The best iPad deals you'll see this Prime Day: live blog

All in all, iPad deals aren't looking bad considering that Prime Day doesn't actually start until Tuesday, and I have my doubts about whether the discounts will get much bigger than what we're already seeing on many models. 

If you're looking for one of the cheaper iPads - the standard iPad or iPad Air, the deals we're seeing at the moment are as cheap as these models usually get, so I'd be surprised if we see better deals during Prime Day.

On the other hand, if you're in the US and planning to buy an iPad Pro, I'd hold fire for now because we're not seeing any really decent deals on the latest Pros yet. Amazon has $50 off the 12.9 inch 2022 iPad Pro but only with a 128GB SSD, which isn't really going to allow you to make much use of its Pro specs. 

It's a slightly different story in the UK, where Amazon has some small savings on the iPad Pro across a range of configurations.

We're taking a little break from the blog for now, but rest assured that we'll be back tomorrow and through Tuesday and Wednesday to continue to track the best Prime Day iPad deals available.

Back to Prime Day iPad deals, though. Below we've already mentioned deals on the entry-level iPads and on the iPad Pro. But the best iPad for a lot of people (i.e., people that want to do a bit of work on the device but don't need Pro processing power for heavy graphics work), is the trusty iPad Air, a tablet that's almost an iPad Pro in many ways but has a much more appealing price tag.

It comes in two storage configurations, 64GB and 246GB. The former is not very much storage at all for the size to today's media files but if you're not going to be saving images or video locally it might be fine. If you'll be working with video or images on the device, you'll probably want the larger option unless you're saving everything to the cloud.

Happily there are deals on both, but it depends on the colour you want. Amazon has the latest 2022 iPad Air 246GB for $749 now $640 if you click the little box to apply the coupon for the extra $29 saving (no, I don't know why they do it like that; it's something to do with them not allowing to advertise lower prices), but this only applies to the 'Blue' and 'Space Grey' colours.

As for the 64GB version, there's $40 off on every colour. But again, make sure you pay close attention to that little coupon button below the price, because the blue and Space Grey models have the option to add a coupon for an extra $59 off, for a total saving of $100.

The other iPad accessory that some find essential is a pair of AirPods, especially if you'll be using your tablet on the move and to work in cafes or other shared spaces. Fortunately you should never have to pay full price for these, and now is no exception since there's a discount available on every model. 

Our top pick is the latest Air Pods Pro 2 (read our review to see why). That $50 is pretty much a perennial discount at Amazon now, so really make sure you don't pay more than that. If the deal's gone when you're looking to buy, hold fire for a while because it will almost certainly be back within a week or so irrespective of whether it's Prime Day or not.

• AirPods Pro 2: Was $249 now $199 at Amazon
• AirPods 3: Was $169 now $149 at Amazon
• AirPods Max: Was $549 now $479 at Amazon

In the UK, the AirPods Pro are reduced by just £10 from £249 to £239.

If you're buying an iPad with the plan to use it for drawing or even just notetaking, you're probably going to want to pick up an Apple Pencil too. We do have a guide to the best Apple Pencil alternatives if you think you can make do with a more economical stylus, but there's really no comparison to Apple's stylus, especially for drawing.

Fortunately, the second gen Apple Pencil is close to the lowest price we've ever seen: Apple Pencil 2 $129 now $89 at Amazon US.  That's a saving of $40 and is only $4 higher than the record low price of $84.99, which we saw for only a couple of days early in June. 

Apple Pencil 2 is compatible with new iPad Pros, Airs and minis but NOT the standard iPad - for that you'll need Apple Pencil 1, which is reduced from $99 to $79 at Amazon US.

Clicking around through the various colour and storage options can serve up some surprise extra discounts. For example, this deal on the iPad mini on Amazon can save you between five and eight per cent depending on the colour/size (note: none of these deals are standout – they're all quite a way off their lowest prices ever but this context is useful for deal hunting.)

The best option is on the 256GB Starlight configuration, which is cut by $50 from $649 to $599 (still $60 off its lowest-ever price, by the way, though this isn't a terrible deal). The other colours are reduced by just five per cent to $617. 

If you'd rather the 64GB version, the only colour not reduced is the pink iPad – the rest have the same six per cent discount – reduced from $499 to $469 (lowest price ever was $399). 

We hope to see these prices fall further, and we'll keep you in the loop as and when things change.

In the UK? There's nothing earth-shattering around yet but if you're in the market for the latest iPad Pro, you'll be interested in this bit of price context. There's four percent off the 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB versions right now – for example, Amazon has the 256GB on sale for £975.13. This is an interesting one, because though four per cent doesn't sound like a lot, it is actually lowest-price territory for a couple of these configurations. 

However, our delve into the price history shows they've been at that level for quite a while (some a bit more fluctuating than others) so it is worth holding on until Prime Day actually begins – if you're not in an iPad emergency and you're happy to wait until then.

The 2TB iPad has a more impressive 10 per cent off, but it's way off its record-low price (by a massive £500), so we wouldn't recommend pressing that button just yet. 

There's also a deal on the latest 10th gen iPad, which has been around on and off for a few months now – but it is still the lowest price we've seen it go for. You can pick it up for $399 at Amazon – $50 less than the RRP of $449. 

This iPad is the one that catapulted the iPad standard into the spec territory of the Air, confusing buyers everywhere (including us, see our iPad 2022 10th gen review here for more). The upgrades mean there's no longer a 'standard iPad' if you don't need all the extra goodness like a bunch of power and a bigger screen, but who are we to complain, really? And this offer means it is more attractive than when it was full price.

OK! To kick things off I'm picking my favourite iPad. No, it's not the most recent 10th Gen model, but the previous 9th Gen, 2021 model. Surprisingly, this is not a Pro, and not an Air – this is the standard iPad, and before the 10th Gen shifted the specs up into the territory of the Air, the 9th Gen iPad was what I'd call a classic iPad. 

And the deal? It's down from $329 to $279 over at Amazon. This is not an official Prime Day deal, so you don't need a Prime membership to get it. Will it be bettered this Tuesday and Wednesday? Maybe. But at $279, it's a great deal as it is.