AirPods Black Friday deals 2022 what to expect in the sales TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. AirPods Black Friday deals 2022 what to expect in the sales By Matt Bolton, Mackenzie Frazier last updated 20 September 2022 Our experts predict the best Black Friday AirPods deals this year (Image credit: TechRadar) Jump to: Today's best sales Our predictions Tips for buying AirPods online If you're planning to look for the best Black Friday AirPods deals this year before buying a pair of Apple's popular earbuds, then you won't be alone: AirPods were the second most searched-for product globally in last year's Black Friday sales. That's according to data from a report from data specialist Statista, which also found that Airpods Pro were the eighth most searched-for product. We're confident that both models will be extremely popular again this year, and the good news is you might not need to wait until Black Friday for a decent AirPods deal. We're expecting the holiday sales season to begin much earlier than the official Black Friday date of November 25 – there's a strong chance you'll find a discount on the model you want in October or early November that hits the price you want. In the past, Apple products haven't really appeared among the usual collection of Black Friday deals, but in recent years that's started to change, and AirPods have been a big part of that – they're one of the Apple products we see discounted most often, including on Black Friday. In this guide, we'll tell you what kind of deals our experts predict on all the best AirPods models – including AirPods 3rd Gen, AirPods Max and the cheaper AirPods 2nd Gen. We'll tell you right now that you shouldn't expect much in the way of miracle discounts on the brand-new AirPods Pro 2… but the release of the new Pros might mean that the original AirPods Pro (2019) will be one of the deals of the year. We'll explain all that below. Today s best AirPods sales You won't find any 'official' Black Friday AirPods deals until November, but there are regularly cheap AirPods deals to be found, and we expect a steady stream of discounts during October and November. So keep your eye out – it pays to browse even outside of the flashy events. US AirPods salesAmazon: regularly has the cheapest prices (opens in new tab)Walmart: price-matches other retailers (opens in new tab)Best Buy: get free Apple subscriptions included (opens in new tab)BH Photo Video: limited stock but has big discounts (opens in new tab) UK AirPods salesAmazon UK: often has the lowest prices available (opens in new tab)Currys: best for freebies and trad-in offers (opens in new tab)John Lewis: includes Apple Music free for six months (opens in new tab)AO.com: will price match deals from other retailers (opens in new tab)More of today's best AirPods dealsReduced Price (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods Pro (2021) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$278 (opens in new tab)$198.99 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab)See all prices (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods (3rd Generation) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$179 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab)See all pricesReduced Price (opens in new tab)Apple Airpods Max (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$549 (opens in new tab)$449.99 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab)See all prices (opens in new tab)Apple Airpods (2019) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$79 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab)See all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Should you wait for a Black Friday AirPods deal It's now standard for AirPods to be discounted over Black Friday, but they don't tend to be the kind of huge, dramatic "40% off!!" deals you might find on some products. They tend to me more in the 20% region… and they're not exclusive to Black Friday. It's very likely that the price will drop at one retailer in the weeks before Black Friday, other retailers will lower prices to match, and that will continue either until stocks are low or the sales event ends. Last year, we saw very few new deals launch on Black Friday itself – the best ones were already live. So our advice is not to wait until November 25. If you see the AirPods model you want for a price you're happy with in the weeks beforehand, grab it, be happy with it, and if you find that it does drop by another $10/£10 a couple of weeks later, don't kick yourself – you were happy with the deal at the time, right? In any case, we'll be right here, telling you which Black Friday Airpods deals are worth snapping up, and which are worth leaving for a bit longer. Black Friday AirPods deals our predictions (Image credit: TechRadar) When will the best Black Friday AirPods deals start in 2022 While Black Friday