While pretty much all of Apple’s best iPads and even a number of different iPhones have scored substantial discounts on a bunch of occasions in recent weeks, we can’t exactly say the same about the latest (and arguably greatest) editions of the world’s most popular smartwatches.
Holiday deals on the Apple Watch Ultra, second-gen SE, and especially the Series 8 have certainly been few and far between, which is where last year’s Apple Watch Series 7 comes in, aiming to save Christmas by costing significantly less than usual in several GPS-only variants and a single cellular-enabled model at the time of this writing.
Unfortunately, it already appears to be too late to get Target to deliver your favorite version of this premium 2021 iPhone-compatible smartwatch at your doorstep by December 25. But if you hurry, you might be able to spend as little as $279.99 and receive a brand-new 41mm Series 7 before the new year kicks off.
That’s a whopping 120 bucks under the regular price of the powerful, water-resistant, crack-resistant, decidedly feature-packed, and potentially life-saving intelling timepiece in an entry-level variant, and at least for now, Target seems to amazingly have (limited) inventory in several different colors.
The same goes for the 45mm non-cellular-capable Apple Watch Series 7 sold at $309.99 a pop instead of $429.99, while cellular addicts can add standalone 4G LTE connectivity for just $70 more and take their total savings up to 150 bucks… as long as they like a “Midnight” hue.
By no means unprecedented, these deals are clearly extremely rare, making the Series 7 an objectively smarter buy than the Series 8, which is itself not very frequently discounted by more than $20 or $30.
After all, Apple‘s last two “mainstream” smartwatches are pretty similar, sharing almost the exact same design, sensors, and health monitoring tools. Yes, the Apple Watch Series 8 does add a temperature sensor and crash detection technology to the equation, but is that really worth an extra $100 or $120?