Cyber Monday is coming tomorrow, but many online retailers’ sales have already begun. Apple products are a particularly good buy on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
By Chand Bellur
December 1, 2019 at 8:36 p.m. PDT
2017 27″ iMac 5K for $1379 at B&H Photo
B&H Photo is one of my favorite places to purchase Apple products. Their prices can’t be beat, and with their PayBoo card, they even reimburse you for sales tax. If that’s not enough, they offer free expedited shipping and a price guarantee. The last MacBook Pro I bought from B&H had two price reductions, and they refunded my money each time, within 30 minutes of my request.
I have no affiliation with B&H Photo other than being a customer. Other retailers occasionally beat B&H on price. It never hurts to shop around. Just copy the Apple part number and paste it into Google Shopping, then sort by total price. It’s an easy way to find the best price on anything!
A few weeks ago, a Windows 10 update broke printing functionality on my mom’s year-old Lenovo all-in-one PC. I fiddled with it for some time, to no avail. All of our Apple devices print to this wireless printer without incident. (It just works!) We both came to the realization that it was time for her to move to a Mac. She needs to print documents. Windows fiddling eats up a lot of our time. (It’s another hidden cost of using Microsoft Windows.)
We decided to purchase an iMac to replace her Lenovo all-in-one PC. We opted for a 2017 27″ iMac with a 5K display. As configured, this iMac is worth $1999, however it’s on sale for only $1379.
The 2019 27″ 5K iMac is also on sale, and at $1549, it’s an attractive deal. However, after comparing the two models, the 2017 version isn’t much different than the 2019 one. The newer model features an eighth generation Intel i5 processor, while the older one runs a seventh generation chip. According to Geekbench, the six-core, eighth generation chip has a single core score of 997 and multi-core score of 4563. The seventh generation chip gets 902 and 3130 for the same tests. Yes, the eighth generation i5 is faster, but not fast enough to warrant the price difference. If you’re doing film editing or producing professional albums, go for the 2019 model. Most people won’t even notice the difference.
The 2017 model is a slight upgrade, which is why the difference is so small compared to the 2019 model. It has an upgraded CPU and graphics processor. The slightly upgraded 2017 model actually does better on Geekbench GPU tests than the stock 2019 model.
Cyber Monday iPhone Deals
There are a lot of iPhone deals on Cyber Monday, but they always have strings attached. After all, the iPhone is a popular device, and “there ain’t no free lunch”.
Topping the list of Cyber Monday deals, AT&T is offering a whopping $700 off a new iPhone 11, with the trade-in of a qualifying smartphone, including Samsung and Google Pixel models. The deal requires participants to port their existing number to AT&T. For those who opt out of number porting, the discount is reduced to $500
T-Mobile is offering a free iPhone 8 for switching over to their service. Although the iPhone 8 is a few years old, it’s still a usable device and can run the latest version of iOS. If your life doesn’t revolve around your smartphone, it may be sufficient.
There’s many more Cyber Monday deals out there. Google Shopping is an efficient way to find the best prices. Simply search for the product you want and sort by total price.