Consumers can now grab the popular Apple tablet computer with price cutbacks that go as high as $US234, courtesy of U.S. retail giant Best Buy.

The new Best Buy promo deals placed the iPad 3's retail price at $US314 from its original mark of $US548, which is the lowest price tag that is given to the third-generation Apple slate.

The slab model for the mentioned is the 16GB and Wi-Fi only configuration, which is a variant suitable for users getting their first taste tablet computing in the iOS environment. This particular iPad is also perfect for use of elementary-age kids and teenagers.

Note that despite carrying the iPad 3 label, the tablet is not necessarily antiquated and is only 12 months old. Its capabilities will definitely measure with the current batch of powerful Android tablets, experts said.

Buyers, however, wanting to enjoy 4G connectivity and more storage space can opt for the 32GB model with LTE and 4G radio signals, which Best Buy now retails for only $US546. The mark down came from the original price of $US780.

Take note again that Best Buy is selling brand new iPad 3s, which are priced lower to the refurbished iPad 3 models that Apple sells on its official online store, according to a report by Gotta Be Mobile.

This makes the deals more attractive, giving reasons to many buyers not to wait out for the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 that blog reports said will debut by the second half of 2013.

The iPad 3, experts said, remains a compelling buy as the latest iteration of the Apple tablet, the iPad 4, represents a minimal upgrade mainly in the CPU department. The former's A5X dual-core computing speed of 1.0GHz got a bit of a bump up with the latter's A6X 1.3GHz.

But with the iPad 3's price tag now considerably lower while the iPad 4 is at $US499 as starting point, analysts expect the latter to further register dwindling sales as buyers either go for the iPad 3 or hold off for the iPad 5.

The iPad 5, reports said, is a fully revamped tablet that resembles the iPad Mini in form factor but bears significant spikes in both hardware and software specs.