Labor Day marks the unofficial end to summer as the weather starts to get crisper and students head back to school for the new semester. It also marks a good time to check out the tech deals available across the web. While seasonal holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day are not the boon for tech sales that shopping events like Amazon Prime Day are, they can present good opportunities to save on things like laptops, tablets, smart home gear and more.
Here, we’ve curated the best Labor Day sales on tech we could find this year. Since this time of year does overlap with the back-to-school season, students should be first in line to check out these deals. If you need some new gadgets for college, or refreshed tech to help you out in your first job after graduating, now’s the time to see if you can get it for less. Student discounts are handy and exclusive to those who can prove their student status, but the good thing about Labor Day sales is that anyone can take advantage of them — student ID not required.
Best Labor Day sales: Engadget’s top picks
Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $169 (32 percent off): The AirPods Pro 2 are Apple’s best set of wireless earbuds for now, as they offer the full set of Apple-focused features, strong ANC, onboard volume controls, a comfy in-ear design and a warm sound profile that most should find agreeable. They can even work as a hearing aid, though their six-hour battery life still isn’t the best, and you should only get them if you’re all-in on Apple hardware. But if that’s the case, we consider them the best wireless earbuds for iPhone owners.
Apple iPad (11-inch, A16) for $299 ($50 off): Apple’s entry-level iPad is, unsurprisingly, the best iPad option for those on a budget. It has solid performance thanks to the A16 chipset, 128GB of storage in the base model and good battery life.
Apple Mac mini M4 for $499 ($100 off): The newest version of Apple’s tiny desktop PC has a smaller overall footprint, a faster M4 chip, 16GB of RAM as standard, two front-facing USB-C ports, an extra Thunderbolt 4 port and the ability to drive three external displays. We gave the M4 Pro model a review score of 90.
Google Pixel 10 smartphone + $100 Amazon gift card for $799 ($100 off): More of a pre-order deal than a Labor Day deal, this bundle includes a free gift card when you order the latest Google Pixel phone in advance. You’ll find different gift card deals at Amazon depending on which phone you go with: the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL…