If you own a recent iPad Air, iPad Mini, or iPad Pro, Apple’s latest pencil is a useful — if expensive — accessory. Today’s deal helps a bit with its cost, as you can now get it Second generation Apple Pencil For $85 ($44 off) at Amazon or Walmart. This is the absolute lowest price for a pressure-sensitive stylus with convenient wireless charging.
Yes, you can spend a lot less and get an imitation stylus that mostly does the job and looks the part, but you won’t get tight integration with software, such as seeing the Apple Pencil’s battery level displayed in a handy widget. With Apple’s new release of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on the iPad, it’s time to grab a Pencil since it’s so handy for making fine edits in those kinds of creative apps from Apple, Adobe, and others. Trust me, it beats trying to precisely pull a tone curve down to the exact shape and setting with your big, stupid, fleshy fingers.
The open air Sony LinkBuds The wireless earbuds are on sale at their second best price of $138 at Amazon and $139.99 at Best Buy — $40 off. LinkBuds provide pleasant sound with a unique design that makes you in tune with your surroundings. Although they may look a little strange, the round-shaped buds have a great pair of microphones for taking calls on the go. Since it’s IPX4 water-resistant, it should do some pretty good exercise, which is useful if you’re into running where you need to take care of a lot of the traffic around you. They even got an update shortly after their release that added multipoint connectivity. If you want some flexible earbuds with a comfortable fit that don’t completely block out the outside world, this is an excellent deal. Read our review.
Speaking of audio gear, the season of beach and outdoor parties is almost upon us, and it’s the perfect time to get a good deal on a Bluetooth speaker. You can get JBL Charge 4 In a variety of fun colors for only $99.95 ($50 off) at Amazon. The Charge 4 is the latest model, just behind the more recent Charge 5, but it offers a similar formula — a solid, rugged speaker that sounds good, complete with plenty of sound and water resistance, so it’s not a big deal if it takes a dip. Its battery can last up to 20 hours, and if you’re in a pinch, you can connect your phone via USB to siphon off a little of that juice. The newer Charge 5 has small improvements that make it our top pick for the Bluetooth speakers with the best battery life, but it usually costs $179.95 (though it’s also on sale for $139.95 right now), and gets pretty bold on the brand. JBL.
The latest Mac Mini from Apple With its powerful processor, the M2 Pro is on sale for $1,099.99 ($200) on Amazon. This ties into the lowest price of this excellent value desktop computer for creative people who don’t want to spend a lot on Mac Studio. The basic configuration of M2 Pro Mac Mini comes with 512GB solid state storage and 16GB RAM. What it doesn’t come with is a mouse, keyboard, or monitor, but that’s part of what makes the Mini such a great value compared to the similarly-specced 14-inch MacBook Pro (which costs $900 more than this current deal). And if you already have those components, just $1,100 for such a capable machine is a steal. Can you tell I’m still tempted to get one myself? Read our review.
