Read our full Apple iPad Air (2020) review Best budget: Apple iPad (2020) Even so, with a fantastic processor, slimline good looks, and great usability, the iPad Air definitely hits that sweet spot between peak performance and affordability. Something similar can be said for the iPad Air’s camera, which doesn’t come with the extra ultrawide lens. You’ll therefore enjoy watching videos and viewing content on it almost as much as you would with its more expensive stablemate. Still, at 10.9 inches and with a resolution of 2360 x 1640 pixels, it offers basically the same number of pixels per inch - 264 - as the Pro.
One small yet noticeable difference between the iPad Pro and the iPad Air is that the Air doesn’t support a 120Hz refresh rate. This means you can invest in a Magic Keyboard to enhance the productivity of the tablet, as well as a second-generation Apple Pencil. The iPad Air also supports all of the accessories you can use with the iPad Pro, further reducing the distance between the two. It may not have as many cores as the A12Z processor you’ll find in the iPad Pro, but we’ve found that the performance is mostly the same, so you’ll struggle to notice any difference. Most impressively, the iPad Air (2020) runs on Apple’s latest-and-greatest A14 Bionic chip, which handles pretty much all of the latest apps and games with ease. It’s a very distinct step up from the standard iPad, offering an overall package that’s surprisingly close to the iPad Pro, despite the $200 drop in price. The iPad Air isn’t as affordable as the entry-level iPad, which earns our pick for in “Best Budget” category, but if your budget goes up to $600, then it certainly is the best iPad you can buy right now. Who’s it for? Anyone looking for a midrange iPad that still performs great. Why should you buy this? The iPad Air keeps the core features of the iPad Pro but takes off $200. Read our full iPad Pro (2021) review Best value iPad: Apple iPad Air (2020) Andrew Martonik/Digital Trends But if the price is no object, then the iPad Pro 11-inch is absolutely the best iPad overall where performance and usability are concerned. The previously mentioned Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2 are extremely useful tools, but they’re expensive, and adding them to the high price of the iPad Pro may put this tablet out of reach for some. Throw in support for the Apple Pencil 2 and the Magic Keyboard, and you’ve got a tablet that’s possibly one of the most versatile around.īut to get the most out of this tablet, you’re going to need to spend extra money. And the USB-C port also has support for Thunderbolt 3 now as well. Like last year’s model, there’s no Home button - it uses Face ID instead. It also now supports 5G, so if you need a tablet with a speedy data connection, well, the new iPad Pro has your back (as long as you have a nearby 5G connection). That’s a lot of room for videos, files, apps, and whatever else. Internal storage is even more impressive, and you can choose from 128GB all the way up to a mighty 2TB. But RAM has seen an upgrade, with the choice of 8GB or 16GB, depending on the configuration. The A12Z Bionic chip in last year’s model was no slouch, though, and it’s unlikely you’ll see any real difference between the two. The aforementioned M1 chip is the same chip you’ll find in the new MacBook Pro 13, and it’s an exceptional piece of work.
The 2388 x 1668 resolution is crisp and colorful, and the 120Hz ProMotion tech makes using it a pleasure.
The display is impressive, too, despite the lack of new mini-LED tech.
In short, it’s extremely portable and lightweight, which makes it a great choice if you need an iPad with strong adaptability. The 11-inch display with slim bezels is big enough for most tasks without being too large to make it unwieldy when moving it around. With that out of the way, we can move on to discussing the iPad Pro 11-inch’s many great features.