How to get free AirPods during Apple’s huge back-to-school sale
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Back-to-school season is fast approaching, and while we’re not quite sure what the upcoming fall will look like, one thing is for sure: Thanks to Apple’s college shopping promotion, now is the perfect time to invest in a brand new MacBook, which are currently on sale and come with a pair of coveted Apple AirPods free of charge.
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Apple is no stranger to the annual collegiate promo. In the past, they’ve given out free Beats headphones, but this year, they’ve upped the ante—with select MacBook or iMac purchases, you can snag yourself a free pair of AirPods (a $159 value) or upgrade to the AirPods Pro for only $90, saving you nearly $140. Select iPads and accessories are also discounted, and while you won’t get AirPods with those purchases, you can still save 20% on the retailer’s expert AppleCare+ program.
Apple rarely has sale, so when we find one, we jump on them. Here are our top four picks from Apple’s back to school promotion, and how much you can save.
1. $100 down: The 13-inch MacBook Air
We’re no stranger to the latest MacBook Air model. We’ve reviewed it on multiple occasions and even featured it in our roundup of the best laptops under $1,000. And since the retail price is typically pretty steep (a hefty $999), the fact that it’s currently discounted down to $899 is a substantial factor in itself. At its core, the 13-inch MacBook Air is a gorgeously designed laptop that excels at everyday tasks. Complete with the retailer’s signature magic keyboard, touch ID, a force touch trackpad and a 1.1 Gigahertz Dual-Core i3 processor, this model is an altogether reliable laptop that works well for most users. You can nab it in space grey, gold or silver, and grab your free pair of AirPods at checkout.
Get the 13-inch MacBook Air for $899 (Save $100)
2. A $400 markdown: The iMac Pro
While we haven’t tested it out ourselves just yet, the iMac Pro is an absolute monster of a set-up. It comes with a 3.2 Gigahertz 8-core Intel Xeon W processor, 32 gigabytes of memory, one terabyte of storage and four Thunderbolt 3 ports. In the box, you get a 27-inch monitor with a beautiful Retina display, a space grey magic keyboard, a space grey magic mouse, a power chord and a lightning to USB cable.
This bundle is normally priced at $4,999, but thanks to Apple’s amazing back-to-school event, you can grab it for $4,599, giving you a solid $400 in savings. Amazon ratings rave about the ridiculously gorgeous imagery provided by the monitor, while others wrote that it offers the perfect work set-up. This product also gives you eligibility for a free pair of AirPods, or the ability to upgrade to the AirPods Pro.
Get the iMac Pro for $4,599 (Save $400)
3. $49 off: The 11-inch iPad Pro with 128 gigabytes of storage
Apple makes our all-time favorite tablet, the iPad Air, so it’s no surprise that we had to include the brand’s newer model, the iPad Pro, on this list. Complete with an edge-to-edge liquid Retina display and True Tone technology, the iPad Pro renders incredible graphics that are hard to find elsewhere. The 128-gigabyte option, once $799.99, is now discounted down to $749, offering a little more than $49 in savings. It also features a 7-megapixel front camera and a 12 megapixel back camera, along with four audio speakers and five studio-quality microphones. In testing, we dubbed it as "the best tablet a lot of money can buy," thanks to its fast and gorgeous design, excellent performance and lengthy battery life, which teetered on 12 hours of constant use.
Artists and note-takers even have the option to purchase the Apple Pencil, $89, while those that prefer typing can nab a Smart Keyboard from $149. Bonus: You can also get your iPad Pro engraved, free of charge, as part of the retailer’s massive back-to-school promo.
Get the 11-inch iPad Pro (128 gigabytes) for $749 (Save $49)
4. $100 in savings: The 13-inch MacBook Pro with 256 gigabytes of storage
Like the MacBook Air, we’ve tested nearly every version of Apple’s MacBook Pro. Although our main qualm with the latest machine—the 13-inch MacBook Pro—was its hefty price tag of $1,249.99, the Pro puts up a good fight against its competitors. Its most impressive features, we found, were its magic keyboard, the loudspeakers and the battery life, while we found that it handled daily tasks, like editing videos or writing code, quite well. It wasn’t free of cons, like potential overheating, but overall, we dubbed it as a solid laptop. Right now, it’s on sale on Apple’s website for $1,199.99, down $100 from its retail price, and you can add the ever-popular AirPods to your cart at checkout.
Get the 13-inch MacBook Pro (256 gigabytes) for $1,199.99 (Save $100)
Shop the entire Apple Back-To-School Sale
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
This article originally appeared on Reviewed.com: MacBook deal: How to get free AirPods during Apple’s huge back-to-school sale
