When is the best time to buy an iPad? We investigate

We’ve all been there. You decide to pick up a shiny new device, so you head to the shops and return home with your expensive purchase; all is well with the world. Then a week later a newer, better version is released, and you’re left wondering whether you’ve wasted your money.

In this article we show how to avoid this trauma by explaining when it’s the best time to buy an iPad.

If you’re struggling to decide which one is the right device for you, incidentally, you should also take a look at our iPad buying guide.

When is the best time to buy an iPad?

It’s not so easy to say when the best time to buy an iPad is because there is no clear schedule to when Apple will update any of the iPad models. However, since Apple doesn’t tend to update iPads as regularly as it does iPhones and the Apple Watch, you can be reasonabl.y condident that is the iPad is less than a year and a half old it probably isn’t about to be updated.

Safe in the knowledge that an update isn’t due soon, you might be wondering if the price might change. Rather than wait for Apple to drop the price, which happens very rarely, our recommendation would be to look for deals from retailers. We see deals throughout the year, but the best tend to happen during Amazon Prime Day (July ad October) or Black Friday (November).

The best time to buy an Apple Watch isn’t necessarily when a new model launches. If you wait a month or two you might be able to take advantages of sales and price drops from resellers. During October and November we see lots of sales events, such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, and you can expect to get some money off at these events. Apple doesn’t discount its products at its own stores, but it does offer vouchers with new purchases from time to time–and Black Friday is one of those times. For advice on where to buy, read our roundup of the Best iPad deals.

Looking for a Black Friday deal: See Best Black Friday 2024 Apple deals and Best Black Friday iPad deals.

How often is the iPad updated?

Life would be a bit easier for the iPad fanbase if you could always rely on the latest update to your preferred model appearing in September, as is the case with the iPhone. Instead, Apple updates its iPads on a less predictable schedule, with new models tending to appear around September/October or April, and often with a gap of two or more years between updates.

Here’s a list of the iPads on sale today and when they were last updated:

iPad (10th generation, 10.9-inch): October 2022

iPad Air (M2): March 2024

iPad Pro (M4): March 2024

iPad mini (A17 Pro): October 2024

As you can see, it’s been a few years since the standard iPad was updated, and we do expect that Apple will be updating it in 2025. The iPad mini update in October 2024 came three years after the last update, which happened at the end of 2021.

When will Apple launch new iPads?

We probably won’t see Apple update the iPad Air or iPad Pro for a while. We don’t expect either to be updated in 2025.

The iPad mini now runs on a processor compatible with Apple Intelligence, so it is also future-proofed for a few more years.

The iPad on the other hand still features an older A15 chip that won’t run Apple Intelligence, so it is likely that Apple will bring it into line with those requirements in 2025. Read about Apple’s plans for the 11th gen iPad.

Is now a good time to buy an iPad?

Here’s our breakdown of the four types of iPad that Apple currently sells, and in each case whether you should buy now or wait.