Skip to main content

Which AirPods should you buy on Black Friday 2021?

One of the hottest tech products is sure to be one of the best Black Friday deals once the shopping holiday hits. And that means pretty much the entire United States is going to be in search of the best Black Friday AirPods deals. The question, then, involves deciding which AirPods are the ones to get come Black Friday.

  • View AirPods Black Friday deals at Amazon
  • View AirPods Black Friday deals at Apple
  • View AirPods Black Friday deals at Best Buy
  • View AirPods Black Friday deals at Walmart

Which AirPods should you buy on Black Friday?

Choosing which AirPods to buy isn’t the easiest of things on a normal day. But Black Friday Apple deals may well make that decision just a little easier.

 

There currently are four models of AirPods for sale, either directly from Apple, or from other retailers. Three of the models are earbuds, the fourth are over-ear cans. And all hit a smattering of prices.

Recommended Videos

What you pay and what Black Friday discounts are really what should drive your decision when it comes to purchasing over the shopping holiday. Here’s how we’d look at things:

AirPods Pro
Dan Baker / Digital Trends

AirPods Pro are the way to go

There’s a reason the AirPods Pro are the most expensive of the AirPods (earbuds) lineup — they’re also the best. It’s almost unfair how good they sound given their small size, and that’s before you get into the fact that they’ve got excellent active noise cancellation (ANC) built in.

The good news here is that given that we’ve seen some decent discounts leading into Black Friday, there’s a better-than-average chance that AirPods Pro will continue to be on sale on Black Friday itself.

It can be a tough pick between these and AirPods 3, which we’ll get into below, and that choice doesn’t get any easier if sale prices close the gap even more. But the simple fact is these are the best AirPods earbuds you can buy, and they’re an even better buy if you can get them at a steal on Black Friday.

  • View AirPods Pro Black Friday deals at Amazon
  • View AirPods Pro Black Friday deals at Apple
  • View AirPods Pro Black Friday deals at Best Buy
  • View AirPods Pro Black Friday deals at Walmart

AirPods 3 if you’re looking to save

These are the newest entry into the AirPods lineup, which could mean that they’re the most likely to see a Black Friday price cut. But it also could mean that they’re as likely to stay at the retail price because they’re new.

Either way, the AirPods 3 fit squarely between the previous-generation AirPods 2. They look the part — not quite full straight AirPods, but also not quite the curvy look of the AirPods Pro — and they also have that in-between price.

You lose out on active noise cancellation, which is a same. But on the other hand you get these at a lesser price than the AirPods Pro, which is a good thing. You very much get what you pay for with AirPods 3.

  • View AirPods 3 Black Friday eals at Amazon
  • View AirPods 3 Black Friday deals at Apple
  • View AirPods 3 Black Friday deals at Best Buy
  • View AirPods 3 Black Friday Deals at Walmart

AirPods Max and the price to match

Woman wearing Apple Airpods Max.
Apple

There’s something a little odd about calling AirPods Max “AirPods” given that they’re not the same sort of device as the two above at all, save for the fact that they pump audio into your ear holes.

AirPods Max are over-the-ear headphones, which provides for a much richer experience than you can get with earbuds. That’s just the way this works. But given that they have the richest sound in the AirPods lineup, they also have the biggest price tag.

That means they’re the headphones for which everyone is going to be looking out for some sort of deal. Any sort of deal. Even if it’s just a tiny fraction of what you’d usually pay for the sleek, stylish cans.

That’s not to say that a discount is predetermined. It might be that Apple’s willing to take e little bit of a cut on the smaller buds, and not these monsters. But that’s all the more reason to be diligent and watch out for AirPods Max deals.

  • View AirPods Max Black Friday deals at Amazon
  • View AirPods Max Black Friday deals at Apple
  • View AirPods Max Black Friday deals at Best Buy
  • View AirPods Max Black Friday deals at Walmart
Phil Nickinson
Former Section Editor, Audio/Video
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
This AirPod Pro 2 upgrade is going to be heard worldwide
A test mannequin is fitted with Apple AirPods Pro 2. The mannequin is used to evaluate the hearing assistance capabilities of the AirPods Pro 2.

Apple's AirPods 2 Pro hearing health features are expanding to users in Australia, Brazil, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.

The company said in a press release (via MacRumors) on Tuesday that it will allow AirPods Pro 2 users in the aforementioned countries to take a hearing test, use the clinical hearing aid feature and Loud Sound Reduction in the iOS 18.4 update. The hearing health features have already launched in Australia, and they will be available in the last three countries soon after. Nicky Chong-White, principal engineer at National Acoustic Laboratories in Australia, welcomes the expansion of the hearing health features to the region.

Read more
Apple AirPods Max finally get lossless audio and analog support
Apple AirPods Max with USB-C in Orange.

Apple is about to correct one of the most glaring omissions on its AirPods Max wireless noise-canceling headphones: Starting in April, the headphones will get a firmware update that enables lossless audio via the included USB-C cable at up to 24-bit/48kHz. As a wired connection, this also gives the headphones an ultra low-latency audio pathway, which is helpful for gaming.

And starting today, Apple is selling a $39 3.5mm-to-USB-C accessory cable that lets the newest version of the AirPods Max connect to analog audio sources like airplane jacks -- something these headphones haven't been able to do since they launched. The new cable is also compatible with the USB-C jack on the Beats Studio Pro.

Read more
Apple might arm AirPods with live translation facility this year
Simon Cohen wearing Apple AirPods 4.

Apple has lately focused on giving the AirPods more of a wellness-focused makeover than hawking them as plain wireless earbuds. Late last year, the AirPods Pro 2 landed a Loud Sound Reduction feature, alongside a hearing test system and hearing aid facility.
Now, the company is reportedly eyeing a conversational upgrade for them. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to bring a real-time translation facility to the AirPods later this year. The focus is on removing the language barrier for in-person conversations.
The feature is said to be in active development and might be rolled out via a software update later this year, tied to the iOS 19 bundle. It’s going to be a two-way translation system where the AirPods and iPhone play an equal role.

How it works?

Read more