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While it may seem a bit too early to think of Black Friday, the leap isn't too far. In fact, it's less than two months away – and sales are likely to start well before the date itself.

With so many new devices in Apple's lineup, we're expecting Black Friday 2021 to be bigger and better than ever, with steep discounts across iPad, iPhone, AirPods, MacBook, iMac, Apple Watch and Apple accessory deals (and not to mention refurbished Apple goods too!).

In this article, we're answering your most popular Black Friday questions, and offering our top tips to guide you through the discount carnage so you can find the best best deals across all your most-desired Apple hardware and software too!

We're focusing on UK deals here, but if you're visiting from the US, we'll also be tracking the Best Black Friday Apple Deals in the US from major retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and more.

When is Black Friday 2021?

Black Friday always falls on the day after US Thanksgiving. This year, the date is 26 November.

While the event itself falls on the tail-end of the month, discounts and deals started rolling in well before then. Recent years have shown that Black Friday is no longer a singular event, but an entire period.

Last year, Amazon launched its Prime Day event mid-October, which effectively kicked off the Black Friday sales season. Amazon then launched and Early Black Friday Deals event at the end of October too.

This is good news for shoppers for a couple of reasons. First off, it removes having to wait until November and then the inevitable frenzy for limited stock on an isolated day or week. Second, in a post-coronavirus world, pacing deals out over a series of weeks instead of days will no doubt help prevent delivery overloads.

This also allows Apple shoppers to explore Apple deals from other retailers, and not just from Apple's own Black Friday promotion, which is fairly limited. 

Amazon often has a mighty array of Black Friday Apple deals, while others worth checking out include Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse (see our list of all sales on below).

Will Apple have a Black Friday 2021 sale?

Last year, Apple's own four-day event started on Black Friday itself (27 November) and carried on through to 30 November (a.k.a. Cyber Monday). Apple customers received a gift card worth up to £120/$150/AUD$210 with select purchases.

The event was hosted on Apple's Black Friday Shopping Event page, but you won't' find anything there at the moment.

We suspect Apple will kick off its Black Friday event on 26 November this year, and will have a similar discount on its M1 MacBook, iMac, and Mac mini devices, along with the iPhone 12/12 mini phones. We might also see discounts on the Apple Watch 6, SE, and Series 3. 

It's unlikely Apple will have discounts on the new iPad mini (6th gen) and iPad (9th gen), given that they've only just released. Apple didn't have discounts on its latest devices last year either, such as iPhone 12 range, or new 10.2in 8th gen iPad – but these could be fair game this year.

The sale may include discounts on the M1 iPad Pros too, which were included in its Back to School promotion. 

See our full coverage of last year's sale for a taste of what to expect.

Official Black Friday shopping event aside, we'd also keep an eye out on the Apple Refurbished Store for any discounts on iPhone handsets, iPads, Watches, MacBooks and other devices.

Apple iPad 2021

What is Black Friday?

On Black Friday, retailers offer huge discounts to shoppers ahead of the holiday season. It all began in the US, falling on the day after Thanksgiving, but over the past few years it has really taken off around the world, including here in the UK.

A more recent trend is Cyber Monday, which came about because it tends to be the busiest day of the year for online shopping. Cyber Monday always falls on the Monday after Black Friday, meaning this year it will land on 29 November.

Where to find the best Black Friday Apple deals

Below are all the places we expect to see Black Friday discounts on Apple products and software. We've listed noteworthy offers from last year too.

Don't forget Mac software deals either, especially on cleaning tools like MacPaw's CleanMyMac, antivirus, and VPNs. See our separate roundups of the best Antivirus deals for Mac and best VPN deals for Mac.

If you've found that you're missing out on Amazon's Lightning deals, which run for just a few hours and offer limited stock, we'd recommend signing up for Amazon's 30-day free trial of Prime, which will get you access to deals 30 minutes before everyone else. Plus, you'll get free next-day delivery with the Prime trial, as well as access to Prime Instant Video and more. Sign up for Prime now.

We're also tracking the best Black Friday tech deals across all of the web over at our sister site Tech Advisor. US readers should also see US-specific Black Friday coverage on Macworld US.

Best Apple deals 2021

Here's an overview of our pick of the very best Apple deals available right now.

Apple iPhone 13 with free AirPods

From: Virgin

Now: From £34 per month

View Deal

Apple iPhone 13

From: KRCS

Was: £779

Now: £771.21  (£7.79 off)

View Deal

Apple 10.2in iPad (9th gen, 2021) - 64GB

From: KRCS

Was: £319

Now: £312.62  (£6.38 off)

View Deal

Apple iPad mini (2021, 6th gen) - 64GB

From: KRCS

Was: £479

Now: £469.42  (£9.58 off)

View Deal

Apple iPad Pro 10.5in (256GB, Wi-Fi only)

From: Apple Refurbished Store

Was: £679

Now: £489  (£190 off)

View Deal

Apple iPhone 13, 13 Pro/Pro Max & 13 mini

From: Macworld UK

Now: Where to Buy & Best Deals

View Deal

Apple iPad 10.2 (9th gen): Out Now!

From: Macworld UK

Now: Where to Buy & Best Prices

View Deal

Apple iPad mini (6th generation):Out Now!

From: Macworld UK

Now: Where to Buy & Best Prices

View Deal

Apple Watch Series 7: Where to Pre-Order

From: Macworld UK

Now: Tracking the best pre-order deals

View Deal

Apple iPad (2021, 9th gen)

From: KRCS

Was: £319

Now: £312.62  (£6.38 off)

View Deal
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How to get the best Black Friday (2021) deals

Spotting a good Black Friday deal takes a bit of work but luckily we have pulled together all the best Apple deals by product in the following deal roundups. We include the prices that you would pay if you bought the product (or equivalent product) from Apple.

Our team of Apple experts is always scouring the web for the top deals, offers and discounts on Apple products and accessories on sale, whether it's Black Friday or not.

We use our knowledge of Apple, its products, and the retailers that sell them to highlight only the best money-off offers and weed out the deals that aren't as good as they appear to be.

We have picked out the current best Apple deals we've found across all retailers in the UK below:

Where to buy the latest Apple devices at the best price:

Best iPhone deals

Best MacBook, iPad, and Watch deals

You may also find these articles helpful for deals on non-Apple products:

Should I wait for Cyber Monday 2021?

Our advice is clear: if you see a good deal, don't wait. While Cyber Monday promises impressive deals, it's likely prices won't go any lower after Black Friday offers. Don't run the risk of losing out on stock. If you see a deal on something you want, just pick it up!