Rare deal alert: The new iPad mini is $399, its lowest price ever
The iPad Mini hits the sweet spot for me. It's about the size of my Kindle, but way better for reading magazines. It crushes my iPhone for FaceTime and watching videos and, unlike my full-size iPad, this one fits much more easily in my bag when I am flying. And right now it's down to its lowest price ever, just $399. If you've been holding out, now's the time to cave in and buy one, before the price changes yet again.
Priced at $100 off (that's this tablet's lowest price ever!) this might be the iPad you've been waiting for. As a newer addition to Apple's lineup, it typically goes for full price, and we don't expect the discount to stick around for much longer.
Think this is just a slightly larger version of your phone? Think again. With a 3:2 aspect ratio compared with the iPhone's 2:1, the iPad mini is much wider and, if you use your tablet to read, it can fit more text and feels more like a book or magazine in your hand. Speaking of fitting in your hand, it's less cumbersome than a full-size iPad, making it great for travel or slipping into a backpack for your commute.
As far as features go, this little tablet is packed. It's powered by the A17 Bionic chip, so you should experience zero lag (which I definitely cannot say for my Kindle). It also has a 12-megapixel camera on both the front and back, plus, with its smaller size, you won't look ridiculous holding it up to snap a photo. The optional (but highly recommended) Apple Pencil Pro can turn this tablet into an art studio, whether your medium is photography or digital art.
This is also the first iPad mini with Apple Intelligence. What is Apple Intelligence, you ask? It's Apple's way of making your device even more helpful and personalized. It learns from your habits and preferences to suggest things like reminders for meetings, photos from specific events or predictive text while you type, making things run smoother and faster.
Since this is the newest iPad Mini, it has only a handful of ratings on Amazon so far, but most of them, 86% in fact, are five-star raves.
"I love the iPad mini, especially for use when I travel, and when I need to take it to family gatherings. It's a lot easier to manage than my larger iPad," said this on-the-go fan. "I was concerned at first about the smaller screen, but since you can enlarge the type in the accessibility function on the iPad mini, I have had no problems using it. For portability, you can't [beat] the smaller iPad."
"Having used various larger iPads, I find this model strikes an ideal balance between being more expansive than a phone, yet more compact than a laptop," wrote a second reviewer. "Its size is perfect for on-the-go productivity and entertainment."
"I had the previous iPad mini and sold it to upgrade to this one," noted a repeat buyer. "It is the exact same excellent build quality and gorgeous display, but with twice the storage of my last one (128GB) and a much better processor. ... Apple Intelligence might sound like a gimmick, but I have been using the beta of iPadOS 18.2 and I am blown away by the image playground app. I am an author, and it has enabled me the power to visualize my characters just by describing them in the playground app. That alone is worth the price of admission for me to Apple Intelligence."
"It truly brings the Apple experience in a smaller package," said this fan. But they also offered this note of caution: "If you're upgrading from the mini 6, be aware: The improvements are minor, mostly focused on chip performance, and require a new Apple Pencil Pro."
Echoed this shopper: "If you upgrade, know that the Apple Pencil 2 that you bought to use with your 6 will not work with the 7. You will have to buy a new Apple Pencil Pro."
