RAM prices have been climbing throughout 2026 due to AI infrastructure demand, and Apple has passed those costs onto iPad buyers with price increases across the lineup. The good news is that Amazon has the 11-inch 128GB Wi-Fi iPad at $399, below Apple’s current $499 asking price and the lowest it has been at this configuration since the price increase.
A16 chip, Liquid Retina, Wi-Fi 6, and a price Apple didn’t authorize
The iPad 11-inch with A16 chip is Apple’s current entry-level iPad, which in 2026 means a processor that was powering the iPhone 15 Pro at launch, a Liquid Retina display with True Tone that adjusts color temperature to the room’s ambient light, Wi-Fi 6 for fast wireless transfers, USB-C connectivity, and access to over a million apps designed specifically for iPad. Apple prices this configuration at what Apple prices it at. Amazon has decided that number is flexible, apparently without consulting anyone at Apple about it.
The 12MP Center Stage front camera keeps the subject automatically centered during video calls without manual adjustment, which is the camera feature that makes the iPad 11-inch genuinely useful for the video call use case rather than just technically capable of it. The 12MP rear camera handles document scanning and 4K video capture, and Touch ID in the top button covers authentication and Apple Pay without Face ID’s requirement for direct eye contact. All-day battery life covers the full usage day without the mid-afternoon hunt for a wall outlet that shorter-runtime tablets require.
iPadOS runs multiple apps simultaneously, supports Apple Pencil for note-taking and drawing directly on the display, and integrates with the Magic Keyboard Folio for laptop-style productivity that the 11-inch form factor supports without being too large to carry comfortably. The million-plus apps designed specifically for iPad represent the software advantage that competing Android tablets at lower prices can’t match through their app libraries regardless of hardware specification.
Amazon keeps doing this to Apple and Apple keeps not being able to stop it
This is a pattern that repeats every time Amazon decides to move Apple hardware: Apple holds its price on its own site, Amazon prices the same product below that as an authorized reseller making its own retail decisions, and Apple has no contractual mechanism to prevent it. The iPad 11-inch has been through this cycle before, and the current pricing is the result of Amazon making a unilateral decision that Apple’s standard pricing is not the price Amazon is going to charge. The product is new, sealed, covered by Apple’s full one-year limited warranty, and eligible for AppleCare+ regardless of where it was purchased.
For anyone who has been watching iPad pricing and waiting for the moment that makes the purchase feel genuinely justified rather than merely acceptable, Amazon’s current pricing on the iPad 11-inch is that moment. Apple’s site will not match it and Apple’s authorized retail partners generally don’t match it either.