Amazon Prime Day deals are getting closer and closer, and yet last year's October sales event seems to be fresher than ever in our memory. Nevertheless, a lot has happened since 2020, and between new record low prices on some of the year's hottest tech and newer releases pushing prices down on older models there's likely to be some excellent offers on the shelves come the summer.
But what exactly will those offers be? From our previous coverage of both Amazon Prime Day and recent discounts we're predicting five of the best deals we might be seeing when Amazon opens the floodgates in June. We're already seeing some record low prices on a lot of these devices, from the 2020 iPad Pro to the M1 MacBook Air, but others are overdue an additional discount on top of the low costs of last year as well.
While nothing is guaranteed, we've narrowed down what we foresee being some of the best deals of Amazon Prime Day 2021.
1. Amazon Echo
This much is obvious, Amazon's own suite of Echo devices are almost certain to drop their prices during Prime Day. The question, however, is how far will those costs fall. Considering we're still in the first year of a new generation of Echo Dot and Echo smart speakers, and the goliath that is the Echo Show 10 has only just hit the market, that's a fair question.
Last year we saw early Echo deals on the then-unreleased fourth generation Echo and Echo Dot. Those discounts could only save you up to $10 when you bought multiple units, and savings only appeared in the US, but it was certainly a start. We're far more optimistic for heavier price drops in 2021, however - and we've already seen the fourth generation Echo Dot at $29.99 (was $49.99) / £28.99 (was £49.99). We expect this price to return come June, with the full fat Echo returning to a $69.99 / £59.99 record low seen only in the last couple of months.
The older Echo Show 5 is expected to return to last year's Prime Day $44.99 / £39.99 price, but we're not dismissing the possibility of an additional drop down to $39.99 in the US either.
When it comes to the new Echo Show 10, we're expecting a return to the $199.99 sales price we enjoyed earlier in the year. Back in March this was certainly an excellent offer, and once those summer savings start rolling around we expect the same $50 discount. We haven't seen any discounts in the UK yet, but if Prime Day is running particularly well this year we might see a drop down to £199.99 (was £239.99).
Our Prediction:
- Amazon Echo (4th Gen):
$99.99$69.99 |£89.99£59.99 - Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen):
$49.99$29.99 |£49.99£28.99 - Amazon Echo Show 5:
$89.99$39.99 |£79.99£39.99 - Amazon Echo Show 8:
$129.99$64.99 |£119.99£59.99 - Amazon Echo Show 10:
$249.99$199.99 |£239.99£199.99
2. 2020 iPad Pro / 2020 iPad Air
The state of the 2020 iPad Pro after the May 21 release of the new generation is unknown. While iPad Pro turnover is fairly quick - i.e you'll likely not find the older generation on the shelves for much longer after the new model comes to town - concerns around availability and a higher price point on more powerful configurations may keep the iPad Pro cheap over Prime Day.
We've already started on the slippery slope of previous generation savings, with Amazon seemingly breaking through a new record low price every week. If these devices do stick around a month after the 2021 launch, then, we'll likely see some particularly heavy discounts.
At the time of writing, the cheapest iPad Pro deals have seen drops to $679.94, down from the $799 MSRP / £599.97 in the UK. That's already a record low price, and we've been seeing these discounts building over the last couple of weeks. Similarly, we've seen the 12.9-inch iPad Pro dropping as low as $897 / £840 recently, though stock is struggling to keep up.
That's going to be your main competition here, as Amazon runs down its inventory at low prices ahead of the new model we may see fewer and fewer models available. We're already seeing stock shortages in the UK, for example, which means the 2020 iPad Air might be offering the best value this Prime Day.
A $559 price tag (was $599) has been holding the fort well on the new iPad Air. However, this discount has been available for a few months now, which means we're likely to see additional savings come June - potentially down to a $529 sales price. In the UK, the £519.99 sales price of the iPad Air 4 could also give way to a lesser spotted £499.99 cost that's only popped up once before.
