This Is a Truly Great iPad Deal

The iPad has has always been the perfect tablet. A great price, good performance, solid battery life, and a large enough screen. Which is why it’s even more remarkable that this humble slate is up for sale. Black Friday iPad deals abound, yes, even if it’s not Black Friday anymore! But no, you don’t really need to buy this discounted iPad Pro that still costs almost $1,000. Instead, buy Apple’s entry-level iPad for $274 and save your money for all the other hours you’re not looking at that screen.

For more discounts, check out our roundup of the best Black Friday deals.

The best iPad deal

The iPad A16 (8/10, WIRED recommends) arrived earlier this year and is the only device in Apple’s lineup that doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. Perhaps that’s a good thing, given that many of these AI features aren’t very useful at the moment. However, early rumors suggest that Apple is preparing a 12th generation iPad in the first months of 2026 and expects to see Apple Intelligence support. Besides, this is expected to be a CPU issue, so don’t expect much else.

If you just want a simple big-screen tablet for watching shows, working, and even playing games, the iPad A16 fits the bill. It’s powerful enough for most apps and games, and the 11-inch screen size isn’t too big or too small. This iPad has recently become much more versatile with the iPadOS 26 update, which adds windowing features, transforming the iPad experience into a Mac. You can resize windows, slide them sideways for split screen, and iPadOS 26.1 brings Slide Over back, so you still have some options on how you want to multitask.

Connect it to a Bluetooth keyboard and you can easily spend hours on this slate typing emails or doing other types of light work. Yes, you can also use it for drawing, but it only supports the first generation Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil USB-C. The screen is also not fully laminated, meaning there is an air gap between the glass and the screen, making it suboptimal for drawing.

If you specifically want an iPad for drawing, I suggest upgrading to the iPad Mini, Air, or iPad Pro. Good news! These are also on sale.

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