If you’re only interested in the best of the best tablets out there, you may not have even noticed what Apple did with its 9th and 10th Generation iPads earlier this month.
Shortly after unveiling a new, vastly improved, and expanded iPad Air and iPad Pro lineup including two different mid-rangers and two high-end models, the Cupertino-based tech giant predictably discontinued its 2021-released 10.2-incher with massive bezels while somewhat surprisingly discounting the 2022 edition with a top-mounted fingerprint scanner.
We’re talking about a permanent price drop from $449 to $349 for the entry-level iPad 10 variant with 64GB storage, which makes Amazon’s latest $50 discount on top of that feel pretty hard to turn down. You’re therefore looking at spending 150 bucks less now than back when this slim-bezeled 10.9-incher was unveiled around a year and a half ago, and the same is actually true for the 256 gig configuration Apple reduced from $599 to $499 before Amazon could add an extra $50 price cut today.
These are totally unprecedented markdowns for all major US retailers, mind you, which might explain why they’re exclusively available for blue and silver paint jobs via a combination of instant discounts and special coupons you need to apply to your Amazon.com order before actually adding your favorite iPad (2022) storage variant and color option to your cart.
There’s also a very good chance the new deal will go away in a matter of days (if not hours), as the latest “base” iPad is probably the best budget tablet a hardcore Apple fan can buy right now.
With an outdated A14 Bionic processor under the hood, this affordable bad boy is certainly nowhere near as powerful as a new or old iPad Air, but the refreshed design, reliable Touch ID technology, solid battery life, excellent stereo speakers, and versatile USB-C port we praised in our comprehensive review back in 2022 have definitely aged pretty gracefully, beating the capabilities of most Android tablets available at similar prices.