligence. But there’s not much to miss there, at least not yet.
All that said, though: if you do want the base iPad, you shouldn’t buy it right now. The last model came out in October 2022, and there are rumors of a new model coming as soon as March or April of this year. It’ll probably just be a spec bump, but that means the tablet you buy this year will last you much longer. (It also means the existing model will almost certainly be cheaper, if you choose to go that way.)
$1099
The Good
- Outrageously powerful
- Gorgeous screen and design
- Full accessory support
The Bad
- Outrageously expensive
- Like, MacBook Pro-level expensive
Screen: 11-inch, 2420 x 1668 resolution 120Hz OLED; 13-inch, 2752 x 2064 resolution 120Hz OLED; nano-texture glass optional / Processor: Apple M4 / Storage: 256GB–2TB / Ports: USB-C / Cellular: 5G (optional) / Speakers: four / Compatible accessories: Apple Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil Pro, Pencil USB-C
If you’re not worried about price tags, this is easy: the latest iPad Pro is my favorite tablet of all time. The Tandem OLED screen is bright and crisp, the tablet is barely thicker than its USB-C port, it’s light, it’s thin, and it’s about as well made as you could expect a tablet to be. The M4 chip is plenty fast even for high-end games and ultra-complex creativity apps. It supports the new, lighter, better Magic Keyboard case and the Pencil Pro. I have plenty of qualms about how powerful an operating system iPadOS is, and the limits it places on just how powerfully you can use an iPad, but the M4 Pro is everything you’d want in a tablet.
But oh boy, the price. The Pro starts at $999 for the 11-inch model, and if you want a keyboard, a Pencil, and even a single storage upgrade, you’re quickly looking at a $2,000 purchase. If we’re just talking about a Netflix and email machine, we’re long past the point of diminishing returns. But if you don’t care, and you just want the best thing money can buy? Here it is. You won’t be disappointed.
$399
The Good
- Ideal for one-handed use
- Works with the Pencil Pro
The Bad
- Missing some accessory support
- Camera’s in the wrong spot
Screen: 8.3-inch, 2266 x 1488 resolution 60Hz Mini LED / Processor: Apple A17 Pro / Storage: up to 2TB / Port: USB-C / Cellular: 5G (optional) / Speakers: quad / Compatible accessories: Apple Pencil Pro, Pencil USB-C, Smart Folio
You’re either an iPad Mini person or you’re not. I very much am: I’ve used a Mini for years as my device for reading in bed, watching movies on airplanes, and playing games on the go. This year’s Mini is a bit of a disappointment, with a slightly underpowered processor and an old design that could have used smaller bezels and a relocated camera. But it’s still the iPad Mini, and it’s still good enough for most tablet things. If you want an iPad Mini, this is it.
An aside on specs and extras
Once you’ve picked an iPad model, you still have a bunch of decisions to make. And many of them are about specs and features that will cost you hundreds of dollars. Here are my recommendations for some of the things you’ll encounter:
- Cellular coverage: You probably don’t need this. Unless you live in a really remote area, Wi-Fi is available in most places. That said, I’ve found that I use cell-equipped iPads far more often when I can just pull them out and know they’re connected — there’s something about busting it out in the park or on the subway that just feels great. Plus, it’s a really useful hotspot for other devices. This isn’t the first place I’d spend my money, though.
- Storage: This is the first place I’d spend my money. The base iPad comes with 64GB of storage, which is fine in a pinch but will fill up really fast. The others start with at least 128GB, which is better, but I even recommend springing for 256GB if you can afford it.
- Engraving: Don’t do this. It screws up returns and makes selling or giving it away harder. Just don’t do it.
- Apple Pencil: As much as I’d love for this to be an all-purpose accessory, it’s really not. Buy it (either the USB-C or the Pro) if you plan to handwrite or draw a lot. Otherwise, skip it.
- Magic Keyboard: This is the first accessory I’d recommend to most people — most people type a lot on their iPads, and it’s also a handy stand and dock for the tablet. You can find cheaper keyboard docks than Apple’s, but I haven’t found one I like better. It’s expensive no matter which model you buy, though.
There’s one other thing to consider as you shop for an iPad, which is that your tablet is almost certainly going to last you a long time. In normal use, you should expect your tablet to work well for at least five years, and even limp along for a few more years after that. (It’s 2025, and I know multiple people still using the iPad Air 2 from 2014 even though it doesn’t get software updates anymore.)
My gadget shopping advice is always to buy the best thing you can afford and hold onto it for as long as possible, and that’s more doable with an iPad than almost any other device category. If you have the extra $100 to spend on storage, do it. If you want to upgrade because you think AI will get more powerful in the next few years, go for it! Just make sure you know which kind of iPad user you really are, and get the best one you’ll actually make use of.
