The best deals on iPads can save you cash on what are some of the best digital tablets available. Apple's iPad range offers fantastic tablets for browsing online, taking notes, sketching and working on the go. And the latest iPad Pros, and even the iPad Air, pack so much power into their compact form that they can even serve for more demanding content creation and design work, making them the perfect portable workstation.
All iPads now support at least one of the two Apple Pencils for note-taking and drawing on the go, and you can always attach a keyboard if you need to use them for writing. iPads aren't exactly cheap though, so you'll want to look out for the best iPad deals around if you're planning to make the investment. In recent years, Apple's put out a range of five devices: the more affordable standard iPad (10.2in), the iPad Air, iPad mini, and two iPad Pros (11in and 12.9in).
We've rounded up the best deals on iPads on all five of these devices below, from the best iPad Air deals to iPad mini and Pro. If you're not sure which iPad you want, check our full list of all the iPad generations, but we've also provided details of the specs of each model below and links to our full hand's on reviews of each.
For savings on more Apple devices, including iPads, see our general guide to the best Apple deals. And if you've chosen your iPad and need to pick up accessories, don't miss our guides to the best iPad keyboards and the best iPad stands.
The best deals on iPads available now
The best iPad Air deals
On balance, we think the iPad Air is the best balance between specs and price for most people. It doesn't quite match the performance of the iPad Pro, but it comes very close, and costs less. The 2022 5th generation iPad Air is Apple's newest tablet and it comes with the same M1 processor as the 2021 iPad Pros and a gorgeous 10.9in 1640 x 2360 Liquid Retina IPS LCD screen with a wide colour gamut. It has great speakers and very reasonable battery life, and it supports Apple Pencil 2.
It starts at $599/£569 for the Wi-Fi version with 64GB of storage. Wi-fi and cellular models start at $899 / £719. For a more generous 256GB of storage, the standard retail price is $749/£719 for Wi-Fi and $899/£869 for the Wi-Fi and 5G cellular version.
Considering this tablet was only released in March, you might not expect to find many iPad Air deals on this model yet, but we've actually been surprised to see Amazon running fairly regular discounts, particularly on the 64GB configuration. It had $29 off in the US on the tablet's first week of release, and we've since seen discounts of up to $50, so look out for similar savings, particularly during sale periods. See our full iPad Air (2022) review for more details.
The 2020 version of the iPad Air isn't quite as Pro-like, but it's a great value option, with regular discounts to be had now that the newer 2022 model has hit the streets. It packs an A14 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, a 12MP rear camera (7MP front), and a UBB-C port.
It's still powerful enough for many creatives' needs, not to mention for general work and entertainment use. Best of all it's coming in for some of the best deals on iPads we're seeing at the moment, with prices dipping to as low as $540/£500. This makes it a great buy right now – check the current prices via the links above and see our full iPad Air (2020) review for more details.
The best iPad Pro deals
Apple upgraded its already fantastic 2021 iPad Pro last year, with this tablet. It boasts even more power, with its M2 chip, and the display also got an upgrade.
This iPad Pro 12.9-inch starts at $1,099 / £1,249 – which in the UK is higher than the 2021's starting price of £999. Also note that if you want to be able to add your own SIM into the iPad, and get 5G access, you'll need to pay $200 / £180 more.
In terms of discounts, we're seeing at most $50 / £50 off this model, though that's about half an Apple Pencil, so worth snapping up if you see it. Find out more about this top-end tablet with our iPad Pro M2 (2022) review.
If you don't want to go full iPad Pro, and just want something that little bit smaller, than the 11-inch iPad Pro 2022 is an excellent choice. It's lightweight and small enough to be extremely portable, and it has all the fantastic features of its bigger cousin.
The 11-inch 2022 iPad is cheaper than the 12.9-inch, too, and costs $799 / £899 for the lowest specced model. Again, if you want to add Cellular rather than just WiFi, then you'll have to pay an extra $200 / £180. We haven't seen any major savings on this iPad yet as it's still so new, but you may be able to get $50 / £50 off if you're lucky.
The most powerful iPad in the range right now is the 2021 iPad Pro, which comes in two sizes 12.9in and 11in. The larger of the two is the most impressive for its display, with Apple's Liquid Retina XDR tech delivering unprecedented brightness and contrast for an iPad. You also get improved control of local dimming, giving greater nuance and depth to darker areas of a screen.
Alongside the smaller 11in device below, this packs Apple's powerful in-house M1 processing chip, bringing in the kind of computing power previously reserved for Macs. And of course, it supports the Apple Pencil 2 for drawing and note-taking. The downside is that this is still an expensive iPad, starting at $1,099 / £999 for the base 128GB storage configuration with Wi-Fi. If you want 5G connectivity, that costs an additional $200 / £150.
That said, we've seen fairly regular iPad Pro 12.9 deals in recent months, especially since the release of the 2022 iPad Pro. We've seen discounts of up to around $100 / £100 for the lower-end configurations and as high as $200 / £200 for the big 1TB / 2TB options. For many people, there's no need to pay that much for a tablet and a lower-spec model such as the iPad Air above will do just fine, but if you want the fastest processing, this (and the 11 incher below) is the iPad for you. We go into more depth in our full iPad 12.9ins (M1, 2021) review.
