An Apple iPad Mini makes an excellent holiday gift, as it can serve as a useful device for work, school, or entertainment. Whether you’re shopping for an iPad Mini for yourself or someone else on your list, it feels all warm and fuzzy when you get a great price on a holiday gift, and that’s what the best Black Friday deals are all about. If you’re in the market for an iPad Mini, you might be wondering whether you should buy now or wait until Black Friday to take advantage of the best Black Friday iPad deals. We examined early Black Friday Apple deals on the iPad Mini, and we looked at last year’s deals and other info to see what we expect deals to look like leading into Black Friday 2021. Should you buy an iPad Mini on Black Friday? We break it down.
Black Friday has kind of become lumped in with Cyber Monday, simply because the two shopping holidays are so close together in proximity. These events — Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the last major shopping events of the year, and the best times of year to buy electronics.
Apple products don’t typically see those major discounts as we see on other electronics (think TVs, Amazon tablets, smart speakers, and displays), but you can still get a pretty good deal on an iPad Mini on Black Friday. Last year, we saw the iPad Mini on sale for as low as $335. For Black Friday 2021, we’re seeing discounts of around $50 on the latest model.
We don’t expect too large of a discount beyond that, given the latest iPad Mini just released. However, if you want an older model, you might be able to get an even better deal.
The newest iPad Mini typically retails for a starting price of $499 for the 64GB version (Wi-Fi only). If you want the Wi-Fi-only 256GB version, the price raises dramatically to $649. You can also opt for cellular connectivity in addition to Wi-Fi, and that’ll set you back $649 for the 64GB version, or $799 for the 256GB version. Right now, you can buy the latest iPad Mini for around $50 off on Walmart (if it’s not out of stock already ). However, we’ve seen the older iPad minis on sale at a variety of retailers.
The best deals go out of stock quickly, so buying before Black Friday is likely your best bet. If you see the latest iPad Mini on sale for $50 off, that’s probably close to the lowest price you’re going to see, so grab it while it’s in stock and while it’s early enough to still arrive before the holidays.
The iPad Mini 2021 has a larger 8.3-inch screen, a Touch ID sensor that’s now inside of the power button, and a USB-C power connection. With Apple Pencil support and a new design, the latest iPad Mini is a better tablet all-around. It boasts Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, as well as better cameras than previous iPad Mini versions.
If you don’t need a workhorse tablet for tasks like content creation or productivity, and you’re happy with a smaller screen size, the iPad Mini is a solid option. It’s still a high-quality tablet, but it doesn’t cost as much as the larger iPad Air or more advanced iPad Pro.
The previous model of the iPad Mini is still a very good option as well, especially if you’re shopping for a teen or looking for a tablet you can use for basic daily use. The previous model (iPad Mini 5th Gen) was released in 2019, so it should still see updates for quite a while. You can find it for around $300 to $310 on Best Buy (pre-owned), and we’ve seen the 4th-Gen Mini on Amazon for as low as $229.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage
Ahead of its October 28 “Pro and Tell” event, Apple has refreshed the iPad mini with an OLED display (the first for the mini line), the company’s latest in-house, Pro-grade chipset, and something else that made me read twice: an Acoustic Display design.
The iPad mini (8th generation) starts at $699 for Wi-Fi and $849 for cellular variants. Pre-orders start October 28, 2026, and general sales begin November 6, 2026.