The best deals of the week include all-time low prices on the 9th generation iPad and M1 MacBook Air, as well as solid discounts on Samsung monitors and Anker accessories.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
One of the most notable deals of the week focused on the 9th generation of Apple's iPad. You can get the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad for $249.99 on Amazon, which is $79 off and the best price we've ever tracked on the tablet.
Samsung is still discounting the new model of its 32-inch Smart Monitor M8, available for $599.99, down from $699.99. This monitor launched in June with updates including HDR10+ support and a portrait orientation option, and this sale price is the lowest we've seen to date. You can also save on a few other monitors, listed below.
Anker returned this week with notable discounts on its line of Bluetooth trackers, wall chargers, portable batteries, and more. You can find the full list of discounts in our original article.
This week, Amazon continued to provide an all-time low price on the 256GB M1 MacBook Air. You can get this notebook for $749.99 in all three colors, down from $999.00.
The AirPods 3 hit $139.99 this week on Amazon, down from $169.00. This is a match for Amazon's all-time low price on the AirPods 3 with Lightning Charging Case.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
Sunday December 22, 2024 8:09 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cites a source within Apple.
The report said that iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that is capable of running iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
...
Tuesday December 24, 2024 10:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Below, we outline which U.S. states and territories offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in...
Tuesday December 24, 2024 8:35 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is expected to release an AirTag 2 next year, and a few new features and changes have already been rumored for the item tracker.
Below, we recap what to expect from the AirTag 2:
The new AirTag is expected to be equipped with Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for longer range. The chip debuted last year in the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple said it...
Sunday December 22, 2024 8:33 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple earlier this month released macOS 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models coming next year.
Apple accidentally released macOS 15.2 restore files for unreleased "MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025)" and "MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025)" models. While it no surprise that the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models were going to be updated with the M4 ...
Monday December 23, 2024 6:30 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Monday December 23, 2024 7:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
This year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and next year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know.
Standard iPhone 17
Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Monday December 23, 2024 6:24 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still nearly two years away from launching, a new feature has already been rumored for the devices.
In a blog post today, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated that the main rear camera on both iPhone 18 Pro models will offer variable aperture, which would be a first for the iPhone. The main camera refers to the 48-megapixel...
Monday December 23, 2024 8:27 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today outlined mass production timing for the M5 series of chips, which he expects to be used in both future Macs and Apple Intelligence servers. The rollout will likely begin next year.
Kuo expects the standard M5 chip to enter mass production in the first half of 2025, followed by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips in the second half of the year. Then, he...
Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more.
We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
It seems that MacBooks with decent storage and RAM never go on sale, only the base models or bumped up storage but base RAM models. It seems that Apple has a strategy and retailer pricing policy to ensure that.
The back to school promo is the only discount for the higher RAM models.
The problem is I always just want the 256GB iPad 9th gen not the 64GB one. The iPad 9th gen would be a perfect upgrade because I have the 7th gen with all the accessories and the 9th gen is identical in dimension.
The problem is I always just want the 256GB iPad 9th gen not the 64GB one. The iPad 9th gen would be a perfect upgrade because I have the 7th gen with all the accessories and the 9th gen is identical in dimension.
For me, the 9th gen iPad using lightning works out b/c it's the same I use for my iPod Touch 5. I've recently been playing some games again on there (continuing what I put on hiatus for 5+ years!!). Otherwise, I use it as a glorified calculator, flashlight, and stop watch :D It's light weight and very slim size does make it convenient for that! :)
The price difference between these two ($140 for 192gb extra) is about double the cost of a 2tb SSD nowadays:
Hard to see the 256gb as a deal when they’re marking up storage by 1000%.
[shrug]... don't know what to say, other than, that's Apple in-a-nutshell? If you buy the lesser (storage) one, then you may be more inclined to sub to iCloud+? If you get the larger storage one, then you're more likely to get into multimedia, which could mean more $$ for then, in addition to paying that markup? Either way, it's a win for Apple.
FWIW, storage on an external or internal SSD or hdd can't exactly be a 1-to-1 comparison between storage on devices, as the latter means you get that available on the device. I recall somebody brought this up for the Palm Tungsten X PDA, and they did counter that being able to buy the extra 140-something MB for dirt cheap on a USB thumb drive does those users no good. Still, your point about insane markups stand.
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I got an 9th gen iPad back in Nov. 2011. I really wanted the 256 GB model, but didn't want to pay an extra $150 for that extra storage. Really, 128 GB would've been ideal, but there was no such middleground. I ended up going for the 64 GB model b/c it was $30 off (at $300), while there was no sale on the 256-one. I estimated that would be enough since most of the video games I'd have on there were digital board games. The one curve ball ended up being the Apple Arcade free trial. Some of those games are large, and can take up 1 GB+ apiece! I ended up not renewing AA after my free trial expired. I went on vacation, got a few non-AA games on iOS, and some Android games to boot, and that ended up keeping me plenty occupied in terms of gaming.
It ended up working out anyways, as not only did I still not have interest to go back to AA (I would've done so for $45/yr via Costco), I ended up getting a Switch as a gift! All of the free time that I would've spent on AA is now on that! And while I did like some of the games on AA, and it was very affordable, the Switch is a dedicated gaming console with a strong lineup, so can't really compete with that. And that's before we count in that I'm a fan of Nintendo games! If I didn't get the iPad back then, I don't think I could see myself springing for the 9th-gen 64 GB model given such a discount. (also hard to think this is less than what I used to pay for iPod Touches! :oops: )
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
