iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro buyer’s guide early 2025

Apple’s March iPad lineup changes introduces a new entry-level model and updates the iPad Air. Here’s which iPad is best in early 2025, at any price point.

Like other products in the Apple ecosystem, the iPad family of devices covers a very wide range of price points. If you’re looking for a budget or a premium tablet, Apple has you covered at either end of the spectrum, and every point inbetween.

The updates to the iPad lineup started in March with a refresh of the iPad Air and base iPad, making some changes to the base end of the price range. This included some performance improvements and storage option changes, which can greatly affect where you end up putting your money.

With the wide selection of iPad models available, it can become quite bewildering to the average consumer. What follows is AppleInsider’s reading of the iPad landscape, and what you should expect from your iPad at each price point.

Best iPad – Overall price ranges

The entire Apple range of iPads stretches quite a wide range of values. At the cheapest is the $349 iPad with a base 128GB of storage, the most entry-level option on the roster.

At the other is the 13-inch iPad Pro, with 2TB of storage capacity, a Nano-texture glass option, and cellular access. That can be bought for a mere $2,599.

The overall iPad price range, as of March 2025

That means there’s a price difference of $2,250 between the cheapest iPad and the most expensive on the list. You could acquire six of the cheapest iPad models and have $155 left over for cases and accessories, instead of buying the top-of-the-line option.

For discussion purposes, we are splitting the entire range into three bands: $650 or less, $650 to $1,00, and over $1,000.

Best iPad – Storage, cellular, and display considerations

While base prices are an obvious point of comparison, there are options that can adjust what the specifications are, and the end cost to you. This is where the comparison between prices can get a bit tricky to consider.

For a start, Apple offers its iPads with two general connectivity options. The standard model has Wi-Fi, but you can upgrade to cellular connectivity for either $150 or $200, depending on the model.

This is an upgrade cost that is the equivalent of a storage increase in some instances. This can be an important choice to make, as you may want to connect to the Internet without needing to use a Wi-Fi connection.

There is the argument that the tethering options of an iPhone or a portable Wi-Fi hotspot can cover this connectivity. There’s the benefit of not needing two data plans instead of just one, but you will tax the iPhone battery a bit more.

A second and more obvious variance is storage capacity, as you can pay to have more. If you tend to store and carry around a lot of data, then a storage upgrade will be very useful.

iPad model storage capacity prices, as of March 2025

Bear in mind that, as the jumps in storage increase, so can the cost of that particular upgrade. In the case of the iPad Pro, it costs $1,000 more to have a model with 1TB of storage, versus the base cost with 256GB.

In the case of Macs, AppleInsider recommends the use of external storage drives as a cheap alternative to steep upgrade costs. However, as the iPad is designed to be portable, an external drive attached to it would be impractical to use regularly.

A better option would be to take advantage of cloud storage solutions, such as iCloud. This offloads your data to an online storage facility, but it will rely more on a data connection than local storage.

The size of screen is also a thing to bear in mind, and with the exception of the iPad mini, you’ll tend to pay extra for larger screens. The iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro have 11-inch displays, with the Air and Pro having 13-inch options available, complete with a higher resolution and more drawing space.

The iPad mini, however, uses an 8.3-inch display, helping it have a much smaller footprint. It could be better for people with smaller hands or tighter requirements when it comes to portability.

Lastly, there’s the option to use Nano-texture glass on the iPad Pro models with 1TB or 2TB of storage capacity. This helps reduce screen glare, improving visibility despite harsh environmental lighting.

This is only really a consideration for those buying the high-priced, high-spec, and high-capacity iPad Pro. If you’re actually in the market for one of these models, then it could be worth while paying the extra $100 for the screen treatment.

Best iPad – Under $650

The budget end of the range is relatively easy to tackle versus the other two ranges. That is because there are relatively few options to consider at each price point.

The list commences with the base iPad, which starts off at $349, and is the only choice. The 2025 iteration also starts with a higher capacity than before, with 128GB available instead of 64GB.

