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Don't Pay Apple's New M4 Prices: Save Hundreds on the M3 iPad Air

Best Buy's Fourth of July sale is currently running, and it features a big sale across Apple's previous generation M3 iPad Air tablets. You can find up to $400 off these devices during the event, and they're particularly notable when compared to the recently increased prices of the 2026 M4 iPad Air.

m3 ipad air blue hueNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Savings are focused on the cellular models of the M3 iPad Air, with these devices priced similarly to their Wi-Fi only counterparts in many cases. Below we've listed all of the biggest deals for the M3 iPad Air, as well as comparisons to each M4 model.

Prices start at $499.00 for the 128GB Cellular 11-inch M3 iPad Air, which is a $250 markdown and compares favorably to the $899.00 price tag on the same M4 iPad Air. The main difference between the M3 and M4 iPad Air generations is faster chip speed with the M4 chip, and upgraded wireless technologies, but otherwise the tablets are similar.

11-inch

13-inch

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.


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Top Rated Comments

Plutonius Avatar
2 days ago at 08:22 am
Good deals but I can avoid the Apple price increases by not updating at all.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmr727 Avatar
2 days ago at 08:27 am
My work just replaced our M1 iPad Airs with M3 iPad Airs, and lemme tell you - other than having a fresh battery - there is absolutely no difference whatsoever.

I don't see any reason to pay a premium for the latest SoC when the iPad is otherwise identical.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
2 days ago at 08:29 am
"Keep using an older device" is always good financial advice and particularly now.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2 days ago at 09:33 am
One thing that might (eventually) matter to (some) people: this version has 8GB of RAM. Most would say that is enough for an iPad. But Apple has just announced that iPadOS 27 would require 12GB of RAM for the most advanced on-device AI models. I don’t think anyone really knows yet how comparably good these models will be. Apple has high hopes; we’ll see. But this may make a difference for people. The M4 iPad Aid has 12GB of RAM, something Apple would have taken into account no doubt.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CDPlayer Avatar
2 days ago at 08:49 am
And a few days ago MacRumors was recommending “Don’t Buy” on much of Apple’s products with word that price hikes from AI techbro billionaires were about to hit Apple.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
2 days ago at 08:27 am
Or just buy used. Not much more I can do on my M4 IPP that I can’t do on my 2018 IPP.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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