The ultimate iPad setup for every budget this Black Friday

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iPads
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Mice
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The iPad is one of the most versatile tech products on the planet. The best tablets on the market now have Apple silicon inside, adding even more power to an already seamless experience. With the ability to quickly swap between a handheld device and a full desktop setup, an iPad can be a serious alternative to a laptop. Whether it’s browsing the web, writing documents, making music, or editing photos, there’s an iPad and accessories for you.

With Black Friday in full flow, here are three different solutions at different budgets to fulfill your computing needs with an iPad.

The high-end option

If you’re looking for the absolute best iPad setup to use at home and on the go, then there aren’t many better options than the selection on offer here. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro has Apple’s M2 chip, and with 256GB storage, you’ll have enough storage space to store all your favorite apps and most important documents. The Magic Keyboard is the best iPad keyboard and trackpad case on the market, and combined with the Apple Pencil 2, it’s the perfect on-the-go iPad accessory. When you’re at home, this high-end setup option gives you an incredible 5K image on Apple’s Studio Display and the fantastic Keychron Q1 Pro mechanical keyboard alongside Apple’s Magic Trackpad.

The mid-range option

If a slightly more portable option is up your street, the 11-inch iPad Pro benefits from the same M2 chip as its larger sibling. We’ve also selected the same Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2 as the more expensive option above. When you’re working at home, the Keychron V1 is one of the best budget mechanical keyboards available today, and the iconic Logitech MX Master 2S is considered one of the best mice of all time. The mid-range setup is completed with an LG UltraFine 4K display, which connects to your iPad via Anker’s 11-in-1 Dock.

The budget option

If you’re looking for a complete iPad setup for under $1000, the M1 iPad Air is a brilliant option, as you get the same chip as Apple’s M1 MacBook Air in a smaller form factor. The Logitech Folio Touch is a lovely fabric case housing a keyboard and trackpad for the times you want to work on the go. The KXT Stylus Pen has over 8000 reviews on Amazon and provides a similar experience to Apple’s first-party solution for less. The Logitech MK470 bundle gives you a slim keyboard and mouse to use with the Luckyfive 4K UHD monitor connected to your iPad with Anker’s 5-in-1 dock — this is everything you could ever need for an iPad desktop and on-the-go solution.

Options compared

The best thing about creating your own iPad setup is that you can pick and mix every element to create an alternative to a Mac that fits your needs.

iPads

Monitors

Keyboard cases

Apple Pencils

Keyboards

Mice

Docks

Save money with Black Friday sales

Grab bargains on Apple devices this Black Friday

If you're looking for the best Black Friday Apple deals as the annual sales season kicks off, we've got you covered. From now right through to Cyber Monday on November 27, we'll be serving up the best offers on iPhone, MacBook, Apple Watch, iPad, HomeKit smart home devices and more. Save a small fortune by checking back on our daily deals coverage.

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.