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If you’re interested in buying an iPad, Apple doesn’t make it easy to tell which one you should get. Do you pick up an iPad Air? Do you go all out and spend $1,299 on a 13-inch iPad Pro? While Apple would happily sell you its biggest and best tablets any day of the week, in actuality, most people don’t need more than Apple’s entry-level, 10th-generation iPad—especially when it’s on sale for Prime Day.
I’d argue Apple’s latest iPad checks most of the boxes you’re likely looking for in a tablet in 2024. It has a modern, thin-bezel design with a 10.9-inch display; it sports a camera on the rear, and a front camera along the landscape side of the iPad, the ideal spot for video calls; and it has the A14 Bionic chip, which is more than capable of running iPadOS and its apps. If you want to boost the tablet’s potential, it also supports Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.
Sure, more expensive iPads offer additional, intriguing features: The iPad Air now offers both 11- and 13-inch sizes and sports Apple’s desktop-class M2 chip. Apple’s iPad Pros have OLED displays with HDR support, which provide the best contrast for watching shows and movies, and are the only devices to ship with the company’s latest M4 chip. And these tablets support newer Apple Pencils that come with more features. But here’s the thing about iPads: They’re overbuilt. Apple’s most expensive tablets use chips you’d find in a Mac, but iPadOS doesn’t take advantage of it. Neither do most apps: While there are apps that are designed for professionals and power users, most apps on the App Store will run just fine on any compatible iPad.
In fact, for most tasks, this iPad running a chip that launched on the iPhone 12 will suit you well. Sure, it doesn’t have the biggest or brightest display, or the fastest chip: But for streaming, video calling, messaging, emailing, web browsing, and general usage, the 10th-generation iPad is all you need.
Which do you get?
For Prime Day, Amazon is taking $50 off the 256GB iPad, which means it retails for $449. The company also has a deal on the 64GB wifi + cellular model for the same price, if you’d prefer to have the option of buying a cellular plan for your iPad. If you have a smartphone with an unlimited data plan, however, I’d spend the money on the extra storage and connect to your phone’s hotspot instead.
All that said, Amazon also has the 64GB wifi iPad discounted to $300. This is probably the best value for most people, so long as you know you won’t need the extra storage. This one isn’t a Prime Day deal, so anyone shopping on Amazon can take advantage of it, even those without a Prime membership.
