Happy May! Heading into the first of the month, deals on Macs continue to be good, while deals on iPads are less impressive. It's a good time to buy a Retina MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air (either one of the new models or the older 2014 models -- discounts on both are solid), but if you're looking for an iPad and can hold out for a few weeks, you might be able to get a better price.
Along with the discounts on Macs and iOS devices that we share each week, we've also rounded up this week's best app deals and we've hunted down some discounts on useful Apple accessories.
iPad Air 2
Best Buy continues to offer the lowest prices we've seen on a single iPad Air 2: the 16GB Cellular iPad Air 2 in silver is available for $499.99, $130 off its regular price.
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B&H Photo is offering a small discount on all of its iPad Air 2 models, dropping prices by $30 to $50. With the discount, the 16GB WiFi only iPad Air 2 is priced at $459 and the 64GB model is priced at $569.
MacMall is also offering some discounts on iPad Air 2 models, dropping the prices by $30 to $50. With the discount, the 16GB entry-level Wi-Fi only iPad Air 2 is priced at $459, while the Wi-Fi-only 64GB iPad Air 2 is available for $539.
iPad Air
Best Buy has a couple of original iPad Air cellular models available at low prices. The 16GB Verizon iPad Air is available for $379.99, and the 32GB Verizon iPad Air is available for $429.99.
Both Best Buy and B&H Photo have deep discounts on some remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad Air models, as listed below.
- iPad Air Wi-Fi Space Gray 128GB - $549
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) - $499
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) - $499
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (AT&T) - $429
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $449
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (Verizon) - $566.99
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $449
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $579
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) - $549
iPad mini 3
B&H Photo is offering some modest discounts on various iPad mini 3 models, dropping the price by up to $60. The 64GB Cellular iPad mini 3 in gold is priced at $549, while the 16GB Cellular gold version is priced at $479. The Wi-Fi only 128GB iPad mini 3 in Silver is $549, while the 64GB version is priced at $439.
Discounts for each model and and color vary, but most models are being offered at a lower price than you'll find at the Apple Store, and buying from B&H, you won't have to pay sales tax unless you're in New York.
iPad mini 2
Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Amazon have remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad mini 2 models, which are a good deal if you're looking for an iPad mini. Compared to the iPad mini 3, the iPad mini 2 only lacks Touch ID.
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- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) - $449
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) - $449
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $399.99
- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $434
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) - $534.99
- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $429.99
iMac
- 21.5-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,189, $110 off
- 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,389, $120 off
- 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,689, $110 off
- 27-inch 3.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,794, $205 off
- 27-inch 3.5Ghz/8GB/1TB Retina iMac (Adorama) - $2,329.99, $170 off
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Mac mini
- 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $464.99, $34 off
- 2.6GHz/8GB/1TB (MacMall) - $658.99, $40 off
- 2.8GHz/8GB/1TB (MacMall) - $934.99, $60 off
MacBook Air
- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $799, $100 off
- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) (Amazon) (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $1044.99, $50 off
- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $949.99, $50 off
- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) - $1,099.99, $100 off
- 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Adorama) - $719.99, $180 off
- 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $899, $200 off
- 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $819, $180 off
- 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo)- $1,029, $170 off
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Retina MacBook Pro
- 2015 13-inch 2.7Ghz/8GB/128GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,234.99, $64 off
- 2015 13-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,424.99, $74 off
- 2015 13-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/512GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1709.99, $90 off
- 2014 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,799, $200 off
- 2014 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall)- $1,799.99, $200 off
- 2014 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) -$2,249, $250 off
- 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $1,129, $170 off
- 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,249, $239 off
- 2014 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (B&H Photo) - $1,529 $270 off
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Apps
There are quite a few apps that are on sale at discounted prices or available for free for a limited time. We'll highlight a few here, but make sure to check out our sister site AppShopper for a complete list.
MoneyWiz 2 is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. 360 degree photo taking app Cycloramic for iPhone 6 is available for free, down from $1.99. Flick Kick Field Goal is available for free, down from $1.99.
Adventure game Swordigo is available for free, down from $2.99. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available for $2.99, down from $9.99. Worms3 is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. Alto's Adventure is available for $1.99, down from $2.99. Hours Time Tracking is available for free, down from $6.99.
Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down! was named Apple's App of the Week, so it will be free to download until next Thursday when a new app is picked.
Apple Accessories
Groupon is selling a single set of Apple EarPods for $12.99 or a set of two for $24.99, a decent discount off the regular price of $29. Groupon has the Apple Bluetooth keyboard for $63.99, down from $79. Groupon also has the OtterBox Defender Case and Holster for the iPhone 6 available for $29.99, down from $59.95.
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StackSocial is offering the Satechi Aluminum 4-port USB Clamp Hub for $19.99, down from $29.99. Woot is selling a Lightning cable 2-pack for $15.99 until tomorrow, a good deal because one cable is normally priced at $19.99. Beats by Dre Solo HD Drenched headphones are available from Target for $129.99, down from $169.99.
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In celebration of Mother's Day, Vaja is offering 10 percent off all of its premium leather device cases. Just enter promo code MAMA when checking out. TwelveSouth is offering 12 percent off site wide with the promo code LOVEMOM though May 10.
Groupon's still running a big Apple event and selling a range of Apple products and accessories at discounted prices, including the LifeProof Fre case for the iPad Air, Apple EarPods, Speck MacBook cases, MagSafe chargers, Mophie battery cases, and more.
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Groupon is selling the Griffin Survivor Case for iPhone 5/5s for $11.99, down from $49.99. The MyCharge Hub 9000 Power Bank is available for $64.99 from Amazon, down from $139.99. Incase is offering a free Portable Power 2500 USB battery pack with a $150 purchase using the code POWERONUS15.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Top Rated Comments
I'm so sick of these buyers guides it makes me want to stop coming here. They occur way too frequently. I understand why you post them and wouldn't mind if it was done with some sort of common sense, but it's over the top. Too many buyers guides and posted way too frequently.
/jobs would have never let this happen
//ready for snarky replies telling me to not read them
But I very much disagree with you on this one. This is one of several recent changes I actually like. The Buyer's Guide is very predictable (nearly every Friday), always in the same place (Mac Blog / More MacRumors Stories sidebar), and actually useful for some people.
It is very easy to avoid, it's only once a week at most, and it's not intrusive at all. This is the second time I've bought something specifically because it was listed in one of these buyer's guides: I picked up some EarPods for over half off on Groupon.
I could name a number of news stories / rumors / etc. in the past couple of years where for weeks or months, they were covered ad nauseum, you never knew when or sometimes where they would be (so you really couldn't avoid them), and it got annoying for some people to see them.
This is not that — it's once a week, the same Mac time, same Mac channel. This isn't like many other things where people say stop complaining and just don't read it, even though you almost literally can't avoid seeing it if you're on the site. Believe me, I understand getting sick of seeing something, and you're entitled to your opinion of course, but of all the things you could get tired of seeing on here I honestly don't understand why this would be on the top of your list.
On the desktop version of the website; it's not a big deal.
On the mobile version of the website; it's like walking past the 163 dead or dying slave owners in Meereen.
Does self-snarking count? ;)
Other sites (cult of mac) do these on an ad-hoc way, as one of the articles, so they're hard to track. I prefer the way over here (plus, CoM has some NSFW articles - not appreciated) of having them all in one article, on a regular basis.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.