Which iPad should you buy? iPad vs. iPad mini vs. iPad Air vs. iPad Pro

Buying an iPad isn't as easy as it used to be. In the past, if you wanted an iPad, you bought the iPad. But now if you want a new iPad — either for yourself or to gift to someone on your list — you have at least four models to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

This article aims to help you make a more informed choice by comparing and contrasting each of the four current major iPad models: the base iPad, the iPad Air, the iPad Pro, and the iPad mini. While each is good enough to merit a spot on our list of the best iPads, the best one for your needs will depend significantly on who's going to be using it and how.

Read on for a blow-by-blow breakdown of how the different iPads compare, and what they're best at.

iPad vs. iPad mini vs. iPad Air vs. iPad Pro specs

You should buy the regular iPad (2022) if...

...you want all the benefits of an iPad for the lowest possible price. 

The original iPad launched back in 2010 and proved to be so good, it effectively created a whole new market for tablets. Apple has been steadily expanding its roster of tablets ever since, but it still sells the vanilla iPad, and in October 2022 a new model was released that improves on its predecessors in small but significant ways.

In our Apple iPad (10th gen) review, we celebrated this 10.2-inch tablet for its bright, vibrant screen, speedy performance and excellent battery life. While the thick bezels feel a little dated, especially when compared to the thin and light iPad Air or the lavishly large 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the basic iPad remains a well-built and easy-to-use tablet.

Unfortunately, the dated design limits what accessories you can use with the base iPad, as it doesn't support Apple's Magic Keyboard or the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil. While you can still buy one of Apple's Smart Keyboards or a 1st Gen Apple Pencil to use with this iPad, it's a little disappointing that Apple's best accessories aren't compatible with the base iPad.

However, $449 is a lot of money to spend on this tablet. Yes, Apple is keeping the $329 iPad 9th gen around, but it still stings to see a $120 jump from one generation to the next. The bigger issue is with the Apple Pencil situation; it’s just way too awkward to charge this thing, and there’s nowhere to store the stylus when not in use.

You should buy an iPad mini if...

...you want a small iPad that's easy to hold with one hand yet powerful.

The iPad mini is effectively a pint-sized iPad, and it's great for folks who don't enjoy having to hold or carry the heftier tablets on this list. Apple released the sixth iteration of the iPad mini in 2021, and in our Apple iPad mini 6 review we lauded it for managing to deliver everything we expect from a great iPad — speedy performance, a gorgeous display, good battery life and great cameras — in a small, lightweight package.

Admittedly, at this size the line between small tablet and big phone becomes quite thin. The iPad mini 6 sports a vibrant 8.3-inch (2266 x 1488 pixels) display, which is only a bit bigger than the 6.7-inch (2778 x 1284 pixels) display on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

You can even get an iPad mini 6 with 5G connectivity, effectively turning it in to an unwieldy smartphone. But while smartphones are great for getting things done while you're out and about, the iPad mini 6 is better suited for recreational use at home. Measuring just 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.25 inches and weighing in at just over half a pound, the iPad mini 6 is easy for most people to hold with one hand and thus a great tablet for reading (especially comics), watching videos and playing games.

Plus, the iPad mini 6 supports Apple's Center Stage feature, as does every iPad on this list except the iPad Air 4. If you're not familiar with Center Stage, it's a minor feature which uses machine learning to make the iPad's front-facing camera automatically follow (within a limited range) whoever's speaking during a FaceTime call. Center Stage will also automatically detect new speakers who enter the frame and reframe the video call to include them.

Sadly, the iPad mini 6 doesn't work with either Apple's Smart Keyboard or Magic Keyboard accessories, though you can connect a third-party Bluetooth keyboard to it if you want to do some serious typing on this tiny tablet. However, it does support the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil, making it a great buy for digital artists. Plus, with a starting price of $499 the iPad mini 6 is cheaper than nearly every tablet on this list; only the base iPad can be had for less. In fact, Best Buy just knocked $100 off all iPad mini 6 tablets, so there has never been a better time to get one.

You should buy an iPad Air if...

...you want an iPad Pro experience for less that supports the latest accessories.

2020's iPad Air 4 was one of our favorite mid-range tablets that delivered iPad Pro-level perks in a thin and light design. The iPad Air (2022) doesn't completely revolutionize the Air line, but it has enough worthwhile improvements to make it arguably the best iPad for most people.

