Oh hi Mark! That same Mac mini is also available in the UK for a special price for you my friend. With an RRP of £1,399, it’s now priced at £1,254.97 (weirdly specific, but okay), which again isn’t quite the lowest I’ve seen it at (it was about 20 quid cheaper than this in April), so I’m hoping we might see an extra drop in the next 24 hours on this side of the Pond too…
We’re very much in the calm-before-the-storm phase right now, so I don’t have a whole lot new to report at the mo.
There is a deal to be had on the fantabulous Mac mini, though with the top-specced M2 Pro, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM model available for $1,149 (was $1,299) at Amazon. It’s not quite the lowest price I’ve seen it at, as it got as low as $1,099 a couple of months ago, so we might see an extra price drop here in a few hours…
I told you about the M2 Pro-chipped MacBook Pro being a cool $570 off on Amazon already. Well, if you need even MORE POWEEEERRRRR, the M2 Max-fuelled variant of the 2023 MacBook Pro (14-inch screen) is a whopping $600 off (well,technically $599.05 but I like big round numbers), down to $2,499.95 from $3,099. This matches the lowest-ever price for this monster, and despite being a lot of money, you’re getting a lot of computer here. Specifically, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 12-core CPU and 30-core GPU and that 1000-nit Liquid Retina display that people who like colour accuracy (read: most creatives) rate so highly.
Are you a fan of bright colours and bargains? I know I am.
And I’ve found an Actual Real Life Apple Product BARGAIN. The Apple Smart Folio for 11-inch iPad Pro 2nd Generation and iPad Air 4th Generation, very specifically the Pink Citrus one, is a staggering 62% off on Amazon US right now, down to $29.95 from $79, so this is one offer you definitely don’t have to wait for Prime Day to enjoy, guaranteed. And you’ll protect your iPad in style too.
We all need a little pop of colour in our lives anyway, don’t we?
I’m caffeinated and ready to follow this live blog until 1am, so I’ll see and hear the Prime Day bells ringing in the season in the UK, so if you’ve been feeling disheartened by the dearth of pre-Prime Day (or shall we say sub-Prime?) offers so far, I have it on good authority that things will start to look a lot more interesting after midnight tonight…
Yes, the Magic Mouse from Apple has that unforgivable charging port at the BOTTOM, but in the weeks in-between charges, it’s pretty fantastic to use.
And it’s one of the biggest deals in percentage terms at the moment on Amazon UK, with a 19% discount (down to £79.99 from £99), and for a deluxe mouse for True Apple Fans(tm) that’s a pretty good deal already. It might even get bettered in the next two days, though. We’ll let you know as soon as we know.
It’s all happening in the US, though. If the MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip isn’t quite the latest version enough for you, the M3 Pro, also a darned good machine, is discounted already ahead of Prime Day. Originally priced at $1,999, you can now score the 18GB unified memory version with the 14-inch screen and 512GB of storage on board for $1,699 at Amazon. It’s much more affordable than the outrageously priced M3 Max models, without giving up critical levels of performance (all the 3D rendering, all the time).
While I’m already seeing notable price drops on iPads (albeit not the latest models) and Watches in the UK, news is still a bit thin on the ground when it comes to MacBooks. The best deal I’m seeing at the moment is a slim £100ish off the 8GB MacBook Air M2 from 2022, down to £899.97 from £999 at Amazon. This is a nice laptop, but with only 8GB of RAM, it won’t quite do for pro users, and let’s be honest, there are better-equipped PCs at this price point too. So my advice for MacBook hunters in the UK is: Wait and see. I’ll let you know when this changes.
I tried out the Apple Watch Series 9 earlier this year and loved it. As I’m based in the UK, I can’t take advantage of the $100 discount currently being offered on the latest edition in the US, but there’s good news for British Watch-thusiasts: you can get a cool £12 off right now, down to £387 from £399 on Amazon UK for the 41mm version (or £407 for the 45mm). If you have a modicum of patience, though, I’m pretty sure we’ll see a bigger chunk of the price knocked off over Prime Day tomorrow and Wednesday…
Oh, and it’s your friendly neighbourhood Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur here, who’s been with you since 5pm British “Summer” Time (that’s noon New York Sticky July East Coast Time).
And now for something much more reasonable.
You can score the brand-spanking-new iPad Air M2 with the Liquid Retina display and 128GB storage for $729, down from $799. It offers everything you need for a top-performing tablet, and sports all-day battery life, does everything any older-gen iPad Pro (so, any non M4 one) does and looks good doing it. The one sacrifice you’re making here is the limited storage space, but we all use cloud storage and external hard drives now anyway, don’t we?
The only other proviso here is that this price somehow only applies to the Space Grey option, as the Blue and Purple ones are $9 more and the Starlight one is $20 more. I’ll live.
