Today’s best deals: Apple AirPods Pro, MacBook Air, and more

It’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best deals from around the web includes a decent price drop on Apple’s AirPods Pro, which are currently down to $180 at Amazon and Walmart. That’s about $70 off Apple’s MSRP and about $15 off the average Amazon price we’ve seen for the true wireless noise-canceling earphones over the past few months. For reference, we did see them drop as low as $159 around Black Friday, but this deal matches the best price we’ve tracked for about two months.

We’ve recommended the AirPods Pro a number of times since they launched in late 2019. Though they’re getting up there in age, they continue to provide stronger active noise cancellation than most competing wireless earbuds, an effective ambient sound mode that layers outside noise under your music, and a balanced, neutral sound that still ranks among the best in the category. The ear pieces are light and comfortable and have an IPX4 rating for everyday sweat resistance. Apple now packages the AirPods Pro with a MagSafe Charging Case, an addition it made when it announced the third-gen AirPods last fall. And like all AirPods, the Pro pair brings a number of useful bonus features (“Find My” tracking, “Hey Siri” voice controls, quick device swapping) when used with other Apple devices.

The Pros are far less useful to Android users, to be clear. And at roughly five hours of continuous playback, their battery life is lacking. If you want a similar pair of noise-canceling Apple earphones that are better for working out, the Beats Fit Pro earned a spot on our holiday gift guide last month for packing many of the same benefits into a sportier design. Reports suggest that Apple plans to refresh the AirPods Pro with a new design later this year, too, though those may launch closer to the end of 2022. All that said, if you’re an iPhone user who wants a premium pair of noise-canceling earphones today, this deal is a good value.

Beyond that, we also have lower-than-usual prices for the base-model AirPods and Apple’s entry-level MacBook Air. And if you’re not on the Apple train, we also have deals on a Wacom drawing tablet, well-reviewed 4K TVs from Hisense and Samsung, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick for older 1080p TVs, Roombas, AMD Ryzen processors, and more. Have a look at our full list of hand-picked deals below.

Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Featured deals of the day

• Apple AirPods Pro true wireless ANC earphones + MagSafe Charging Case for $180 ($195) at Amazon, Walmart
• Apple AirPods (2nd gen) true wireless earbuds for $99 ($115) at Amazon
• Jabra Elite 75t true wireless earphones for $80 ($110) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Xbox) for $16 ($25) at Xbox (also on Game Pass)
• Amazon Fire TV Stick (3rd gen) 1080p media streamer for $20 ($30) at Amazon, Best Buy, Kohl’s
• Wacom Intuos (small) drawing tablet with Bluetooth for $50 ($85) at Amazon, Adorama, Walmart
• Chamberlain MyQ smart garage hub and controller for $20 ($25) at Amazon
• Apple MacBook Air (2020) laptop (Apple M1, 13.3-inch 2560×1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB) for $850 ($920) at Amazon, Costco (discount in cart)
• Samsung QN90A 55-inch 4K TV for $1,300 ($1,500) at Samsung, Amazon, Best Buy

Electronics deals

• Wacom Intuos (small) drawing tablet with Bluetooth for $50 ($85) at Amazon, Adorama, Walmart
• Samsung T7 (1TB) portable SSD for $115 ($135) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Samsung T7 Touch (1TB) portable SSD for $140 ($160) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Microsoft Xbox Elite Series 2 wireless controller for Xbox + PC for $140 ($155) at Microsoft, Target
• Hisense U7G (2021) 55-inch 4K TV for $600 ($650) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Samsung QN90A 55-inch 4K TV for $1,300 ($1,500) at Samsung, Amazon, Best Buy

Laptop and desktop PC deals

• Apple MacBook Air (2020) laptop (Apple M1, 13.3-inch 2560×1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB) for $850 ($920) at Amazon, Costco (discount in cart)
• Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 laptop (Core i5-1135G7, 14-inch 1080p, 8GB RAM, 256GB) for $700 ($830) at Lenovo (use code: YOGAOFFER1)
• Dell Inspiron 15 Touch (5515) laptop (Ryzen 7 5700U, 15.6-inch 1080p, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) + Blue Yeti Nano USB microphone for $750 ($950) at Dell (use code: 50OFF699)
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-core/12-thread 65W desktop processor for $269 ($295) at Amazon, B&H
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6-core/12-thread 65W desktop processor for $220 ($250) at Amazon
• SK Hynix Gold P31 (1TB NVMe) PCIe Gen 3 internal SSD for $110 ($130) at Amazon

Video game deals

Accessories and miscellaneous deals