Indeed, at $449, there’s still only one choice: the iPad with 256GB of storage.

iPad prices between $650 and $1,000, as of March 2025

At $499, new options arrive in the form of the iPad with Cellular and 128GB of storage or the Wi-Fi iPad mini, again with 128GB of storage. Of the group, the iPad mini is the most powerful, complete with Apple Intelligence support, and is probably the best buy. You can find aggressive discounts in our iPad mini 7 Price Guide.

The next decision is at $599, when the cellular iPad and the iPad mini get bumped to $256. You could also get the 11-inch iPad Air for the same price, along with the M3 chip and 128GB of capacity.

Again, the iPad mini is the better choice overall if you want an everyday tablet that’s easily portable. But, the performance of the 11-inch iPad Air’s M3 could be a considerable draw.

At $649, you get options for a 512GB iPad or an 128GB iPad mini with Cellular. Here, the iPad mini with cellular is best if you want that added connectivity or the $599 iPad Air if you want performance.

A 512GB iPad may seem nice from a capacity standpoint, but you’re probably better served with Internet access anywhere you go, or better overall performance.

Best iPad – $650 to $1,000

The $650 to $1,000 section is usually complex due to the number of models available at very similar price points. With the storage changes Apple’s made, that’s made this middle section a bit more tougher to parse than in 2024.

Starting at $699, there’s the 11-inch iPad Air with 256GB or storage as a new option, along with the survivors from the $649 price level. Again, it’s a case of the iPad Air for performance or iPad mini with Cellular for connectivity.

iPad prices between $650 and $1,000, as of March 2025

$749 introduces a 256GB version of that cellular iPad mini, as well a cellular 11-inch iPad Air with 128GB of capacity. Here, it’s a case of whether you desire a bigger screen and higher performance or a more pocketable version in the form of the iPad mini.

At $799, the 13-inch iPad Air comes into play with 128GB of storage. The iPad mini also gets 512GB of capacity, as does the cellular iPad, but if size matters as well as performance, the Air is the best choice.

Rising to $849, the 11-inch iPad Air with Cellular gets 256GB of storage, which is a heck of an attractive package unless you want the smaller or larger sizes more.

Getting to $899, you could get the 11-inch iPad Air with 512GB of storage, save $50 on the 256GB Cellular version, get a 256GB non-cellular 13-inch iPad Air, or save $150 on the 256GB iPad mini with Cellular. Cellular options are great all round, but it becomes more a case of deciding which size of screen you would want most here.

$949 ups the capacity of the iPad mini with Cellular to 512GB, as well as introducing the 13-inch iPad Air with Cellular and 128GB of storage. The larger cellular model is a good pick here, but equally the high-capacity iPad mini with Cellular, making it a size decision once again.

Reaching the top end of this band, the choice consist of the 512GB 11-inch iPad Air with a $100 saving, a cellular 256GB version and saving $150, the 13-inch iPad Air with 256GB and $100 savings, the cellular 128GB model and $50 savings, or the 256GB 11-inch iPad Pro.

With the introduction of the lowest-level Pro model, there is a temptation to go for the top of the line, but you do get most of the way there with the iPad Air models. You’re probably better off going for the Air models at this price, unless performance is an absolute need for you.

Best iPad – $1,000 or more

This region is largely dominated by the iPad Pro models, and given their specifications and premium nature, it’s quite well justified. Even so, high-capacity cellular options of lower-spec models are still viable options, depending on your needs.

At $1,049, you could have the cellular 11-inch iPad Air at 512GB, or the 13-inch iPad Air with Cellular at 256GB. You could save $50 and get the entry-level 11-inch iPad Pro, which may be better overall.

For $50 more at $1,099, there are the non-cellular 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models at 1TB and 512TB respectively. Unless you need masses of storage, you should consider either the cellular iPad Airs that are slightly cheaper, or get the base 11-inch iPad Pro.

iPad prices above $1,000, as of March 2025

When we reach $1,199, the cellular 11-inch iPad Pro becomes an option, complete with 256GB of storage. You could get the 512GB non-cellular version for the same money.

