Tag: Apples

The 13-inch version of Apple’s MacBook Air with an M2 chip is back down to $849 at Amazon, Best Buy and B&H. That matches the lowest price we’ve tracked for the entry-level configuration, which includes 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Apple normally sells this model for $999. Just note that Amazon’s listing includes a shipping delay as of this writing.

The M2 Air is a generation old, but it remains a good value when it’s discounted to this extent. The performance gap between the M2 and the M3 chip found in the newest Air isn’t huge, and the design of the two laptops is largely the same, so you still get a great screen, comfortable keyboard and thin aluminum chassis. You do lose the ability to use two external monitors, and the M3 Air technically has faster storage, though the latter shouldn’t be a major issue unless you often deal with large files. In general, the limited memory and storage in this config means it’s not a great fit for media editing and more involved work. But if you only need a notebook for the essentials and really want to save a couple hundred bucks, this is a nice price. We gave the M2 Air a score of 96 back in 2022.

The 10th-gen Apple iPad is on sale for $349 at Amazon and Best Buy, which matches the lowest price we’ve seen from major retailers. Apple sells the 10.9-inch tablet for $449, though we often see it drop between $350 and $429 on Amazon. This deal is for the base model with 64GB of storage; if you need more space, the 256GB model is also $100 off its MSRP at $499.

Before you pull the trigger, note that Apple reportedly plans to release new iPad Airs and iPad Pros in early May. If you don’t need a new tablet right this second, it’s probably best to wait a few weeks. However, a refresh to the base iPad isn’t expected until later in 2024, so this should remain a decent deal if you must buy a slate today and want to stay under $400.

We gave the 10th-gen iPad a review score of 85 in late 2022. Its aluminum design feels premium, it gets a solid 10+ hours of battery life and its A14 Bionic chip is still plenty fast for media consumption. Because its webcam is located on its landscape edge, it’s also a bit more convenient for video calls than other iPads. That said, it doesn’t support the highest-end Apple Pencil or Magic Keyboard, and its lack of an M-series chip means it can’t work with some high-end games. Its display isn’t laminated, either, so there’s a small but noticeable air gap between the display and cover glass. Still, it’s an iPad, and it’s a noticeable upgrade over the cheaper 9th-gen model if you just want a nice tablet for reading and streaming.

Walmart is selling a bundle that pairs an Animal Crossing-themed Nintendo Switch Lite with a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for $179. That’s $20 below the bundle’s usual price and an all-time low. 

It’s a tricky time to buy a Switch: The console is seven years old now, and murmurs of a next-gen follow-up have circulated for months, with the most recent reports suggesting that it’ll arrive early next year. If you’ve waited this long to pick one up, it’s probably worth holding out a little longer. But if you want to start catching up today, or if you just want something appropriate for a kid, the Lite is the smallest and most affordable route into Nintendo’s excellent library. As a reminder, this is the only Switch that can’t hook up to a TV, but it can run all the same games with no performance drop-off. New Horizons, meanwhile, remains one of the device’s most relaxing games, a cozy sim about developing your own personal island. It normally costs around $50 on its own.

The JLab Go Air Pop is a good buy for those who just want dirt-cheap wireless earphones that aren’t horrible. Right now the pair is on sale for $15 at Amazon and Best Buy, which isn’t quite an all-time low but still takes roughly $5 off the set’s usual street price. As we note in our budget earbuds buying guide, the Go Air Pop feels light in the ear, lasts a solid eight to nine hours per charge and has touch controls that actually work (which is far from a given in this price range). It’s also water-resistant with an IPX4 rating, so it can survive light workouts. Its bass-heavy sound isn’t exactly balanced, and it does lack any sort of app support. But again, we’re talking about $15 earbuds. As a cheap backup pair, the Go Air Pop is a great value.

Best Buy has the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus on sale for $389, which is $110 off Lenovo’s list price and only $10 more than the all-time low we saw around Black Friday. This is the top pick in our Chromebook buying guide. It’s fast enough for everyday emailing and web browsing, its 14-inch touchscreen is solid for the money and it has a better keyboard and trackpad than most cheap laptops we’ve tested. The IPS display has a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, so it’s well-suited for reading and writing. There are still trade-offs: The webcam isn’t great, battery life is mediocre, and the plastic design is a bit hefty at 3.6 pounds. But for a sub-$500 laptop, it gets more right than wrong. This configuration includes an Intel Core i3-1315U processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of eMMC storage, two USB-C ports, one USB-A port and a microSD slot.

The black version of 8BitDo’s Ultimate Bluetooth Controller has dropped to $59.49 for Amazon Prime members. Though we’ve seen the device go for less in the past, steeper discounts aren’t super common, and this deal still takes about $10 off 8BitDo’s usual selling price.

This is a wireless gamepad for Switch and PC whose praises I’ve sung in the past. The main advantage it has over standard controllers is its Hall effect joysticks, which use magnets to read inputs instead of contact-based potentiometers. In plain English, this means the sticks should be much less susceptible to annoying “drift” over time. The rest of the design feels sturdy, too, with responsive buttons and an accurate d-pad. It may be a smidge too small for those with especially large hands, but its Xbox-style design should feel natural for everyone else. It’s also fairly customizable, with a set of programmable back buttons and a clean app that lets you assign macros and remap inputs as you see fit, plus it comes with a dedicated charging dock.

The top pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers, the Chipolo One, is down to $20 at Amazon via Chipolo direct. That’s $5 off the device’s usual street price and an all-time low. The deal is technically available at Best Buy, too, though it doesn’t include free shipping there. The One doesn’t have the giant crowd-finding network or Apple-friendly features of an AirTag, so it won’t be as helpful for finding an item you’ve misplaced very far away. But for simply making sure you don’t forget your keys or wallet when leaving a house or restaurant, it’s great. It rings loud, and it’s consistently quick to alert you when you’ve left a tagged item behind. It also has a built-in keyring hole, unlike AirTags, and it plays nicely with both iOS and Android. If you need multiple trackers, a four-pack is on sale for $60, though that deal has been live for almost all of the past month.

The 55-inch Hisense U6K TV is down to an all-time low of $350 at Walmart and Best Buy, while the 65-inch version is down to a low of $500. Each deal is roughly $50 below the average street price we’ve seen over the last few months. The U6K is a budget-level TV from 2023 that’s received almost universally high marks from reviewers we trust. It’s one of the only TVs in its price range with quantum-dot color, a mini-LED backlight and full-array local dimming, so it should provide better contrast and color volume than most cheap sets. It’s still not ideal for gaming, as it lacks HDMI 2.1 features and is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. Its brightness levels won’t blow anyone away, either. But at this price, it looks to be a great value. 

It’s worth noting that this TV’s successor, the U6N, recently went on sale and promises even better brightness and contrast. However, that one currently costs $600 for a 55-inch set. For now, the older model should remain the better value for most people.

The USB-C AirPods Pro are back down to $189, which is $10 more than the all-time low we saw last month but $10 less than their usual street price on Amazon and $60 less than buying from Apple direct. Best Buy has the pair for a dollar more. The AirPods Pro continue to offer a host of conveniences for iPhone users, from faster pairing and integrated controls to hands-free Siri and Find My device tracking. Their active noise cancellation isn’t quite best-in-class, but it’s still above-average, and their warm sound profile plays well across musical genres. Call quality and battery life are just OK, though. We gave the second-gen AirPods Pro a score of 88 back in 2022. It’s worth noting that Apple is expected to launch new noise-canceling AirPods later this year, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, but new AirPods Pro reportedly aren’t on tap until 2025.

The newest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is once again on sale for $40, tying the lowest price we’ve tracked. We’ve seen this deal pop up a number of times over the last three months, but it’s still about $10 below the streamer’s average street price over that period. The 4K Max is Amazon’s fastest and most featured streaming stick, with support for all the major apps and HDR formats, Dolby Atmos audio and WiFi 6E (with a compatible router). Its software isn’t as pleasant to use as rival devices from Roku and Google, however — voice search is fast, but there are prominent ads on the home screen, and Amazon likes to promote its own Prime Video app across the UI. Still, those other sticks aren’t on sale as of this writing, so this is a decent deal if you just want a fast way to put apps on a TV.

The standard Fire TV Stick 4K is also back on sale for $30. That’s not an all-time low, but the only time it’s been cheaper was during Black Friday. This model has a slightly slower chipset than the Max and lacks that device’s Ambient Experience mode, which displays artwork and other info when your TV is idle. It also stops at WiFi 6 instead of 6E. But it isn’t that far off the Max if you really want to save another $10.

The GoPro Hero 12 Black is on sale for $350 at Amazon, Best Buy and GoPro.com. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this $50 discount, it still ties the lowest price we’ve seen. The Hero 12 Black is GoPro’s latest flagship action camera. You can read our review from last September for a fuller breakdown, but in short, it continues to offer excellent image quality, top-notch video stabilization, a rugged design, a variety of shooting modes and a robust ecosystem of accessories. It makes it easy to shoot vertical videos for platforms like TikTok or Instagram, and now its battery life is a bit better than its predecessor. This model lacks GPS functionality, and all action cameras can have issues in very dark settings, but this is a good bet whether you’re new to action cams or looking to upgrade from a years-old model. A Creator Edition bundle that includes a battery grip, video light and Media Mod frame is also on sale for $499, another all-time low.

The Eufy RoboVac 11S Max is the most affordable robot vacuum we recommend in our budget robovac buying guide, and it’s now down to $140 at Amazon and Newegg via Eufy direct. This is another deal we’ve seen a few times in recent months: It’s not quite an all-time low, but the device usually goes for $250 otherwise. The 11S Max is an older and largely basic model with no Wi-Fi, but it’s slim, durable and relatively quiet, and it cleans well enough across surfaces. Eufy says its battery can last up to 100 minutes on hard floors, and the fact that it lacks Wi-Fi might actually be a plus to those conscious of their privacy. You can still do better, but this is a solid deal if you just want a decent robovac on a tight budget.