The smaller 11in iPad Pro, which was released alongside the 12.9 above, offers almost the same specs with the difference really only in the size and brightness of the display (600 nits compared to up to 1600 on the 12.9). The smaller size has the advantage of making the device more compact, and it's cheaper too. No, it's still not cheap, but it's not quite as much of a sting, starting at $799 / £749 rather than $1,099 / £999 for the lowest storage available (128GB on the WiFi model). Again, we've seen the best iPad deals shaving from around $50 / £50 to $150 / £150 off the price.
The 2020 iPad Pro was a pretty minor upgrade after 2019's model, and 2021's M1-powered version was a big step up. However, with a gorgeous 12.9-inch Liquid Retina display, the 2020 iPad Pro 12.9 is still a pleasure to use for pretty much anything, and the A127 Bionic processor with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU is no slouch. That said, with the later model offering a thorough upgrade, so you're really only going to want to consider this 2020 model if you find a good discount on the original $999 / £969 starting price (keep an eye on the price links above for that).
As for the rest of the specs, you get dual cameras – a 10MP ultra-wide camera and standard 12MP as well as a LiDAR scanner on the back. Battery life is improved over previous iPads.
The best iPad Mini deals
The iPad mini is sometimes overlooked because of the superior specs of the Pro devices, but it's worth remembering that the iPad mini has better specs than the standard iPad, despite being smaller. In fact, some people swear by the smaller form for working on the go. It has Apple Pencil 2 support, which makes it great even for illustrating and note-taking when you're on the move.
Its pricing fits where it sits in the iPad family in terms of specs, more expensive than the standard iPad, but a good deal cheaper than the iPad Pro, starting at $499 / £479 for 64GB storage and for $649 / £619 for 256GB if you only want WiFi. Adding 5G costs an extra $150 / £150. Released in September, it's still early to see regular big savings, but discounts of $50 / £50 crop up, and a discount of up to $100 isn't unheard of. See our full iPad mini (2021) review for more details.
The older 2019, 5th generation iPad mini is also still well worth considering. While it doesn't have the power and Apple Pencil 2 support of the newer model above, it offers good value for money, especially when there's an iPad deal running. Its standard retail price is already $100 / £80 lower than that of the newer model to start with, and that's before any discounts (and deals on iPads become more likely once they've been superseded by a newer model).
The iPhone XS-class chipset is still powerful enough for most general uses, especially for youngsters, and the bright 7.9-inch display still looks fantastic. This older model doesn't support Apple Pencil 2, but it does support the first-generation Apple Pencil, so you can use it for sketching too. Prices started at $399 / $399 on launch in March 2019, but keep a lookout in the price links above for savings that could make this a good buy. See our iPad mini (2019) review for more details.
The best iPad 10.2 deals
Apple gave its basic 10.2-inch iPad a refresh in 2021, upgrading the chipset for better performance and adding an improved selfie camera. The result is a reasonably priced iPad that has a surprisingly premium feel. The display is unchanged from previous versions, but it's sharp and detailed, with punchy enough colours that your artworks will pop.
This is also the first model in the 10.2-inch range to offer True Tone support, which is Apple's technology that adjusts colour balance depending on the quality of light in the room. Battery life is generally pretty good, and the new A13 chip provides a small but noticeable speed boost in operation.
While all this is very welcome, and does help the iPad 10.2-inch feel a little less like an inferior cousin to the more sophisticated iPads, we do wish Apple could have found room to include Pencil 2 support. The initial Apple Pencil is a fine stylus and does the job well enough, but the lack of built-in controls is a pain, as is the clumsy charging system. The Pencil 2 is just leagues better.
Still, as a basic drawing tablet that does most things artists need, the iPad 10.2-inch (9th Gen) fits the bill very well. We were disappointed that Apple didn't announce an upgrade to this iPad in 2022, so fingers crossed we'll see a new version this year – and in turn, more than the usual $20 / £20 discounts on this model. Take a closer look in our full iPad 10.2-inch (9th Gen) review.
The best iPad deals: which iPad should you buy?
Last year was a big year for the iPad with new models of two iPad Pros and a new iPad Air. That means that we're seeing a lot more deals on iPad in the previous generation of the Pro and the Air. Often choosing which is best for you means deciding how badly you need the latest specs. iPads have been so well-built, and so powerful for so long that for most people, the previous generation will more than fulfil their needs.
That said, there are good reasons to choose one of the newest iPads, and it's not unheard of to find decent deals on iPads even in their first months of release – although don't expect any savings from Apple itself. For example, if you want a super portable tablet for sketching on the go, the 2021 iPad mini has a distinct advantage over the 2019 model in that it supports Apple Pencil 2 (see our roundup of the best iPad styluses for more options for drawing and note-taking.)
Elsewhere, the latest models have upped performance and display qualities, with the 2021 M1-chipped iPad Pros and 2022 M1-chipped iPad Air offering super-fast processing speeds – the question to ask yourself is whether you need that, and unless you using heavy creative apps for design work or photo and video editing then you probably don't.
Whether you're considering the most powerful iPad Pro, or if the regular iPad will be sufficient for you, you’ll find the iPad is a brilliant tool for graphic design. If you're in the market for more creative hardware generally, don't miss our pick of the best cheap laptop deals and the best monitors for creatives. We also have guides to the best Wacom tablet deals and the best smartphone deals for designers.
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