Black Friday AirPods deals 2024: all the early deals available now

The Apple AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max
(Image credit: Apple)

Black Friday AirPods deals are always some of the most anticipated – after all, they're the most popular earbuds on the planet, and there are usually really great discounts on them. This year, I'm expecting to see big offers on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max among the top Black Friday deals – the big question is whether the newer AirPods 4 models will follow suit.

So far, the AirPods Black Friday deals have been modest, to say the least – though since Black Friday isn't until November 29th 2024, there's plenty of time for that to change. Really, the best deal so far was the AirPods Pro 2 for $179 (just $10 above their cheapest-ever price), but that's now risen again. And we've seen $10 off the new AirPods 4 models, but they'll need more of a discount to qualify as a really good deal. In the UK, the deals have been basically non-existent so far, which is disappointing – but hopefully means some good stuff is coming soon.

I've tested every AirPods model, and the TechRadar team been tracking their prices for years, so we know what makes a really good AirPods Black Friday deal, and what to skip for now. On this page, we'll add any early deals we see, with our analysis of whether they're a good choice or not – and we'll highlight the retailers to keep your eye on.

Today's best AirPods deals in the US

Apple AirPods Pro 2
Apple AirPods Pro 2: was $249 now $189 at Amazon US

The AirPods Pro 2 are the best-selling earbuds on the planet for a reason: They sound excellent, the noise cancellation is top tier, Dolby Atmos spatial audio is amazing for movies, and they even have an unloseable case, thanks to tech that literally points you to where it's hiding (and a speaker to help, too). They's also very small and light, so are great for comfort. They were $179 last week, and they have dipped to $168 before now, so you will probably get a better price than this as we get closer to Black Friday, but it's the best at the time of writing. Our AirPods Pro 2 review digs into all the extra info you might want to know.

Apple AirPods 4
Apple AirPods 4: was $129 now $119 at Amazon US

I suspect Apple's all-new AirPods 4 will be a hot item at this year's Black Friday sale, and you can already grab a first-time discount at Amazon. The AirPods 4 feature a new design for all-day comfort, and pack Apple's H2 chip, which supports Personalized Spatial Audio and voice isolation. You're also getting a redesigned case with 30 hours of battery life and supports USB-C for wireless charging. These are the version without active noise cancellation (and some other extra features).

Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation: was $179 now $168.99 at Amazon US

If you want Apple's open-ear fit (without the in-ear tip) but with active noise cancellation to make it easier to hear your music, these are the buds for you. They also have spatial audio, Find My in the case (including a speaker), and wireless charging. They sound very fun, too, with a full sound. This is the first discount we've seen on them, basically. We'd suggest most people should pay the little extra for the AirPods Pro, but if you don't like that kind of in-ear fit, these will work nicely.

Apple AirPods Max (Lightning)
Apple AirPods Max (Lightning): was $549 now $459 at Amazon US

Apple's elite over-ear headphones have fallen under $400 before, so this isn't their best price by a long way. I suspect they'll drop further over Black Friday, particularly because this deal is on the older Lightning version rather than the newer USB-C one (though the charging port is the only change). Still, this is the best price available at the time of writing, and gets you their natural and highly detailed sound, excellent spatial audio, and smart Apple-friendly features.

Today's best AirPods deals in the UK

Apple AirPods Pro 2
Apple AirPods Pro 2: was £229 now £219 at Laptops Direct

AirPods Pro 2 are the best-selling earbuds on the planet, thanks to their superb sound quality, top-tier noise cancellation, excellent spatial audio, auto-switching between different Apple devices, gesture control and more. They've fallen to £179 in the past, and were £199 last week, so this deal isn't particularly special, but it's the best at the moment – I would hold on until later, if you can.

Apple AirPods 4
Apple AirPods 4: was £129 now £119 at Laptops Direct

These are very new, so any discount on them is good – though I'm hoping we'll see another £10 dropped from the price later in Black Friday. The AirPods 4 feature a new design for all-day comfort, and pack Apple's H2 chip, which supports Personalized Spatial Audio and voice isolation. You're also getting a redesigned case with 30 hours of battery life and supports USB-C for wireless charging. This version doesn't include noise cancellation, wireless charging or the Find My speaker in the case.

Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation: was £179 now £169 at Laptops Direct

If you want Apple's open-ear design that doesn't go right into your ear canals, but you still want active noise cancellation to make it easier to hear your music, these are the buds for you. They also have spatial audio, Find My in the case (including a speaker), and wireless charging. They sound very fun, too, with a full sound. At £10 off, I'd still advice most people to wait for AirPods Pro 2 to fall to £180 again, and pay the little amount more for even better sound and features – but if you want this kind of ear fit, this is the best price for these so far.

