If you’ve been holding your breath for a new iPad this year (how are you still alive?), you might have noticed that Apple has been uncharacteristically quiet on the tablet front for once. Having not released an iPad at all in 2023 – the first time that’s happened since Apple launched its tablet line back in 2010 – Black Friday iPad deals are exclusive to pre-existing entries in the series, but we have just the pick.
Unless you need the additional oomph of an iPad Pro, most people will find the power and functionality offered up by more modest entries among the best iPads more than enough for everyday use; from streaming video, to video calls, web browsing and even digital art, if you’re that way inclined.
Apple’s most recent offering in its non-Pro iPad line is last year’s tenth-generation 10.9-inch iPad, which shed vestigial hardware elements like a physical home button and the Lightning port, in favor of thinner bezels and USB-C, with first-gen Apple Pencil support and the company’s A14 Bionic chipset also featuring.
For all the fun and pop this colorful iPad delivers, however, I noticed that Apple already launched a similar and arguably better-specced alternative two years prior: the fourth-generation iPad Air (2020).
Jump to this year’s Black Friday deals and although both iPads are seeing reductions, the older (but more capable) iPad Air undercuts the standard iPad on price; it’s available for as low as $388 in the US at the time of writing (the lowest price I found for the tenth-gen iPad was $399).
While you can expect a couple of additional years of OS updates towards the end of the standard iPad’s life, plus a sharper 12MP front-facing camera (up from 7MP on the Air) – complete with Center Stage and 5G cellular compared to 4G mobile connectivity – the 2020 Air is otherwise the superior slate. You get a similarly colorful milled aluminum unibody design (in five colors, compared to four), comparable A14 Bionic power, and equally convenient USB-C connectivity.
It also trumps the tenth-gen iPad with a fully laminated anti-reflective display (that supports a wider P3 color gamut), second-generation Apple Pencil support (plus that all-important integrated magnetic wireless charging), Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio compatibility, a notably thinner and lighter design, and all while promising the same ten-hour battery life.
Best iPad Air (2020) deal in the US
Best iPad Air (2020) deal in the UK
Best iPad Air (2020) deal in Australia
More Black Friday deals (US)
- Amazon: 50% off TVs, air fryers, AirPods & clothing
- Apple: AirPods Pro, Apple Watch 8 & iPads from $99
- Adidas: 40% off running shoes, sweatshirts & leggings
- Beauty: 51% off viral makeup, skincare & hair tools
- Best Buy: up to $800 off 4K TVs, laptops & headphones
- Bed Bath & Beyond: 65% off sitewide + free shipping
- Cheap TVs: big-screen 4K TVs from $269.99
- Christmas: 40% off decor, pajamas & trees
- Dell: save on best-selling Inspiron and XPS laptops
- DreamCloud: 40% off all mattresses
- Family pajamas: matching Christmas PJs from $12.99
- Lowe’s: up to $800 off major appliances
- Nectar: mattress deals starting at $359
- Nordstrom: 30% off Nike, Levi’s, Skims, Adidas & more
- Purple: up to $400 off Purple mattresses
- Samsung: up to $2,000 of TVs, phones and appliances
- Target: 40% off furniture, TVs, clothing & appliances
- Toys: Disney, Barbie, Lego & board games from $14.99
- Walmart: $800 off toys, TVs, vacuums & clothing
More Black Friday deals (UK)
- Amazon: up to 62% off tech and gifts
- AO: up to 40% off vacuums, appliances, and tech
- Argos: up to 50% off toys and tech
- Boots: up to 40% off 1,000s of beauty products
- Currys: up to 40% off TVs, air fryers, laptops and more
- Ebuyer: up to 45% off laptops and PC components
- John Lewis: up to 40% off appliances, TVs, laptops
- Jessops: up to £550 off Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm
- O2: up to £600 off iPhone, Samsung and Google
- Samsung: up to £600 off TVs, phones and appliances
- Superdrug: 60% off beauty, fragrances and makeup
- Very: discounts on tech, appliances, furniture and beauty
- Vodafone: six months half-price SIMs from £11.50
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