Posts tagged with "deals"

Our Top Amazon Early Black Friday Picks

If you haven’t noticed, it’s not Friday, and Thanksgiving is still a week away. Yet here we are, talking about Black Friday deals. That’s because every year, Amazon pushes the start of its deals a little earlier.

This is far from the first article you’ll come across about Black Friday deals, and it won’t be the last. But what’s different about our approach to Black Friday is that we’re pickier than most sites.

When I sat down to consider Amazon’s Black Friday deals, I looked at a long list of factors, including:

  • whether we’ve reviewed and recommended a product on MacStories,
  • the percentage of the discount,
  • the absolute dollar amount of the discount (which we can’t list due to Amazon rules),
  • whether each deal beats past deals,
  • and a bunch of other factors.

What we’ve come up with is a list of a couple dozen excellent deals that will save you loads of money on everything from great holiday gifts to nerd staples like storage, networking gear, and upgrades to your computing setup.

Every time I write one of these roundups, I inevitably run across even more great deals after the story has been published. So in addition to this story, we’ll be posting deals on the MacStories Deals Mastodon and Bluesky accounts.

Club MacStories Plus and Premier members will be sharing their Black Friday deal finds on Discord too. If you’re not a member, you can sign up here. The Discord server is just one of the many perks of joining the Club.

Finally, please note that the Amazon links in this article are affiliate links. If you follow one of our links and buy something, we make a small commission.

Storage

Some of Amazon's best deals are on storage.

Some of Amazon’s best deals are on storage.

Storage is a staple of Black Friday, with excellent deals on hard drives and SSDs of all shapes and sizes. This year is no different. Whether your Mac’s drive is filling up and you need to offload some large files or you’re looking for a backup solution, now is the time to pull the trigger and get more storage.

I mention Samsung portable SSDs a lot on MacStories and the MacStories Deals accounts because I’ve used them for years and they’re reliable. Samsung’s fastest model – the T9 – is my favorite because it uses USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2, making it equally good for quick backups and working on large files externally.

Currently, both the 4TB Samsung T9 SSD and the 2TB model are on sale on Amazon, with the biggest discount on the 4TB model. You can save a little more with SanDisk’s 2TB external drive, but it runs at half the speed of the Samsung T9, so I recommend the T9. However, if you want to go really big with an SSD, SanDisk has Samsung beat with an 8TB model that, while expensive and half the speed of a Samsung T9, will be far faster than a mechanical hard drive for backing up a Mac with lots of internal storage. Samsung sadly does not offer an 8TB T9 drive.

SSDs are great, but even on sale, they’re more expensive than mechanical hard drives. If you don’t need the fastest speeds and can tuck your hard drive away somewhere the heat and noise won’t bother you, Amazon has a great deal on a 14TB Western Digital Elements hard drive. I’ve used Elements drives a lot over the past several years for archiving big projects and Time Machine backups, and I’ve been very happy with their performance. If you need a big drive, now is the time to pick one of these up; they’ve never been cheaper.

Smart Home

For starters, the Aqara 4MP Camera Hub G5 Pro is deeply discounted for Black Friday. I reviewed this outdoor HomeKit-compatible camera earlier this year and love it. From the feedback I’ve heard, MacStories readers seem to love the camera, too.

I also reviewed the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K this summer. Paired with Philips Hue lights, it’s remarkably capable, syncing the colors of your lights to whatever is on your TV. While it’s not a smart home essential, it is a lot of fun, and if you need a little push to pull the trigger on this sort of gadget, this discount is a great excuse.

On the more practical end of the spectrum, Philips Hue is also offering a great deal on its Go Smart Portable Table Lamp, which works plugged in or via its built-in battery. I’ve had my eye on this lamp for a while because it’s very portable and would add nice accent lighting when I’m working on my balcony in the evening or anywhere else with less-than-ideal lighting.

Finally, as I mentioned on the Setups video that Federico and I recently released, I love my new SwitchBot Smart Desk Fan. It oscillates left and right as well as up and down, and it has nine speed settings. Best of all, I can control it from the buttons on the front of the device, using the included remote control, or with Shortcuts because it works with HomeKit.

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MacStories Deals Roundup: Amazon Prime Big Deal Days

Amazon’s Big Deal Days runs today and tomorrow (October 7–8), so I thought I’d share some of the best deals I’ve discovered so far. We’ll be keeping an eye out for other deals and posting them on the MacStories Deals accounts on Mastodon and Bluesky, too, so be sure to follow either for the very latest finds.

For prices, be sure to visit the MacStories Amazon storefront.

