This October Prime Big Deal Days just kicked off and Amazon has already delivered massive price cuts across MacBooks, AirPods, Apple Watches, and iPads. If you’re looking for the most affordable entry point into the iPad ecosystem, it just became genuinely accessible at nearly budget tablet pricing.
The 11-inch iPad with A16 chip, 128GB storage and Wi-Fi has dropped from $349 to just $299, which puts Apple’s premium tablet experience within reach of shoppers who previously considered it too expensive. Apple famously dislikes promotions on its products because discounting threatens the luxury brand image they’ve carefully cultivated, so they must be watching these deals with some frustration.
See at Amazon
A16 Chip With Desktop-Level Performance
The A16 Bionic chip on this iPad is the same chip that powered the iPhone 14 Pro so you are getting flagship smartphone performance. This chip handles intensive tasks like video editing, editing extensive spreadsheets or high-graphics gaming without stuttering or lagging. The six-core CPU splits up into two high-performance cores for intensive tasks like video editing or gaming and four efficiency cores for general-usage activities, automatically switching between them for maximum battery life. The five-core GPU provides smooth graphics for creative activities and gaming which makes this iPad powerful enough for professional usage as well as entertainment usage. Apple guarantees all-day battery life, which in real-world usage translates into around 10 hours of active usage.
The 11-inch Liquid Retina display features IPS LCD tech with a resolution of 2388 by 1668 pixels, which provides 264 pixels per inch. This pixel density keeps text clear for reading articles or ebooks, images appear with true colors and high detail and video appears sharp when streaming. True Tone automatically adjusts the white balance according to ambient lighting, and cuts eye strain when reading for hours on end by giving the paper-like feeling of a display rather than a glowing rectangle.
The 128GB storage capacity gives enough space for scores of apps and a few movies downloaded for offline watching on flights or during commutes. This starting level of storage is suitable for the majority of users who stream music and video rather than storing local monster libraries. The 12MP front-facing camera is mounted in landscape position along the longer edge, which, at last, places you centrally during video calls when the iPad rests in its natural portrait orientation.
At $299, you’re paying slighlty over $100 more than a starting Amazon Fire tablet but getting exponentially more performance, a much richer app ecosystem, and build quality that will last for years rather than being cheap on day one. This Prime Big Deal Days pricing makes the iPad 11-inch a serious player for mid-range Android tablets while still presenting you with the high-end iOS experience.