Speaking of the Apple Pencil Pro, it's on sale too:
If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Digital Trends
3 hours ago
- Digital Trends
3 big iOS 19 changes that I hope Apple reveals at WWDC 2025
We're less than two days away from Apple's big WWDC 2025 keynote, where the company will reveal new versions of each of its software platforms. One of the biggest changes this year is the expected shift from iOS 19 to iOS 26, with new versions of macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS also set to follow suit. We're also expecting to see the evolution of Apple Health, including a new AI doctor and Health subscription. iOS 26, if it is to be named that, is expected to introduce one of the biggest evolutions in design for Apple software since the first iPhone was launched. Inspired by visionOS and the Apple Vision Pro, it's expected to be a monumental redesign, but I hope that Apple also takes the time to make a few improvements. Recommended Videos I've used the iPhone for over a decade, which I carry every day along with one of the best Android phones. While iOS is an excellent platform, there are a few key areas where it could improve. Here are the five improvements I'm hoping to see on Monday. 1. True support for third parties It's somewhat antithetical for Apple to embrace third parties, evidenced by its ongoing lawsuit with Fortnite developer Epic Games, but this might be the best time for the company to do exactly this. It may also prevent regulatory challenges, like the Epic Games lawsuit, which resulted in support for third-party app stores on the iPhone, but only in Europe. The success of the iPhone can be largely attributed to its early adoption by third-party developers. These developers built the apps and experiences that enabled the iPhone to have the impact it has had. While this has been great for apps, Apple only enabled third-party solutions to replace certain system functions, and these features don't work anywhere near as well. Third-party keyboards have been supported for over a decade, yet it's still a bit-part installation, which results in the OS often freezing and resorting to the default keyboard. Apple's new Passwords app in iOS 18 also made third-party password managers less stable. This could also help address a significant issue for Apple. The company's troubles with Apple Intelligence and the new Siri could be somewhat solved by enabling third-party assistants to be set as the default, at least in the interim. This would also benefit its partnership with OpenAI and ChatGPT, or allow an assistant like Google Gemini to be set as the default. 2. A rebuilt OS that just works again For Apple to truly allow third-party support, it needs to rebuild iOS. Over the past 19 years, Apple's iPhone software has largely stayed the same under the hood. The result is that while many features have been added over the years, they have directly contributed to the OS's load and instability. Consider iOS 18 and the launch of the theming engine, as well as the more flexible approach to the homescreen layout, and the transformation of widgets. All are great additions to the customizability of iOS 18, but none launched with the same stability and aplomb that made Apple as successful as it has been. Apple products are infamously meant to 'just work', and it's time to return to that era, starting with a rebuild of iOS. The visionOS platform demonstrates that Apple can still design beautiful, first-generation software experiences, and the iPhone needs a next-generation experience. 3. Advanced features from Android There are many features available on Android that aren't available on the iPhone. While iOS 18 brought the iPhone closer to the customizability of an Android phone, there are still a few things that are needed for the iPhone to continue competing with the best phones. Consider the Galaxy S25 Ultra: it features multiple telephoto lenses, the S-Pen stylus, and true multitasking capabilities. Or the Oppo Find N5 and Galaxy Z Fold 7, which feature two screens and advanced stylus input. Then there are phones like the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Vivo X200 Ultra, which all feature multiple telephoto lenses and advanced camera systems that are more capable than the iPhone, at least for still photography. Then there's Apple's approach to the homescreen. Last year, Apple introduced significant improvements to the homescreen, but there are still many ways for Apple to take this further. I'd love to see resizable icons, a choice of grid layouts, and more advanced management of icon positioning and grid. And yes, I hope they fix the current homescreen introduced in iOS 18, so we can put apps wherever we want, and they'll stay in place. The next-generation iPhone experience needs to do more than fix the bugs; it should set the iPhone up to compete with the very best phones. Apple is rumored to launch an iPhone Fold eventually, and iOS 19 should lay the groundwork for this to compete with the best folding phones. I can't wait to see what Apple launches on Monday during the WWDC 2025 livestream. I use an Apple product in each category, and I am genuinely excited to see what the company does next. I suspect we'll see a mix of bug fixes, design changes, and some new features to highlight, but less from Apple Intelligence than we did last year. We'll all find out soon!
