The best iPad 2024

The iPad Air 6 (2024) covers more ground than any previous Air tablet, and is probably the iPad family most people should be looking to choose from. It delivers a new Pro-like 13in display option, near-Pro performance from Apple’s M2 chip, a timelessly solid design, and decent accessory compatibility.

Pricing varies hugely, meaning you really do need to consider what you want from your tablet in terms of display size, storage capacity, and connectivity. Where the Air starts overlapping with the Pro’s pricing, you have to consider whether the step up model’s phenomenal display, superior power, and advanced accessory options make it a better buy.

At the entry point of the new iPad Air range, however, it’s difficult to argue with it being the best all-round iPad for most people – and super sized option if you go for 13-inch rather than 11-inch.

It’s a slick, powerful tool for casual media consumption and light productivity tasks, and much like the outgoing model, nothing else really comes close unless you’re willing to pay a lot more to go Pro.

The previous-gen iPad Air is still a good buy for a lot of people, and it’s not just down to the modern look, complete with a full-screen display and angled edges. 

The key feature of the iPad Air is that it boasts the same Apple M1 chip as not only the iPad Pro range (of the same era) but some older desktop devices, meaning significant gains in both the CPU and GPU department. That makes it ideal for content creators, students and gamers that need laptop-level power on the go.

It’s much more powerful than any other non-Pro iPad, and it leaves the Android competition in the dust. 

There’s also the bright and detailed 10.9-inch display to consider, and although it doesn’t offer the 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate technology of the Pro range, it can make use of the Magic Keyboard and second-gen Apple Pencil – something that can’t be said of any other non-Pro iPad.

There’s also 5G connectivity and a 12Mp Center Stage front-facing camera this time around, two of the biggest omissions from the 2020 model, making it easy to recommend to most everyday users. 

The sixth-gen iPad mini ditches the old form factor for something more akin to the iPad Air and iPad Pro range, with an angular design, stereo speakers, Center Stage technology and much smaller bezels than before.

The iPad mini’s 60Hz display has jumped to 8.3-inches, but without changing the physical size of the tablet, allowing for more display real estate without affecting its portable nature. It’s a gorgeous display too, with the highest pixel density of any iPad right now, though it is a bit on the small side for true split-screen multitasking.

It’s powered by the same A15 Bionic as the iPhone 13 range, so you’ll still get excellent performance for many years.

The Touch ID sensor has been moved to the Power button as with the iPad Air, and there’s support for the second-gen Apple Pencil to boot. But the lack of a Smart Connector on the rear means that it doesn’t have its own Magic Keyboard – a real boon for the iPad Air and Pro range, and the only real chink in the mini’s armour. 

It might’ve been superseded by the redesigned (and much more expensive) 10th-gen iPad, but there’s still very little to complain about where the 9th-gen iPad is concerned – so much so that Apple is still selling it as the true entry-level tablet.

If you’ve got the seventh- or eighth-gen iPad, there might not be enough to tempt you, but there’s a lot to love here if you’re coming from an older device or want to dip your toe into the iPad experience. 

The 10.2-inch screen offers TrueTone tech that’ll automatically adjust the colour balance based on your environment, and there’s improved colour accuracy too. There are also improvements to the software with iPadOS, an upgrade to the A13 Bionic (the same as the iPhone 11) and most importantly, upgraded the base storage from an unusable 32GB to 64GB, and there’s a 256GB model for those that need a little more storage too.

Considering the affordable price, that’s an impressive feat for the budget iPad. Sure, it doesn’t have a laminated display, ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate or an updated design like others in the iPad collection, but we can’t expect these things without a higher price and blurring the lines to those premium models.

If you don’t care about the latest specs and just want an iPad to use for gaming and social media, this is a great entry point that won’t break the bank.

It’s the old Pro model now but with an M2 chipset that’s still perfectly good for most people. The M4 models might have arrived for 2024 but they have a similar problem to this iPad when it first arrived, it’s overkill for most people and tasks.

That means this older model, now available at lower prices, is a good value option if you don’t need the latest and greatest (or can’t afford the M4).

The accompanying 120Hz mini-LED display (available on the 12.9-inch but not 11-inch models) model exclusively) is perfect for graphics design, watching movies and browsing social media. Elsewhere, the 12Mp front-facing camera with auto-tracking tech is ideal for those working remotely – though it’s not placed on the long edge like with the 10th-gen iPad.

Paired with the Magic Keyboard it has the potential to be a true laptop replacement, but it’s still a pricey one. 

The 10th-gen iPad is a tough one.

If you look at the tablet by itself, it’s a great upgrade: it boasts the same modern look as others in the iPad collection, there’s a boost in power using the same A14 Bionic as the iPhone 12 and the new colour options are the most vibrant we’ve seen. It’s a good-looking, capable tablet that’s hard to complain about.

There’s a catch though; it’s much more expensive than the entry-level iPad from 2021, starting at an increased £499/$449 when paying full price. That muddies the water somewhat as it’s no longer the ideal entry-level tablet – that’s still the iPad 10.2in from 2021 – and it brings it closer to the iPad Air and iPad mini. The Air, in particular, offers quite the upgrade with support for the improved second-gen Apple Pencil and Apple’s M1 chipset, and it doesn’t cost that much more in the grand scheme of things.

There’s also the fact that, while better-looking, it doesn’t really do anything that the old, cheaper iPad can’t do. So, while it’s a great tablet in its own right, it struggles against the rest of the existing iPad range.