The iPad has always been the perfect tablet. A great price, a good amount of performance, solid battery life, and a big enough screen. That’s why it’s even more noteworthy when this humble slate goes on sale. Black Friday iPad deals abound! But no, you don’t really need to buy that discounted iPad Pro that still costs nearly $1,000. Buy Apple’s entry-level iPad for $279 instead, and save your cash for all the other hours you’re not staring at this screen.
For more discounts, check out our Best Early Black Friday Deals roundup.
The Best iPad Deal
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The iPad A16 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) arrived early this year and is the only device in Apple’s lineup that doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. Maybe that’s a good thing, considering that many of those artificial intelligence features aren’t very useful right now. However, early rumors suggest that Apple is readying a 12th-gen iPad in the first few months of 2026, and expect to see Apple Intelligence support. It’s otherwise expected to be a processor bump, so don’t expect much else.
If you just want a simple, big-screen tablet to catch up on shows, do some work, and even play games, the iPad A16 fits the bill. It’s powerful enough for most apps and games, and the 11-inch screen size is not too big and not too small. This iPad recently got a whole lot more versatile with the iPadOS 26 update, which adds windowing features, turning the iPad experience into a Mac. You can resize windows, flick them to the sides for split-screen, and iPadOS 26.1 brings back Slide Over, so you still have some options on how you want to multitask.
Connect it with a Bluetooth keyboard and you can easily spend hours on this slate typing up emails or doing some other kind of light work. Yes, you can also use it for drawing, but it only supports the first-gen Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil USB-C. The display is also not fully laminated, meaning there’s an air gap between the glass and the screen, which makes it suboptimal for sketching.
If you specifically want an iPad for drawing, I suggest upgrading to the iPad Mini, Air, or iPad Pro. Good news! Those are on sale as well.
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