As ecom editor of Creative Bloq since 2020, I've covered all the major global retail sales events, and all the minor ones too. And Amazon's October Prime Day – Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th this year – is definitely one of the latter. Not content with dominating July since 2015 with Prime Day, in 2022 Amazon decided to pre-empt November's Black Friday with their Prime Day in October. If you're a creative, I think you should manage your expectations.
It's not that there are no good deals over the Prime Day in October (or Prime Big Deal Days to give it its official title). But as this is an Amazon-specific event, all the mega 50% discounts are going to be on the Amazon-owned brands – think Kindles, Echo and Fire devices – and that's only if you're either a Prime member, or if you use the 30-day free Prime trial.
The best (and worst) October Prime Day deals for creatives
Just looking at the price history of MacBooks and iPads, as they are some of the most popular products for creatives (especially designers), there's a clear picture.
When it comes to MacBook Pros – the best laptop for graphic designers – Black Friday nearly always has the edge over Prime October prices. In 2023 the 13-inch MacBook Pro (M2) sold at $1,099 in October. But it was further reduced to $949 over Black Friday – that's a further $150 off!
Looking at MacBook Airs – the most popular Apple laptop – it's a similar story. In 2022, the 13-inch MacBook Air (M2) sold at $1,049 in October, but sunk down to $999 for Black Friday.
Over the last three October Prime Days, the only case where this is reversed is with the base model of the 9th Gen iPad. The 2022 October Prime event actually beat the Black Friday deals price later that year – $199 compared to $269.
Of course, it's not all about laptops and tablets, and small accessories like excellent external hard drives are way more competitive between the two events.
So, wait for Black Friday?
I'd say if you really want a new laptop right now, you will see discounts over the October Prime event – but you will almost definitely see slightly better prices over Black Friday (sometimes way better).
However, if you want tablets, like an iPad, it's likely that the base model will be discounted over October, and won't shift much further over Black Friday.
If you're looking for accessories such as external hard drives, the discounts are likely to be very similar over both events.
The real massive deals to make the most of over October are going to be on Amazon-owned products.
Whatever the case, Creative Bloq will be covering all the relevant deals this October, and telling you about any that we think are worth your time (and whether we think they'll be beat over Black Friday).
