Work out which iPad you actually have
There are four lines, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini and the standard iPad, and within each of them the generation matters more than the name. An M-series iPad Pro and an A-series one look almost identical from across a table and are priced nowhere near each other.
The reliable check takes ten seconds. Open Settings, General, About and read the Model Number, or turn the iPad over and read the A-number engraved under the Apple logo. Send us that string rather than a guess. "iPad Pro 11-inch" covers several generations across several years, and quoting the wrong one wastes your trip.
Cellular or Wi-Fi, and how storage stacks up
A Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad is worth more than the Wi-Fi model of the same generation and storage. Wider pool of buyers, simple as that. If you are not sure which you have, look for a Cellular Data row in Settings or a SIM tray on the edge of the chassis, though the newest cellular iPads dropped the tray for eSIM, so its absence proves nothing on a recent model.
Storage moves the number just as hard. The gap between 128GB and 1TB on an iPad Pro is commercially a different device. Check it in Settings, General, About rather than going from memory. And if the iPad is cellular with a live data plan, cancel it with your carrier before handover.
Which Apple Pencil and keyboard fit your iPad
Apple has shipped four different pens and they are not interchangeable. The first-generation Pencil charges through a Lightning port, the second generation and the Pencil Pro snap magnetically onto the flat side of the frame, and the USB-C Pencil pairs over a cable. A pen that will not attach or pair with the iPad in front of us belongs to a different generation.
Keyboards follow the same rule. Magic Keyboards and Smart Keyboard Folios are cut for a specific size and camera cutout, so a folio from an 11-inch Pro will not seat on a 13-inch one. If you are unsure, snap the pen or keyboard onto the iPad at home and see whether it connects.
Cases and screen protectors carry no value, and the protector should come off before you visit.
Turn off Activation Lock before you walk in
An iPad still signed into an Apple Account stays locked to that account, and erasing it at our counter changes nothing. Go to Settings, your name, Find My, and switch off Find My iPad. Then Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPad, Erase All Content and Settings. Back up anything you want to keep first.
We do not pay for a device we cannot activate. An Activation Locked iPad is worth nothing to the next owner, so it is worth nothing to us. If the account belongs to a family member who is not with you, sort it out before the trip; a password recovery is not a five-minute job.
iPad batteries hide their condition better than iPhone ones, since iPadOS shows no maximum capacity figure to screenshot. We test it here instead.