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The Short Answer
Black Friday and Cyber Monday deliver the deepest iPad discounts of the year, on every single model, no exceptions. Don't want to wait? Amazon Prime Day in July is the next-best window, and grabbing last year's model the moment a new one launches is the sleeper move that saves you the most for the least effort.
An iPad is one of the easiest big purchases to time well, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Apple holds its own prices steady all year, so the real discounts come from everyone else: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and a short list of sale windows that repeat like clockwork.
Buy inside one of those windows and you save real money. Buy on a random Tuesday and you pay full retail for no reason. Here's how the year actually breaks down, from the windows worth planning around to the ones worth skipping, plus the four iPads we'd buy today and the tricks that quietly beat even a Black Friday price.
The iPad Deal Calendar
Every sale window, ranked by how much you save
We scored each shopping window on the size of the discount you can realistically expect on an iPad. Longer, greener bar means a better time to buy.
The deepest cuts of the year on every model, and the base iPad and Air fall the hardest. If you can hold out, this is the one to wait for.
The instant Apple announces a new iPad, the outgoing generation gets marked down fast at other retailers. Last year's model is still excellent, and this is the savviest buy on the list.
The best summer deal, and Best Buy and Walmart run matching sales the same days. The go-to if you don't want to wait until November.
Amazon's fall Prime event is basically a Black Friday preview. A smart pick if you need an iPad before the holidays but not at the last minute.
Apple layers a gift card on top of education pricing, and retailers run their own sales. An always-good deal if you're a student or teacher.
Third-party retailers shave a few dollars here and there, but nothing close to the tentpole events. Fine in a pinch, not worth planning around.
Full retail, and a newer model could be days away. The one window to actively steer clear of.
