Best Apple Deals for January 2021: AirPods, iPads, MacBooks

Apple built its name on the famous Mac computer line, but today, this company is best known for its fantastic mobile devices — even if Apple deals themselves can often be hard to find. Yet despite the fact that these gadgets come at a premium, millions of people around the globe are more than willing to pay it in order to enjoy the great design and sleek simplicity of Apple devices.

From computers and smartphones to tablets and smartwatches, Apple has blazed (and continues to blaze) new paths through the world of technology, and we’ve got it all right here. Whether you’re after Apple Watch deals, iPad deals, iPhone deals, MacBook deals, or all of the above, this up-to-date roundup of the latest and greatest Apple deals has what you need:

Today’s Best Apple Deals

• Apple AirPods (Second Generation ) with Charging Case
  — $139, was $159

• Apple AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case
  — $225, was $250

• Apple Watch SE (GPS, 44mm)
  — $270, was $309

• Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS, 40mm)
  — $339, was $399

• Apple iPad Air (10.9-inch, Wi-Fi, 64GB) – Latest Model, 4th Generation
  — $559, was $599

• New Apple Mac Mini with M1 Chip
  — $670, was $700

• Apple iPhone 11 64GB (Verizon)
  — Save up to $400 with an eligible tablet and smartphone, was $650

Our Favorite Apple Deals

Apple Watch Series 5 and Series 6

Smartwatches never became the next smartphones, but the Apple Watch is the one smartwatch that has managed to enjoy widespread popularity. Apple updated its WatchOS-powered smart wearable last year, releasing the excellent — and pricey — new Apple Watch Series 6. The Apple Watch Series 5 and Apple Watch Series 6 refined everything we loved about previous models. The fifth-gen version brought design to near perfection with great software, a vibrant always-on display, and an excellent set of health and fitness-tracking features.

We’ve also seen some fantastic discounts in the wake of the Series 6 release that bring the Series 5 closer in price (or even cheaper than) the now-discontinued Series 4, making now a particularly perfect time to buy the Apple Watch Series 5 if you’ve been on the fence and waiting for a deal.

Apple 10.2-Inch iPad (8th Generation)

Apple released its 8th-gen iPad last year, and aside from incremental hardware changes, the new 2020 model didn’t really re-invent the wheel. Yet given how good these tablets are and the value they provide, that’s just fine with us, and there’s never really a bad time to score the new 10.2-inch iPad at a discount as retailers offer them on sale pretty much year-round.

When it was first on the market, our review team named the 7th-gen 10.2-inch iPad the best tablet for most people thanks to its superb touchscreen, solid performance, and great overall design and build quality. That hasn’t changed with the new 8th-gen refresh, which is now the one we recommend you buy. It’s an even easier sell given how affordable it is relative to other much pricier Apple devices like the iPad Pro line.

Apple iPhone 12

The iPhone 12 series is Apple’s current flagship smartphone line, and with it, Apple built upon its three-phone release strategy by rolling out four new devices this time around: the iPhone 12, the pocket-friendly iPhone 12 Mini, the higher-end iPhone 12 Pro, and the up-sized iPhone 12 Pro Max. The iPhone 12 and 12 Mini are the more affordable models (the iPhone 12 Mini retails for just $700, in contrast to the $1,000 sticker price for the 12 Pro), and they’re both winners.

All four 12th-gen iPhones look great, feel great, deliver snappy performance thanks to the new A14 Bionic chip, and boast an excellent camera modules. The iPhone 12 is truly the everyman’s mobile, and as the current-gen iPhone, it also has the benefit of being available with some of the best carrier discounts and rebates at the moment.

Apple MacBook Air (Late 2020 Model with M1 CPU)

With modern laptops getting slimmer and slimmer, the MacBook Air is almost redundant now, but it still does its thing very well. That should come as no shock considering that Apple wrote the book in super-slim laptops with the MacBook Air, and its late 2020 model makes for a fantastic featherweight work machine now that it comes loaded with Apple’s superb new M1 CPU.

On the standard late 2020 MacBook Air, that M1 chip is paired with 8GB RAM (perfectly respectable hardware for work, browsing, and streaming) along with a 128GB solid state drive. One thing we didn’t like about the Intel Core MacBook Air was its launch price, but the addition of that M1 CPU make it much more attractive and it’s still the cheapest entry point into the MacBook ecosystem — especially if you can find a good deal.

Editors’ Recommendations