is officially November 25 this year, you can expect a much longer and looser holiday sales season than normal this year. That's partially due to fears around inflation, rising prices and the cost of living crisis: we're expecting more people to want to spread their spending out; and, equally, for retailers to want to spin the sales period for as long as possible. So you should start keeping your eye out for AirPods deals from mid-October really – there will likely be a series of sales events from retailers that crossover throughout October and November. Last year followed some of this pattern: most of the best Black Friday AirPods deals launched a week or two early, and simply continued through the day itself. We think you'll see the price rise and fall a couple of times before we get to the end of November. Where will the best Black Friday AirPods deals be We'll bring you all the best Black Friday AirPods deals here when the time comes, naturally, finding the lowest prices from all the top retailers. In the US, third-party sites like Amazon and Walmart are likely to offer the best discounts: both regularly offer record-low prices on Apple's lineup of earbuds. In the UK, it's the same kind of thing – sites such as Amazon and Currys always have the best AirPods deals for Black Friday. While the Apple store doesn't offer direct Apple Black Friday deals, the tech giant is known to offer gift cards and freebies when you purchase select devices. US: Amazon: often has the lowest prices (opens in new tab) Walmart: great stock levels and will price-match (opens in new tab) Best Buy: gives you free Apple subscriptions (opens in new tab) BH Photo Video: good discounts but limited stock (opens in new tab) UK: Amazon UK: try first for the biggest deals (opens in new tab) Currys: free gifts and good trade-in offers (opens in new tab) John Lewis: get Apple Music free for six months (opens in new tab) AO.com: price-matches other retailers (opens in new tab) How good will this year s Black Friday AirPods deals be AirPods aren't the kind of product that see 50% off or more, as we've mentioned before – but we expect that two or three models will hit record-low prices in Black Friday this year, probably by beating the old record-lows by another 10% or so, rather than huge price swings. But remember, we mean that extra 10% on top the already lowered prices we've seen in the past, so we're talking some real money saved compared to the original price. What AirPods Black Friday deals do we expect in 2022 Let's start with AirPods Pro here. Apple has said that this is the most popular model of AirPods, and we've seen the Pros being huge hits over the last few Black Fridays – and this year, they could be an even bigger hit, because there's a new version out. Don't expect the AirPods Pro 2 to get any major deals, because they're so new – you might find that some keen store offers $10 or $20 off to get people clicking over to them, but we wouldn't expect much more than that. The original AirPods Pro (2019) could see some great action though. There's a lot of stock still around, but they've officially been discontinued by Apple, and that stock is now just taking up space – we've already seen them hit around $189/£179 at their lowest, so we'd expect another $20/£20 off that. Maybe more, but it will depend on how quickly they clear the shelves. If you want the biggest, headline-grabbing savings on a pair of AirPods, that'll be AirPods Max. It's been possible to find them with discounts of $100/£100 fairly often, and in the UK they've even had as much as £150 off. This year, we'd look for that again – perhaps even a little more, though we wouldn't bet hard on it. AirPods 3rd Gen haven't seen many large discounts since their release last year, so this could be the Black Friday where they get more than about $20/£20 off, which is the most we've really seen. However, that would still make them around $150/£150, which is what we're hoping the original AirPods Pro might drop to. The older Pros are still better overall, so in terms of value, these AirPods may have a tough Black Friday. Finally, the cheapest AirPods, the AirPods 2nd Gen version from 2019, regularly cost around $99/£99. We'd be surprised to see a widespread drop below $89/£89 – perhaps they might hit the £79/$79 region, which would be their lowest-ever price. Last year s best AirPods Black Friday deals A good way to get a sense of what this year's Black Friday Airpods deals might look like is to take a look at last year's. Walmart kicked off its Black Friday sale with an incredible deal on the AirPods Pro, which brought them down to their lowest ever price. Costing $249 at launch, the retailer slashed the price of Apple's noise-cancelling earbuds to just $159.99 - and you could get the AirPods Pro at their lowest price in the UK, too. We also saw the new AirPods 3 drop to their lowest price in