Amazon just made the M2 iPad Air's age irrelevant with a $400 discount.
The 11-inch iPad Air with M2 chip and 1TB of storage is currently listed on Amazon for $699 - $400 below its original retail price. The more useful comparison: Apple's own store sells the 512GB M2 model for the same $699, which means the storage upgrade costs nothing at this price. The M2 isn't the newest chip in Apple's tablet lineup - the company has since refreshed the Air with M3 and M4 silicon - but the discount closes fast on a 1TB M4 model, which runs roughly $400 more.
The real argument here isn't about this specific deal - it's about how well Apple silicon ages. A chip from 2022 still handles photo editing, multitasking, and graphics-heavy apps without visible strain in 2026. That longevity is what makes a discounted previous-generation iPad a considered purchase rather than a clearance-bin compromise. Storage, not processor speed, is usually what forces tablet users to upgrade anyway.
If your use case involves a Magic Keyboard and serious document work, the M4 will feel snappier. For everyone else, spending $400 more to run the same apps slightly faster is a hard sell.