What's the Best Time to Buy an Apple Watch? All the Details
The Apple Watch is a somewhat pricy accessory, so what is the best time of year to buy one? The answer may depend on whether you want the best price or the best features.
Sept. 8 2022, Published 12:02 p.m. ET
The new Apple Watch Ultra
The tech world and lovers of gadgets are all abuzz about the latest Apple Watch models: Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, and the Apple Watch SE. Whether you're looking to make your first purchase or upgrade an older model, you may be wondering what is the best time of year to buy an Apple Watch?
The answer depends on what you value more: an attractive price or having the latest technology. Let's first start with the latter.
The Apple Watch Series 8
The best time to buy the highest-tech Apple Watch is usually after the latest Apple event.
Apple typically has two or three times per year where it debuts new products. In addition to the annual Worldwide Developers' Conference, the tech giant typically has an event in the spring and another in the fall. The fall event is often the flashier release, which makes sense since Apple products so often rank high on people's holiday wish lists.
The September event was touted as the iPhone 14 event, but with the unveiling of three Apple Watch models, the timepiece is definitely at the fore of tech enthusiasts' minds. The Ultra is the most durable and capable smart watch Apple has offered yet, with a longer battery life than ever before, but the price tag is a fairly steep, starting at $799.
The Series 8 watch makes significant upgrades to the Series 7's capability with the same durability and battery life, but it will only set you back $399.
The SE lacks some of the health tracking capabilities of the Series 8, but with prices starting at $250, it's affordable while still providing most of the features your average athlete or fitness enthusiast would need to track their progress.
Sales on all three models are expected to be hot, so if you want to ensure you get yours before the holidays, the best time to buy is now while pre-order is open. The Apple Watch Ultra will be available on September 23, 2022, while the Series 8 and SE models are set to debut a week earlier on Sept. 16.
If price is your chief concern, it might be better to wait until November.
If you aren't as concerned with nabbing the latest model, you'll soon start to see prices drop on the Series 7 watch at third-party retailers like Best Buy and authorized resellers. You'll also likely see prices drop on certified refurbished watches. Just be sure to only buy Apple-Certified refurbished watches, since they will be under warranty and eligible for Apple Care support.
There are sometimes Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to be had for new Apple products, but you're even more likely to find deep discounts for older stock. So, as long as you aren't obsessed with wearing the latest tech, it's worth keeping an eye on those after-Thanksgiving deals.