iPad Air (5th Gen)

Honestly, get any iPad with an M chip in it. The general consensus seems to be that iPadOS isn’t even really capable of using the full power of it, and I’ve found that to be true. My iPad Air 5 with the M1 has never shown any signs of slowing down and I am consistently multitasking. My recommendatio

I would say either an iPad with at least 256GB of storage, usb c port & support for either Apple Pencil 2 or Apple Pencil Pro So I would suggest either iPad Air (5th (M1), 6th (M2), 7th (m3) & 8th (m4)) or an iPad Pro (5th (M1), 6th (m2), 7th (M4) & 8th (M5)) I would strongly recommend m4 iPad Pro w

Refurbished iPad air, 2022 if you're on a budget? Or just use that one for now and save. You don't need the newest tech to do what you need to do. 32gb is decent if you're just using it for procreate, and when the storage is full just offload your work into a Google drive. Edit: 8th gen iPad support

There isn’t a clear answer to get USB-C, decent storage and an M processor for “cheap”. 64GB was the base storage size until the current gen and that’s isn’t great for iPadOS 26. Jumping up in storage adds $100 150 for the models newer than 2019-2020. I just did EXTENSIVE research and the answer is

I’d go for the iPad Air 13” M3 256GB WiFi + Cellular ($750). It’s the newest/most future-proof with M3 chip, great for school apps, note-taking (full Apple Pencil Pro support), and multitasking with your 70GB+ stuff. Bigger screen than your current Air 5, 256GB solves storage, cellular adds flexibil

There’s certified refurbished iPads on the apple website. Any of them would honestly do you good but if it’s quality you want I’d look for anything above the M1. In my opinion the iPad Air 5th gen is the best and since it’s older it’s significantly cheaper. Just make sure you get enough storage. Lea

Definitely the air but if there’s a 64gig version - ignore it. Go for 128gb or 256gb. I’m using the A16, I can tell that the iPad is ok but it can do a lot more if it had m-series chips. I have a controller paired to my a16 - I play games on it but can’t play all since the AAA title games need m-ser

As far as the other two, looks like they will both get OS updates through 2029. The mini is extremely small so I don't think you will be any digital art on it, it is more for content consumption like reading emails and watching videos. The M1 in the Air 5 is going to be waaay faster for any content

I would say iPadOS 26 is the last operating system for this device & also it depends on how long you’re having the device for too I would recommend saving more for a device higher than 128GB with an USB C port like a 10th (256GB) - 11th generation iPad, 4th generation iPad Air (256GB) or a Apple sil

Yes, an iPad Air (M1 or above) with 256+ GB of storage is well worth it. Source: I have a 256 GB iPad Air 5th gen from early 2024 and it still feels like a beast. It’ll last me 3 more semesters until I graduate!