The Best iPad to Buy (and Some to Avoid) in 2026: Compare the Air, Pro, Mini

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FINDING THE BEST iPad should be simple. You get whatever’s new, right? If only. Apple sells four main iPad models in varying sizes and each with its own strengths. In addition, a growing number of older iPads are floating around the eBays of the world. Since all these devices largely look the same, it’s important to know what you’re buying and what you should pay for it. This guide covers the iPad models currently available, what’s coming up, the key differences between them, and the older versions that are still in use (including those you should avoid at any price). I also break down which Apple Pencil and accessories to pair with your device.

Updated April 2026: I've updated our recommendations with my testing on the latest M4 iPad Air.

Is Now a Good Time to Buy?

Yes. The iPad Air was updated to the M4 in March of 2026, while the the base iPad and iPad Pro were both refreshed last in 2025. Most people should buy one of those, and they're perfectly great options. There was initially some reports that the base iPad would get updated this spring as well, moving up to the A18 chip to give it Apple Intelligence features for the first time. It didn't come to fruition, though, so the next likely launch time is this fall.

Apple's iPad Pro, powered by the M5 chip, launched in October 2025; they're the most recent models. You can either opt for the latest or find the M4 iPad Pro on sale.

Lastly, the iPad Mini is the furthest out of date at this point, having been updated last in late 2024. If the reports end up being true and the iPad Mini does end up getting upgraded later this year, this will be the biggest iPad update of the year, as it would see an upgrade to OLED for the first time.

iPadOS 26 Has a New Multitasking Experience

iPadOS 26 arrived in September 2025 and brought a whole new multitasking experience: windowed apps. Like a Mac, you can now resize the apps on your iPad and have multiple floating windows, bringing it closer to a desktop than ever before. First, here are the iPads compatible with iPadOS 26:

iPad: 8th gen and later, including A16 iPad Mini: 5th gen and later, including A17 Pro iPad Air: 3rd gen and later, including M2, M3, and M4 iPad Pro 11-inch: 1st gen and later iPad Pro 12.9-inch: 3rd gen and later iPad Pro: M4 and M5

I encourage you to play around with windowed apps; there are even native window tiling options. Flick an app to the left or right to snap them to the sides for easy split-screen. The traffic-light buttons from macOS are available here, so you can minimize or make apps full-screen quickly (or close them). You can group apps together, and a swipe up and hold will reveal all of them in Exposé mode. Apple even brought over the menu bar from macOS, and you can pull it down from the top of any app.

Importantly, background tasks like rendering in a video app work in the background so you can start an export, leave the app, and it'll still do the job while you scroll through Instagram. iPadOS 26 is a significant update that will make your compatible iPad feel like new.

Which iPad Do You Own?

Finding your model is simple. Look at the back of your iPad. Etched on the back cover should be a model number starting with the letter A. This is Apple's current lineup:

iPad: A16, 2025 (11th generation) iPad Mini: A17 Pro, 2024 (7th generation) iPad Air 11-inch: M4, 2026 (8th generation) iPad Air 13-inch: M4, 2026 (3rd generation) iPad Pro 11-inch: M5, 2025 (6th generation) iPad Pro 13-inch: M5, 2025 (8th generation)

Avoid These iPads

The iPad Mini 1 through 6 and iPad 1 through 10 have low-resolution screens or are just too old. I would avoid purchasing an iPad that came out before 2020. Many of the older iPads no longer receive software updates, and they'll seem quite slow compared to your phone and your computer.

Should You Buy an Older iPad Pro?

It's still totally fine to buy the iPad Pro M4, iPad Pro M2, or the iPad Pro M1 if you can find them at a good discount. These models are all powerful and match the current Pro slates in many ways. Older iPad Pro models, like the models from 2018 or 2020, are not worth buying anymore.

Which iPads Support Apple Intelligence?

The following iPads support Apple Intelligence: iPad Mini (A17 Pro), iPad Air (M1, M2, M3, M4), and iPad Pro (M1, M2, M4, M5).

iPad or MacBook?

The iPad is for entertainment and content consumption first, while the MacBook is for work, school, and content creation. The iPad Pro is the biggest outlier here, as it is truly designed as a content creation, pro-level device with its tandem OLED display and M5-level graphics.