iPad Black Friday 2026: which iPad is worth buying?

Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November, but the best buy depends more on the iPad's configuration than on the day you buy it. Your best bet is a well-priced iPad Air or an older iPad Pro with an OLED display. Watch for offers from early November through mid-December, not just on Black Friday itself.

Anyone comparing iPad Black Friday 2026 offers runs into the same problem: the official price of at least one popular iPad has risen since its launch, so the percentage on a label says less than it used to.

Configuration matters just as much one generation back. A refurbished iPad is a used iPad that has been professionally tested, cleaned and reconditioned before it is sold again, with a warranty behind it. An older iPad Pro with an OLED display shows how well a previous-generation iPad can hold up.

refurbed has its own version of Black Friday too: Green Friday.

Before you buy, make three decisions:

• Which configuration to watch: Check how much memory the exact iPad has, which Apple Pencil models it supports and how much it weighs. These details matter as much as its chip name.
• Which offer to trust: Check the iPad's starting price and any code or cashback to work out what you will pay. Check the delivery date to see when it will arrive.
• When to skip the sale: An iPad you own may need only a software update, so name the one feature it lacks before you replace it.

In Germany, Apple announced the 11-inch iPad Air (2026) with the M4 chip, 128 GB of storage and Wi-Fi at €649 on 2 March 2026. On 23 October 2026, the Apple Store listed the same configuration starting at €799. That is €150 more, a rise of 23.1% between the launch announcement and the October check.

A retailer's price can differ from Apple's. On the same date, the German price-comparison service billiger listed a new blue model for €688.90. Coolblue was the lowest-priced retailer it listed for that colour. Prices can differ for other colours and other sellers, too. This is one German example, not an EU average.

Imagine a 20% reduction. A 20% cut from €799 brings the price to €639.20. That is only €9.80 below the March launch price and about 7.2% below the €688.90 listing. This 20% discount is hypothetical, not an announced offer. That does not mean €639.20 would be a bad purchase. But a large percentage discount may save you little compared with an offer that already exists in October. You cannot count on a return to 2025 prices, either.

So put three prices side by side for the exact configuration: what Apple announced, what Apple charges today and the lowest retailer listing today. A discount percentage starts from a single reference price, so check which one it is. Use the March price as context, not as a target, because it may not come back.

These examples come from November and December 2025 offers that have since expired. This is not a ranking of the year's lowest prices, and none of the prices is one to aim for in 2026.

An earlier offer can beat the Black Friday one. On 9 November, a marketplace in Germany offered blue and silver versions of the iPad 11 (2025) with the A16 chip, 128 GB and Wi-Fi for €305.10 with the code PRESALE25. On 28 November, Amazon offered the same configuration for €333 as a published Black Friday offer. The prices were €27.90 apart, but the sellers and conditions were different. You could have paid less before Black Friday, but these offers do not tell you how prices changed at a single retailer. A MacRumors forum member in Germany reported a similar early reduction on 7 November 2025: a 13-inch iPad Pro (M5) with 512 GB and cellular cost €1,758.98, roughly 9.7% below Apple's €1,949 price. That is one person's account, not a survey, but it suggests that a reseller can discount even a recently introduced Pro before Black Friday.

Compare the price you pay, not the code you enter. On 24 November in France, Amazon offered a space grey iPad Air (2025) with the M3 chip, an 11-inch screen, 128 GB and Wi-Fi for €539.10. On 28 November, Fnac offered the entry configuration at €579 with the code IPAD20 during a brief promotion that required no membership. Both offers ran in the same week, and Amazon's price was lower than Fnac's price with the code. A coupon at a familiar retailer does not automatically beat a lower price elsewhere. Forum prices need the same care: one ComputerBase participant reported around €307 for an A16 iPad but was unsure whether cashback was included. The lowest figure in a thread may be the cost after cashback, not the price paid at checkout.

December can bring offers too. An archived listing shows that Darty offered the entry configuration of the 13-inch iPad Air (M3) for €749 in France on 9 December, after Cyber Monday. In the US, MacRumors recorded iPad Pro (M5) offers on 9 December 2025 that matched or beat the Black Friday prices it tracked. One was an 11-inch model with 256 GB and Wi-Fi for $899. The US example shows that offers can continue into December; it does not set a price to expect in the EU.

