After what feels like years of “will they / won’t they” speculation, Apple’s long-awaited 15-inch MacBook Air has officially arrived. However, despite having just recently launched, Amazon is already dropping the price of the base model with 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, an eight-core CPU, and a 10-core GPU to $1,234 in select colors — a $65 discount that beats the preorder price we saw leading up to the laptop’s release earlier this week.
As expected, there isn’t a whole lot that separates Apple’s new 15-incher from the 13-inch M2 model Apple released last year. My colleague Monica Chin put the M2 laptop through its paces over the weekend, and lo and behold, it offers few surprises aside from the extra two inches of screen real estate and a far better speaker array. At 3.3 pounds, it’s a bit heavier than the redesigned 13-inch model, but it offers the same outstanding battery life, a terrific keyboard, and more than enough processing power for the average user to inundate themselves with work docs and burn through the first two seasons of The Witcher before the third hits next month (sigh, RIP to Henry Cavill’s Geralt).
Read our MacBook Air 15 review.
If you’re a macOS Ventura user who doesn’t want to shell out north of $1,000 on a new laptop but could use a better webcam to replace your laptop’s shoddy 720p camera — yes, I’m looking at you, M1 MacBook Air users — there’s the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks. Normally $29.99, it’s currently on sale at Amazon in white for $23.29, which marks its first discount to date.
Terrible name aside, Belkin’s Continuity Camera mount is a pretty handy tool that lets you use the phone you already own to take video calls on your Mac. The simple, well-built device works with any MagSafe-equipped iPhone and most Apple laptops, including both MacBook Air and Pro models dating as far back as 2018 and makes use of Apple’s new Continuity Camera feature. You can rest it on your laptop in either portrait or landscape modes, and once set up, the whole thing is pretty effortless to use. The built-in hook even doubles as a kickstand, just in case you want to prop your phone up on the go.
Read our review of Belkin’s MagSafe Continuity Camera mount.
We wrote yesterday about how both Target and Amazon are offering mix-and-match buy two, get one free deals on select video games, tabletop games, and other items. On top of that, however, it appears Nintendo is running a so-called “Hyper Max Sale” through June 25th that drops the price of select digital games, some of which rarely see discounts. There’s quite a bit on offer, but one of the most notable titles is Metroid Dread, which is currently matching its all-time low of $41.99 ($18 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the My Nintendo Store.
The moody, atmospheric sidescroller was arguably one of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2021 despite being overshadowed by the likes of Hades and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — two titles that have nothing on Dread’s frantic boss battles, classic progression system, and expansive arsenal of sci-fi weaponry.
Read our Metroid Dread review.
A few additional midweek discounts
- Skullcandy’s Dime 2 earbuds are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $22.99 ($7 off), nearly matching their best price to date. They lack more premium features like noise cancellation and multipoint connectivity, yet they still manage to deliver respectable sound quality and a healthy mix of features (including 3.5 hours of playback per charge and Tile integration) at a price that was pretty much unfathomable just a couple of years ago.
- Anker’s 313 Wireless Charger is on sale at Amazon and Walmart right now for $15.99 ($4 off), nearly matching its all-time low. While slower than a lot of other Qi wireless chargers — it tops out at 10W charging speeds with Samsung Galaxy devices — it’s still an inexpensive, reliable option if you’re someone who typically charges their phone overnight.
- The Google Pixel Watch, our favorite “Fitbit” fitness tracker, is once again available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target in the Wi-Fi-only configuration starting at just $299.99 ($50 off). If you’re not sold on the watch’s sleek design or reliable performance, Google recently announced that it’s rolling out a slate of new features to its first-gen wearable, including blood oxygen tracking and a new auto-pause feature for workouts. Read our review.
- It’s not a deal, per se, but Asus’ ROG Ally is now available at Best Buy for $699.99. Our own Sean Hollister recently gave his original review a refresh in light of some of the recent changes Asus made to the Windows handheld, which, despite still struggling with battery life, remains a powerful gaming machine when paired with a mouse, keyboard, and — yes — a power outlet.
Update June 14th 2:55PM ET: Amazon is now offering an additional $15 off Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air. We’ve adjusted the price accordingly in both the body copy and headline.
