// WIRED US/UK — MOBILE & WEB
The Best iPad to Buy (and What to Avoid) in 2026: Air, Pro, Mini
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It’s a weird time for the iPad. Between the introduction of the MacBook Neo and the iPhone Duo this year, the iPad feels like it’s heading for an identity crisis. It doesn’t help that it’s been a relatively light year for iPad updates overall. It can still be a good time to buy an iPad, though, as the current options are still quite good. We’ve tested every iPad model to help you choose the right one for your needs and budget.
Be sure to check out all our buying guides, including the Best iPad Accessories, Best iPhones, Best iPhone 17 Cases, Best Tablets, Best Android Tablets, and Best MacBooks.
Updated November 2026: I’ve updated this article with testing for the new OLED iPad Mini and the rollout of iPadOS 27.
There are four types of iPads on the market. Knowing which model you own matters if you’re considering selling the iPad or looking for compatible accessories. Further complicating iPad identification is that—unlike with the iPhone—Apple doesn’t name its iPads sequentially.
Nonetheless, finding your iPad model is simple. Here’s how to do it, in two steps:
For accessories, retailers usually indicate which iPad model(s) a given case, folio, or keyboard cover is designed to work with. Sometimes, product descriptions will mention compatibility with a specific generation or processor; here’s the information you need to help decode that information and match it with your iPad:
Yes, though it depends on the specific iPad model you have in mind. Consider the price, how recently Apple updated the device, and any forthcoming refreshes.
The company introduced a significant (and highly uncommon for the brand) price increase on June 25 that affected every model in both the MacBook and iPad lines. Apple blamed the hikes on memory and storage shortages driven by extremely high demand for AI data centers.
Every iPad model now costs between $100 and $200 more than before. Here’s the price impact on every device in the current lineup:
iPad (base model) was last updated in 2025. This is the 11th generation and has the A16 chip. Rumors indicate a refresh will arrive in the first half of 2027, and it may sport an A19 chip with 8 GB of RAM (up from 6 GB) and support Apple Intelligence.