Delivery dates matter for gifts. MacRumors' December 2025 report noted that some discounted configurations would arrive too late for Christmas, so check when an iPad will arrive as well as what it costs.

A chip name does not tell you how much memory an iPad has. Apple's specifications show how much memory each model has. On the iPad Pro, the amount also depends on the storage capacity:

• iPad Air (M3): It has 8 GB of memory.
• iPad Air (M4): It has 12 GB of memory.
• iPad Pro (M4): With 256 GB or 512 GB of storage it has 8 GB of memory, and with 1 TB or 2 TB it has 16 GB.
• iPad Pro (M5): With 256 GB or 512 GB of storage it has 12 GB of memory, and with 1 TB or 2 TB it has 16 GB.

The iPad Air (M4) therefore has 50% more memory than an iPad Pro (M4) with 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. That does not make it the better iPad in every respect, because the Pro keeps its OLED display.

In 2026, the memory difference matters for software too. Apple's September announcement says its most powerful on-device AI model, and features such as expressive voices and more advanced dictation, require an M4 chip or later and at least 12 GB of unified memory. The iPad Air (M4) meets that condition. The iPad Pro (M4) models with 8 GB do not, and the iPad Pro (M4) models with 16 GB do. Those requirements apply only to that AI model and those features: 8 GB iPads keep other Apple Intelligence capabilities, but which features you can use also depends on language, region and software availability. Apple's current software guidance also says to allow up to 14 GB of storage for Apple Intelligence on eligible iPads with more memory, compared with up to 8 GB on other eligible devices. That matters when you choose a storage tier.

So the name 'iPad Pro (M4)' alone does not tell you how much memory you get. The storage capacity does, whether you compare new iPads or refurbished ones such as the iPad Pro (2024) 11-inch and the 13-inch model.

People shopping for an iPad discuss the same trade-off on forums. In a November MacRumors discussion, members compared an iPad Pro (M4) with 1 TB of storage and 16 GB of memory with an iPad Pro (M5) with 512 GB of storage and 12 GB of memory. In that comparison, the older model has more storage and more memory, and the replies differed on whether a buyer needs that much capacity. These are enthusiast accounts, not a survey.

Memory buys eligibility, not results. In Tom's Guide's September review of iPadOS 27, Siri sent a group message using Apple's own apps after getting approval. In the Chrome test, though, it recognised the visible articles but failed to open or read them while saying it could. The reviewer described that test as a beta experience, so it does not prove a continuing defect. The useful question is whether the assistant finishes the job in the apps you use.

Pencil compatibility has changed with newer iPads, so check what is in a bundle before you buy:

• Second-generation Pencil: It works with the iPad Pro models from 2018 to 2022, the iPad Air models from 2020 to 2022 and the iPad mini from 2021. It does not work with the iPad Air (M2, M3 or M4) or the iPad Pro (M4 and M5).
• Apple Pencil Pro and USB-C Pencil: The iPad Air (M2, M3 and M4) and the iPad Pro (M4 and M5) work with both, and the iPad mini (A17 Pro) works with the Apple Pencil Pro.
• iPad (A16): It works with the USB-C Pencil and the first-generation Pencil, but the first-generation Pencil needs an adapter to pair and charge.

That makes some bundles a trap: a discounted second-generation Pencil packed with an incompatible newer iPad does not give you a usable drawing set.

Check the Pencil you already own, or the one in a bundle, against the exact iPad before you buy. Your existing accessories can change the calculation: one buyer writing on ComputerBase already owned an Apple Pencil Pro when they moved to an 11-inch iPad Pro. That is one buyer's account, not a survey. If your drawer holds a second-generation Pencil, the iPad Air guide and the iPad Pro guide show which Pencil models work with each iPad generation.

A model name can mislead about portability. According to Apple's specifications for Wi-Fi models, the 13-inch iPad Air (M4) weighs 616 g and the 13-inch iPad Pro (M5) weighs 579 g, so the Air is 37 g heavier before you add a case or a keyboard. The specifications show the same pattern for other models: the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024) also weighs 579 g, and at 11 inches the iPad Air weighs 460 g compared with 444 g for the Pro.

