Apple’s tablet, the iPad, has consistently been the market leader for years thanks to a range of options and iPadOS. Whether you're a student looking for a note taking device, or someone who needs a portable Netflix machine, an iPad has become the de facto choice.
As we noted in our Black Friday iPad guide, the product line has become much more complex, but this deal from Best Buy is anything but.
That’s because Best Buy is offering the iPad (9th Gen) for $269.99 (or the 256GB version for $419.99), making it comfortably the most affordable way to get into the iPadOS ecosystem. Amazon is also running the same deal, if you'd prefer to shop there.
We've seen it this cheap before, but we've never seen it cheaper. We recently nominated the iPad (9th Gen) as one of the best tablets for students, so we're big fans of this tablet, especially at this price.
The iPad (9th Gen) may have been replaced by the more colorful and modern-looking tenth-generation version, but Apple hiked the price of the newer model up to $449 – leaving the ninth generation version the most affordable by a distance. You can even add 256GB of storage for less than you’d pay for the 64GB tenth-generation version.
The A13 Bionic Chip inside is hardly sluggish (it’s the same one found in the iPhone 11 range), and the tablet offers a 10.2-inch display that’s compatible with the Apple Pencil (First Generation) for budding artists or note-takers.
It lacks the curved display of its newer, and more expensive, siblings, but it’s still a good-looking device even with a thicker bezel and physical home button. Still, if you’re not keen on learning how to use gesture controls to manipulate iPadOS, this might be an ideal iPad for you.
In our iPad (9th Gen) review, we noted that the iPad offers excellent value for money, even at full price. While we knocked it for the lack of USB-C and a dated design, if you’re unlikely to connect peripherals and would prefer a proper home button, that’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker for you. We said “the iPad 2021 is Apple’s cheapest tablet, and well worth the cost of entry”, and at this discount, it’s even more worthy of your time.
