On its own, Apple isn’t a fan of discounts. Thankfully, you can rely on third-party retailers to hold sales on all of its devices. That’s where Amazon comes in. Amazon’s Prime Day sale runs October 8 to 9, and you’ll find a variety of Prime Day Apple deals on MacBooks, AirPods, iPads, and more.
We don’t recommend anything we haven’t tested, and we test year-round. Want to read the full reviews? Check out our guides to the Best MacBooks, Best AirPods, Best iPads, and Best Apple Watches. You have to be a Prime member to access the deals during the sale, which is technically called Big Deals Days, but you can get a free trial, and Prime offers a lot of fun perks. Below, we’ve gathered all of the best discounts on our top-rated devices.
WIRED Featured Deals
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that’s too important to ignore for just $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year. Includes unlimited digital access and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.
MacBook Deals
Photograph: Apple
According to rumors, M4-powered MacBooks could be launching as soon as this month. But the MacBook Pro with M3 launched just a year ago—so it’s still a great choice. It packs a bright display with a mini LED panel and a 120-Hz refresh rate, along with a 1080p webcam. It comes with plenty of ports too, including two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI, a MagSafe charging port, a high-impedance headphone jack, and an SD card slot. We recommend it if you’re looking for a MacBook Pro without spending $2,000 or more.
The M3-powered MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) isn’t all that different from the M2 model, but it’s a great option—especially if you want a reliable laptop for everyday tasks and slightly more. It has a 13.6-inch LCD screen and a notch with a 1080p webcam, while the M3 also provides a nice boost in performance compared to the original M1. You can also use it with two external displays, which is an upgrade from the single external display support with the older chips.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
The 15-inch MacBook Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great choice if you want a larger screen, but don’t want to spend money on a MacBook Pro. It packs all the same features 13-inch MacBook Air, including a modern build and a 1080 webcam, along with an M3 chip. The base model comes equipped with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU which handles tasks with ease. We recommend upgrading to at least 16 GB of unified memory to ensure that it can smoothly handle dozens of apps and tabs running at the same time.
If you’re looking for an external display to pair with your MacBook, the Studio Display (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great choice. It has a large 27-inch screen that’s great for showcasing multiple apps simultaneously, and the sharp screen delivers accurate colors. There’s also a 12-megapixel camera, along with built-in mics and speakers, making it ideal for video calls. It doesn’t have HDR—so colors look slightly more saturated and contrasty to the neutral tones you’ll find on Apple’s Pro Display XDR—but the 5K resolution is stunningly sharp.
iPad Deals
Photograph: Apple
This is Apple’s latest iPad Pro tablet (6/10, WIRED Review). It comes with the largest number of upgrades in a while, including a bigger and brighter display, an upgraded OLED screen, and a front-facing camera that’s been moved to landscape mode. It’s also powered by the M4 chip (which launched in May), which delivers smooth and snappy performance. It’s not all that different than the M2-powered tablet, so if you don’t need the latest version, we still highly recommend its predecessor if it’s also on sale.
This is the latest iPad Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which came out back in May. It comes in two sizes: 11 inches and 13 inches. The latter is not only bigger but also brighter, making it excellent to use as a secondary display for work or to watch TV. It also comes equipped with an M2 processor (the same one that powers the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from 2022), that delivers smooth performance. Apple moved the front-facing 12-megapixel camera to landscape orientation, so it’s less awkward to use on video calls. It has a USB-C port, slim bezels, and Touch ID built into the top power button.
Photograph: Apple; Getty Images
The iPad (10th-gen) (7/10, WIRED Review) is our top pick for most people. It comes with a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina (IPS LCD) display, a touch-ID sensor integrated into the power button, a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and a 12-megapixel rear camera (an upgrade from the 8-megapixels). The 12-MP selfie camera has been moved to the center of the iPad. It’s powered by an A14 Bionic chip, which delivers slightly faster performance and a bump in graphics over its predecessor.
We no longer think the ninth-generation iPad (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best for most people (mainly because it’s three years old and packs an older, A13 Bionic chip). But it’s still a solid option if want a budget tablet. It’s affordable and comes with a ton of great features like 64 GB of storage on the base model, a 12-megapixel rear camera (with support for Center Stage), a physical Touch ID-enabled home button, and a True Tone display. It’s also compatible with various accessories including the first-generation Apple Pencil and Apple’s Smart Keyboard.
iPad MiniPhotograph: Apple
Apple is expected to announce a new iPad Mini in November or early next year, so I recommend waiting on this one if you can. But if you can’t, this is still a great tablet. The 8.3-inch display is great for sketching, notetaking, reading ebooks, and watching movies. It also has Touch ID built into the power button, a front-facing camera with Center Stage, and an A15 Bionic processor (as seen on the iPhone 13) that can handle taxing apps or games.
This is the latest and more feature-packed Apple Pencil. It comes with a “squeeze” capability that triggers the tool palette (but you can still use double-tap), a haptic engine inside that delivers feedback when you squeeze the stylus, and a built-in gyroscope sensor that allows you to change the orientation of the tools as you twist it for finer control. It also comes with support for Apple’s Find My Network in case you lose it. However, it only works with the iPad Air (M2) and iPad Pro (M4).
The second-generation Apple Pencil is a step below the newer Apple Pencil Pro. It comes with tilt sensitivity, pressure sensitivity, handwriting support, and a double-tap feature that lets you switch quickly between tools by tapping the stylus twice. It also has support for wireless pairing and wireless charging—which means it automatically charges magnetically when attached to the top edge of supported iPads. As for compatibility, it works with the iPad Mini (6th Gen), iPad Air (4th Gen and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st Gen and later), and the 12.9-inch (3rd Gen and later).
AirPods Deals
Photograph: Apple; Getty Images
In addition to above-average sound quality—with crisp highs, authoritative bass, and excellent noise cancellation—the AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) come with a ton of useful features. There’s Conversation Awareness, which lowers your music and background noise when it detects you’re having a conversation, along with Adaptive Transparency mode that combines noise cancellation and transparency to adjust audio. Thanks to the U1 chip, they also have support for the Find My app in case you lose the buds.
Apple’s AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) deliver rich bass, fantastic noise cancellation, and a massive soundstage. They have great build quality too, with soft fabric earcups (that are replaceable) and a springy mesh headband. They integrate with iOS devices seamlessly, with the ability to automatically switch back and forth between iOS devices. Last month, Apple launched a USB-C version. They’re identical to the Lightning version aside from the charging port. Those are also on sale in select colors.
Apple Watch Deals
-(gold)-Offwhite-Background-SOURCE-Apple.jpg)
The Series 10 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has been out for only a month, but it’s already on sale. It’s our top pick of all the Apple Watches. It’s thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and it has fast charging and support for watchOS 11, so you’ll have access to features like Vitals (to check whether you’re off your baseline each morning) and Training Load (where you can see how your workouts impact your fitness). The standout feature, however, is Breathing Disturbances, which utilizes the built-in accelerometer to notify you if you have sleep apnea.
The Ultra 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite smartwatch for outdoor sports. It has onboard precision dual-frequency GPS, offline maps (you’ll have to download them to your iPhone though), and the ability to see your cycling session as a Live Activity on your iPhone. It also has an Action button, which you can use to start Backtrack (Apple’s navigation feature that creates virtual breadcrumb trails on the Compass app that you can follow back home). It’s powered by the S9 chip for performance, along with an ultra-wideband chip with enhanced precision finding.
Source link
