I bought this beefy iPad Air for $100 off this Black Friday – and you should too

I'd been looking for a tablet that could effectively double as a laptop for school but I didn't want to cave into the craving until I could get a good deal. When I saw the 2024 iPad Air crash to its lowest price yet, I decided it was time. You too can get the Apple iPad Air (M2) for as little as $499 at Amazon (was $599).

And you've got options, too, as all iPad Air models, whether you get the 11 or 13-inch screen, are currently $100 off. The 2024 iPad Air comes in storage sizes between 128GB (the default) and 1TB in either Blue, Purple, Space Gray or Starlight. If your favorite color sells out at Amazon, you can try your luck at Target for the same price.

Today's best Apple iPad Air deals

Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M2): was $599 now $499 at Amazon

The iPad Air might as well be a laptop because of how well it juggles demanding tasks from photo editing to gaming. The new M2 chip in this latest model gives the iPad Air a generous boost in performance alongside perks like up to 10 hours of battery life and 128GB of storage as standard. As a kicker, it currently costs just as much (if not less) than its predecessor. All colors and storage sizes are $100 off, which brings it back around to record-low price.

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Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M2): was $799 now $699 at Amazon

The 13-inch iPad Air is the same as the 11-inch one – just bigger. It still has the same powerful M2 processor, all-day battery life, and between 128GB and 1TB of storage. If you're between the 11 and 13-inch iPad Air, I'd consider what you want to use it for. For example, the bigger screen might work better for artists who want to use it to draw or on-the-go TV fans who want to use it to catch up with episodes of their favorite shows.

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The iPad Air excels as a digital notebook, workstation, and drawing tablet. In our Apple iPad Air 13-inch (2024) review, our reviewer praised the performance, battery life, and bigger screen size option it has over the 2022 iPad Air. That said, you can save a couple hundred dollars with the 11-inch iPad Air and still get the same benefits as the 13-inch one.

The iPad Air's crown jewel is the M2 processor, the same one that Apple used for the 2022 Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, and iPad Pro. While it might not match the power of the new M4 processor, it's still a powerful chipset that can tackle a variety of heavy-duty tasks from music editing to console-level gaming. It can last up to 10 hours, but it might be less depending on what you use it for and on what settings.

The iPad Air gets an even bigger increase in utility when you complement it with additional accessories like its matching Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. Just make sure you buy the compatible model.

If you're like me and want to use the iPad Air for work, I'd suggest the Magic Keyboard or a more affordable alternative like the Logitech Combo Touch. You can score a relatively good deal on the Magic Keyboard for $40 off at Amazon right now, but it isn't the lowest price we've seen (and it might go even lower next week).

Apple just announced its Black Friday shopping event, so expect even more deals coming later this month. Be sure to bookmark the best Apple Black Friday deals to stay up to date with all the latest offers.