Apple iPad (A16) Review: The Cheapest iPad, and What £429 Leaves Out

What £429 buys in Apple's current iPad line

The iPad (A16) is the cheapest tablet in Apple's current line. Apple UK listed the 128GB Wi-Fi model at £429 on 16 October 2026, with 256GB at £529 and 512GB at £729; the Wi-Fi + Cellular version starts at £579. The iPad mini starts at £599, the iPad Air at £749 and the iPad Pro at £1,199. Apple's finance disclaimer notes that the £429 model includes about £72 of VAT, so the sticker is the price you pay.

The chip is an A16 with a five-core CPU, four-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, and the 11-inch Liquid Retina screen runs 2360x1640 at 264 ppi with True Tone and 500 nits. At 477 grams and 7 millimetres thick, the Wi-Fi model is a one-hand tablet, sold in Silver, Pink, Blue and Yellow.

sRGB colour, where the Air and Pro list P3

Apple's specification page for the iPad (A16) lists an 11-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone, 500 nits and a fingerprint-resistant coating. Its buy page fills in what that leaves out. In the module that compares the models, the iPad Air and iPad Pro rows carry 'P3 wide colour' while the iPad row carries 'sRGB colour' and 'No ProMotion technology'.

Read together, Apple's pages put the £429 panel a step below the Air's, and the Air adds anti-reflective coating as well, where the buy page's comparison lists this iPad with 'No Anti-reflective coating'. Colour accuracy and glare under a window are where that gap shows up, so the panel is worth a look in person if either matters more to you than the £320.

Two Apple Pencils fit, and the Pro is not listed

Apple's buy page answers the compatibility question directly: "Both Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil (1st generation) are compatible with this iPad." The same page attaches a condition: a USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter is required for pairing and charging the first-generation Pencil.

The Apple Pencil (USB-C) costs £79 and the first-generation Pencil £99, with the adapter included in that £99 purchase. Apple Pencil Pro, at £129 on the iPad Air's page, shows up in the compare module as supported by the Air, the Pro and the mini but not by this iPad, so one bought for another iPad cannot be reused here.

Apple lists this iPad as having no Apple Intelligence

Apple's support article on Apple Intelligence names the iPads that qualify, among them the iPad mini (A17 Pro) and "iPad models with M1 or later." The A16 is neither an M-series chip nor the A17 Pro, and the buy page's own column lists 'No Apple Intelligence' for this model where the iPad Pro and iPad Air rows carry an Apple Intelligence line.

That places a currently sold iPad outside the feature set Apple promotes across its newer hardware. The A16 remains fine for streaming, browsing and note-taking. Anyone set on those features should read that column before ordering.

USB-C that runs at USB 2.0, plus Wi-Fi 6

The USB-C port does more than charge: it carries DisplayPort and supports one external display up to 4K at 60Hz. Data moves at USB 2.0, up to 480Mb/s, which makes cable transfers of large photo or video libraries the weakest number on the tablet's spec sheet.

Wireless is Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6 on the A16, where the iPad Air steps up to Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be). Battery capacity is 28.93 Wh, rated up to 10 hours of web browsing or video over Wi-Fi and up to 9 hours on cellular data, an up-to figure rather than a floor.

The £320 step up to the iPad Air

The iPad Air 11-inch starts at £749 and spans 128GB to 1TB, at £849 for 256GB, £1,049 for 512GB and £1,349 for 1TB. Its specification page lists what the A16's does not: P3 wide colour, a fully laminated panel, anti-reflective coating and, on the buy page, support for Apple Pencil Pro. Wireless is Wi-Fi 7.

Physically the Air is close, at 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 millimetres against the A16's 248.6 x 179.5 x 7, and 464 grams against 477. The £320 therefore buys screen quality, Pencil headroom and connectivity rather than a smaller body. If work depends on colour accuracy or Pencil Pro, that £320 is the deciding difference; for a shared streaming and browsing tablet it is not required.

A keyboard and Pencil widen the gap to the Air

The keyboard that fits is the Magic Keyboard Folio at £249, listed on Apple's keyboard page for the iPad (A16) and the 10th-generation iPad, and the keyboard its buy page offers. Pairing the Folio with a £79 Apple Pencil (USB-C) puts the accessories at £328.

That takes the £429 iPad to £757. The Air's own Magic Keyboard is £269, £20 more than the Folio, so the same keyboard-and-Pencil setup on a £749 Air comes to £1,097, and the gap grows from £320 to £340. A loaded A16 costs £8 more than a bare Air, which matters only to a buyer who would use the Air without a keyboard.

In the box, warranty, returns and school pricing

Apple's specifications page lists the iPad and a USB-C charge cable (1 metre) in the box, with no power adapter, and the iPad Air's page lists the same. If the household has no USB-C charger to spare, budget for one, since the pages that list the box give no price for it. Delivery shows as free on the store page.

For returns, Apple's UK policy allows a change-of-mind return or exchange within 14 days of receipt, with the receipt, original condition, accessories and packaging, and the help page words it as 14 calendar days from delivery. Separately, UK consumer law lets a buyer claim a free repair or replacement for a defective iPad; Apple's consumer-law page sets the time limit for such a claim at six years from delivery in England and Wales and five in Scotland, and that is a claims window, not a warranty period. The Apple Limited Warranty adds one year at no extra cost.

The education store priced the same 128GB model at £409, with the cellular version at £559, a £20 step below the standard £429 and £579 for eligible buyers, and it showed no end date beside those prices.