New Apple iPad will start shipping in US on April 2

Apple's new iPad will start its retail run in the US this week - T-Mobile and Verizon have confirmed they will carry it.

Apple's own store will be able to ship ordered iPads starting April 2 - the same date that AT&T is delivering its pre-orders.

Meanwhile BestBuy is offering a $25 gift card with an iPad purchase.

In reality the 2018 version of "the iPad" costs as much as its predecessor but brings support for Apple's $99 Pencil and offers a $30 reduction in price for schools, which can have it starting at $299.

If a student goes for a combination of the Apple iPad, the $99.95 Logitech Slim Folio Case with keyboard and the $89 Apple Pencil they'll need to shell out $500 and that's pushing on twice the price of a keyboard-equipped Chromebook device. Well, at least you can save $40 by buying the Logitech Crayon stylus instead of the Apple Pencil - score!

Finally, while the special $299 is only for schools, you may still qualify the $309 discounted price for individual students and educators. It covers current and newly accepted college students and their parents, school faculty and staff and homeschool teachers.