The memory crisis forcing prices up for the iPhone 18 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 has also hit the volume and depth of smartphone discounts. But a new Memorial Day iPhone Air sale not only shows that Apple’s hardware can still be competitive on price, it also proves that public holidays remain the best time to buy your tech.
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The Apple iPhone Air gets a huge new discount. (Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Best Buy has slashed the price of a brand new unlocked iPhone Air by $150, bringing it down to $849.99. This is one of the lowest prices for a new iPhone Air since it launched at $999 last September, with an earlier Best Buy deal discounting the phone by $200.
It’s worth noting that of the entire current iPhone 17 lineup, only the iPhone Air can be bought brand new and unlocked from a third-party retailer at a meaningful discount. Every other iPhone 17 model is only available new and unlocked directly from Apple, at full price.
The iPhone Air’s struggles are well documented. Apple cut production of the phone after demand came in well below expectations. Research from Counterpoint showed iPhone Air shipments running at low single-digit numbers in China while the standard iPhone 17 drove growth.
Within ten weeks of launch, the Air had already lost an average of 44.3% of its original retail value according to SellCell, which was the steepest depreciation of any iPhone model since 2022. Amazon even listed the phone as "frequently returned." What went wrong? Buyers have complained about the single camera sensor, below-average battery life and high $999 launch price. Because of that, third-party retailers have repeatedly slashed the price to shift units.
ForbesNew iPhone 18 Price Report Is Good And Bad News For Apple BuyersThe size of this iPhone Air price drop is a reminder that public holidays remain the best window to buy tech even as rising manufacturing costs squeeze deals everywhere. The memory chip crisis (a global shortage caused by AI data centres consuming available supply, driving up the cost of making every smartphone) has made genuine discounts rarer in 2026.
Some of the deals we’ve seen this year haven’t matched up to what was on offer in 2025. At the same point last May, Samsung knocked $230 off the Galaxy S25 Ultra if no phone was traded in. That was alongside three free months of Samsung Care Plus and an extra 5% off if the code “APP5” was used at checkout in the Samsung Shop app.
This May’s equivalent Galaxy S26 Ultra deal started at $200 off, but it didn’t come with a free Care Plus trial and the APP5 code no longer works. That has now improved, however, with Samsung increasing the Galaxy S26 Ultra discount to $250 off for its Memorial Day sale.
Trade-in prices have also improved from just a few days ago too, with the Galaxy S22 Ultra going from $260 to $350. The allure of mass public holiday sales is clearly too strong for manufacturers to ignore.
For a company like Samsung that is used to discounting often, that may no longer be possible as it stares down rapidly rising manufacturing costs. But it does mean the company will save its best for the handful of public holidays that happen each year. Even in special circumstances Apple's hand will be forced into discounts too.
The advice is clear: hold out for public holidays if you can. Or, subscribe to my newsletter for instant deal updates and more Apple iPhone Air price news.
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