Amazon slashes prices on 12-inch MacBooks and the new AirPods

You don’t have to wait until Prime Day if you want to find good deals on Apple products at Amazon. As part of its Gold Box Deal of the Day, the retailer is selling a certified refurbished latest-generation 256GB 12-inch MacBook for $850, down $250 from the ordinary retail price of $1,299. If you’re worried about the refurbished part, Amazon offers a generous 90-day warranty. 

In addition, you can get the second-generation AirPods for $145, down from the usual price of $159. This isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen for this model, but it’s quite close. If you want the model with the wireless charging case, Amazon is selling it for $179.99, down from the normal price of $199.

Here are a few more specs and for the MacBook (as well as some color options):

2017 12-inch MacBook 

• Space Gray, Gold, or Rose Gold
• 256GB PCI-E SSD
• 8GB RAM
• 2304×1440 Retina display

We’ve got reviews for both products. In the case of the AirPods, we consider them a great buy—if you’ve never bought AirPods before. They’re almost exactly the same as the first model, although they support hands-free Siri, better battery life, and they connect faster. The wireless charging case is nifty, but we wouldn’t consider it a must-buy. In other words, don’t think of them as the “AirPods 2.” You can read our full thoughts here. 

As for the 12-inch MacBook, it’s super lightweight and thin, which makes it a good choice for folks who prefer portability above all else. As we said in our full review in 2017:

“New to the MacBook? Know that this laptop prioritizes portability over performance. But the performance sacrifice isn’t as big as it once was. Even with the adapters and a USB-C hub you’ll need to buy, the MacBook won’t take up a lot of space in your bag and it won’t weigh you down. And you’ll find a laptop that offers a sweet bang of your buck.”