Canada, the home of hockey, doughnuts, and free health care, is now one of the best places to buy the second-gen Apple AirPods. In an unusual move, No Frills — a grocery chain owned by Canadian food retail giant George Weston Limited — is selling the super-popular wireless earbuds for as low as $119 Canadian, which approximately converts to $89 U.S., according to Canadian tech site Mobile Syrup, making this by far the best price you’ll find right now.
It’s not unusual to see smaller brands like Skullcandy or Panasonic selling budget-friendly earbuds at the ends of grocery store aisles, but it’s less common to see Apple do it, and even rarer to see the company’s products so deeply discounted. The regular (and current) price on Apple.com, as well as Amazon and Best Buy, is $119 U.S. for the second-gen AirPods with a Lightning-only charging case.
But even for Canadians, getting that super-low price will involve jumping through some hoops. First, you’ll have to be a member of the No Frills loyalty program known as PC Optimum, otherwise the price you’ll pay is $129 Canadian. Second, you’ll have to live in Ontario — the only province where the deal is available. Third, and trickiest of all, you’ll have to find No Frills location that actually has a supply of these super-cheap AirPods on hand, which some observers on deal site RedFlagDeals, have said is not so easy. The deal time frame hasn’t started yet (it runs from November 10 to 16), so that may yet change.
Given these conditions, it’s probably not worth it for Americans to make a run for the northern border; at current gas prices, you’ll probably spend the savings just getting out of your local county. However, Black Friday is right around the corner. And if past history is any indicator, you can expect to see some of the best AirPods prices of the season very shortly.