Portable SSDs: Samsung T9 and Lexar Armor 700

Events like Big Deal Days are always a great opportunity to pick up fast external SSD storage. I’ve used Samsung’s T line of external drives for years, starting with the T5. Lately, I’ve switched to the company’s T9 portable SSDs because they feature USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, which offers the fastest transfers you can get short of something like Thunderbolt 4 or 5, delivering 2,000 MB/s. That’s plenty fast for working with big files or moving a bunch of smaller files from one device to another. I’ve used the T9 for Carbon Copy Cloner backups, Time Machine backups, editing in Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, and moving my ROM library from one handheld device to another, and it’s been reliable in every case.

During Big Deal Days, the biggest discount is on the 2TB model, with the 1TB model a close second. Depending on your storage needs, you can’t go wrong with either.

More recently, I also started using Lexar’s Armor 700 Portable SSD. In fact, it was one of these drives that we used to transfer huge video and audio files from Apple’s podcast studio at WWDC back to my hotel room for editing.

Like Samsung’s T9, Lexar’s drive features 2,000 MB/s transfer speeds, plus an aluminum case for heat dissipation, a rubberized exterior to help protect against drops, and IP66 water and dust resistance. I’ve been using the 1TB model of the Armor 700, but it’s the 4TB model that’s on the deepest discount during Big Deal Days.

For prices, visit the MacStories Amazon storefront.

Logitech: MX Keys S, Keys-to-Go 2, and POP Mouse

Logitech has gone all-in for Amazon’s big sales event, too. There are a bunch of keyboards, mice, and other accessories on sale, but I’d focus on these three:

The MX Keys S for Mac was my go-to keyboard for years. I’ve switched to Apple’s Magic Keyboard more recently, but if you’re looking for an alternative low-profile keyboard made for the Mac, this is a great pick.

Keys-to-Go 2 is the keyboard I throw in my bag when I need to connect to a handheld gaming device, or when I want a keyboard “just in case” but don’t want to carry my iPad’s Magic Keyboard case. The replaceable watch battery it came with is still going strong, and the integrated cover keeps it from getting damaged. It’s not the most ergonomic keyboard ever designed, but it’s perfect for lightweight travel.

I got a POP Mouse for the same reason I have Logitech’s Keys-to-Go 2 keyboard. It’s a good lightweight on-the-go mouse I can connect to multiple devices. I love that it comes in bright colors, too.

For prices, visit the MacStories Amazon storefront.

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The Best Labor Day Deals on Amazon Right Now

It’s almost Labor Day in the U.S., and like most holidays, it’s a time to save money on your favorite gadgets. Before we get to that, though, I want to thank everyone who has followed MacStories Deals on Mastodon and Bluesky.

We brought back MacStories Deals after a seven-year hiatus because I wasn’t happy with any of the deal sites or social media accounts I was following myself. The volume of posts was too great, and the quality of the deals was often suspect, but in the end it all came down to a case of French’s Yellow Mustard.

One day while scrolling through Ivory, I came across a deal for a case of 12 bottles of mustard for $9. That’s a pretty great deal, but it’s not what I wanted.

Amazon and Apple’s stores are full of deeply discounted products, but most of them aren’t what I want to see. The websites and social media accounts following those deals aren’t very discriminating, either, because they’re all about getting people to click links at scale.

Our bet with MacStories Deals is that we can succeed in a much different way. Our occasional deal roundups here and the media picks and deals on MacStories Unwind showed us that the deals we share are popular with the MacStories community because we’re picky. You can get a firehose of deals anywhere, but what you get from us – and now from MacStories Deals – is an editorial filter that respects your time by eliminating the noise.

So instead of sharing as many deals as possible, our approach is to share just a handful of deals each day and supplement MacStories Deals with the occasional post on the site when the deal volume warrants it. In an era when AI is flooding the zone with slop and lowering the common denominator for all content, we believe that experience and editorial constraints will serve the MacStories community better.

So thanks again for following MacStories Deals on Mastodon and Bluesky. It’s just one small project of many that are in the works, but I hope you all appreciate the approach and take advantage of a deal here and there while we earn a small commission from your purchases.

Now, on to the Labor Day deals.

M4 MacBook Airs

The 2025 13-inch M4 MacBook Air in Midnight.

The 2025 13-inch M4 MacBook Air in Midnight.

Students are returning to school, and many will be looking for deals on Mac laptops. Currently, every M4 MacBook Air in both the 13-inch and 15-inch configurations is at an all-time low price on Amazon. The MacBook Air is one of my favorite portable computers of all time, and now is a great time to pick one up.

