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Should you buy an iPad Mini on Black Friday 2021?

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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 is the best time to buy an iPad Mini — but shop early deals

Person holding the iPad Mini 6 in hand.
Apple

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.

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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.

Why buy an iPad Mini

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.

Erika Rawes
Erika Rawes
Former Smart Home Evergreen Coordinator
Erika became a professional writer in 2010, and her work is published all over the web on sites ranging from USA Today to…
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