Best Apple Presidents Day Deals: AirPods, iMac, Apple Watch

With President’s Day sales upon us, now is the perfect time to grab some Apple gear if you’ve been waiting for some great deals. While it’s true that we don’t often see big discounts with Apple, all of them are appreciated, and luckily there are a couple of nice deals out there that are surprising.

Top 5 Apple Presidents Day Deals

Apple AirPods Pro — $200, was $249

AirPods Pro resting on an iPhone with open charging case nearby.

If you want to experience the high fidelity of the AirPods Pro without paying for an arm and a leg, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 is a great option. The Airpods Pro 2 are a vast improvement across the board on the Gen 1s, such as the new drivers that provide a more consistent sound across frequencies and more clarity overall. Noise Cancelling was also improved and is comparable to the Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II, which is saying something considering Bose has excellent noise-canceling tech. Ironically, the charging case remains exactly the same, with about 24 hours of charging time, which is roughly four full charges. Combine that with the six-hour charge in the buds, and you have a total of 30 hours, much more than many other comparable headphones. Of course, if these specs and the discounted price don’t do it for you, there are a few other great AirPods deals you can check out.

Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm, GPS) — $349, was $399

An Apple Watch Series 8 with the screen on.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends

Apple Watches have come a long way since the first Watch that came out a few years ago, and the Apple Watch Series 8 perfects that iterative design. For starters, the display is not only slightly bigger, but it also looks much better, with a new screen and a better interface, but it’s also much easier to use, even for those with big fingers. Of course, the improved interface is thanks to the new WatchOS 9, which brings a bevy of new improvements, such as a better UI and health and fitness tracking improvements. It has a huge variety of activities it can track, plus a whole suite of sensors from ECG readings to the SpO2 sensor, more detailed reporting of heart rate zones, and the ability to customize a workout. Finally, you get about a day, potentially two, of battery out of the Watch Series 8, but it does have fast charging that can take up to 80% in 45 minutes, so you won’t have to take it off your wrist for long. Overall, the Watch Series 8 is the pinnacle Apple watch for the user who wants the best but doesn’t necessarily need to go all out with the Apple Watch Ultra, making it one of the best Apple Watch deals to take advantage of.

Apple 2021 iPad Mini (64GB, Wi-Fi) — $400, was $499

The iPad Mini stands on a floor with other Apple devices in the background.
Adam Doud/Digital Trends

If you’re looking to get into the Apple ecosystem, the Apple 2021 iPad Mini is a great option, with it being a somewhat ‘Pro’ version of the previous iPad Mini. For starters, the 8.3-inch display is beautiful, with a 2266 x 1488 resolution and Apple’s patented Liquid Retina Display, so anything you watch on it will look great. While it doesn’t run the M1 chip, it does have the Bionic A15, which is still powerful for a $400 iPad mini and should handle most tasks you throw at it easily. Of course, the question you might be asking yourself is if it’s worth going for the iPad Air instead, given it’s just $100 or so more and has better specs, so we’ve done a thorough breakdown of the iPad Air (2022) vs. iPad Mini (2021). Either way, even if you end up going with the iPad Mini, it’s still one of the best iPad deals and well worth the asking price.

Apple Watch Ultra — $749, was $799

The Apple Watch Ultra's side and Digital Crown,
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

As we mentioned earlier, the most extreme Apple Watch you can go for is the Apple Watch Ultra, and it comes with an ultra price tag to match. However, Apple does make it worth the cost; with a large screen and a rugged design that includes titatanium, this is a fitness and action-adventure junkie’s dream. What makes it stand out is the new compass and the Wayfinder app face, which is a watch face dedicated to navigational instruments, with everything from longitude to compass direction. It comes with a similar WatchOS 9, so you have a nicer interface to work with, and, ultimately, more features than the Series 8. Of course, the most impressive thing is the massive 36-hour battery charge, without cellular, which easily beats much of the comparable competition. If you’re on the fence about whether you want to go with the Series 8 or the Ultra, we’ve looked at the Apple Watch Series 8 vs. Apple Watch Ultra to help, at least a little, with your decision-making.

Apple iMac (M1) — $1,100, was $1,299

Man using a 24-inch M1 iMac.

With so much recent focus on Apple laptops like the MacBook Pro, many folks might forget that Apple makes all-in-one PCs, such as this Apple 2021 iMac that comes in a variety of pretty colors. What sets it apart from previous iMacs is the M1 chip, which still provides excellent performance for a desktop PC. Even better, the 23.5-inch screen with a 4480 x 2520 resolution is gorgeous and larger than you’ll find on the biggest Apple laptops, which is great for those who sometimes struggle with smaller display sizes. It also comes with 8GB of RAM, the minimum we’d expect, and 256GB of storage, which you’ll likely want to supplement with one of these external hard drive deals. Of course, the best part of working with an iMac is that it integrates well with an iPad or iPhone, with the ability to transfer screens, files, or even work across devices relatively seamlessly, so if you want to have the freedom to move around, while still having the option of a desktop experience, this iMac is an excellent option.

Apple Studio Display — $1,499, was $1,599

The Apple Studio Display alongside a Mac Studio computer on a desk.

If you’re planning to go into video or graphical editing, then the Apple Studio Display is a professional tool you can’t go without. This 27-inch Retina display has a whopping 5k resolution, which is gorgeous and allows you to edit videos and pictures with better fidelity than the display it will be shown on. It has 14.7 pixels for a density of 218 pixels per inch and can hit a whopping 1 billion colors, P3 color, and 600 nits of peak brightness. Of course, it’s not an all-in-one like the iMac, so it can’t be used standalone, but it does come with its own speakers, which is somewhat unexpected, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, which makes sense. It also has three USB ports and one thunderbolt port to connect to your primary device, such as a MacBook Pro. Overall, it’s a powerful display and is comparable to, if not better than, the XDR, as we saw in our Apple Studio Display vs. Pro Display XDR comparison.

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LiveLast updated February 20, 2023 8:27 AM

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