Ars Technica
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes a notable discount on Apple’s AirPods Max, which are currently down to $429 in various colors at Amazon. That’s not the absolute lowest price we’ve ever seen for Apple’s noise-canceling headphones, but it’s still about $45 off its usual price in recent months and $120 off Apple’s MSRP.
This is still an expensive set of headphones even with the discount, but as we’ve noted in past guides, the Max still offer superb sound quality for a wireless headphone and exceptionally effective active noise cancellation. They’re on the heavy side compared to competing pairs like Sony’s WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM5, but their aluminum finish has a premium feel as a result. They also come with all the perks of any other set of AirPods, including easy pairing with iPhones, Macs, and Apple TVs and integration with services like Find My device tracking and Siri.
The Max still carry a few odd design quirks: They can’t fold up for easier storage, and they don’t have a dedicated power off button, instead relying on a flimsy holder that puts them into a low-power mode. They can’t connect to multiple devices simultaneously, either, and while their 20 hours of battery life is solid, we’ve seen better from other pairs. For most people, the WH-1000XM4 remain a better value that get close enough in performance at a much lower price. But the Max’s audio and noise-canceling quality is a step up, so if you own an iPhone and have a bit more to spend, this should be a more digestible price for a quality pair of travel or office headphones. Just note that the Max have been available since late 2020, and Apple has a new product event scheduled for next week; we haven’t seen many rumors that suggest a refreshed Max is imminent, but there’s still a chance that one arrives before the end of the year.
If you don’t want a new pair of headphones, we also have a nice discount on Peacock memberships, albeit only for new subscribers. If that’s you, though, the streaming service is running a promotion that doles out a 12-month subscription to its ad-supported “Peacock Premium” tier for $20. Normally, an annual membership costs $50. You’ll need to create an account and use the code “ONEYEAR” at checkout to see the discount. Peacock is far from an essential platform and paying to still see ads is always aggravating, but if you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge anyway—be it to watch Premier League soccer, WWE events, or just your 40th run through The Office—this might be a more acceptable price.
Beyond that, our roundup also has lower-than-usual prices on Apple’s 10.2-inch iPad and 14-inch MacBook Pro, Google’s Chromecast and Pixel 6 phones, various well-reviewed gaming monitors, Samsung OLED TVs, and the usual array of video games, among others. You can find our full curated list of deals below.
Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.
Featured deals of the day
Jeff Dunn
Electronics deals
Andrew Cunningham
- Google Pixel 6a (128GB) smartphone for $399 (
$435) at Amazon, Target ($199 w/ activation at Best Buy) - Google Pixel 6 (128GB) smartphone for $499 (
$570) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599) - Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 (
$835) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749) - Motorola Moto G Stylus (2022, 128GB) smartphone for $200 (
$250) at Motorola, Amazon, Best Buy - Google Nest Hub 7-inch smart display for $55 (
$80) at Target, Best Buy - iRobot Roomba i3 Evo robot vacuum for $249 (
$285) at Amazon, Best Buy - iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum w/ self-emptying dock + Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) smart speaker for $599 (
$730) at Amazon
Samuel Axon
Laptop and desktop PC deals
- HP Pavilion Aero (13z-be100) 13.3-inch laptop (Ryzen 5 5625U, 2560×1600, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $646 (
$825) at HP (use code: LABORDAY5HP, configure RAM, SSD, display before checkout) - Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 12.4-inch laptop (Core i5-1135G7, 1536×1024, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) for $600 (
$685) at Amazon, Best Buy - Apple MacBook Pro (2021) 14.2-inch laptop (Apple M1 Pro, 3024×1964, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $1,599 (
$1,850) at Best Buy, Amazon - Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (Gen 7) 16-inch gaming laptop (Core i7-12700H, 2560×1600, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU) for $1,599 (
$1,950) at Walmart - SK Hynix Gold P31 (1TB) PCIe 3.0 SSD for $92 (
$106) at Amazon (clip 15 percent coupon, 2TB for $169) - Intel Core i7-12700KF 12-core/20-thread CPU for $321 (
$370) at Amazon, Best Buy
Andrew Cunningham
- MSI Gaming Radeon RX 6800 XT (16GB GDDR6) GPU for $575 w/ rebate (
$680) at Newegg (use code: VGAEXCMSJZ284, $600 w/o rebate at Amazon) - Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 5600MHz RAM for $170 (
$225) at Amazon, Newegg - Gigabyte M34WQ 34-inch gaming monitor (3440×1440, IPS, 144 Hz, VRR) for $400 (
$445) at Newegg (use code: GMDBV2548) - Gigabyte FI32Q 31.5-inch gaming monitor (2560×1440, IPS, 165 Hz, VRR) for $350 (
$430) at Newegg (use code: GMDBV2555) - Gigabyte M32QC 31.5-inch gaming monitor (2560×1440, VA, 165 Hz, VRR) for $280 (
$310) at Amazon, B&H - Dell S2721DGF 27-inch gaming monitor (2560×1440, IPS, 165 HZ, VRR) for $300 (
$350) at Dell
Video game deals
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