Like its predecessor, the new iPad Air is a potential laptop replacement because you can pair it with the Magic Keyboard — allowing you to do most of the work you could do on a MacBook in an easier-to-carry tablet. We also can't overstate the fact that this is the second Apple tablet to pack the M1 chip, which puts it closer to the iPad Pro in terms of performance.

Like the iPad Air 4, the iPad Air 5 is also great as just a humble tablet. It has the vibrant, sharp display we've come to expect from iPads, and its M1 chip is more than enough to handle whatever apps you throw at it. Plus, it supports the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil, making this the ideal tablet to get if you want a digital art creation station that's larger than the iPad mini 6, but more affordable than the iPad Pro.

The iPad Air now sports a 12MP ultra-wide front-facing camera that has Center Stage (a feature all Apple tablets now have). It's great for taking selfies (if you're into that) and absolutely perfect for video calls. We also can't overlook the 5G connectivity that will make data transfers considerably faster. 

The only main downsides of this tablet are that it lacks Face ID support and doesn't have a headphone jack. But to be fair, these may not be problems for some (as noted in our review). It also has less battery life than other iPads (10:09, to be specific).

But with that aside, the new iPad Air is arguably the best Apple tablet overall since it hits a nice middle ground between price and performance. It's more expensive than the regular iPad but (slightly) less performant than the iPad Pro. If you want close to Pro performance and are willing to shell out a bit more, this could be the iPad for you.

You should buy an iPad Pro if...

...you absolutely, positively must have the best iPad available. 

If price is no object, you should probably get an iPad Pro. Apple released a new model in 2022 that comes in two sizes, an 11-inch and a 12.9-inch, and both deliver amazing performance thanks to Apple's own M2 chip. These are the only iPads powered by the M2, a laptop-grade piece of bespoke silicon that delivered remarkable boosts in speed and battery efficiency in every Mac that got one — including the new MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Pro 13-inch. 

In our iPad Pro 2022 review, we called it one the fastest and longest-lasting tablets ever, and with good reason: in addition to the M2 chip delivering beastly performance, its efficiency helped the 12-inch Pro last for 10 hours and 39 minutes in our battery life test. The 12.9-inch (2732 x 2048 pixels) display delivers bright, color-accurate picture quality, and at just 0.25 inches thin, the 12-inch iPad Pro is still thin despite its large size.

Like its predecessor, this 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a great screen that easily makes it one of the best-looking tablets you can buy. This is due to its eye-catching Liquid Retina XDR display. The 12.9-inch (2732 x 2048 pixels) screen is a mini-LED display, unlike the normal LED displays found on every other iPad, and that means it's capable of displaying much finer differences in light and dark. 

What that means, in practice, is that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro can achieve much better picture quality than any other iPad on this list. However, you have to be watching HDR (high dynamic range) content to really see the difference, and that kind of content is still hard to come by on iPads. Netflix offers HDR content (if you pay for the Premium plan) on its iPad app, for example, but the Hulu app currently does not. Of course, even if you're watching non-HDR content the larger iPad Pro's gorgeous display will still help it look great. 

Other than the size and screen differences, the two iPad Pro models are basically identical. They both offer the best cameras of any iPad (12MP front and back), with front cameras that support both Center Stage and facial login via Face ID. Both 2022 iPad Pros also sport speakers that deliver excellent sound quality, and they can get surprisingly loud for such slim tablets. They also both support the latest Apple accessories, including the excellent 2nd Gen Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard.

However, you'll pay a hefty premium for these privileges: the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799, while the 12.9-inch model with its beautiful mini-LED display starts at $1,099. That makes these the most expensive tablets on this list, and when you kit them out with extra memory and accessories they can begin to approach the price of a mid-range laptop. But if you're willing to splurge on an iPad and you absolutely must have the best possible option, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is what you should buy.

Which iPad is right for you?

If there's one thing I hope you take away from this article, it's that quite frankly all of Apple's iPads are pretty great buys right now. Even the cheapest basic iPad offers great battery life, good performance, a nice screen, and good cameras, making it a great gift for someone who primarily wants a tablet for browsing the web, playing games, and taking video calls.

If you're willing to pay more, every other iPad offers a unique value that sets it apart. The iPad Air 5 is effectively a lighter, more capable iPad that's a decent laptop replacement, while the iPad mini 6 is ideal for folks who want a more portable tablet that's great for reading. And if you're willing to spend, the iPad Pros deliver outstanding performance with great battery life and gorgeous screens, especially if you splurge and get the 12.9-inch model with its eye-catching mini-LED display.