Best Prime Day iPad deals: The best early discounts

iPad (A16)

Apple

Apple’s A16-based iPad is already a bargain at its usual $349 price. Amazon regularly discounts it to $299, and we’ve seen it drop as low as $274 during previous Prime Day and Black Friday sales. Just remember, this is Apple’s only tablet that doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, so if you want the new Siri AI, you’ll have to buy a mini or an Air or wait for the next-gen model rumored to arrive this fall.

U.S. Prime Day price: The A16 iPad was $299 at Amazon earlier this week, but strangely, the entire line is now listed as out of stock. That probably means they’re holding back stock for Prime Day sales, so keep checking back, but in the meantime, you can buy one at Best Buy for $299.

U.K. Prime Day price: Amazon U.K. is selling the A16 iPad for £310, a savings of £19 on its £329 RRP.

iPad mini

Apple

Apple hasn’t updated the iPad mini since 2024, but it’s still a fantastic tablet and the best of its class. It’s more portable than either the A16 iPad or 11-inch iPad Air, and fully capable of running Apple Intelligence and iOS 27 in the fall. We’ve seen it as low as $380 in the past, but recently it’s hovered around $25 off, so anything in the $400 range will be a great time to buy one.

U.S. Prime Day price: You can save $25 on the iPad mini right now, which is something, but a far cry from its usual sale event pricing – we’ve seen it drop to $349. We’re expecting to see the iPad mini drop to at least $399 for Prime Day, so we recommend waiting until prices drop further.

U.K. Prime Day price: The pricing situation is similar on Amazon’s U.K. site, which is selling the iPad mini for around £25 off. We recommend waiting for a better price.

M4 iPad Air

Apple Inc

The iPad Air is Apple’s only tablet to get an update in 2026, and we haven’t seen much in the way of significant savings yet. The various sizes and storage configurations have been hovering at $40-$50 off for several weeks, so we expect Prime Day to bring lower prices of around $100 off. But if you want a full-sized tablet, the Air represents the sweet spot for screen size and performance.

U.S. Prime Day price: Amazon hasn’t yet cut the price of the iPad Air beyond its usual discount, but you can save $40-$50 if you need one now.

U.K. Prime Day price: Amazon has cut £20-£30 off the price of most iPad Air configurations, with the 11-inch iPad Air already dipping to the lowest prices we’ve seen for the iPad that was introduced in March, but like the U.S. store, we expect prices to drop further once Prime Day begins.

iPad Pro

Apple Inc

The iPad Pro is Apple’s best tablet, with the fastest chip, most RAM, and best display. It’s probably more tablet than you need, but if you don’t mind paying a premium, you’ll be getting an incredible tablet. Amazon recently cut prices by $100 or more across all models and configurations, so it’s a good time to buy one.

U.S. Prime Day price: Amazon is currently slashing up to $150 off, which is the best we’ve seen in a while.

U.K. Prime Day price: Amazon has dropped most prices by £50-£100. Those are decent price cuts, but there could be better deals in store for Prime Day. We have already seen the lowest price to date on the 1TB 13-inch iPad Pro with £130 off.

Which iPad should you buy?

Foundry

• iPad: Best for students and budget buyers.
• iPad mini: Ideal for commuting, reading, and taking handwritten notes.
• iPad Air: Ideal for most people.
• iPad Pro: Best for professionals and artists.

Apple sells four categories of this product: there’s the baseline iPad, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro. For dedicated buying advice (including whether or not this is a good time to buy) read about the Best iPad to buy and if you are a student, take a look at Best iPad for Students.

iPad A16: Best Value iPad

This is the baseline model, the cheapest iPad Apple sells, and normally we’d recommend it for those who just want a tablet for media consumption and browsing the internet on the sofa. But now isn’t a good time to pick up the A16 iPad, which came out in March 2025 and doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. An A19 model was expected to launch in the first half of this year, which obviously didn’t happen–but an update is definitely overdue, and could land any time.

In other words, look for a solid discount (anywhere below $300/£290 for the 128GB model is worth considering), or wait.

We recommend: Apple iPad (A16)

Price When Reviewed: $349

Best Prices Today: $299 at Best Buy US | $299.99 at Target | $329 at B&H

iPad mini: Best for Portability

This is the smallest and most portable model. The current (7th-gen) iPad mini came out as long ago as October 2024, but thanks to its A17 Pro chip it does support Apple Intelligence, so there’s less motivation for Apple to replace it. Nevertheless, an 8th-gen iPad mini is likely to land before the end of 2026.

On Amazon U.S. the lowest we’ve ever seen the 128GB model is $349, but anything below $400 is a solid deal. On the U.K. store, meanwhile, deals have historically been a little scarcer. The low point is £399, so Brits should be looking for somewhere in that range.

