Dealmaster: Get a 9.7-inch iPad with 128GB of storage for $299

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of discounts and price drops. Today's list is headlined by a deal on the 128GB variant of Apple's 6th-gen iPad, which is down to $299 at Walmart as of this writing. That matches the price we saw during Amazon's Prime Day event, and this price tag comes in about $30 below the typical price we've seen whenever the tablet has been discounted in the past year.

The big caveat here is that Apple recently replaced this iPad with a new model, which starts at $329 for a 32GB model. That 7th-gen iPad bumps up the screen size from 9.7 inches to 10.2 inches and adds support for Apple's Smart Connector port, meaning it can use Apple's Smart Keyboard accessory instead of solely relying on Bluetooth keyboards. It also bumps up the RAM from 2GB to 3GB.

Other than that, though, this older model performs almost identically to the new one. It has the same A10 processor, the same camera and battery specs, the same Lightning port and 3.5mm headphone jack, and the same iPadOS software. It's also saddled with the same non-laminated display and relatively dated design. Springing more for an iPad Air (or a refurbished 10.5-inch iPad Pro) will bring you a noticeable hardware upgrade, the 10.2-inch iPad may grant you an extra year of iPadOS support down the road, and it's always possible Black Friday will bring prices down further. But if you just want an affordable iPad and value the extra storage, this is a good value.

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