Apple’s AirPods are currently matching their lowest prices ever at Amazon and Walmart

We’ve got a pair of excellent deals to start things off at The Verge this week. If you’ve been holding out for Apple’s true wireless earbuds to drop in price, both the second-gen AirPods and the AirPods Pro have received a sizable discount at Amazon and Walmart.

The second-gen AirPods with the wired charging case usually cost $129.99 but are on sale right now at Amazon and Walmart for $99.99, matching their best price to date. The second-gen model may lack some of the more convenient features found in today’s earbuds, notably wireless charging and multi-point Bluetooth connectivity, but they remain superior to the original AirPods when it comes to battery life and sound quality. Read our review.

Apple’s premium earbuds, the MagSafe-compatible AirPods Pro, are also on sale at Amazon and Walmart for $174, down from their usual price of $249.99. The AirPods Pro add some quality of life features to Apple’s current AirPods lineup and address some of the issues with the lower-tier models. The 2021 model features wireless MagSafe charging, not to mention better sound quality and noise cancellation. They also offer a better fit than previous models, ensuring they won’t fall out of your ears at the first opportunity. Read our review.

AirPods Pro (with MagSafe charging case)

• $174
• $250
• 31% off

Apple’s flagship earbuds improve on the regular AirPods with better sound quality, excellent active noise cancellation, and immersive spatial audio.

Deals don’t get more straightforward than this: if you buy two games at Amazon right now, you can get a third of equal or lesser value for free. The current promotion only applies to select video games; however, it does include new titles like Elden Ring ($59.99) and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands ($69.99). While games for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles are the highlights of the sale, you can also find deals on physical titles for the Nintendo Switch and classic board games like Catan and Ticket to Ride. Plenty of other products are included in this promotion as well, including books, toys, and art supplies. Read our Elden Ring review.

Elden Ring

The latest FromSoftware title, Elden Ring, takes the Dark Souls formula to a vast open world.

While arguably better known for inexpensive hot dogs and pizza, this Costco deal is more appealing and far less greasy. Currently, the popular wholesale retailer has discounted the M1-equipped MacBook Air from 2020 to just $849.99, a far cry from its usual price tag of $999.99. This is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for Apple’s featherweight laptop and is certainly worth looking into, provided you’re already a card-carrying Costco member.

This latest model of the MacBook Air debuted in 2020, which makes it somewhat long in the tooth, yet it still offers great build quality, plenty of battery life, and an M1 chip that provides it with more than enough power for running modern applications. This configuration of the 13.3-inch MacBook Air is equipped with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which is a solid suite of specs for a laptop of this size, even if the M1 processor can’t compete with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips found in Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup. Read our review.

MacBook Air with M1 (late 2020)

• $850
• $1,000
• 16% off

The MacBook Air is Apple’s entry-level laptop, which comes outfitted with the company’s new M1 chip and in one of three different colors (silver, space gray, and gold).

The standard retail price for LG’s 55-inch C1 is $1,796.99, but you can currently grab one on eBay for $997 when you use promo code SHOPTECH15 at checkout. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this particular model and is an amazing value for an OLED TV of this caliber. We never pass up an opportunity to highlight this TV and with good reason. Features like the TV’s 120Hz refresh rate, low input lag, and compatibility with G-Sync and AMD FreeSync technology make the slim panel an ideal platform for gaming. Some other awesome selling points include support for Dolby Vision and HDR10, allowing for excellent visual fidelity, and built-in support for both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants.

It’s also worth mentioning that LG launched a follow-up to this model fairly recently. Dubbed the C2, it has a brighter display and 7.1.2 surround sound as opposed to the 5.1.2 on the C1. The C2 is currently selling for the same price the C1 did at launch, but unless those features are particularly important to you, this deal is still worth looking into.

LG C1 OLED (55-inch)

• $997
• $1,796
• 45% off

LG’s C1 OLED is a great gaming TV with support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync technologies, along with a 120Hz refresh rate, low input lag, and a fast processor. It also boasts a “Game Optimizer” dashboard, a settings pane that conveniently brings together game-centric settings like refresh rate and latency for quicker access. The 55-inch model is currently $997 at eBay when you use the code SHOPTECH15 at checkout.

Sony’s WF-1000XM4s may occupy our top spot for the best wireless earbuds, but we still recommend the older WF-1000XM3s, especially at this price. Originally $199.99, Amazon and Walmart are currently selling the last-gen earbuds for just $127.99 in both the white and black colorways. In the past, we’ve called these earbuds “some of the best AirPods competitors out there,” thanks to their excellent sound quality and amazing noise cancellation.

Another welcome addition is the variety of tips that come packaged with these earbuds, which provide a more secure fit than some of Apple’s earbuds. The XM3s also have a slick aesthetic that pairs matte black with brass accents. Just note that, unlike the newer XM4s, these earbuds don’t feature any sweat or water resistance, so they’ll need to steer clear of the gym, just like me. Read our Sony WF-1000XM3 review.

Sony WF-1000XM3

• $128
• $200
• 36% off

Originally released in 2018, the WF-1000XM3’s still measure up well against the competition when it comes to battery life and sound quality, even if they’re not as capable as their successor.

Professional gaming laptops aren’t particularly cheap. However, Amazon’s current deal on the Gigabyte Aorus 15P definitely takes some of the edge off. Typically $1,899, Best Buy has temporarily discounted it to $1,199.99, the lowest price to date for this configuration, which includes an 11th Gen Core i7 CPU, an RTX 3070, 16GB of RAM, and a hefty 1TB of storage.

The Aorus 15P sports an impressive 15-inch, 1080p panel with a blistering-fast 240Hz refresh rate. This allows the 15P to make the most out of its powerful hardware, which can easily handle most modern games running at 1080p. The laptop also features a number of additional USB-A ports for peripherals and an HDMI hookup for an external monitor. Just note that adding an additional display will tax your system’s resources more heavily.

Gigabyte Aorus 15P

• $1,200
• $1,900
• 37% off

This 15-inch laptop from Gigabyte features an 11th Gen Intel CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3070 for top-tier gaming performance.

A few other deals to kick off your week

• If you’re still working from home but have been waiting to pull the trigger on a standing desk, Best Buy’s current deal on the Insignia Standing Desk has brought down the price of the $344.99 piece of furniture to $229.99. The desk measures 47.2 inches wide and 23.6 inches deep and features a motorized lift that can raise and lower the desk between 28.7 and 48.4 inches. Just be aware that it only comes with a one-year warranty.
• Our favorite budget robot vacuum is still on sale at Amazon for $379.99. This isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen for the Roborock S4, but it remains a solid discount on a device that usually retails for $429.99. In addition to providing your cat with an efficient means of transportation around your home, the S4 can clean up to 3230 square feet of space, and you can designate cleaning areas through its connected app.
• Right now, you can score a $25 Amazon gift card when you buy the Beats Fit Pro for $199.95, their full retail price, at Amazon. The latest fitness-oriented Beats earbuds provide an excellent fit, effective noise cancellation, and play extremely well with Apple devices. Read our review.