Heading back to school usually means figuring out what you actually need before classes start, and that can get expensive fast. If your laptop is already doing double duty for everything from classwork to creative projects, a few well-chosen upgrades can go a long way. We’ve found some back-to-school deals worth checking out right now, including big savings on Adobe Creative Cloud, AirPods Pro, and more.
1. Adobe Creative Cloud Pro — $19.99/month
Adobe Creative Cloud Pro is down to $19.99 a month for students, giving anyone heading back to school a chance to get Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Acrobat Pro, and more than 20 other apps for 71% less than the regular $69.99 monthly price. It also includes 100GB of cloud storage and Adobe’s Firefly AI tools, which should cover just about any creative assignment you can throw at it, from putting together presentations and editing photos to cutting video. The offer is good for the first year, after which the price rises to $39.99 a month, so it’s worth knowing what you’re signing up for before you hit subscribe.
2. UGREEN Nexode 25,000mAh 200W Power Bank — $84.99
A 25,000mAh power bank is probably overkill if you’re only trying to keep your phone alive, but that’s not really what UGREEN’s Nexode is for. With up to 200W of total output and enough capacity to handle laptops as well as phones and tablets, it’s a much more useful companion for a full day on campus, particularly if your backpack already contains half your charging setup. UGREEN has it down to $84.99 from $129.99 as part of its back-to-school sale, making this a $45 saving on a battery that can keep multiple devices going when the nearest outlet is nowhere to be found.
3. Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $199.99
Apple just launched the new AirPods 5, but that doesn’t make the AirPods Pro 3 any less interesting for a back-to-school deal. In fact, if you’re looking for Apple’s better-equipped earbuds, the Pro 3 are still the ones to get, with active noise cancellation, a more sealed in-ear design, and the features you’d want when you’re trying to tune out a noisy dorm, library, or commute. They’re currently down to $199.99, giving you a $50 saving over their $249 list price. And with Apple now having both the new AirPods 5 and AirPods Pro 3 in its lineup, this is a particularly good time to look at the older Pro model while retailers are still discounting it.
4. Crucial X10 Pro 2TB Portable SSD — $179.99
If you’ve been thinking about adding some extra storage before the school year gets busy, now is a particularly good time to look for a deal. SSD prices have been under pressure as the ongoing memory shortage pushes manufacturers to prioritize the huge demand coming from AI, so a good discount is worth paying attention to. The Crucial X10 Pro gives you 2TB of portable storage with read and write speeds of up to 1,050MB/s, and it’s currently down to $179.99. That’s a much more appealing proposition for storing everything from Adobe projects and video files to the collection of coursework that’s going to accumulate over the semester.
5. Apple iPad 11-inch (A16), 128GB — $427
The iPad is still one of the easiest ways to add a second screen to your school setup without carrying another laptop around. Apple’s 11-inch model has the A16 chip, 128GB of base storage, and enough battery life to get through a long day of classes, while the larger display makes reading PDFs, taking notes, researching, and working on presentations a lot more comfortable than doing everything on a phone. Right now, the 128GB Wi-Fi model is down to $427 from $449 for an iPad that’s already more than capable of handling most student workloads.
6. Anker Prime 3-in-1 Charging Station — $149.99
If your backpack is full of Apple gear, there’s a good chance your desk is full of charging cables, too. Anker’s Prime 3-in-1 charging station takes care of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods from one spot, and its built-in display lets you see what’s actually happening while everything charges. It’s currently $149.99, down from $229.99, making this a particularly good time to pick one up before the school year gets into full swing.
7. ARZOPA A1 15.6-inch Portable Monitor — $79.99
A second screen can make a surprisingly big difference when you’re working from a laptop, especially when you’re trying to keep research, notes, and whatever you’re actually working on visible at the same time. ARZOPA’s A1 gives you a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display with USB-C and HDMI in a form factor that’s easy enough to throw into a backpack. It’s currently $79.99, down from $149.99, making it one of the cheaper ways to give your school setup a little more screen real estate.