I found the best 3 iPad deals from $299 for last-minute Mother's Day shoppers

Blue Apple iPad 11, blue iPad mini 7, and space gray M3 iPad Air against pink gradient background.

(Image credit: Laptop Mag, Apple)

It's early May, and I'm seeing the lowest prices of the season on our favorite tablets. If you want to surprise mom with a token of appreciation that'll make her life easier and bring her joy, you can't go wrong with an iPad.

As a reminder, Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 11, so you still have time to shop for the perfect gift for mom.

One Mother's Day gift idea to consider is the Laptop Mag Editor's Choice Award-winning iPad 11 for $299 ($50 off) at Amazon. This is the lowest price ever for the 11th generation iPad which launched just two months ago.

I track sales for a living, and this is one of the best tablet deals I've seen so far this year.

Browse: Amazon's entire sale

The iPad 11 is a great companion for the iPhone and makes a great Mother's Day gift — I'll tell you why. The iPad 11 provides mom with a secondary, larger 11-inch touchscreen to consume content, play mobile games, read, browse the web, manage emails, or edit media files.

In our Apple Pad 11 review, we rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars for its strong graphics performance, 11-hour+ battery life, and ample storage capacity. Despite its lack of Apple Intelligence support, now just under $300, the iPad 11 is the most budget-friendly Apple tablet.

Amazon also offers the Apple Intelligence-supporting iPad mini 7 for $399 ($100 off) and the M3 iPad Air for $499 ($100 off). The 8.3-inch iPad mini 7 is a wise choice if you want to get mom something more portable. We didn't get a chance to test it, however, the iPad mini 7 earned a solid rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars from our sister brand, Tom's Guide.

Meanwhile, the M3 iPad Air's fast Neural Engine brings out the most in Apple Intelligence and is powerful enough to do double duty as a laptop with an optional Keyboard. Tom's Guide also rated the M3 iPad Air 4.5 out of 5 stars for its powerful processor, useful Apple Intelligence AI features and nearly 10-hour battery life.

Now up to $100 off, Amazon's iPad deals ship to arrive in time for Mother's Day on Sunday, May 11. As with all Apple deals, these savings may not be available for long, so I recommend you act fast.

Today's best 3 iPad deals from $299

Now $50 off, Apple's new A16-powered iPad is at an all-time low price. Although we didn't test it, tech experts agree, the iPad 11 offers solid performance and battery life. Simply put, it's the best tablet for most people who want a cheaper alternative to the iPad Air and iPad Pro.

Key specs: 11-inch (2360 x 1640) Liquid Retina display, Apple A16 Bionic chip, 128GB of storage, 12MP Wide rear camera,, records up to 4K video, 12MP front Center Stage camera, supports Magic Keyboard Folio, Apple Pencil USB-C, and Apple Pencil 1st gen (all sold separately), Touch ID, iPadOS 18

Amazon knocks $30 off the 11-inch iPad Air M3. Although we didn't test it ourselves, the M3-powered iPad Air earned a solid 4 out of 5-star rating from sister site Tom's Guide. They named it Editor's Choice Award for its M3 processing power, vibrant display, nearly 10-hour battery life, and useful Apple Intelligence features.

Key specs: 11-inch (2360 x 1640) 500-nit Liquid Retina display, Apple M3 8-core CPU, 9-core GPU, Hardware-accelerated ray tracing, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB RAM, 128GB of storage, 12MP wide camera, 12MP Ultra-wide front camera, supports Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil USB-C.

Hilda Scott uses her combined passion for gadgets from laptops to TVs and her bargain-shopping savvy to bring you the best prices on all things tech. She has a bachelor’s degree in film and media studies from Hunter College and over a decade of experience in tech journalism. Her work has been featured on Tom’s Guide, iTechPost, Examiner.com, Parlemag, Enstars, and Latin Times. When she's not scouting for the best deals, Hilda’s catching up on her favorite TV series and combat sports.