The Labor Day Apple deals are terrible this year, but these are the best around

MacBook deals have been sparse since Apple hiked prices earlier this year amid the RAM crisis. Normally, I'd want to see at least $200 off a 16GB MacBook Air 13 in a Labor Day deal, but this looks like the best we'll get this year. All the same, it's a brilliant light, portable laptop for creative work on the go, as we detail in our 4.5-star MacBook Air 13 M5 review.

The MacBook Neo might be another reason for slim pickings among this year's Apple Labor Day deals. As the Cupertino tech giant's first budget laptop, it only makes sense if there's a sizable price gap with the Air. It's a beautifully designed laptop, though, and the obvious choice for people who like Apple design but don't need the power of a MacBook Air or Pro for creative work.

We highly rate the iPad Air for digital art in apps like Procreate thanks to the drawing experience with the Apple Pencil Pro (sold separately, see below). It's not as powerful as an iPad Pro, but are you really going to edit videos or render 3D models on an iPad?

If you buy the iPad Air above (or you already have a recent Air, Pro or mini), I'd highly recommend adding the Apple Pencil Pro. Apple's advanced stylus with its haptic feedback and quick-access customisable controls and gestures is what makes the iPad shine as a device for drawing and note taking. See our Apple Pencil Pro review for more details.

These are Apple's newest AirPods Pro, with twice the active noise cancellation and longer single-charge battery life compared to the Pro 2, plus built-in heart rate tracking. This is one of the few Apple Labor Day deals that's actually as good as I'd normally hope for.

AirTags are a handy and inexpensive way to make it easier to keep track of your stuff. Putting one in your handbag, luggage or on your keychain will allow you to locate said item using the Find My. Journalists even used them to discover that Amazon was destroying books.