the US, while prices for the Apple AirPods Max - the brand's first over-ear headphones - dropped to an all-time-low in the US, and near their lowest price in the UK. US The best Black Friday Airpods deals last year (opens in new tab)AirPods with wired charging case: $159 $119 at Amazon Save $40 - If you're looking for the cheapest Black Friday AirPods deal, Amazon had the AirPods with wired charging case on sale for just $119. They previously dropped to $109, and we have seen them go for $89 in the past, so it might be worth holding off in case those low prices return. (opens in new tab)New Apple AirPods (3rd Generation): $179 $169 at Amazon Save $10 - You could get $10 off the all-new AirPods 3, which previously dropped to $154.99 at Walmart. The new wireless earbuds come with Spatial Audio support, a new contoured fit, and a 30-hour battery life. (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods Pro: $249 $159 at Walmart Save $90 - The Apple AirPods Pro are always a Black Friday best-seller, and Walmart dropped the last model to a record-low price of $159, having previously had them on sale for $189.99. The all-new AirPods Pro includes a MagSafe Charging Case alongside the new 2021 edition of the classic AirPods. (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods Max: $549 $429 at Crutchfield Save $120 - You could find the headphones on sale for $429 at Crutchfield - a return to their record-low price. The over-ear headphones feature active noise cancellation to block out unwanted noise and provide up to 20 hours of battery life. This deal was also available at Amazon. UK The best Black Friday Airpods deals last year (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods (2019): £119 £99 at Amazon Save £20 - The cheapest Black Friday AirPods deal in the UK was the AirPods with the standard charging case that are on sale at their cheapest price of £99. A £20 discount may not sound hugely exciting but it's brilliant compared to the original RRP of £159. The wireless earbuds provide up to 24 hours of battery life and can be conveniently charged using a Qi-compatible mat or a Lightning connector. This price was also matched by Argos. (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods Pro: £239 £185 at Amazon Save £54 – The most popular Black Friday AirPods deal was the AirPods Pro which were on sale for a record-low price of £185. They come with significant improvements over the previous model – such as Active Noise Cancellation and a better design. A worthwhile upgrade, then. Meanwhile, the MagSafe wireless charging case is included in the price to give you more than 24 hours of total battery life. You could also get the AirPods Pro at this price at Very. (opens in new tab)New Apple AirPods (3rd Generation): £169 £159 at Amazon Save £10 - You could get £10 off the all-new AirPods 3 - the first time we've seen a discount in the UK. The new wireless earbuds come with Spatial Audio support, a new contoured fit, and a 30-hour battery life. (opens in new tab)Apple AirPods Max: £549 £426.50 at Amazon Save £122.50 - The Apple AirPods Max are simply one of the best pairs of over-ear headphones you can buy, and the high price is a bit easier to stomach with this Black Friday discount. Featuring excellent sound quality and great noise cancellation, the Apple AirPods Max were on sale for £426 - which is just a few pounds more than the record-low price. How can I get the best AirPods Black Friday deals 1 Don t buy from Apple directly to save cash The one place you definitely won't find any price cuts on AirPods is from Apple itself. It never does straight discounts on its products, and its own Black Friday deals usually involve gift cards or a free period of something like Apple Music. If you buy from Apple, you'll be paying full price – so look to other retailers if it's a straight saving you want. 2 Older models are likely to see discounts We already alluded to this further up, but the biggest discounts are likely to come on the original AirPods Pro, AirPods 2nd Gen or AirPods Max, because they're the older models. Whereas the brand-new AirPods Pro 2 are unlikely to get much money off at all, and the AirPods 3rd Gen will likely see less discount being just a year old. 3 Be sure to check around before buying It's a basic tip, but it's always important. If you see AirPods for the price you want and you're ready to buy, do take a moment to check the other big retailers, because you never know: maybe they've decided to undercut the deal you saw with an extra $10/£10 off. Matt BoltonSenior Editor, TV & AudioMatt is TechRadar's Senior Editor for TV and Audio, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of reviewers to watch gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule. TechRadar Newsletter Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. 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