$1,249 brings the cellular 13-inch iPad Air to 512GB and the cellular 11-inch iPad Air to 1TB. Again, its screen size or capacity, but the iPad Pro line is still arguably the best route forward.

When the 13-inch iPad Air reaches its 1TB capacity option at $1,299, it has to compete against the above cheaper cellular options, as well as a new competitor. The 13-inch iPad Pro arrives at this point, albeit with 256GB of storage.

That 13-inch iPad Pro would be decent enough, but remember you could save $100 and get double the capacity with the 11-inch version. Or save $50 and get the 13-inch iPad Air with cellular and 512GB of storage.

At $1,449, the last iPad Air configuration becomes an option, with 1TB of storage in the 13-inch model. For just $50 more, you can get the 13-inch iPad Pro with cellular at 256GB, or a 13-inch iPad Pro with 512GB.

After this price point, there are only iPad Pro models available, meaning your only real concerns are screen size, capacity, and cellular. For the 1TB and 2TB models, you could pay an extra $100 to add Nano-texture glass, which improves image quality.

You reach the top end of the 11-inch iPad Pro by $1,999, or $2,099 if you spring for the Nano-texture glass, with 2TB of storage. At that level, you could get a cellular version with Nano-texture glass and 1TB of storage for $1,899, a 13-inch iPad Pro with 1TB and the glass for $1,999, or the 13-inch with cellular and 1TB for $2,099.

The scale continues until $2,299, when the 11-inch iPad Pro with cellular maxes its storage at 2TB and employs the Nano-texture glass. For the same money, the 13-inch iPad Pro is also at 2TB without the glass, and the 13-inch with cellular and the glass is $100 cheaper.

The 13-inch iPad Pro sans cellular reaches its highest point at $2,399, again with 2TB of capacity and the glass treatment. Again, its a $200 saving to get the cellular equivalent with 1TB and Nano-texture.

Eventually, at a wallet-destroying $2,599, the 13-inch iPad Pro with cellular reaches its top configuration of 2TB and the aforementioned glass.

Best iPad – How to pick your tablet

Picking the best tablet is always going to be hard when you have a lot of variants available. With Apple’s product lineup, that’s certainly the case when you get to the middle of the range.

Going for higher performance options is usually a good idea, but you really should actually have a need for it. If the iPad’s going to be your primary computing device, it does make sense to pay for upper-tier models.

For quite a lot of use cases, the basic iPad can handle most of the average user’s everyday tasks.

When it comes to the premium end of things, bear in mind that the processing and graphical performance of the iPad Air is pretty close to the iPad Pro, given the use of the M3 chip versus the M4. You’re going to be looking at improvements in other areas, like the camera system to justify getting a Pro model, unless performance is an absolute must-have thing.

Screen size is always going to be a factor, and you have three to choose from: the iPad mini, 11 inches, or 13 inches. We’ve found that larger tablet sizes tend to be more useful for productivity and content creation, so erring towards the 13-inch could be a good idea here.

Cellular is arguably the most disposable feature of the lot, since you could simply tether off an iPhone or a mobile hotspot if local Wi-Fi isn’t available. The price difference could be enough to cover the cost of other feature upgrades.

Storage is the biggest price variant, and it’s not a linear jump. The cost increase is negligible at the low end, but it can certainly add a lot to the price.

That said, you should ask yourself if you really need 2TB of storage in an iPad Pro. You could save $400 and have 1TB, which an entirely usable amount of storage, even for professional uses.

Considering what features to fall back on could help you when it comes to AppleCare+ and accessories. Often forgotten about when pricing out a new iPad, these extras add to the overall cost, but can be very handy.

At the higher end where storage upgrades really cost with not much real benefit to everyday usage, it may be worth scaling back capacity to get something like a Magic Keyboard for your new tablet.

Where to find the best iPad prices

You can find iPad discounts on numerous models and shop the new iPad Air in our iPad Price Guide. Amazon is also hosting a sale on iPads at up to $250 off at press time, which can be found on their category page.