Just take this MacBook Air M1 deal currently running at Amazon’s sale — it’s a bargain! Yes, this year’s M2 MacBook Air is superior for a number of reasons (let our M2 MacBook Air review refresh you on why), but it’s literally hundreds of dollars more, for marginal performance gains. If you want a MacBook on a budget, this is a great place to start.
Even if Amazon wrapped up the sale at this early point in the day, it’d already be a much, much better offering for Apple fans than what was on sale back in the summer. Our own Bryan Wolfe lamented just how bad this summer’s original Amazon Prime Sale was for Apple fans (opens in new tab) in this great post. Thankfully, we’re seeing much more joy from this pre-Black Friday deals showcase.
One of the most expensive upgrades you can make at the point of purchase with a new MacBook is storage space — Apple charges a premium for its built-in SSD upgrades, and it’s a near impossible job to increase it later on. So getting some extra external space for your MacBook is a must — and this Prime Early Access sale offer on a Western Digital drive double whammy is a steal.
Soundbar sale
…and we’re off! The Prime Early Access sale has now officially kicked into gear, and we’re starting to see the big savings land for gadgets across Amazon’s inventory. First up for the day is a treat for those Apple TV fans, as JBL is hugely discounting some very sweet sounding soundbars for the sale, putting some Dolby Atmos boom into your TV Plus viewing sessions — or any other streaming service for that matter.
A few hours break for some dinner and gig tickets to see this guy (opens in new tab)… and I’m back! And this time with an Apple Watch alternative. We’ve already seen an unlikely Apple Watch Series 8 deal (opens in new tab) just weeks after its release… but what about a different flavor of smartwatch?
Ahead of the proper kick-off of the Amazon Prime Early Access sale, you can pick up the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS for just $164.99 (opens in new tab) – knocking $135 off the asking price. That’s down from $299.99, so nearly a 50% saving on this wearable.
Making use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor and powered by Wear OS, it has an “Essential” power mode that’ll give you 45 days worth of power on a single charge – sure, it’ll knock some of the smart features online, but if you’re planning to go off-grid with a smartwatch, that’s an amazing feat without a battery top-up.
For this deal, just make sure you hit that “Apply Coupon” button on the listing, as that’s what triggers the discount.
Not a fan of Apple’s HomePod Mini? Amazon’s Alexa is arguably the better voice assistant, compared to Siri at least, making this an attractive offer on an Echo Dot (opens in new tab).
It’s the 4th generation unit, which usually sells for $49.99, but has a giant 50% off (opens in new tab) for the Prime Early Access sale, meaning you can pick up an Echo Dot today for just $24.99 (opens in new tab).
It makes for an excellent smart home controller, letting you ask the voice assistant to playback tunes from services like Spotify, switch on and off lights around your home, adjust thermostats, set timers and much more. At $24.99 it’s worth a punt, and is only lacking the 5th generation model’s front-facing LED clock. It’s a bargain (opens in new tab).
eReader excellence: Great Kindle deals
It wouldn’t be an Amazon sale without some Kindle eReader sales, and there’s already a good offer on the Kindle Paperwhite to be had ahead of the full kick-off for the event.
You can pick up the Kindle Paperwhite for just $99.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab), saving you $40 off its usual $139.99 asking price. While it won’t offer the same rich media experience that a color-touchscreen iPad will, Kindle’s are admittedly the superior reading experience thanks to their e-Ink screens which are much easier on the eye. Complete with a backlight and waterproofing, it’s a great way to wile away a few hours with your favorite novels. If this one isn’t to your liking, check out the full Kindle sale range (opens in new tab) — there are many offers to choose from.
We love some Nintendo action here at iMore, and while the Nintendo Switch 2 and / or Pro is nowhere to be seen, that latest Nintendo Switch OLED is still a rather tasty handheld thanks to its cracking 7-inch screen and improved battery life.
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to pick one up, there’s a good offer on as part of the Amazon Prime Day Early Access sale.
You can pick up the Nintendo Switch OLED for $297.66 — a 12% / $42.24 saving (opens in new tab) over its usual $339.90 RRP price. That includes the latest LAN-supporting dock, in a sleek white finish.
It’s a pity there’s not a game thrown in too, but for the latest build of Nintendo’s console, that’s a pretty darn good price.
OK, no pretending a charger is the most exciting of Apple products — but if you’ve got no juice, you’ve got no gadget, right?
So if you’re on the hunt for a replacement (or spare) USB-C charger for your devices, you can save a not-insignificant $13 bucks off the Apple 30W USB-C charger (opens in new tab) over at Amazon right now, where it’s been reduced down from $49 to $35.99 (opens in new tab). Should work nicely with a last-gen M1 MacBook Air or iPad Pro.
Next up, an unlikely entry into the list from the all-new Apple Watch Series 8 (opens in new tab)! It’s only been available to purchase for a few weeks, so we weren’t expecting to see anything at all for Apple’s latest smartwatch line up. But here we are!
You’re looking at the GPS-only version of the Apple Watch in Midnight aluminum (with Midnight sports band), at the 41mm size. But that’s on sale with a $50 saving (opens in new tab), bringing the price down from $399 to a much more palatable $349 (opens in new tab).
Don’t expect to see this brand-new smartwatch reduced by much more than that for the rest of the year.
Amazon deals: iPhone deals
While the general sale items slowly start to roll in, why not consider taking a look at our bang-up-to-date iPhone deals, with some top offers on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro:
And we’re off! Gerald Lynch, Editor in Chief of iMore, sitting in front of his banker’s lamp with calculator in hand, digging for the best offers from the Prime Early Access deals sale.
A nice start for audio fans up first. Want to get your hands on (or ears… with?) a pair of AirPods 2? You can make gigantic 43% saving (opens in new tab) off the usual RRP on Apple’s in-ear wireless earphones, with the AirPods 2 down to just $89.99 (opens in new tab) – a huge chunk off the usual $159 asking price.
