Apple currently sells five different iPads in five different sizes the iPad
Mini which has a 7.9 inch screen the iPad 9.7-inch the 10.5 inch
iPad air and then the iPad pro in 11 inch and 12.9 inch sizes
which one is best for you we're going to go through these one by one but I'll say
up front that our recommendation for most people is the iPad Mini which is
powerful portable and affordable if you need a larger screen or if price is your
overwhelming priority then the iPad 9.7 inch comes into the picture we'll start
with the iPad Mini which starts at 399 pounds or 399 dollars this model came
out in March 2019 replacing the old iPad Mini for the mini now comes with an a 12
Bionic processor chip that's the latest and fastest generation an 8 megapixel
rear camera and a 7 megapixel front camera it's the most portable iPads
currently available at just 301 grams and the second cheapest only the iPad
9.7 inch cost less yet it's powerful enough to run any iOS app that's
currently available all the iPads offer Apple pencil support this one supports
the first gen Apple pencil from 2015 on the downside it has the smallest screen
at just seven point nine inches measured diagonally which may put you off if you
suffer from eyestrain or if you'd like to play in mercy of films and games the
iPad 9.7 in starts at just 319 pounds or $329 and remains the cheapest and the
oldest iPad currently available it looks like a bargain when it came out in March
2018 it's slightly less appealing now because it didn't get a price cut when
the 2019 models came out at nine point seven inches it has a good screen size
for gaming and films while remaining slim and light at four
69 grams the a10 processor is two generations older than the a12 in all
the other iPads on sale that will be fine for email and browsing the web and
many apps currently available sort of mid-level or below but it may perform a
little more slowly than these other iPads on very demanding apps or on the
new apps that come out over the next year or two our main issue with the iPad
other than the lack the price cut is the unlimited screen its Flex is slightly
when you press down on it which makes it feel a bit cheap all the other iPads
here have laminated screens and don't have that effect
lastly the iPad 9.7 inch supports the first gen Apple pencil the iPad air
starts at 479 pounds or 499 dollars and came out in March 2019 it has a 10.5
inch screen and the a12 processor so it's very powerful it supports the first
gen Apple pencil it also supports the smart Keyboard because it has the smart
connector on one side the air is indisputably a better tablet than the
iPad 9.7 inch with a quicker processor a larger laminated screen and a far better
front-facing camera it's even lighter at 456 grams but it is also significantly
more expensive and overkill for light use
now we're on to the iPad pro models which are essentially identical except
for the screen size this is the 11 inch model which starts at seven hundred and
sixty nine pounds or 799 dollars the most obvious difference between the pro
ipad and the rest is the lack of a home button the front of the device is almost
all screen it enables Apple to increase screen size without making it much
heavier the smaller pro is only twelve grams more than the iPad air it also
means the pros have faced ID instead of touch ID they unlock using face
recognition instead of a fingerprint sensor the a 12 X processor is a souped
up version of the a 12 s that you get in the iPad Mini and the iPad air and it is
preposterous ly powerful it's all about future proofing this device can run any
app on the App Store at the moment with ease but it will also be able to run
anything that comes out in the next couple of years the pros also have
better cameras far better cameras and the other iPads perhaps best of all the
iPad pro models support the much improved 2nd gen Apple pencil from 2018
a note that they do not support the first gen pencil it's one or the other
these three support the 2015 model these to support the 2018 model
last of all we come to the Cadillac of iPads the twelve point nine inch iPad
pro this starts at a punishing nine hundred and sixty nine pounds or nine
hundred and ninety nine dollars but it does a decent job of justifying that
cost it offers the biggest screen ever on an Apple tablet now squeezed into a
smaller and very thin chassis 631 grams is light for this much display area in
other respects it's largely the same as the 11 inch probe you get a super-fast
processor an excellent 12 megapixel rear facing camera with flash and a device
that's more than capable of replacing a laptop both pro models have quad
speakers if price is your first priority and you're prepared to compromise a
little you should find the iPad nine point seven inch as well as being the
cheapest option it has a good screen size and it's pretty well SPECT it even
supports the first gen apple pencil for most people however our recommendation
would be to spend an extra eight pounds or $70 on the iPad Mini it's a year
newer than the nine point seven inch has a processor that's two generations more
advanced and a nicer feeling laminated screen becomes a twice as storage and is
considerably more portable and it supports the pencil as well if you can
afford to spend little more than that the iPad air essentially combines the
good features of the first two recommendations it has an even bigger
screen than the iPad nine point seven inch or the power of the mini which
leaves the 11 inch and twelve point nine inch iPad pros they're intimidating the
expensive but also amazingly powerful and well-made with a fantastic all
screen faced ID design and support from a brilliant 2nd gen Apple pencil most of
us don't need that much power and won't want to spend that much money they're a
great choice for creative professional