Why You Can Trust CNET Get Apple discounts at Best Buy with these trade-in offers
You can save on a new iPhone, iPad or MacBook by trading in your old gear at Best Buy. Plus, an Apple Watch deal from Walmart.
Apple discounts, generally speaking, are rare, but they are currently abundant at Best Buy by way of trade-in offers, which can help bring down the prices of a MacBook Air , iPad Air and Apple Watch . There's also a few iPhone deals worth investigating if you are in the market for a new phone. Of course, the usual caveat applies that you'll get less than maximum trade-in value for your current Apple gear unless it's in good shape.
Here are the highlights of Best Buy's Apple Shopping Event.
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Top 5 Apple deals at Best Buy
The entry-level model usually costs $1,200 but can be had for only $1,000 if you trade in a working MacBook, which can fetch up to $200 via a Best Buy gift card. (Of course, you'll get less for a banged-up MacBook.) The entry-level model features a 13.3-inch Retina display along with an eighth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. You could also use the trade-in for pricier MacBook Air models, including the step-up model that lists for $1,400 and bumps you up to a 256GB SSD or the $1,600 model that supplies a 512GB SSD.
The entry-level 64GB iPad Air carries a list price of $500, which you can bring down significantly with a $150 Best Buy gift card by trading in your old iPad. Again, the caveat applies that you'll get less than that if your current iPad is in less-than-great shape. You could also get the much roomier 256GB iPad Air for $500 -- again, if you are able to max out the trade-in offer.
The iPad Air sits between the 9.7-inch iPad introduced last year, which starts at $329, and the 11-inch iPad Pro, which starts at $799 and has a more powerful A12X processor. The iPad Air is essentially a refresh of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro from 2017, which Apple has discontinued. It has a nearly identical design -- and accessories will be interchangeable between the two -- but a few newer components, including the same A12 Bionic processor used in the iPhone XS.
Thinking of trading in your current Apple Watch for a model from the latest Series 4 line? If your current Apple Watch is in good condition, then you can get up to $100 in the form of a Best Buy gift card to apply toward the purchase of an Apple Watch Series 4, which starts at $400 before any discount. A quick scan of Best Buy's site reveals that you could get $40 for a Series 1, $65 for a Series 2 and $100 for a Series 3.
This trade-in deal is in-store only, but you can save up to $575 on the purchase and activation of an iPhone XR, XS or XS Max if you combine the current discount of up to $200 off of one of the new iPhone models (minimum discount is $50) with up to $375 via a Best Buy gift card when you trade in your current iPhone.
Don't have a phone to trade in? Sprint is running iPhone discounts at Best Buy: save $150 on an iPhone XS or XS Max or $390 on an iPhone XR.
With its gorgeous 5.8-inch OLED screen, dual rear-facing cameras and Face ID, the iPhone X is still a contender. It is still fairly spendy at $900 for the 64GB model, but you can get it for the more reasonable sum of $750 right now at Best Buy.
Apple Watch Series 3 sale at Walmart
To round out the Apple deals this week, Walmart is running a deal on Apple Watch Series 3 models.
It's not the latest series, but the Apple Watch Series 3 is still a stellar smartphone. And a great deal at $199 for the 38mm model or $229 for the 42mm model.