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

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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.

In the lead-up to this "October Prime Day," as it's often called, Mashable's team of shopping experts is tracking all the best early deals on the biggest brands, including Apple. When it comes to iPad deals, they're a real grab bag so far. Most configurations of the latest iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro are just $30 off — nowhere close to the prices we expect them to hit once Prime Big Deal Days starts. However, a few models are cheap enough to think about adding to your cart already.

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).

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.

Score $100 off an iPad Air with cellular

The iPad Air is our favorite iPad for most people. It has a 10-hour battery life, a beautiful, crisp display, and an M4 processor that makes it as powerful as many laptops. In his iPad Air review, Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth deemed it "a premium device for creators, artists, and college students."

Mashable Deals

Most configurations of the M4 iPad Air are just $20 to $30 off right now, save for the 13-inch base model with cellular connectivity. It's already enjoying a $100 discount that brings it down from $1,099 to $999. It could get $50 cheaper once Prime Big Deal Days starts — the M3 model was $150 off during last year's sale — but this is one of the more solid early deals we've spotted.

More iPad Air deals

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) — $729 $749 (save $20)

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M4, WiFi + cellular, 128GB) — $870.08 $899 (save $28.92)

• Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) — $929 $949 (save $20)

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.

More iPad Pro deals

• Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M5, WiFi, 256GB) — $1,139 $1,199 (save $60)

• Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M5, WiFi + cellular, 256GB) — $1,345.99 $1,399 (save $53.01)

• Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5, WiFi, 256GB) — $1,399 $1,499 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M5, WiFi + cellular, 256GB) — $1,616 $1,699 (save $83)

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