We recommend: Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro)

Price When Reviewed: $499 (128GB; Wi-Fi only) | $599 (256GB; Wi-Fi only) | $799 (512GB; Wi-Fi only)

Best Prices Today: $479 at Best Buy US | $487.39 at Walmart | $489 at B&H

iPad Air M4: Best overall

The intermediate model, with excellent features, strong specs, and two choices of screen size. The current 8th-gen model came out in March 2026 so there’s no danger of it getting replaced any time soon. The 11-inch Air has been as low as $520 in the past, so look for a similar discount. The 13-inch Air’s lowest ever price is just under $700.

We recommend: Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4, 2026)

Price When Reviewed: $599

Best Prices Today: $559 at B&H | $559 at Walmart | $559.99 at Target

iPad Pro: Best for Creatives

The top-end model. Very expensive but equipped with the very best specs and features. Mainly targeted at creative pros. The M5 iPad Pro (in two screen sizes) came out in October 2025; new M6 models are likely to arrive in spring 2027.

The 11-inch Pro (with 256GB) once dipped briefly under $800, but that was something of an anomaly; anything under $900 is worth considering. The 13-inch Pro’s lowest ever price on Amazon was just under $1,150. We may not see any deals as good as that this time, but aim for $1,200 or lower.

We recommend: Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M5, 2025)

Price When Reviewed: $999

Best Prices Today: $936.5 at Walmart | $999 at Apple | $999 at Apple United States

Prime Day iPad deals to avoid

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

When deciding whether to shop for an iPad deal, we recommend you keep a few things in mind:

If you’re considering an iPad as a laptop replacement, remember that adding a keyboard case can nearly double the cost, making it more expensive than a more powerful Mac. The arrival of the MacBook Neo has also weakened the value proposition of Apple’s entry-level tablets.

The iPad (A16) is currently the only tablet in Apple’s active lineup that does not support Apple Intelligence. If AI features are important to you, consider the iPad mini (A17 Pro) or an iPad Air with an M1 chip or newer instead.

Deals on older or refurbished iPads can be tempting, but check software support before buying. iPadOS 27 drops support for more older models than any previous release.

Avoid paying extra for a Cellular model unless you truly need it. The 5G version typically costs more than $100 extra and may require a monthly data plan. If you usually carry an iPhone, using Personal Hotspot is often a much cheaper alternative.

Casual users should also think twice before jumping on an iPad Pro (M5) deal. Unless you need the additional capabilities for demanding creative or professional workflows, the iPad Air delivers similar everyday performance at a significantly lower price.

Likewise, don’t pay extra for the iPad Pro’s nano-texture glass unless you regularly work in bright or uncontrolled lighting conditions. While it can be valuable for creative professionals, most users who primarily use their iPad indoors won’t notice enough benefit to justify the added cost.

Should you buy an iPad during Prime Day?

Prime Day is widely considered one of the best times of the year to buy Apple products, alongside Black Friday, and with Apple saying it is going to have to raise prices, we think it might be the last time we will see low prices in a while. While we do expect Apple to update the iPad and iPad mini at some point in 2026, it’s only the iPad A16 that we would recommend not buying because it doesn’t support Apple Intelligence and therefore misses out on many of the most attractive features coming in iPadOS 27 later this year.

There are a few other things to consider before making a purchase:

• Prime membership is required: Many of the best deals are exclusive to Amazon Prime members. If you’re not already subscribed, you might be able to take advantage of Amazon’s 30-day free trial or you could sign up for a month and cancel afterward. As well as getting free two-day shipping, Prime customers also get access to Prime Video and Music. Prime memberships cost $139 / £95 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AU$6.99 every month.
• Other sales: If you miss Prime Day, you’ll have another chance to save during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days in October, followed by Black Friday sales in November.
• Student Discounts: Students can take advantage of Apple’s “Back to School” promotion, which runs from June to September in the U.S. and July to October in the U.K, to get free AirPods with the purchase of a qualifying iPad or Mac. Students and educators can save significantly through the Apple Education Store. For example, students can save $50/£50 on the iPad Air and $100/£100 on the iPad Pro when shopping at Apple’s U.S. Education Store or Apple’s U.K. Education Store.
• Compare Prices: Amazon isn’t always the cheapest option. Retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy frequently run competing promotions around the time of Prime Day, so it’s worth comparing prices before buying.

Prime Day is available in multiple countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

Why you can trust Macworld’s recommendations

The Prime Day iPad deals picked here are all chosen by our editors, who have decades of experience with Apple devices. We’ve reviewed everything we recommend, and we won’t tell you to buy something that’s not an actual deal. The deals we’ve selected are all at or near all-time lows, and we’ve selected what we think is the best configuration for each product type. We know Apple is expensive, so we’ve chosen products at prices we would be willing to pay, so you can trust that our recommendations will steer you in the right direction—and save you big bucks.