Apple’s last-gen iPad falls to a new low of $229.99 for early Black Friday buyers

Apple’s iPads just don’t get any cheaper than this. The ninth-generation iPad, which has unceremoniously remained the entry-level option of Apple tablets even a year after the 10th-gen model came out, is selling for a new low.

You can get the 2021 iPad with 64GB of storage for $229.99 ($100 off its MSRP) at Target. This early Black Friday deal is an additional $20 cheaper than the previous low of $249.99 we were consistently seeing for some time. Also, if 64GB is a little slimmer on storage than you’d prefer, the 256GB model is also $100 off at Amazon and Target — dropping it to $379.99.

While the ninth-gen model may be a couple of years old, it’s still a very formidable budget-friendly tablet. Its 10.2-inch display may be surrounded by some boxy bezels, but within them is also that classic home button with Touch ID. Inside the last-gen iPad is Apple’s A13 Bionic processor, which first debuted with the iPhone 11 but still has the processing headroom for basic tasks, streaming, and note-taking with a first-gen Apple Pencil, if you choose to add one on later.

Frankly, if you’re considering an affordable tablet for a child and you don’t want to buy into Amazon’s cheaper yet more limited Fire line, then the ninth-gen iPad is ideal. It can do a lot of the same things much pricier iPads can do, running the same apps, or it can comfortably be put to work as a glorified Netflix machine without spending hundreds more on one of its cousins that can be overkill for that simple task.