Technologies

Best AirPods Deals: See the Biggest Discounts on Latest AirPods and Beats Earbuds

Looking for deals on AirPods in 2023? Here are all of the best prices around.

For the typical Apple user, AirPods deliver an unbeatable audio experience. They sound great and are designed to seamlessly integrate with your iPhone, iPad, MacBook and other Apple devices, and also enable you to use other advanced features like Spatial Audio and hands-free Siri. While you won’t see any AirPods deals directly from Apple, that doesn’t mean you have to pay full price if you’re hoping to get your hands on a pair.

Here are the best AirPods deals available right now, along with the best prices to date for comparison. And if you scroll to the end, you’ll also see a couple sweet deals on Apple-owned Beat earbuds. We’ll continue to update this page as deals come and go, so be sure to check back often for the best AirPods prices at any given time.

Apple AirPods pricing 2023

Model	Apple Store price	Best price right now	Best all-time price
AirPods 2	$129	$99	$79
AirPods 3	$169	$169	$140
AirPods Pro (1st Gen)	$249	$195	$129
AirPods Pro (2nd Gen)	$249	$230	$198
AirPods Max	$549	$480	$389

Best AirPods deals

Apple

AirPods Pro (2nd Gen): $230

Save $19

The second-gen AirPods Pro are Apple’s most advanced pair of earbuds to date, equipped with its brand-new H2 processor and boasting seriously improved noise-canceling capabilities. The 2022 AirPods Pro maintain the $249 retail price of the now previous-gen AirPods Pro from 2019. They have been selling for as low as $200 at Verizon but are up to $230 right now, which is still the best deal around — and you don’t have to be an existing Verizon customer to get in on this deal. You’ll pay $235 right now at Amazon but can frequently find them there for $200, too.

Read our AirPods Pro 2 review.

$230 at Verizon

$235 at Amazon

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AirPods Pro (1st Gen): $195

Save $54

Apple’s original AirPods Pro have been discontinued, so they’re gradually getting a little harder to find. You can no longer buy them from Apple directly, but you can grab a pair for $195 at B&H, which saves you $54 compared to the original list price and the current price of the new second-gen AirPods Pro at Apple. While a clear step down from the new AirPods Pro 2, this discount may be worth snagging for bargain hunters.

Read our AirPods Pro review.

$195 at B&H

Apple

AirPods 3: $169

No discounts currently available

Unlike the AirPods Pro, these third-generation AirPods have an open-air design, so they don’t have active noise cancellation, but they still offer some serious improvements over the AirPods 2. The adaptive EQ attunes music to your ear shape, and the battery life has been bumped up to 30 hours total. They also have an IPX4 water resistance rating. With the Lightning charging case, the third-gen AirPod Pros cost $169. For an extra $10, you can get the MagSafe Charging case that can be used with wireless chargers. Slight discounts have been available off and on at various retailers but none are on offer at the moment. In fact, they’re out of stock at Amazon right now. If you order from Apple, at least you’ll get free engraving.

Read our AirPods 3 review.

$169 at Apple

Apple/CNET

AirPods 2: $99

Save $30

While the AirPods 2 are the least advanced model on the market these days, they still boast some impressive specs and are a great choice for those on a tighter budget. They’re equipped with the same H1 chip as the AirPods 3, so they have the same fast connectivity, and they support hands-free Siri access. They’re available for $99 currently, which is $30 less than Apple sells them for these days.

Read our AirPods 2 review.

$99 at Amazon

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Amazon

AirPods Max: $480

Save $69

Apple’s first full-size headphones are chock-full of high-end features like noise cancellation, spatial audio and easy integration with Apple devices. Yes, paying about the same as you would for a PS5 may sound excessive, but here’s the thing: They’re actually kinda worth it, so long as you don’t feel burned by their lack of support for full lossless audio. You can save almost $70 on the AirPods Max in select colors right now at Amazon.

Read our AirPods Max review.

$480 at Amazon

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David Carnoy/CNET

Beats Fit Pro: $160

Save $40

Technically, the Beats Fit Pro aren’t AirPods, but they’re built on the same tech platform as the AirPods Pro. Unlike Beats’ earlier and less expensive Studio Buds, the Beats Fit Pro include Apple’s H1 chip and have most of the features of the AirPods Pro, including active noise canceling, spatial audio and Adaptive EQ. I’d venture to call them the sports AirPods you’ve always wanted. And for some people, they might just be better than the AirPods Pro. They’re a good deal right now at $40 off. That’s only $10 more than the all-time low price.

Read our Beats Fit Pro review.

$160 at Amazon

$160 at Best Buy

$160 at Walmart

David Carnoy/CNET

Beats Studio Buds: $120

Save $30

No, they’re not AirPods, but the Beats Studio Buds offer active noise canceling and make a great affordable alternative to the pricier AirPods Pro. They look a lot like the rumored stemless AirPods that people were talking about but that never materialized — as AirPods, anyway. Geared toward both iOS and Android users, they’re missing a few key features on the Apple side of things (there’s no H1 or W1 chip), but they’re small, lightweight earbuds that are comfortable to wear and offer good sound. They fit most ears securely, including mine — I run with them without a problem — but others may find a better fit with the Beats Fit Pro and their integrated wing tips. You can save $30 on them at Amazon and Best Buy right now.

