
Don’t visit one of these today, no matter how much you want to.
Did you just drop your iPhone on the pavement and watch your screen splinter into a thousand pieces?
Did your dog eat your left AirPod Pro?
Did your HomePod make a weird wheezing sound and then die in a puff of smoke?
Don’t buy another.
With tomorrow’s keynote on the horizon, Apple is ready to finally unveil the oft-rumored, highly-anticipated iPhone 12 line of devices. With four to choose from, from a 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini to a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, you’ll be kicking yourself for replacing your iPhone 11 today.
The new devices are supposed to finally sport a new design reminiscent of the iPhone 4 (one of the best designs ever) and will inevitably sport better cameras (possibly more of them) and faster processors. But that’s not why you’ll be seeing Apple red.
With the introduction of a new generation of iPhones, the price of the iPhone 11 series will drop by hundreds of dollars. And if you’re looking at an earlier generation iPhone, those will be even cheaper.
As far as AirPods and HomePods go—while the rumors say that announcements of the first gen over-the-ear AirPods and the HomePod mini are delayed, they could also not be. To miss getting the latest and greatest audio equipment from Apple by just 24 hours is an awful feeling.
Of course, you have 14 days to return Apple products as long as you purchased them from Apple, giving you a window to assuage your buyers remorse. But why go through the hassle of setting devices up again if you don’t have to?
What about MacBooks (which are supposed to have their own event next month), the recently refreshed iMac, or the newly announced iPad Air, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch 6. Surely they’re safe to buy today, right?
Yes. But don’t.
Amazon’s Prime Day(s) starts tomorrow. Traditionally, Apple products aren’t on sale at the online retailer during their own shopping holiday. I don’t expect that to change this year.
However, more and more retailers are taking advantage of Prime Day hype each year. Keep an eye out at places like Walmart and Best Buy for sales that take advantage of the online shopping frenzy. See if they end up discounting the Apple items that Amazon won’t. No, I don’t have insider information, I just know that when there’s a sale vacuum, someone will fill it.
If you’re lucky enough to have off for Indegenous Peoples Day, take a deep breath and try and find some zen (yes, I know that you used your now busted iPhone and AirPods to meditate with the Headspace app and now that’s impossible).
Apple’s iPhone keynote starts at 1 PM ET tomorrow. Give it an hour (the nice thing about these virtual keynotes is that they’re always on time and never run over), then check the Apple store. Figure out which new device you’re going to preorder or grab a previous generation model at a discount. Then rest easy knowing you saved yourself a bit of mental (and financial) anguish.