Apple iPad Air Apple 2024 iPad Air 11-inch, Wi-Fi, 128GB - Space Review

Here's the one thing you need to know about this 2024 iPad Air: it's a refurbished deal that makes sense only if you're on a strict budget and your needs are dead simple. For $450, you get a nice 11-inch screen and the iPad Air design, but you're also getting a device with just 1GB of RAM and a battery that's already worn down. It's fine for reading or watching a show, but don't expect it to keep up if you try to do more than one thing at a time.

The performance is exactly what you'd expect from a tablet with only 1GB of RAM. It lands in the 1st percentile for memory, which is a fancy way of saying it's at the absolute bottom. Apps will open, but switching between them or trying to run anything in the background will feel sluggish. The CPU and GPU scores are also in the 40th percentile range, so it's not a powerhouse. It surprised me how much that single spec holds everything back.

At $450, it's a tough sell. You're paying for the iPad name and a good screen, but you're accepting severely compromised internals and a used battery. For the same money, you could find a much more capable new Android tablet. This is only worth it if your budget is locked at $450 and you absolutely must have an iPad.

Don't even look at the iPad Pro or Surface Pro 11—they're in a different league. The real competition is something like the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. For a similar price, you'd get a bigger 12.7-inch screen and 8GB of RAM, which is a massive practical upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 is also a far more powerful device, though it costs more. If you're considering this iPad Air, you should be comparing it to budget Android tablets, where it often loses on specs.

I can't recommend this specific refurbished iPad Air for most people. The 1GB of RAM is a deal-breaker for anything beyond the most basic single-task use. If you desperately want an iPad and can only spend $450, save a little longer or look for a used model with better specs. If you just need a tablet, a new budget Android option will give you more for your money. Skip this one.