Black Friday lands on Friday, November 29 this year, but all three tiers of Apple Watches - the Apple Watch SE, the Apple Watch Series 10, and the Apple Watch Ultra - are already on sale at deep discounts at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. This is the best opportunity for you to see why the Apple Watch is such a handy companion to your iPhone. After all, the Apple Watch is indisputably the best smartwatch for iOS users. It's sleek and stylish, it's chock full of useful features that complements your iPhone, and at this price, it's not even close to being the most expensive smartwatch on the block. Check out the list of deals below and a rundown of each model.
Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen)
The best budget Apple Watch
For anyone one a budget, this is the Apple Watch to get. The Apple Watch SE starts at just $149 (only at Amazon and Walmart), the best price we've ever seen for a brand new Apple Watch with warranty. This is the most current (2nd generation) model. Despite the affordable price tag, you actually lose very little functionality if you opt for an Apple Watch SE. It's powered by the same S8 processor found in the Apple Watch Series 8 and the first generation Apple Watch Ultra. It also features a bright and sharp OLED Retina display, IPX7 water resistance, fall detection, sleep tracking, Apple Pay, nearly all the fitness tracking functionality including heart rate monitoring, and more. The $149 model is also smaller at 40mm, so it might be a better fit for more petite wrists.
Apple Watch Series 10
The Best Apple Watch for Most People
The Apple Watch Series 10 is the newest generation mainstream Watch model and is currently $70 off at several retailers including Amazon, Target, and Walmart. The price starts at $329 for the base model with a 42mm case and GPS + WiFi functionality. Improvements over the Apple Watch Series 9 include a bigger OLED Retina display, a new S10 processor that isn't faster but it's thinner, which allows the watch itself to have a slimmer profile, and new features like a water gauge.
Compared to the Apple Watch SE, the Apple Watch Series 10 is physically larger with a much bigger display and Always-On functionality, a 30% more powerful processor, double the storage capacity, more advanced fitness tracking and body monitoring, double-tap gesture support, and faster charging. Yes the Series 10 is considerably pricier than the SE, but I think for most people the upgrades are worth it.
Apple Watch Ultra
The Best Apple Watch for the Rugged Outdoors
Update: This deal has been de-listed, but I expect it to return on Black Friday (or earlier)
Here's an amazing Target exclusive Black Friday deal on Apple's flagship watch. The first generation Apple Watch Ultra Smart Watch is down to $479 after a massive $320 (40%) off Target Circle coupon. The Target Circle membership is free to join, so everyone can partake in this deal. That's the best price we've seen for Apple's highest end and most rugged watch in its lineup. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen this watch drop below $600 brand new. It's definitely the best watch in the lineup for anyone who enjoys the rugged outdoors, thanks to its durability, features, and apps.
The Apple Watch Ultra features a titanium case that's more rugged and corrosion resistent than the softer aluminum or stainless steel casing found in the less expensive Apple Watches. Pure titanium (not titanium "coated") metal is considerably more expensive and is probably one of the main reasons why the Apple Watch Ultra is so much pricier. The size of the case is also larger at 49mm (compared to 41mm-45mm for the Series 8) so it looks more substantial on your wrist. Other upgrades over the standard Series 10 include a brighter display protected by a more scratch resistant sapphire crystal face, a more precise dual-frequency GPS, beam-forming triple microphone array, dual speakers, up to 36 hours of battery life, up to 100m (300ft) of water resistance, a customizable physical action button next to the crown, and a built-in Oceanic+ app that literally puts a dive computer on your wrist.
Can You Use an Apple Watch with Android phones?
Although it's technically possible to use an Apple Watch with an Android phone, we wouldn't recommend it. Apple made it so that a lot of the functionality of the Apple Watch requires a smartphone with an iOS operating system. There are some workarounds to implement some of the features, but for the average person, the hassle isn't worth it. If you're absolutely intent on getting an Apple Watch, then getting an iPhone first would be the best option. For those of you quite happy with your Android smarpthone, there are plenty of Android smartwatches that would be a better fit than the Apple Watch.
Looking for More Apple Deals?
These are just a few of Apple's Black Friday deals, so check out the rest if you're in the Apple ecosystem. If particular, if you're looking for an iPad, there are plenty of amazing Black Friday iPad deals going on right now. And if you've decided to upgrade to a new pair of buds, the Apple AirPods Pro has also dropped to the lowest price ever.
Should I wait for better prices on Black Friday?
Black Friday is the best opportunity to score some great deals on electronics, and Apple devicesare no exception. You might be wondering just how low these prices can go. If you're interesting in buying these exact Apple Watch models, I think the Apple Watch SE and the Apple Watch Ultra (1st gen) are as good as it gets. There is a possibility that the Apple Watch Series 10 may drop to $299.99, but that's just my educated guess. There may be additonal deals on other models, like the Apple Watch Series 9 or the Apple Watch Ultra (2nd gen). We'll add them to this list if they drop in price. The Apple Store is also hosting its own Black Friday Sale with their own set of discounts, although usually not as good.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