Read our Beats Studio Buds review.

$120 at Amazon

$120 at Best Buy

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Which AirPods are right for you?

Apple’s wireless audio lineup now includes five models of AirPods, and choosing the right set will depend on the features you care about and the price you are willing to pay. The second-gen AirPods from 2019 are the least expensive option, while the current, third-gen AirPods boast better sound quality with spatial audio. Meanwhile, the AirPods Pro 2, which have active noise cancellation and transparency modes, are Apple’s most advanced earbuds to date and the first to feature Apple’s new H2 chip. The plush AirPods Max, by far the priciest of the bunch, are Apple’s over-ear headphones and come packed with high-end features though no H2 chip.

Along with Apple-branded AirPods, there are a couple of Beats-branded earbuds worth considering that also incorporate Apple-made tech for a similarly smooth experience. These include the Beats Fit Pro, which use Apple’s H1 chip for fast, reliable connections and a sporty design for jamming out to tunes at the gym, or while running or otherwise exercising and being active. The Beats Studio Buds lack the H1 chip and the AirPod stem, but they are lightweight, comfortable and affordable.

Except for the baseline AirPods 2, all the AirPods listed above (plus the two aforementioned Beats models) are compatible with Apple’s spatial audio features. However, none of them will deliver the maximum quality of Apple’s lossless audio format, which is too rich for the current Bluetooth wireless standard to handle.

More Apple deals

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 24

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 24.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I’m Irish-American, but yet 6-Down, which involves Ireland, stumped me at first. Read on for all the answers.. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Wordle or Boggle
Answer: GAME

5A clue: Big Newton
Answer: ISAAC

7A clue: Specialized vocabulary
Answer: LINGO

8A clue: «See you in a bit!»
Answer: LATER

9A clue: Tone of many internet comments
Answer: SNARK

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Sharks use them to breathe
Answer: GILLS

2D clue: From Singapore or South Korea, say
Answer: ASIAN

3D clue: Large ocean ray
Answer: MANTA

4D clue: ___ beaver
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin
Answer: CORK

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Quadrantids Is a Short but Sweet Meteor Shower Just After New Year’s. How to See It

This meteor shower has one of the most active peaks, but it doesn’t last for very long.

The Quadrantids has the potential to be one of the most active meteor showers of the year, and skygazers won’t have long to wait to see it. The annual shower is predicted to reach maximum intensity on Jan. 3. And with a display that can rival Perseids, Quadrantids could be worth braving the cold to see it.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The show officially begins on Dec. 28 and lasts until Jan. 12, according to the American Meteor Society. Quadrantids is scheduled to peak on Jan. 2-3, when it may produce upwards of 125 meteors per hour. This matches Perseids and other larger meteor showers on a per-hour rate, but Quadrantids also has one of the shortest peaks at just 6 hours, so it rarely produces as many meteors overall as the other big ones.

The meteor shower comes to Earth courtesy of the 2003 EH1 asteroid, which is notable because most meteor showers are fed from comets, not asteroids. Per NASA, 2003 EH1 is a near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun once every five and a half years. Science posits that 2003 EH1 was a comet in a past life, but too many trips around the sun stripped it of its ice, leaving only its rocky core. The Earth runs through EH1’s orbital debris every January, which results in the Quadrantids meteor shower.

How and where to see Quadrantids

Quadrantids is named for the constellation where its meteors appear to originate, a point known as the radiant. This presents another oddity, as the shower originates from the constellation Quadrans Muralis. This constellation ceased to be recognized as an official constellation in the 1920s and isn’t available on most publicly accessible sky maps.

For the modern skygazer, you’ll instead need to find the Bootes and Draco constellations, both of which contain stars that were once a part of the Quadrans Muralis. Draco will be easier to find after sunset on the evening of Jan. 2, and will be just above the horizon in the northern sky. Bootes orbits around Draco, but will remain under the horizon until just after 1 a.m. local time in the northeastern sky. From that point forward, both will sit in the northeastern part of the sky until sunrise. You’ll want to point your chair in that direction and stay there to see meteors.

As the American Meteor Society notes, Quadrantids has a short but active peak, lasting around 6 hours. The peak is expected to start around 4 p.m. ET and last well into the evening. NASA predicts the meteor shower to start one day later on Jan. 3-4, so if you don’t see any on the evening of Jan. 2, try again on Jan. 3.

To get the best results, the standard space viewing tips apply. You’ll want to get as far away from the city and suburbs as possible to reduce light pollution. Since it’ll be so cold outside, dress warmly and abstain from alcoholic beverages, as they can affect your body temperature. You won’t need any binoculars or telescopes, and the reduced field of view may actually impact your ability to see meteors.

The bad news is that either way, the Quadrantids meteor shower coincides almost perfectly with January’s Wolf Moon, which also happens to be a supermoon. This will introduce quite a lot of light pollution, which will likely drown out all but the brightest meteors. So, while it may have a peak of over 100 meteors per hour, both NASA and the AMS agree that the more realistic expectation is 10 or so bright meteors per hour.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 24, #1649

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 24, No. 1,649.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a little tricky, with a double letter that could confuse players. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.