The headlines of the latest Apple event may have been the new iPad Pro (2024) and iPad Air 6, but the manufacturer also slipped in a small bit of news on the standard iPad 10.9. From now on, that model has a recommended starting price of $349 – $100 less than the original launch price back in 2022. Nice, right? Well, this announcement isn't as exciting as Apple would like you to believe.
There are two reasons. One fairly big one: the iPad 10.9 has already been on sale for this price many times throughout 2024.
From our price-tracking, I see that Amazon sold the iPad 10.9 for $349 for 86 days before the May 7 event. That's practically a full three months out of the four we've had so far in 2024. In fact, the iPad 10.9 was already $349 before the event had even started, as it was discounted again on May 1 and has stayed that low ever since.
The second reason the price cut announcement underwhelms me is because the iPad 10.2 still exists. This model launched way back in 2021 but is still available to buy and is regularly even cheaper than the 10.9 model, making it one of the best iPad deals. Even right now, you can pick it up from Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for $249 – a whole $100 less than the 'new' low price for the iPad 10.9.
The Apple iPad 10.2 - the best value iPad deal
Of course, some differences between these two models suggest that the newer 10.9 is an upgrade, including the increased display size, more powerful processing chip, enhanced cameras, and a smoother overall design. However, for the general user looking for a solid everyday tablet that also offers great value for money, it's hard to justify those minor improvements for an extra $100.
And while the iPad 10.9 may sit atop our best iPad buying guide, the older tablet is still a great device. As we said in our iPad 10.2 (2021) review, it's a well-priced and capable Apple tablet that suits most users and deserves the 4.5 stars we awarded it.
Yes, it's missing all of the premium features found in the Air and Pro tablets, but most of those are unnecessary for day-to-day use. So, whether that's web browsing, sending emails, watching videos, doing light work, or playing undemanding games, the iPad 10.2 is all you need.
Based on that, I'd suggest sticking with the cheaper and still very competent iPad 10.2 until there are further discounts on the iPad 10.9. That might happen sooner than we expect, if we're lucky, as the Memorial Day sales get underway soon.
