While I mostly use my iPad for relaxing and watching shows and videos on the couch, others use it as a total laptop replacement — NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin carried an iPad Pro, Apple Magic keyboard case and Apple Pencil to class back in her college days.
The latest iPad Air (M3) is the swiss army knife of iPads — lightweight and easy to use, but powerful enough to tackle professional and creative tasks usually reserved for laptops. It’s currently at its lowest price ever at 25% off.
Lowest price ever
The iPad Air sits in the middle of Apple’s tablet lineup, more capable than the iPad (A16) but not as premium (or pricey) as the iPad Pro (M4).
Compared to the iPad (A16), the iPad Air (M3) has the much more powerful M3 chip inside, which has faster and smoother performance, especially in graphically demanding apps. It also has an anti-reflective, laminated screen with increased color depth and contrast.
The iPad Air (M3) is also one of the cheapest models that’s compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro, making it a good fit for artists and creatives. The Apple Pencil Pro acts much more like a real pencil than other models — it has extra tools like double-tap and squeeze shortcuts, plus it’s pressure sensitive and supports rolling to change the orientation of shaped pens and brushes.
Like other iPads, the iPad Air (M3) weighs about a pound and gets up to 10 hours of battery life.
Lowest price ever
If an 11-inches screen sounds too small to you, this larger 13-inch version is also on sale at its lowest price ever. It’s still pretty lightweight at 1.36 pounds (the 11-inch version weighs 1.01 pounds), and it has a larger, brighter, higher resolution screen.
Other Apple iPad sales happening now
Lowest price ever
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I’m a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including recent stories on smartwatches, running shoes, cameras and more. For this piece, I checked Apple iPad Air (M3) prices and price history across multiple retailers to find the best deal.
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