One of the biggest questions people will probably have about the new iPad 2022 (10th gen) is whether it’s worth $449, which is a valid question since the iPad 9th gen starts at just $329. Well, there’s a better iPad deal that suddenly makes the new iPad look irrelevant.
Right now you can pick up the iPad Air 4 for just $469 at Walmart (opens in new tab), which is just $20 more than the new iPad. That’s $30 cheaper than Amazon’s price and $130 off the original price, making this a nice early Black Friday deal.
Granted, the iPad Air 4 came out in 2020, but as TechRadar (opens in new tab) points out, it’s superior to the new iPad in a few key ways. First, it supports the newer Apple Pencil 2nd generation, which magnetically clicks to the top edge of the iPad in landscape mode for easy storage. And it charges while it’s attached.
The new iPad 2022 sticks with the 1st gen Apple Pencil, which doesn’t attach to anything and is awkward to charge, requiring a USB-C to Lightning adapter.
Another plus for the iPad Air 4 is its optional Magic Keyboard. You can easily swivel the display forward and back, while the new iPad’s Magic Keyboard Folio has a less versatile kickstand.
Last but not least, the iPad Air’s display supports P3-wide color, it’s laminated, and it has a anti-reflective coating to reduce glare. So you’re getting a better screen, too.
Otherwise, the iPad Air 4 is just as powerful as the iPad 2022, as they both use the speedy A14 Bionic chip. However, the 7MP front camera on the iPad Air is designed for portrait mode and the sharper 12MP selfie cam for the newer iPad is on the landscape side, so the latter is better for video calls.
In our original iPad Air 2020 review, we called it the best tablet for most people. That’s arguably still true, especially at this low price. For more, check out our Black Friday deals roundup for all the early sales.