Apple iPad Pro Apple iPad Pro (128GB, Wi-Fi, Space Gray) 12.9in Review

The renewed 12.9-inch iPad Pro offers a premium large-screen Apple experience at a budget price of $279. It's great for media consumption and light tasks, but its older A9X chip feels slow for intensive work. Buy it for the screen size and build, not the speed.

If you're looking for a big-screen iPad Pro experience without the big-screen price, this renewed 12.9-inch model for $279 is a serious contender. This is an older generation iPad Pro, featuring the A9X chip, 128GB of storage, and that gorgeous 12.9-inch Retina display. It's a refurbished unit, which means it's been inspected, tested, and cleaned to work like new, and it comes with a 90-day warranty. For artists, students, or anyone who wants a large canvas for notes and media, this is one of the most affordable ways to get into the Apple tablet ecosystem.

Let's be clear: this isn't a speed demon by 2024 standards. The dual-core A9X chip and its graphics land in the 41st and 42nd percentiles in our database, respectively. That means it's fine for everyday tasks like web browsing, streaming video, and light productivity apps, but you'll feel it chug if you try to run multiple intensive apps or the latest games. The four-speaker audio is still a highlight, though, and that 2732 x 2048 resolution screen is sharp, even if its overall quality score is in the lower third compared to modern tablets.

At $279, the value proposition is hard to ignore for a 12.9-inch iPad. You're getting a premium screen size and build for less than a third of the cost of a new model. The catch is the aging internals. If your main goal is a big, beautiful screen for reading, note-taking, and media, and you're okay with slower app performance, this is a steal. If you need speed or plan to use it as a daily driver for work, you might want to look at a newer base model iPad or an Android alternative.

Compared to a modern base iPad (10th gen), you get a much larger screen here but sacrifice significantly on processor speed and software support. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE offers a more modern experience with a great stylus for a similar price, but its build quality isn't quite as premium. Against other renewed tablets, this iPad Pro's main advantage is that Apple build and iOS ecosystem. Just know that Lenovo's Idea Tab Pro or a used Microsoft Surface Go might offer more flexibility as true laptop replacements, even if they lack the iPad's polish for specific creative apps.

Skip this if you're a power user, a digital artist needing top performance, or a student who needs to run multiple research apps and video calls simultaneously. The older chip and connectivity will hold you back. Also, avoid it if you need cellular connectivity, as this is Wi-Fi only. For those users, a newer base model iPad, a Samsung Tab S9 FE, or even a used laptop would be a better investment.

Should you buy this renewed iPad Pro? It's a solid 'maybe' that depends entirely on your needs. If you want a big-screen iPad for light duty—reading comics, watching movies, casual web browsing, or as a secondary device—and $279 is your hard limit, this is probably your best bet. The renewed process generally works well, and that warranty offers peace of mind. But if you need this tablet for serious multitasking, drawing with low latency, or as a primary computing device, the older chip and connectivity will frustrate you. In that case, save up for something newer.