Our Prediction:
- 2020 11-inch iPad Pro, 128GB:
$799$679.99 (if in stock) |£769£599.99 (if in stock) - 2020 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 128GB:
$999$899 (if in stock) |£969£840 (if in stock) - 2020 iPad Air (64GB):
$599$529.99 |£579£499.99 - £519.99
3. Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones
Last year the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones were offering an excellent sales price at $298 with a $25 gift card included. That essentially brought the price down to $273 - the cheapest we've ever seen the latest generation go. This was, and remains today, the best deal to hit Sony's industry leading cups yet, especially considering we've only seen price drops landing at $278 since.
However, those discounts have been far more frequent since last year's Prime Day deals broke the barrier. We've seen Sony WH-1000XM4 deals offering this significant discount in December, January, March, April, and May so far. That means we're seeing far more wiggle room in that $349.99 price in 2021, and though that $278 price seems stubborn right now, the fact that previous Prime Day offers have beaten it bodes well for at least an extra $10 or $20 off come the summer.
In the UK, a £349.99 price point has been slowly giving way to discounts hitting as low as £247. In practice, we don't expect to see too much of that sub-£250 price tag come the summer, particularly seeing as we haven't dropped back down to that position in a while now. However, regular sales have been offering up prices between £260 and £280 which means we might see some improvement here.
Our Prediction:
- Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones:
$349.99$269.99 |£349.99£259.99
4. M1 MacBook Air
The M1 MacBook Air just missed the boat for last year's Prime Day deals, but it didn't take too long for larger discounts on Apple's powerful ultrabook to appear. The cheapest price we've seen so far has been $899, a $100 discount on the $999 laptop (£899, was £999). However, its predecessor was also stuck at a $100 / £100 saving until last year's Prime Day and Black Friday sales rolled around, when we saw some excellent $200 / £150 discounts in play.
Granted, the considerations were slightly different back then - the launch of the M1 model was imminent and retailers were keen to shift their inventory of Intel configurations. However, the timings here are offering a source of optimism.
The 2020 Intel model enjoyed eight months on the market at full price, or with that $100 / £100 saving, before extra price cuts were introduced over Black Friday. The M1 model will be eight months old when Prime Day rolls around this year and is showing the same discount pattern at $899 so far.
While we may not see a full $200 / £200 off, we may well see that price drop to $849 / £849 for a short period in this summer's MacBook deals.
Our Prediction:
- M1 MacBook Air (256GB):
$999$849.99 |£999£849.99
5. AirPods Pro
The AirPods Pro hit many headlines last Prime Day, with an excellent $199.99 record low sales price. That was before Black Friday swooped in with a flash offer bringing Apple's noise cancelling earbuds down to just $169.99. Of course, stock certainly didn't last long here - but we don't think Amazon is quite finished with this price point in the US.
Over the course of 2021 we've seen the AirPods Pro stuck fairly solidly at $197, save for a few jumps back in to the $200 - $220 price range. However, it seems these incredibly popular earbuds have found a new home at sub-$200 and now that the previously stunning discount has become standard fare we expect to see improvements in June.
If things go well, this will be a return to the $169.99 sales price we enjoyed over Black Friday, but you'll have to move quickly to grab it.
Over in the UK, Laptops Direct has been beating Amazon in the AirPods Pro price game for a while now, offering a £179 sales price. It's highly likely that you'll find this price available at Laptops Direct over the course of Prime Day 2021, but Amazon may also meet us here as well.
Our Prediction:
- Apple AirPods Pro:
$249$169.99 |£249£179
If you can't quite wait for Prime Day, you'll find all the latest prices on the products featured here in the comparison chart below.
Stay up to date on all our latest predictions on Prime Day headphone deals and Prime Day iPad deals. Or, take a look at the upcoming Memorial Day sales for more discounts.
