Apple fans may be resigned to paying full price for their gadgets, but we’ll certainly see Apple gear on sale this Black Friday season. The trick to finding these bargains is knowing where to look — and that’s anywhere but the Apple Store.
One of the best things about living in the digital age is the ease with which you can compare prices. It’s never been easier to find great deals, especially on technology. But even though finding discounted gadgets is pretty easy, some people still end up overpaying for tech because they’ve put their faith in misguided shopping myths.
If you’re looking to save money and get the most value for your dollar, make sure you don’t fall victim to one of these common misconceptions about buying electronics. Read on to learn more about the biggest tech shopping myths out there, why we believe them, and why those myths are just dead wrong. Our guide busts some Apple-specific myths, as well as some more general misconceptions about how to save money when shopping for gadgets.
Best Buy is trying its darnedest to live up to its name with a new $100 discount on every Apple Watch model it sells. The deep discount brings the entry-level cost of a 38mm Apple Watch Sport down to just $250.
Apple may have kicked butt on Black Friday, with reports of its strongest Friday sales in history and more online purchases made using iOS devices than Androids by a giant margin.
There was one area of Apple’s business where Black Friday wasn’t a day of triumph, however, and that’s Apple Pay. According to a new report, only half the total percentage of Apple customers who used Apple Pay at last year’s Black Friday used it during this year’s sales bonanza.
Black Friday may have handed Apple its strongest Friday sales in history, thanks to third party retailers heavily featuring the company’s products in their own promotions.
According to a note sent out by analyst Trip Chowdhry from Global Equities, the Apple Watch is likely to emerge as the M.V.P. of the shopping holiday — as the result of retailers offering big discounts on the device, as well as free shipping and zero sales tax.
Black Friday was great, but there are even more killer sales for Cyber Monday. Check out the most spectacular deals below, like huge deals on rugged Bluetooth speakers, still-useful discounts on Macbook and Macbook Air, and a super useful iPad keyboard case for less.
Cult of Mac will keep digging through Cyber Monday ads to find the best deals on Apple products, electronics and gifts for everyone on your list. The deals are all piping-hot and ready for your online shopping blitz.
Turkey Day has come and gone, and the Black Friday deals are about to do the same. Get in on these last minute bargains on a guitar that’s also a MIDI controller, and an HD security camera that connects in real-time through Wi-Fi. Plus, by entering the coupon code ‘BLACKFRIDAY’ at checkout you’ll save an extra 15%.
You might be sick of the sight of Turkey by now, but you can’t spend enough time being thankful. The big question we have is: Should we be thankful to Apple for the lineup it has delivered in 2015, or was this a year to forget?
Apple certainly hasn’t been slow this year; we’ve had the Apple Watch, Apple Music, iPhone 6s with new technologies like 3D Touch, the new Apple TV, and the giant iPad Pro. But will any of these things stand out as smash-hits in a decade?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over these questions and more!
It might be a short week for most of us here in the U.S., but that didn’t stop us from piling up a whole, well, pile of great content for your long weekend enjoyment.
We’ve got all the Black Friday sale info you can handle, a bunch of sweet gadget reviews (like the rumbling, rabble-rousing Sonos Play:5) and a fantastic assortment of Apple news and views that you’ll love.
Be sure to download the Cult of Mac Magazine app now to get your own copy of our latest issue.
Here’s the rundown:
Almost all major retailers have unveiled their Black Friday ads by now, and some of our predictions have been blown out of the water by lower prices. Many will definitely qualify for the coveted Editors’ Choice nod. And with price-matching driving down prices next week, more will likely follow.
We tallied up the spoils that debuted during the November 21 to November 29 time frame last year, and selected the top five stores that had the most Editors’ Choice deals. These vendors offered the best prices on the most popular items, and we’re already seeing them attempt to repeat this year.
Now, all that’s left to do is allocate your cash wisely, prepare some comfortable running garb, and get your Black Friday game face on.
There are so many Black Friday deals out there it’s incredibly difficult to keep up with them all, even for someone who’s paid to do just that.
We’ve taken pity on you and have pulled the absolute best deals that we could find and added a special value-added service at the end: A single line of text that you can copy and paste into your Google Calendar Quick Add field or your Calendar Quick Event field (just click on that big Plus button at the top of your Calendar app).
That way, you’ll have reminders when these fantastic deals appear, whether you’re at home zoning out to Fallout 4 or out at a holiday party drinking good cheer.
Check out our evolving list below.
Sorting through Black Friday ads can be overwhelming, so our editors have pared down the thousands of offers into a single list of only the deals that are truly great. From TVs to tablets, and everything in between, here are the things you need to be on the lookout this week.