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MacStoriesDeals Returns with Hand-Picked Bargains on Gear and Media

Today, we’re bringing back MacStoriesDeals, an outlet for sharing deals with the MacStories community. You can follow our curated collections of gadget and media deals here:

Long-time readers may remember the MacStoriesDeals Twitter account, which we stopped posting to almost seven years ago. We used that account as a way to share the deals that we came across. Over time, though, Apple slowed its app affiliate spending and then ended it altogether in 2017. That’s when MacStoriesDeals went from a useful resource for readers that also made us a little extra money to a chore we couldn’t justify spending the time on any longer.

However, times change. Today, affiliate linking is bigger than ever, and MacStories’ coverage has grown to encompass more gadget reviews and stories, our Setups page, and other media coverage on MacStories Unwind and NPC: Next Portable Console. Plus, with the latest automation tools at our disposal, we can do more with MacStoriesDeals than we ever did before with less effort, which is why we’re bringing it back.

There are plenty of other social media accounts and websites out there that aggregate deals, but MacStoriesDeals is going to be a little different. As we’ve noted in our Prime Day coverage the past couple of years, we only recommend deals for gear and media we’ve tried and brands we trust. In other words, these aren’t just any deals; they’re deals we think are worth your time and consideration based on over 25 years of collective editorial experience.

The links you’ll find on MacStoriesDeals are affiliate links, usually from the U.S.-based Amazon and Apple storefronts, that will earn us roughly 2-7% when you use one and buy something. Of course, that will be disclosed in the posts, as it already is in the MacStories Privacy Policy. Affiliate link revenue is a small part of MacStories’ annual income, but with the changes the Internet and online media are undergoing, every little bit helps us continue to bring you MacStories’ unique perspective on the Apple universe and beyond. Rest assured, our approach to MacStoriesDeals is the same as it is everywhere at MacStories: we aren’t going to promote deals we don’t believe are worth your time and attention.

We’re excited to be revitalizing MacStoriesDeals. It was a great resource for readers looking for bargains in the early days of the site, and we aim to make it so again. We’re also working on ways to do more for readers with MacStoriesDeals in the months ahead.

Thanks for supporting everything we do at MacStories. We hope MacStoriesDeals adds a little more to the experience and you consider following along with the deals we recommend on Mastodon and Bluesky.

The Best Amazon Black Friday Gadget Deals, as Selected by the MacStories Team

There’s a lot on sale during Amazon’s weeklong Black Friday event. I’ve been combing through the deals and found some great gadget buys, which I’ve summarized below. For even more deals, Club MacStories+ and Premier members should visit our Black Friday Discord channel, where members are sharing the deals they find throughout the week, too.

Apple and Beats Hardware

Apple AirPods Pro 2 (32% off)

This isn’t quite the best deal I’ve seen on AirPods Pro 2, but it’s close. With Apple’s new hearing protection and assistance features, the AirPods Pro 2 are more capable than ever, so it’s a good time to refresh an aging pair or pick up your first.

Apple AirTag Four-Pack (26%)

I have AirTags on my luggage, on my backpack, and in my glasses cases. Amazon’s Black Friday deal is one of the lowest prices for a four-pack that I’ve seen.

Apple Watch Series 10 (18% off)

It’s wild to me that the Apple Watch Series 10 is already 18% off on Amazon, which is the best deal available since the wearable’s launch according to CamelCamelCamel. I’m sticking with my OG Apple Watch Ultra, but the Series 10 is tempting at this price.

Beats Solo 4 (50% off)

Beats is going all out for Black Friday with 50% off the Solo 4 headphones in various color. I haven’t used either model myself, but Devon recently reviewed the Beats Solo 4 in the Club MacStories Monthly Log. I’m a fan of the Beats Fit Pro, which I’ve been using for about a year whenever I run outdoors; unfortunately, the Fit Pro model isn’t on sale this week.

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A Roundup of Club MacStories Giveaways and Discounts

Tomorrow, November 1st, is the final day of the Club MacStories Fall Membership Drive. So if you haven’t jumped on our deal to get 20% off any annual plan with the code ‘CLUB2024’, you can read more about it here.

Each of the Club’s three tiers offers a variety of perks, but today, I want to highlight two: giveaways and discounts. I’d also like to thank the developers who have participated in this year’s giveaways and discounts, along with those whose apps we’ve added throughout the year for Club members. We appreciate the support immensely.

If you haven’t joined yet, you can do so here:

Join Club MacStories:

Join Club MacStories+:

Join Club Premier:

We’ve been doing app giveaways for all members since the beginning of the Club in 2015, but this year’s Membership Drive giveaways are some of the best we’ve ever done. We announced the first batch in last week’s issue of our Club-exclusive MacStories Weekly newsletter, and below, I’ll reveal the giveaways we’re doing this week. Giveaways are all announced in MacStories Weekly, and any Club member can enter.

