Where to get the best deal preordering Apple's new iPad, iPad mini tablets

Like the new iPhone 13, Apple’s latest iPad and iPad mini are also now available for preorder before their September 24 release date. While iPhone pricing is often tied up with various mobile carrier specials, Apple’s tablets are usually purchased without the cellular add-on, so prices tend to be fixed at whatever the company decides.

However, if you’re hoping to buy one of the new iPads for a little bit cheaper, there currently looks to be two options: Walmart and Amazon. Both retailing colossuses are slashing a small amount off its preorder prices, though you’ll need to act quickly as a number of options are already out of stock. If you’re looking to grab the latest 64GB 10.2-inch iPad, however, it’s still available as of this writing at Walmart for $299 and Amazon for $299.99, or $30 off Apple’s price, in either space gray or silver. The same goes for the 256GB version, which is also $30 less than Apple’s price at $449, but only at Walmart.

Thing get a little more complicated with the sixth-generation iPad mini, which is generating more buzz despite its higher price tag, thanks to its new A15 Bionic processor, 5G connectivity option and support for the second generation of Apple Pencil. Walmart is currently out of the Wi-Fi only configurations (64GB and 256GB) in all four color choices and only has the 5G version with 256GB of storage available in pink for $799, which is the same price Apple is selling it for.

You may have better luck via Amazon, which is discounting the 64GB iPad mini with Wi-Fi to $459.99 in space gray and starlight. You can save a whopping $9 off the 64GB 5G iPad mini in pink and starlight ($639.99 versus the $649 list price), but the 256GB 5G versions are unavailable to preorder from the online retailer.   

You’ll miss the $40 discount on the Wi-Fi only iPad mini, but Apple has all configurations of the new tablets available to preorder on its site. The same goes for Best Buy, which is hoping to entice potential buyers with savings of $37.50 off a 15-month subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal — presumably to use on your new iPad. Oddly the offer is not available for the pink and purple 256GB editions of the iPad mini with Wi-Fi or any of the 5G iPad mini versions. Target, offering preorders with no discount, is out of stock of the silver 64GB 10.2-inch iPad, along with the purple and space gray 5G iPad mini in 64GB or 256GB and the pink and starlight models with 256GB.