The Rush for Black Friday Tech Gadget Deals Is On

By Don Reisinger

Although Apple has yet to say what kind of Black Friday deals it will be offering, that hasn’t stopped Best Buy from jumping the gun and saying that it will discount the slim and lightweight MacBook Air. Best Buy shoppers will find both versions of the MacBook Air—11-inch and 13-inch models—on sale for $120 off their regular price, bringing the smaller model to $779 and the larger option to $879.

Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the high-end smartphone boasting a whopping 16-megapixel camera and a great design, will be heavily discounted at most places on Black Friday. Walmart will sell the handset for $99 with a two-year contract, while Target will go even further and sell it for just one cent with a two-year contract on AT&T. Best Buy will offer the device for $1 on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint networks.

The iPhone 6 is extremely hard to come by in some parts of the world, but the device is getting a nice discount on Black Friday in the U.S. Both Walmart and Target have announced that they will discount the 16GB model of the iPhone 6 to $179 with a two-year contract to AT&T. Target will toss in the Verizon and Sprint models for the same price.

All sorts of wearables will be on sale on Black Friday, but the Gear Fit deal being offered by a wide range of retailers, including AT&T and Best Buy, could be one of the best. Customers will get the device for just $100. The wearable is a stand-alone product that can work without a Samsung smartphone, but those who have a handset from the Korean device maker can also use it as a notification supplier.

Best Buy is again offering a great deal on Apple products, this time planning to sell the iPad Air 2, which was recently announced, for $100 off its current pricing. The iPad Air 2 starts at $499, but on Black Friday, it’ll start at $399 when customers hit Best Buy.

Current Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners will want to hit store shelves at Best Buy. The retailer has announced that select games for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will see their prices slashed by 50 percent. That likely won’t be for the latest titles, like “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” but those looking for older games will be able to snap up some solid titles.

The Amazon Fire TV is already cheap, coming in at $99, but at Staples, it’s going to be a little bit cheaper. That retailer has announced that for Black Friday only, it will sell the set-top box from Amazon for $74. Interestingly, Staples is also offering the deal on Thanksgiving, so those who want to go shopping early will be able to take advantage of the special on Thursday.

Microsoft has decided to discount the Surface Pro 3 on Black Friday. The cheaper Surface Pro 3 i5 will be $100 off, while the company will sell the i7 option for $150 off its regular retail price. The same $150 discount will be applied to the Surface Pro 2 as well.

Although the iPod Touch hasn’t necessarily been the most popular device in the world, it’s still selling millions of units per year. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that some retailers want to take advantage of that and offer a deal to customers still interested in the music player. Toys ‘R Us is selling the iPod Touch for $150 on Black Friday, representing a $50 discount compared to its regular price.

The Nest Thermostat, which learns about a family’s activities during the day to maximize energy efficiency, will also be a bit cheaper for customers on Black Friday. Best Buy will be selling the learning thermostat for $200, down $50 compared to its regular price.