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iPad 10th gen for $279 is a big price drop for Cyber Monday – and it’s the model I recommend most

Adam Breeden/ZDNET

Apple makes some very fancy iPads these days, and they cost over $1,000. But for the stuff most people do with their iPads — watching videos, reading books and documents, and surfing the web, the best iPad to buy is the standard 10th-generation iPad, which even looks very similar to the iPad Pro and the iPad Air. But the standard iPad is the one I recommend to everyone other than artists and high-end video professionals. 

And while heavy discounts on Apple products are super rare, the iPad 10th-gen is on sale for $70 off — a 20% discount — at Best Buy for Cyber Monday. The iPad retails for $349: Best Buy is selling it for $279. 

Also: The best Cyber Monday deals: Live updates

To give you a sense of what a terrific deal this is, this iPad had been selling for $450 from the time it launched in 2022 up until earlier this year. 

This is a great iPad to gift to a kid, an elderly relative, or a friend or family member who doesn’t need a full computer but wants a bigger screen than a phone to do some of their favorite or most-needed digital activities. That can also include video calls, filling out web forms, looking up information with Google or ChatGPT, and online shopping. 

Also: The best iPad deals for Cyber Monday 2024

This was the first iPad to get a front-facing camera that’s centered on the long end of the iPad so it works great for video calling and video conferencing when it’s placed in landscape mode.

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Kerry Wan/ZDNET

If you want to use this iPad for email, notetaking, or writing, then I’d recommend also grabbing the Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case ($105)–> or the ESR keyboard case ($82)<!–>. Both are a lot cheaper than Apple’s $250 keyboard case–> and the Logitech offers better protection.

Also: I gave away my Kindle and iPad within hours of testing this tablet

And if you’re thinking about giving a tablet as a gift this year, ZDNET is also bullish on the TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G<!–>, which has a paper-like display that makes it a mix between an e-reader and a traditional tablet. And at $239, it’s about the same price as the iPad 10th-gen. 

For Apple fans, the other Apple product on sale at an aggressive discount for Cyber Monday is a pair of AirPods Pro 2–>, which you can buy for $154.00 — 38% off the regular $249 retail price. And remember that the AirPods Pro 2 now come with a software upgrade that turns them into a medically approved hearing aid.

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