With four iPad families and six models currently on sale, finding your way isn’t obvious. In this ranking I’ll show you an iPad for every main need: from the tightest budget to the flagship built for professional use.
The cheapest: iPad (A16)
If your use is mainly browsing, streaming, email, and some light productivity, the base iPad won’t leave you wanting. The A16 chip is more than enough for these tasks, and the presence of USB-C and True Tone — features that until recently were reserved for higher-tier models — make it a solid purchase even years after launch. The main trade-off is the lack of Apple Pencil Pro support: if advanced drawing or handwritten note-taking matters to you, look further down this list.
The most compact: iPad mini (A17 Pro)
With its 8.3” screen, the iPad mini remains the only model built for truly portable use, almost like an oversized smartphone. The surprise is that, despite its compact size, it supports Apple Pencil Pro — a compatibility usually reserved for M-series models. It’s the right choice if you always carry the iPad with you and use it mainly for reading, quick notes, and reference, less so if you’re after a productivity companion for long sessions.
Best value for money: iPad Air 11” (M4)
For most people, this is probably the right model. The M4 chip delivers performance very close to the iPad Pro, full Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard support makes it just as versatile as its bigger sibling, and the price stays noticeably more accessible. The only real trade-off is the LCD display instead of OLED, and the lack of 120Hz refresh rate — details most users won’t notice in everyday use.
The biggest without the Pro’s price tag: iPad Air 13” (M4)
Same chip, same features as the 11” Air, but with a 13” screen for anyone who wants more room to work — multitasking, spreadsheets, light editing — without paying iPad Pro 13” prices. If the larger format matters more to you than ProMotion smoothness, this is the smartest trade-off in the lineup.
The best overall: iPad Pro 11” (M5)
When budget isn’t the priority, the iPad Pro is simply the most capable tablet Apple makes. The OLED Ultra Retina XDR display with ProMotion offers visual quality no other iPad matches, the M5 chip with its dedicated Neural Accelerator handles even the heaviest workloads with room to spare, and the Thunderbolt port opens the door to professional peripherals the other models don’t support. It’s the right tool for people who genuinely work with video editing, graphics, or development — not necessarily for anyone chasing “the best” just because it’s the best.
Best laptop replacement: iPad Pro 13” (M5)
Same platform as the 11”, but with a screen that, paired with the Magic Keyboard, genuinely gets closer to the experience of a light laptop. It’s the most expensive model in the entire lineup, but also the one that pushes the “iPad as computer replacement” idea furthest, for anyone working on the move with documents, presentations, and complex media content.