As I mentioned the other day, the Apple iPad is no longer the draw it once was on Black Friday, as stores fell all over themselves trying to get shoppers in the doors to buy a new tablet. It does remain a staple item in many ads, however, and many iPads will still be purchased during this shopping holiday. If you’re in the market for one, you don’t have to pay full price — here’s where you can find the best iPad deals for Black Friday 2016.
We’ll be updating this when and if new deals arise. Also note that many of these sales won’t be available online, or will be gone quickly, so you’ll probably have to endure all of the pain of Black Friday shopping to snatch one up.
Apple iPad mini 2
The venerable 7.9-inch mini 2 remains Apple’s cheapest tablet, though at $269, it’s still hardly cheap. Black Friday gives you the opportunity to shave a little off that price, as Walmart is selling it for $199. As is often the case, once one retailer announces its sale price, others match, so Target has a nearly identical price at $199.794.
Apple iPad mini 4
At the moment, Apple’s step-up tiny tablet (better camera, faster processor) has no deals we can find, perhaps indicating how little appeal a $399 7.9-inch tablet possesses in 2016. Maybe as part of Apple’s Black Friday plans it will receive a discount, so stay tuned.
Apple iPad Air 2
Apple’s current mainstream tablet features a 9.7-inch Retina display and A8X processor for its usual $399 base price, but you should head to Best Buy or Target to get $125 off that price during Black Friday. If you want a different model (128GB and/or cellular connectivity), Best Buy extends that $125 savings to all Air 2 versions.
Apple iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
One of the surprises of the current Black Friday is that Apple’s professional tablet is receiving as many as deals as its non-professional brethren. Perhaps the iPad Pro is feeling heat from Microsoft’s Surface device — regardless, there are savings to be had. Target is the most aggressive, offering the base 9.7-inch model for just $449, or $150 off the everyday price. Best Buy can’t match that discount, but it is offering $125 off all 9.7-inch Pro editions for those who want to upgrade from the base version’s paltry 32GB of built-in storage. B&H Photo also has a couple of intriguing deals on the smaller Pro if you want it in rose gold with 4G LTE capabilities: $529, or $200 off, for a 32GB unit or $749 for a 256GB tablet.
Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
Discounts are a little less aggressive on the original, larger iPad Pro. If you want the base 32GB model, you can find it for a $70 discount from its $799 regular price at Walmart, B&H, and also regional retailer Hhgregg. You can get the same savings on the 128GB edition from B&H and Hhgregg. Walmart is slashing the price if you want cellular connectivity options: $130 off the 128GB gold tablet and over $135 off the 256GB version