Before I give you the best deal I’ve found for iPads so far I wanted to take a dive into the Apple Store on Amazon to find the most crazy expensive iPad Pro possible, and still came away with a whiplash.
If you have all the money in the world, or you need to prove a very specific point to someone (and have all the money in the world), you can get the [takes deep breath] Apple iPad Pro 13-inch M4 model with the Ultra Retina XDR display made from nano-texture glass, 2TB of storage, a landscape 12MP front camera and 12MP back camera, LiDAR scanner, Wi-Fi 6E and 5G cellular reception with eSIM, along with Face ID by parting with 2,599 of your hard-earned dollars. Now I like iPads, but do I like them this much? Does anybody like them this much?
And that doesn’t include the optional 2-year AppleCare+ cover, which is another $169.
Flippin’eck.
SOUND THE HORN OF NOTEWORTHY PRICE DROPS!
The MacBook Pro M2 Pro is not the latest MacBook any more, but a lot of people confidently claim it’s still the best one (our reviewer certainly loved it). The M2 Pro chip balances comfortably on the tightrope between performance and (fairly reasonable) price, fast enough to handle professional Final Cut Pro rendering but doesn’t require a second mortgage like its bigger Max-chipped sibling.
And now it’s hit the lowest price I’ve ever seen it at on Amazon, dipping below two grand at $1,929, which amounts to a 23% discount for all you stat nerds out there (or just me, a stat nerd).
iPad are pretty great, because there’s such a range to them. The recent iPad Pro, with its frankly silly M4 chip, is ideal for digital artists that want to take their art outside, on the move. But I love the standard iPad. I love having something that simply shows a great picture, and loads up content nice and fast.
I also like to have a house tab that can swap hands, get used in the kitchen, ie can handle some serious wear and tear. That’s why I’m a fan of the absolute cheapest iPad option, that still offers quality features.
Right now that’s the 9th Gen iPad, currently down from $329 to $249 over at Amazon.
Not all the deals I’m seeing are for super expensive laptops and over-priced-yet-awesome headphones.
Take this one: You can get 6 Lightning Cable charging wires over at Amazon for $11.99 down from $12.77.
If you loose as many of these things as I do, this is a fantastic deal!
The Apple AirPods Max are without doubt the best headphones I’ve ever used… but would I spend $449 on them today?
The answer is, if I could afford it, absolutely yes. I’ve had them since they were released on December 15, 2020, and they’re as crystal clear today as they were then, the active noise cancellation is just as impressive, and I still think they look great.
I am of course not including the absolutely mental ‘case’ that they came with. I got rid of mine, and replaced it with a green leather Woolnut case that houses the headphones securely, with a couple wire bands for good measure. It’s currently going for $139 over at Amazon
If you’ve bagged yourself an iPad recently, and you’re looking for keyboard options, the Magic Keyboard is not the only way to go.
I recently got a Fusion Keyboard in from Mǒkibo, and it’s pretty cool. It’s a lot lighter than the Magic Keyboard (which I also have), but it has one feature that the Apple option does not – the keyboard is also a trackpad!
So you can use the keyboard as usual, and then when you drag your fingers across the surface of the keys, you control the cursor. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, and though I’m not going to get rid of my Magic Keyboard any time soon, it’s definitely a cheaper, lighter option. And when I say cheaper, I really mean it!
One of my favourite pre-Prime Day Apple deals right now is on the M2 Pro chipped MacBook Pro. Let’s be clear – it’s not for everyone. In fact, it’s only for a small number of people who work with demanding software. But if you are a video editor or 3D developer, the M2 Pro MacBook is a stunning laptop that can cover pretty much any workload.
Yes, the M3 Pro and M3 Max is slightly more powerful, but as I’ve previously noted, Apple reduced the memory bandwidth of the M3 Pro compared to this M2 Pro. It also has two less performance cores than the M2 Pro! Long story short, I prefer the M2 Pro chipped MacBook Pro to the most recent M3 Pro lappy… and right now you can get a great deal on a decent iteration of it over at Amazon. It’s down from $2,499 to $1,885, saving you $600.
And to kick off the deals, I’ve just noticed that currently the second generation Apple Pencil is at the same discounted price as the first generation – it’s down to $79. That’s nearly half price!
Now, just in case you were wondering which of the Pencils to get… just get the second generation model. It’s more ergonomic, and is compatible with more recent iPads. Check out our handy Apple Pencil 1 vs 2 article for more on that.
And here we go!
Although Amazon Prime Day starts tomorrow, and covers the whole of Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ve noticed a raft of fantastic Apple deals – enough to put together this live hub. We’ll be reporting on all the latest Apple deals, whether that’s on the brand new iPad Pro, or the still-excellent MacBook Pro (M2 Pro).
We love the quality products that Apple offers creatives, so we’re keen to find out the best prices on the best products that we’ve had personal experience using.