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Bill Atkinson, Who Made Computers Easier to Use, Is Dead at 74
Bill Atkinson, the Apple Computer designer who created the software that enabled the transformative visual approach pioneered by the company's Lisa and Macintosh computers, making the machines accessible to millions of users without specialized skills, died on Thursday night at his home in Portola Valley, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was 74. In a Facebook post, his family said the cause was pancreatic cancer. It was Mr. Atkinson who programmed QuickDraw, a foundational software layer used for both the Lisa and Macintosh computers; composed of a library of small programs, it made it possible to display shapes, text and images on the screen efficiently. The QuickDraw programs were embedded in the computers' hardware, providing a distinctive graphical user interface that presented a simulated 'desktop,' displaying icons of folders, files and application programs. Mr. Atkinson is credited with inventing many of the key aspects of graphical computing, such as 'pull down' menus and the 'double-click' gesture, which allows users to open files, folders and applications by clicking a mouse button twice in succession. Before the Macintosh was introduced in January 1984, most personal computers were text-oriented; graphics were not yet an integrated function of the machines. And computer mice pointing devices were not widely available; software programs were instead controlled by typing arcane commands. The QuickDraw library had originally been designed for Apple's Lisa computer, which was introduced in January 1983. Intended for business users, the Lisa predated many of the Macintosh's easy-to-use features, but priced at $10,000 (almost $33,000 in today's money), it was a commercial failure. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
This AI ETF Could Turn $10,000 Into $40,000 by 2035
It's becoming clearer that artificial intelligence is going to have a meaningful impact on the economy over time. Investors that want diversified exposure to the AI trend should consider this top ETF that has produced a monster 414% total return in the past 10 years. While there continues to be a lot of excitement about AI in the near term, it's important that investors have the patience to focus on the next decade and beyond. 10 stocks we like better than Invesco QQQ Trust › There's no denying it -- artificial intelligence (AI) is likely going to have a profound impact on the world over the long term. Entire industries could be altered. It's no wonder management teams are increasingly focused on ways to better position themselves for long-term success. From an investment perspective, perhaps it's starting to make sense that your portfolio should have some exposure to AI. Luckily, investors don't necessarily need to pick individual stocks if they want to benefit from the trend. There's one top AI exchange-traded fund (ETF) that could turn $10,000 into $40,000 by 2035. Continue reading to learn more about how to supercharge your portfolio for future success. In the last 10 years, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) has generated a total return of 414% (as of June 3). This means that a $10,000 investment made in June 2015 would be worth $51,400 today. I don't think anyone in their right mind would complain with that kind of fantastic result. Even better, the expense ratio of 0.20% is a minimal cost to bear for that type of gain. There's no guarantee that past returns will repeat themselves going forward. Let's assume that there is a slowdown. Even so, I wouldn't be surprised if investors who put the same $10,000 in this ETF today see a fourfold gain in the next decade, resulting in a 15% annualized return. There's a lot of talk about how the stock market's current valuation is expensive. But consider that this has been the general narrative for a very long time. Yet that hasn't prevented equity markets from marching higher. The rise of passive investing, ongoing economic expansion, and dominance of tech-driven enterprises have all played a part. I'm fairly confident these trends will continue. The Invesco QQQ Trust can be considered a top AI ETF, even though it contains 100 stocks in total. There is heavy concentration among the top positions, many of which have a meaningful AI focus. The so-called hyperscalers, most notably Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, combined represent 18.9% of the Invesco QQQ Trust's asset base. These dominant companies have leading cloud computing platforms that offer a range of AI tools to their customers. They're collectively planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on capital expenditures in 2025 in an effort to bolster their technical infrastructure to better position themselves for an AI future. We can't forget about Nvidia, the biggest beneficiary thus far of the AI boom. It provides the graphics-processing units that power AI data centers, posting unbelievable revenue and profit growth. It's the second-largest holding in the Invesco QQQ Trust. Other top positions are Apple, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and Tesla. There's no doubt that AI has and will keep impacting these businesses in some way as well. Investing correctly means having patience. While the AI craze has definitely made some investors rich in a short period of time, that's the wrong mindset to have. When buying the Invesco QQQ Trust, it's critical to keep the attention on the next decade and beyond. AI has the ability to revolutionize many parts of our economy, and this will all take time to play out. As of this writing, the Invesco QQQ Trust trades 2% off its peak. It might be tempting to wait for a bigger pullback to put money to work. However, I believe this is a flawed approach. It's a smart idea to invest early and often, letting compounding work its magic. Investing in this top AI ETF could work wonders for your portfolio between now and 2035. Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,395!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $858,011!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 997% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neil Patel has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This AI ETF Could Turn $10,000 Into $40,000 by 2035 was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