Black Friday is held up as the ultimate shopping day, but Thanksgiving actually offers more awesome deals. Of course, there are great sales to be found throughout the Black Friday season, with Cyber Monday deals adding their fair share of savings to the mix.
However, if you’re looking for a specific type of product, it’s hard to know whether Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday will give you the best chance to score that bargain.
Because most shoppers will be looking for deals on these three days specifically, we gathered data from the past four years of Thanksgivings, Black Fridays, and Cyber Mondays to determine which day offered the best sales on any given product category. From TVs to
But before we get to the results, let’s discuss the amorphous blob of time that Black Friday has become.
This week: get your mace and taser ready for Black Friday! We share some of the best deals on MacBooks, iPhones, Playstation 4s, Xbox One’s, Wii U’s and more. Plus: why your Mac store apps could be corrupted (and what to do about it); RDIO bites the dust; and the iPad Mini 4 proves far better than we originally thought.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Build a beautiful website quick at Squarespace.com, and enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off.
Many, many more Black Friday ads have come out since our last roundup, so we’re back with a new batch of top TV picks for 2015. Walmart and Target are currently leading the pack with screens both big and small, but who will ultimately take the top spot? Be sure to bookmark this page; you never know when a new ad will knock one of these off the list!
Instead of standing in line after Thanksgiving, get your productivity in line with these massively discounted apps for organizing any Mac. Everything from tuning your hard drive to editing PDFs and creating mixtapes and animations, if you work on a computer there’s something you can use, all for just $39.99.
Summary: Current-gen iPad mini with a $125 gift card, iPhone 6s and $250 gift card for $0, and more. Just avoid the Apple Store.
Despite Apple turning in bland Black Friday offerings year after year, the company’s products do see some crazy-good discounts this season. We’ve combed through all the available ads and hand-selected the very best of what you can expect to find this month.
If you are going to brave the store to try and get these deals, be warned: Apple deals disappear fast, so don’t get distracted. Once you’re inside or online, head straight to the Apple section.
TL:DR: Whatever you do, don’t shop the Apple Store sale.
While some Apple fans may think the only way to purchase iDevices is at full price, the truth is that the majority of Apple products will see various discounts, especially on Black Friday.
The trick is knowing where to look. In previous years, Apple authorized resellers have undercut Apple on Black Friday by as much as 13%, and this year will be no different. So before you spend a dime at the Apple Store, check out our Black Friday predictions to find out how you can get Cupertino’s tech at a fraction of the cost this year.
Black Friday is a shopper’s dream and worst nightmare. The blitz of fliers advertising post-Thanksgiving sales has already begun, with retailers large and small offering deals on just about everything imaginable.
How do you know what’s actually a bargain and what’s a cheap marketing ploy? Never fear! We’re keeping our eyes peeled for the very best Black Friday deals, and we’ll be adding them to this roundup. This isn’t a roundup for all of the millions of discounted TVs and kitchen appliances out there, just the stuff we think is really worth your attention. Keep this page locked for sweet savings on tech, entertainment and other cool gear.
Great Apple deals can be hard to come by on Black Friday, but here’s a nice exception: If you’re looking to get your hands on an Apple TV, Staples is having a killer deal, selling Apple’s set-top streaming media box for just $79, a $20 savings..
When it comes to Black Friday shopping online, no one does it bigger than Amazon. Starting today, Amazon’s Black Friday hub will be featuring new deals literally every 10 minutes, which is probably too much for the feeble human brain to handle.
There will be limited-time Lightning Deals, Deals of the Day, and a slew of discounts for everything from 4K TVs to Rubik’s cubes. And of course Amazon Prime customers will be treated like royalty with free shipping and the ability to get deals before everyone else.
This week: Huge news in the fight for an open Internet; YouTube’s music service confuses us; Apple Pay is, like, the payment method of the future, man; big Black Friday deals on Apple’s newest gadgets; the go-to apps we keep on our home screens, and sooooo much more.
Hem and haw your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the chuckles begin.
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Show notes ahead!
If your iPhone takes a beating, you’ll want to invest in a product that’s designed with the worst case pun intended scenario in mind.
The team at Spigen thought outside the box and created the first case to introduce Air Cushion Technology – pockets of air in the corners reduce the thickness of the case while providing optimal drop protection. And Cult of Mac Deals has The iPhone 5/5s Tough Armor Protection Kit at a savings of 50% off – just $39.99 – as part of our ongoing Black Friday promotional offers.
Amazon has today revealed that its family of Kindles brought record sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday for the third year running. But as usual, the retail giant won’t tell us exactly how many devices it has sold.
While Android may be running away with the lion’s share of the smartphone market, there’s still no doubt about what rules the roost when it comes to tablets. New data from InfoScout reveals that roughly 40% of iPads sold on Black Friday were purchased by Android smartphone users.