To kick things off last week, we announced giveaways of:

  • Parcel, the excellent universal app for tracking deliveries with tight integration with Amazon and many delivery companies around the world;
  • Shareshot, the terrific utility for the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro that frames screenshots in photorealistic hardware frames with beautiful gradient backgrounds;
  • Paku, a tool for keeping an eye on air quality;
  • Text Workflow for iOS, an excellent way to automate text transformations with its long list of built-in tools and Shortcuts support;
  • Photomator, which recently got a big update with flagging, filtering, and rating options;
  • Due for Mac, which lets you set a reminder and have it ping you at intervals until you complete the task; and
  • two Suti PhoneBacks for the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

This week, we’ll add the following giveaways:

  • Acorn, the Mac image editor from Flying Meat;
  • Retrobatch, Flying Meat’s batch editor for images that integrates with Shortcuts;
  • Due for iOS, which lets you set a reminder and have it ping you at intervals until you complete the task;
  • Unsqueeze, a utility for intelligently upscaling videos to as high as 8K; and
  • the Dual Grip Ultimate v.3 iPhone 16 Pro Max adapter for Joy-Con controllers.

Entries for all of these dozen giveaways will remain open until November 6th, so anyone who joins Club MacStories during the Fall Membership Drive can enter to win.

For Club MacStories Plus and Premier members, we’ve also announced brand new discounts for the following apps:

Those deals join a long list of ongoing discounts currently available to Club MacStories Plus and Premier members and viewable by anyone, whether you’re a Club member or not, here. Altogether, it’s become quite a list:

Thanks again to all the developers who have participated in our giveaways and discounts this year and in the past. You make the apps we love, so your support means a lot to us.

And thank you to everyone who has signed up for Club MacStories this week, too. As the Club has grown, so have our plans for it and MacStories in general, and having the support of Club members old and new is what has given us the confidence to keep growing despite difficult times in the advertising world.

My Top Picks for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days

Amazon Prime’s Big Deal Days runs today and tomorrow, so just as I did for Prime Day before it, I’ve scoured the thousands of available deals for the best gear that I’ve used, tested, and love. For more of the gear that Federico and I use, check out our Setups page, too.

Here are my top Prime Big Deal Days picks:

Apple Hardware and Accessory Deals

Apple Studio Display.

Apple Studio Display.

Studio Display with Stand (16% off)

Apple’s Studio Display has been out for quite a while now, so it’s a regular among Amazon deals. I’ve been using mine for over two years, and it’s the perfect Mac or iPad compliment if you want a big, bright, and crisp display at your desk.

MagSafe Charger (16% off)

Apple recently updated its MagSafe charging puck that I use with my AirPod Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The updated charger, which is Qi2 compatible, allows my iPhone to charge more quickly than was possible with earlier iPhone and charger pairings.

Apple Pencil Pro.

Apple Pencil Pro.

Apple Pencil Pro (24% off)

The Apple Pencil Pro isn’t an accessory that I use every day, but between Smart Script and the radial menu that appears when you squeeze the Pencil’s barrel, I’ve found myself using it more and more for taking notes, editing video in Final Cut Pro, and navigating the web.

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My Top Amazon Prime Day Picks

There are thousands of things on sale during Amazon Prime Day, including a lot of my favorite gadgets, so I thought I’d highlight the deals I’ve found for the gear I’ve used, tested, and love. Here are my top picks.

Apple Hardware and Accessory Deals

Apple Studio Display with Adjustable Stand (15% off)

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

I’ve had an Apple Studio Display for two years now and love it. Colors are bright, text is crisp, and having a set of additional Thunderbolt ports available on its rear panel comes in surprisingly handy.

Apple iPad mini (6th Gen), 256GB Storage, Wi-Fi (15% off)

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

It may be getting a little long in the tooth, but I still love my mighty iPad mini. My new 11” iPad Pro has absorbed some of the reading and video-watching I used to do almost exclusively on the mini, but the mini’s size is perfect for reading, which is what I still use it for almost every day.

Beats Fit Pro (25% off)

Source: Beats.

Source: Beats.

I haven’t gotten around to writing about the Beats Fit Pro yet, but I picked up a pair a couple of months ago, and I love them. They’re smaller than the Powerbeats Pro that wrap around your ears, which I like, and because they use Apple’s H1 chip, they include features like fast pairing with the Apple Watch and transparency mode. They don’t have every feature of the latest AirPods Pro, but they have the most important ones that I want when I go out for a run on a hot day.

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Over 250 Apps from Indie Developers Are On Sale Now

The folks at Indie App Sales are back with another big sale featuring apps from some of your favorite indie developers. This time around, they have over 250 apps in the lineup, including MacStories favorites like:

The sale periods vary by app, but most are offering discounts today and tomorrow, so check it out and grab a great deal on these excellent apps and support indie development.