Apple iPad Air 5th Generation (10.9 inch, Wi-Fi) (Refurbished)

This is the iPad Air that got Apple's desktop chip. The M1 inside it is the same silicon Apple shipped in the MacBook Air and the iPad Pro — 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, paired with 8GB of memory. Four years on, it is still quick enough that most people will never find its ceiling.

That chip is also why this generation matters more than any other used iPad. Apple Intelligence requires an M1 or better, and the Air 5 is the cheapest iPad that clears the bar. It's also confirmed on the supported list for iPadOS 27, arriving late 2026 — so this isn't a device nearing the end of its software life. It's one at the start of a long one.

The 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display is fully laminated, with True Tone, P3 wide colour and an anti-reflective coating at 500 nits. Photos and video look right, and text stays sharp edge to edge.

USB-C replaces Lightning here, running at 10 Gb/s — fast enough to pull a shoot off a camera in seconds, and capable of driving an external 4K display. It charges from the same cable as a modern laptop or Android phone.

The Apple Pencil (2nd generation) snaps to the side magnetically, charges there, and switches tools with a double-tap — no dongle, no cap to lose. The Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio turn it into a laptop when you need one. (Sold Seperately)

The 12MP Ultra Wide front camera runs Center Stage, which keeps you framed as you move during a call — the single feature people notice most in daily use. The 12MP rear camera shoots 4K at 60fps. Stereo speakers fire in landscape, the way you actually hold it for video.

Touch ID sits in the top button. Wi-Fi 6 throughout[, with 5G on cellular models].

At 461 g and 6.1 mm, it's still the thin, light one.