The best early October Prime Day deals on iPads, according to Mashables tech experts

ChloeOctober 3, 20265 min read

Early October Prime Day iPad deals at a glance:

Best budget iPad deal

Apple iPad (A16, WiFi, 128GB)

$427
(save $22)

Best iPad mini deal

Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro, WiFi, 128GB)

$569
(save $30)

Best iPad Air deal

iPad Air 11-inch (M4, WiFi)

$807
(save $42)

Best iPad Pro deal

Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 512GB)

$1,299
(save $200)

Fall has just begun, but the holiday shopping season is already heating up. No longer do things kick off on Black Friday: Amazon’s annual Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. 6 and 7 will be your first chance to start scoring year-end deals.

Ahead of October Prime Day, Mashable’s team of shopping experts is tracking all the best early price drops across top brands, especially Apple. When it comes to iPads, early deals are a bit hit-or-miss. While many baseline models are seeing modest $20 to $30 markdowns, a select few, including the powerful M4 iPad Air configurations and the M5 iPad Pro setups, have dropped low enough to justify hitting “add to cart” before the official event even begins.

SEE ALSO:

October Prime Day Apple deals guide: Buy now or wait?

Below, we’ve rounded up the best early October Prime Day iPad deals we could find. We’ve also made some predictions for the iPad deals we’re likely to see next week based on our experience covering Prime Big Deal Days in the past. Decide for yourself if you’re willing to wait for them; even the meager savings now are still something to celebrate, considering all iPads got price hikes this summer.

Save up to $30 on the regular iPad

The standard iPad with the A16 chip is our favorite Apple tablet for budget shoppers. “Even though its tech is basic compared to the advanced iPad Air and Pro,” writes Mashable’s Samantha Mangino, “it’s great for someone who wants a portable screen for streaming, playing games, and reading.” It’s rated for up to six hours of battery life.

Ahead of Amazon’s sale, the base iPad with 128GB of storage is $30 off with or without cellular connectivity. It was $70 off last Prime Big Deal Days, so it could dip further to $379 next week (normally $449).

Credit: Apple

Apple iPad (A16, WiFi, 128GB)

$427
at Amazon

$449
Save $22

Credit: Apple

Apple iPad (A16, WiFi + cellular, 128GB)

$569
at Amazon

$599
Save $30

Take up to $30 off the iPad mini

If you wish e-readers were more powerful, more versatile, and equipped with way more storage, get Apple’s smallest iPad instead. The iPad mini’s compact size and anti-reflective display make it our favorite tablet for reading.

The iPad mini also saw a $70 discount during Prime Big Deal Days 2025, so we think it will drop to $529 when this year’s sale begins on Oct. 6 (typically $599). Right now, the base model is up to $30 off, depending on whether you’d like cellular connectivity.

Credit: Apple

Apple ipad mini

$569
at Apple

$599
Save $30

Skip the pro pricing on Apple’s newest M4 power tablet with $42 off

In his 4.5-star review, Mashable’s Timothy Beck Werth called the M4 iPad Air “a tablet that thinks it’s an AI laptop,” making it a great pick for students, artists, and creators. It has the same super-light aluminum body and bright Liquid Retina screen as last year’s model.

Where it wins is speed: the new M4 processor and upgraded smart chip make AI tools like fast voice-note transcription and photo editing happen almost instantly. While Timothy pointed out that it only offers “iterative upgrades over last year’s model” and can feel “overpowered for casual users”, that is exactly why this price drop makes sense.

Paying full retail for an incremental spec bump can be a hard sell, but catching it on sale makes the extra speed, 256GB of storage, and creator-grade power completely worth the tag.

Credit: Apple

iPad Air 11-inch (M4, WiFi)

$807
at Amazon

$849
Save $42

Save $200 on select M4 iPad Pros

If you’re a professional creative in the market for an iPad Pro, consider buying last year’s M4 model instead of the freshest M5 version, which just has a newer chip and newer wireless connectivity tech (WiFi and Bluetooth). The best early October Prime Day iPad deals we’ve seen feature $200 discounts on two upgraded M4 iPad Pros: One is a 13-inch model with 512GB of storage; the other is an 11-incher with 2TB of storage and a nano-texture display. Both of them are sitting at some of their lowest prices of the year so far. If anything, they might get $50 cheaper during Prime Big Day Deals… if they don’t sell out first.

Prefer an M5 iPad Pro for future-proofing’s sake? Amazon’s deals on both sizes max out at $100 off right now. Come Prime Big Deal Days, they could be up to $200 off.