Prime Day Is a Great Time to Buy the iPad Mini

Apple's iPad mini is a unique device among the company's portfolio: It's tiny, much smaller than the base model iPads, while still sporting modern iPad features, like a magnetic Apple Pencil and an edge-to-edge display. The thing is, it's expensive, considering it's over three years old. If you walk into an Apple Store today, the company will happily sell you a mini for $499. Do not spend half a grand on this iPad mini.

You've been able to pick up an iPad mini on sale for some time now through third-party retailers, but if you're interested in grabbing this tiny tablet, today might be the best day to do it: Amazon is currently offering iPad minis for 30% off: You can pick one up for $349.99, $150 off the list price, and just about the cheapest this tablet has ever been.

Here's what that gets you: The iPad mini (6th generation) comes with an 8.3-inch display, which, again, runs just about edge-to-edge. Because there is little room within the bezels of the tablet (and because it's become the norm), you don't get a Home Button. You also don't get Face ID, like you do with other iPads and iPhones. Instead, you unlock the iPad and authenticate yourself with a Touch ID sensor embedded in the power button.

This iPad also comes with Apple's A15 Bionic processor. That's the same chip as the iPhone 13 series, as well as the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. It's not new, by any means, but it's also not terribly old. It's certainly powerful enough to run iOS 18, as well as most apps and games you might want to use, so as long as you're not interested in using Apple Intelligence features, you likely won't miss out on much with this hardware.

You do only get 64GB of storage with this model, however, which will quickly fill up fast if you don't use cloud-based solutions for photos, videos, and other files. You could, instead, pick up the 256GB version, quadrupling your storage, for $499.99. That's nearly $150 off the list price of $649. The cellular models are also on sale for Prime Day, if you want to pair your iPad to a cellular plan for on-the-go connection, for $499 (64GB) and $649 (256GB).

All models come in four color options: Pink, Purple, Space Gray, or Starlight.

A new iPad mini might be around the corner

The only catch here is Apple may be planning a new iPad mini for next month. This is not confirmed, by any means: Apple doesn't announce product drops ahead of time, and doesn't refresh iPads annually the same way it does with iPhones. (Clearly, considering this iPad mini came out in September of 2021.) If rumors hold true, the mini 7 will feature an upgraded processor, perhaps the A17 from the iPhone 15 Pro, or the A18 from the iPhone 16, which will likely enable it to run Apple Intelligence features. It may also support the new Apple Pencil Pro.

Until we're a few years out, however, those upgrades probably won't make much of a difference. Eventually, Apple will stop supporting the A15 chips, and A17 devices will continue getting software upgrades for a little while longer. But for the immediate future, Apple seems likely to support A15 devices like the iPad mini 6 for some time.

What an iPad mini 7 won't be, however, is $349. If you've been wanting the iPad mini at an affordable price, there has never been a better time to buy. If you want the best iPad mini possible at all costs, though, wait and see if Apple drops one.