Tech
iPad 9th-Gen hits $249 for the last time ever ahead of Prime Day
After what seemed like a wait that was going to last an eternity, Apple finally unveiled its new OLED iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air tablets this past May. They’re both fantastic new iPadOS devices, but there is a pretty obvious problem with them: they’re insanely expensive. The M4 iPad Pro tops out at $2,599, and the cheapest model you can get still costs $999 (currently $928 on sale). Meanwhile, the M2 iPad Air isn’t much cheaper, with a base price of $799 for the 13-inch model and $599 for the 11-inch version.
Since those new iPad models cost so much money, Apple kept the iPad 10th-Gen in its lineup and slashed the starting price to $349. Meanwhile, the iPad 9th-Gen — which is by far the best-selling tablet in Apple’s lineup over the past few years — has been discontinued. It’s already gone from the Apple Store, but other retailers still have some inventory left. For Prime Day 2024, you can pick one up starting at just $249, potentially for the last time ever since it could be gone for good once it sells out.
Apple’s newer 10th-Gen iPad was a decent upgrade, but it’s not really anything to write home about. It’s also much more expensive than the previous-generation iPad model, which was just dumped from Apple’s current tablet lineup.
The newer model has a slightly bigger display, a relocated Touch ID home button, and a newer chipset. But it starts at $349 even after Apple’s price cut, while the 10.2-inch iPad started at $329. And now, since the iPad 9th-Gen has been discontinued, you can get it even cheaper until retailers sell out of their current stock.
Thanks to a big discount, this best-selling iPad model starts at just $249. Or, if you want to bump up your storage to 256GB instead of 64GB, you’ll still save $100 and pay $379 instead of $479. Those are the exact same prices we saw during the holidays last year.
Or, if you want something more powerful, you can check out the previous-generation iPad Air instead. It has an M1 chip just like a Mac, and it’s only $399 at Walmart until it’s sold out.
Another great deal is available right now for anyone in search of a more compact Apple tablet.
The iPad mini has been a reader favorite ever since the 1st-generation model debuted back in 2012. Apple is now on the 6th-generation model, though an update is expected to be released this year.
If you’re an early adopter, that means you’ll probably want to wait for the new model. But if you don’t need to have the latest and greatest version, you can save a ton right now on the current version. At the moment, the iPad mini is on sale for $399.99 instead of $499. That matches the lowest price ever for this model, and it’s a terrific value.