Should you buy an Apple Watch this Black Friday?

Slowly but steadily, the Apple Watch has become a companion device for the iPhone that many users relish. I’ve found that my Apple Watch adds a significant amount of convenience and has become indispensable in more ways than one.

But there’s no denying that the Apple Watch is a pricey gadget, and getting it at a discount is something many buyers will appreciate. Hence, here we will briefly explore whether it makes sense to buy an Apple Watch this Black Friday or if you should wait for better deals before committing to the purchase.

Should you wait until Black Friday to buy an Apple Watch?

Although the Apple Watch sees discounts throughout the year, Black Friday often presents itself as the best time to pick up the smartwatch, even amongst the other tech purchases you may have shortlisted.

The wearable, which normally costs $399 for its 41mm GPS variant and $429 for its 44mm GPS model, sees at least a 10% discount. And if you choose to buy a model from previous years, we’ve seen that you can save anywhere between 25% to 50%.

These percentage values don’t change much when it comes time for the Christmas sales. Hence, we’d recommend picking up an Apple Watch this Black Friday, especially if you find it at a price that meets your budget.

Related: Best Black Friday Deals: Smartwatches, Headphones, Earbuds

Which Apple Watch should you buy this Black Friday?

Before you head over to the various retailers that offer the Apple Watch, we’ve briefly detailed what the 2023 lineup of the Apple Watch models has to offer below and which model you should consider buying!

Apple Watch Series 9 (vs. Series 8)

If you’re looking to make the most from your Apple Watch purchase and hope to upgrade after several years, we recommend buying the latest Apple Watch Series 9 at its discounted price.

We say this because the device comes with a more powerful S9 processor — featuring the largest upgrade in performance since the S6 processor — that will be able to keep up with the evolving operating system and the various software features that Apple introduces. It also features a display that’s capable of hitting 2,000 nits when outdoors, a massive improvement from the 1,000 nits peak on the older models.

Also, the Apple Watch Series 9 features a new and improved heart rate sensor, in addition to incorporating all of the sensors added with Series 8; this will ensure your tracked metrics are as accurate as can be!

Despite its aged processor and dimmer display, the Apple Watch Series 8 still poses as a great competitor to the Series 9, especially if you’re trying to stick to a strict budget; this model is currently available for $300.

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  Apple Watch Series 9

  $330 $400 Save $70

  Apple Watch Series 9 is the latest smartwatch from the Cupertino giant. It offers boasts a full day of battery life, a faster processor with on-device AI, and innovative gesture-based functionality. You can choose from GPS or Cellular options and select either a 41mm or 45mm model.

• 

  Apple Watch Series 8

  $300 $400 Save $100

  Apple Watch Series 8 is still an excellent option for those looking for a new smartwatch in 2023, as it comes with a more affordable price tag and tons of sensors to keep track of your fitness levels and notifications. It promises an all-day battery life and a body temperature sensor to improve metric accuracy.

Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen.

The second generation of the budget-oriented Apple Watch — the Apple Watch SE 2 — made its way to the market in 2022. A year later, if you’re not looking to access all the bells and whistles of the health-tracking feature set that Apple provides, this is still the best wearable to buy.

It seamlessly ties in with your iPhone, giving you access to alerts on your wrist, the ability to log workouts, and all the other advantages an Apple Watch is known to provide. Its build is also more accident-friendly as it swaps out the glass case back for a plastic one. Giving the Apple Watch one less surface that’s prone to shattering.

It’s currently available for $179, a steal deal for those looking to get their first Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Ultra

And finally, we come to the Apple Watch Ultra, a device that targets those individuals who push their tracking tools to the limits. For this Black Friday, we’ve seen some small discounts arrive on the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra, as the first generation seems unavailable across all major online retailers.

The second generation includes the improved S9 processor (plus the software features it enables) and a new display that can hit a peak outdoor brightness of 3,000 nits and a minimum of 1 nit. These are the only changes in this generation. But if you’ve been eyeing this version of the Apple Watch, at $740, it’s worth picking up.

Note: If you do have the time, we recommend checking stock at local stores because the second generation doesn’t bring much new to the table.