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Best Buy is discounting Apple's new iPad Air with M3 power right off the bat (with a catch)

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Mar 05, 2025, 3:36 AM

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Official iPad Air (2025) image in all color options

Significantly faster than their predecessors and otherwise largely unchanged, the hot new Apple M3-powered 11 and 13-inch iPad Airs also come with unchanged prices, which is obviously a good thing.

But if you want to spend even less than $599 or $799 for these remarkably speedy and unquestionably good-looking mid-range tablets, that's actually already possible... and you don't have to trade anything in or meet Apple's requirements for a special "education" discount.

$549

$599

$50 off (8%)

128GB Storage, Wi-Fi Only, Apple M3 Processor, Liquid Retina IPS LCD Screen with 2360 x 1640 Pixel Resolution, 12MP Rear-Facing Camera, 12MP Front-Facing Camera, Top-Mounted Fingerprint Scanner, All-Day Battery Life, Landscape Stereo Speakers, Two Microphones, USB Type-C Port, Multiple Color Options, My Best Buy Total Membership Required

Pre-order at BestBuy

$749

$799

$50 off (6%)

128GB Storage, Wi-Fi Only, Apple M3 Processor, Liquid Retina IPS LCD Screen with 2732 x 2048 Pixel Resolution, 12MP Rear-Facing Camera, 12MP Front-Facing Camera, Top-Mounted Fingerprint Scanner, All-Day Battery Life, Landscape Stereo Speakers, Two Microphones, USB Type-C Port, Multiple Color Options, My Best Buy Total Membership Required

Pre-order at BestBuy

Instead, what you need to do to save 50 bucks on your favorite iPad Air (2025) model is become a My Best Buy Total member. If you already pay $179.99 a year for the retailer's premium Amazon Prime-rivaling service, then great, you can go ahead and order an 11 or 13-inch iPad Air (M3) at a nice little discount.

Not a member yet? Not a problem, as you can sign up whenever you want and claim this totally unexpected pre-order deal on Apple's latest contenders for the title of best tablet in the world. Of course, the M3-powered iPad Airs can't exceed the raw speed of last year's 11 and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4) duo, but in terms of value for your money, I believe the cheaper slates might just be the smarter buy right now.

At $549 and up, the iPad Air 11 (2025) trumps both the more affordable Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and the costlier Galaxy Tab S10+ with its bang for your buck, not only packing an impressively powerful chip (for a mid-ranger), but also sporting a sharp Liquid Retina display with 2360 x 1640 pixel resolution, decent stereo speaker system, always handy Touch ID sensor (mounted at the top of the tablet), and perhaps most importantly, a razor-thin 6.1mm profile.

For the most part, the 13-inch version duplicates those key specs and features, starting however at a considerably higher price point of $749 after Best Buy's members-only markdown and thus rivaling (and undercutting) Samsung's gargantuan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra in addition to the aforementioned Tab S10 Plus.

That $50 discount, mind you, can be applied to every single Apple M3-powered iPad Air 11 and iPad Air 13 variant available for pre-order today, including 1TB storage configurations and 5G-enabled models.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.