Forget the new iPad Air — the iPad mini just crashed to $399

(Image credit: Apple)

The older I get, the more I appreciate Apple's iPad mini for packing a fully functioning iPad into a device small enough to rest in my palm.

Sure, everyone's excited about the newer, bigger 13-inch iPad Air 2024 and 13-inch iPad Pro 2024, with good reason — they come with big screens that make it easy to browse the web or watch movies in comfort. But they can also strain your wrists and shoulders if you're holding them for extended periods, and god forbid you drop one on your face while watching YouTube in bed.

That's why the iPad mini is such a welcome alternative, and it's especially welcome right now because Amazon is selling the $499 tablet for 20% off. That means you can get an Apple iPad mini for $399 @ Amazon, a $100 discount that's among the best iPad deals available right now.

iPad mini 6: was $499 now $399 @ Amazon
The 2021 iPad mini sports an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, an A15 Bionic CPU, a 12MP wide camera, TouchID support and USB-C connectivity. It also supports the Apple Pencil 2 and offers the same thin bezels and elegant design as the iPad Air and iPad Pro, making it low-key one of the cheapest tablets around. In our iPad mini 6 review, we called it a perfect fit for anyone looking for a one-handed tablet experience for reading books or watching movies.
Price check: $399 @ Best Buy | $469 @ Walmart

This is close to the lowest price we've ever seen on the iPad mini 6, and since Apple is unlikely to launch a new model in 2024 now is still a great time to buy this pint-sized slate. Plus, the discount is available on every color of iPad mini at both Amazon and Best Buy, so you have your choice of hue (Pink, Purple, Starlight and Space Gray) and retailer.

Sure, this model of iPad mini was released way back in 2021, but it was so fast and capable that it still has a lot to offer you in 2024.

As you can read in our iPad mini 6 review, we named it one of the best tablets around because at 0.7 pounds it's portable and easy to hold, yet power-efficient and plenty fast thanks to its A15 Bionic chip. Plus, you get access to all the apps in Apple's App Store, and the 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display (2266 x 1488 pixels) makes videos and images look great.

Reading comics and manga is especially nice on the iPad mini, as my colleague Tony Polanco discovered when he read manga on a Kindle Paperwhite vs. an iPad mini for a week and found himself much happier on the iPad.

You can also invest in a good Bluetooth keyboard and connect it to the iPad mini for writing emails and getting work done on the go. The small size of the tablet can be a big help here, as it's easier to cradle in your lap alongside a keyboard than a big, heavy 13-inch iPad Pro.

However, there are some things you should know before buying an iPad mini 6. First and foremost, it's not compatible with Apple's Magic Keyboard, so you'll have to hunt around for a third-party keyboard case or Bluetooth keyboard if you want to turn your iPad mini into a productivity machine.

This tablet also lacks a headphone jack and offers just 64GB of storage space, some of which will already be eaten up by iPadOS, so you won't get access to the full amount. It should still be plenty of room for some photos, videos and apps, but expect to be deleting things and juggling storage space if you put more than a few things on this tablet.

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Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. A lifelong PC builder, he currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.