Today's best AirPods deals in Australia

Apple AirPods 3
Apple AirPods 3: was AU$289 now AU$244 at Amazon AU

Even though it's not the latest AirPods, the third-gen still holds up well for Apple users. There's spatial audio on board with dynamic head tracking, plus adaptive EQ to automatically tune your music to your ears. This 12% discount isn't much, but we're quite sure this will drop further as we get closer to the official Black Friday sales. Note that this is the MagSafe Charging Case (not Lightning).

Apple AirPods Pro 2
Apple AirPods Pro 2: was AU$399 now AU$332.49 at eBay

Arguably the most popular earbuds for Apple users, you get great performance from these AirPods. Great sound, just as good ANC, spatial audio, and the ability to automatically detect and switch between different Apple devices make these one heck of a choice. Use the checkout code SAVB5 on this eBay listing to score a decent discount if you don't want to wait till Black Friday.

Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods Max: was AU$899 now AU$784.50 at Amazon AU

If you're comfortable buying from a third-party seller on Amazon, you can get the Space Grey AirPods Max for the best current price. Apple's only over-ear headphones don't usually get very steep discounts in Australia, but we suspect you could find a better offer closer to the Black Friday sales in the coming weeks.

Written by
Matt Bolton
Written by
Matt Bolton

I lead TechRadar's audiovisual coverage, including AirPods. I've tested every model of AirPods ever released, and I have every current model within arm's reach as I write this. I've led our AirPods Black Friday coverage for the last three years, and I've been working on Black Friday deals hunting for five years.

Black Friday AirPods deals: FAQs

AirPods 4 with the case open, held in a man's hand

(Image credit: Future)

When will the Black Friday AirPods deals start in 2024?

They've sort of already started! While Black Friday itself is November 29th, retailers are launching their sales at the start of November, to get your money before anyone else has the chance, so expect to see a constant stream of offers from now. We already saw Amazon's 'Big Deals Day' in October, for example, which has huge discounts on all kinds of tech.

The best AirPods are so popular that retailers use deals on them to draw people in, however the early deals we've seen so far on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max are not record-low prices yet – and I think we'll see prices to match their lowest, if not lower.

Is Black Friday the best time to buy AirPods?

Probably! At the very least, it'll be an equally good time. We tend to see record-low prices on AirPods over Black Friday – it's just that we also see these prices at other times of the year – the record-low AirPods Pro 2 prices of Black Friday 2023 have been repeated a few times during 2024.

Obviously, it's possible that we'll see deeper discounts than ever during this Black Friday – wouldn't that be nice? And we've already seen the first deals on the new AirPods 4 models. The main point is this: I seriously doubt Black Friday's AirPods prices will be any higher than other deals events.

What Black Friday AirPods deals should I expect?

Let's start with the easy one: AirPods Pro 2. The record-low price on these is $169 / £179, and I fully expect that to be repeated. It's quite possible that we'll see them fall to prices a little higher than this in the run-up to Black Friday, and then the final extra drop on the day. At $179 / £189, they'd still be a great deal, so if you wanted to buy early and not worry about it later, that'd be understandable.

Is it too soon to expect big deals deals on AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC, which both launched in September? We're seeing $10 / £10 offers already, so maybe we'll see that discount rise to $20 / £20 off, but I doubt it'll go higher.

The twist is that there seems to still be stock of the old AirPods 3 and AirPods (2019) lying around. The AirPods (2019) have fallen as low as $69 in the past, so perhaps they'll fall even further – I wouldn't recommend buying them unless the do, though. The AirPods 3 would need to fall comfortably under $100 for me to recommend those, when the AirPods 4 are better the same kind of price – and the likes of the Nothing Ear (a) and Sony WF-C700N sell for about $79/£79 during sales events and are better.

And then there's the AirPods Max, which have just been updated with USB-C, but no other new features. Will this mean juicier discounts on the Lightning models – and perhaps the USB-C model get record-low prices too, since they're otherwise the same? Maybe! I would definitely expect some discounts, so if you see AirPods Max for around $349/£349, they're a great buy even four years on from their launch.

Why trust TechRadar this Black Friday

We've been covering Black Friday for years, and we've followed its evolution in the last few years from being a US-only thing that ran for a few days, to a multi-continental, month-long deals phenomenon. We have a dedicated deals team who track discounts on all the biggest products, and carefully comb through every retailer's deal events to see what's really a good offer, and what's not.

TechRadar has been testing and judging tech for over 16 years, and we have decades of tech journalism experience between us – and we've reviewed over 2,400 audio products alone.

I've been working in tech publishing from 15 years, and I've covered AirPods since their launch in 2016. I've used every model extensively, and I've reported on their pricing for years now, so I know what makes for a genuinely good deal, and what will probably be beaten later. Updates to this page will also come from TechRadar's knowledgable AV team, who've also used these products, and know the wider world of the best wireless earbuds and the best headphones, well.

TOPICS
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.