A smaller iPad can be the better work tool. In a late-September MacRumors discussion, an owner of a 13-inch iPad Pro (M5) considered adding an iPad mini because the larger tablet took up too much desk space when taking meeting notes. Their work involved taking notes, making calls and using Slack. The iPad mini (2024) weighs 297 g – a reminder that you don't always need a larger display to get work done.

Try holding an iPad and seeing how much room it takes up on your desk, as well as checking how well your apps run on it. Check the weight and size, and what a case or keyboard adds, before you compare prices on the 13-inch iPad Air (2026) and the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024).

A new chip headlines most iPad launches. But these four reports show that it does not always change how an iPad feels to use.

Watching films. In its review of the 13-inch iPad Air (M4), updated on 20 October, What Hi-Fi found that the screen and speaker specifications were essentially unchanged from those of its predecessors. It praised the natural-looking images and capable sound but found little audiovisual benefit from the new chip. If you mainly watch films on an iPad Air, extra computing power will not necessarily make them look or sound better.

Battery and sustained speed. Notebookcheck's April 2026 test of the 11-inch iPad Air (M4) measured 11 hours 59 minutes of Wi-Fi browsing and 3 hours 54 minutes under load at maximum brightness. The gap reflects workload and brightness, so neither figure tells you exactly how long the iPad will run in your own use. Its stress test also found that the iPad slowed down automatically during prolonged heavy use, despite very strong initial performance. For gaming, long exports or field work, a short benchmark tells you something different from an everyday browsing result. Check the conditions behind any battery figure.

Software on an older iPad. In a September MacRumors discussion, an owner of an iPad Pro with the M1 chip reported substantially better responsiveness after installing iPadOS 27, and another member described less keyboard and mouse lag on a tenth-generation iPad. Other replies reported Safari tab previews that stayed on screen and got in the way. These users reported different experiences with their own setups, and their comments show neither a universal speed-up nor a measured gain in battery life. Check your operating-system version and the apps giving you trouble before deciding the processor is too slow. The iPad lifespan guide explains what changes as an iPad gets older and what stays the same.

The display. A different screen can change the experience. In ComputerBase's 2 December retrospective, one buyer chose an 11-inch 2025 iPad Pro mainly to move from an M2 Air to an OLED display. The display can be the reason to buy a Pro, and a faster processor need not be the decisive improvement.

Should I wait for Black Friday to buy an iPad?

No, not by default. Last year's iPad offers came on different days: some well before Black Friday and one after Cyber Monday. Watching for offers from early November through the first half of December gives you more chances than waiting for Black Friday alone.

Is an iPad Black Friday discount worth it?

Yes, if the discounted price beats the alternatives for the exact configuration. Check the discount percentage, then compare the discounted price with the launch price, Apple's current price and the lowest retailer listing. A 20% cut from a raised starting price can leave the final price less than ten euros under the March launch price.

What is the best iPad to buy on Black Friday?

The best buy is a well-priced configuration, most likely an iPad Air or an older iPad Pro with an OLED display. Before you compare prices, check how much memory it has, which Pencil it supports and what it weighs. A newer chip does not automatically make a discounted iPad the better buy.

Is the iPad Air or the iPad Pro the better Black Friday buy?

Choose the Air for most everyday use, or the Pro if its OLED display or 16 GB of memory makes the difference for you. The iPad Air (M4) has more memory than the iPad Pro (M4) with 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, and the 13-inch Air weighs more than the 13-inch Pro.

How much memory does the iPad Pro M4 have?

Storage determines whether you get 8 GB or 16 GB of memory. The iPad Pro (M4) has 8 GB with 256 GB or 512 GB of storage and 16 GB with 1 TB or 2 TB. Apple's most powerful on-device AI model needs at least 12 GB, which the 8 GB models lack.

Which Apple Pencil works with which iPad?

Both the iPad Air (M2, M3 or M4) and the iPad Pro (M4 and M5) work with the Apple Pencil Pro and the USB-C Pencil, but not the second-generation Pencil. The iPad (A16) works with the USB-C Pencil and, with an adapter, the first-generation Pencil. Check the exact iPad before you buy a Pencil or a bundle.

Is an older refurbished iPad still worth buying?

Yes, if it has what you need. An older iPad Pro with an OLED display can still be worth buying for its screen, and an iPad Air from the previous generation suits most everyday use. Compare refurbished listings with one another, checking the model, storage and condition grade, and see the best refurbished iPads.