The new iPad Mini has arrived, bringing with it a faster A17 Pro chip, 8GB of RAM, support for the Apple Pencil Pro, and a taste of Apple Intelligence. However, unless you’re dead set on the tablet’s 8.3-inch form factor, the latest iPad Air is a better buy — especially since the 11-inch configuration is on sale at Amazon and Target with Wi-Fi and 128GB of storage starting at $498 ($101 off), an all-time low.
If you’re having trouble choosing between Apple’s entry-level iPad and an M4-powered iPad Pro, the 2024 iPad Air represents the middle ground. It’s a good-step option from the base iPad with USB-C charging, support for both the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and newer Apple Pencil Pro, and a laminated Liquid Retina display. The latter isn’t as nice as the 120Hz OLED screen found on Apple’s premium iPads, though, and the Air is still beholden to the same aging Touch ID sensor for logging in as previous models, as opposed to Face ID. Thankfully, it does sport a 12MP landscape-oriented webcam — a welcome tweak from the prior model — and a speedy M2 chip, which allows it to leverage AI-powered writing tools, a new and (slightly) improved Siri, and a slew of minor Apple Intelligence features found in iPadOS 18.1.
Admittedly, none of the AI features currently in beta are revolutionary — ChatGPT integration won’t arrive until December, and some most promising tools won’t arrive until 2025 — but at least you’ll have a futureproof iPad for whatever Apple ships in the coming months.
