AirPods Pro 3 on Sale for $199 This Week on Amazon

for the same you can get them with 2 years apple care from Costco

Most likely will be ~ $169 for Prime Days coming up early October, and certainly by Black Friday.

Most likely will be ~ $169 for Prime Days coming up early October, and certainly by Black Friday.

This.

Also, unless you're getting them at Costco or another warehouse joint with a 90-day return policy, I'd wait until the stores start their extended holiday return policies. WMart usually has started on 10/1. The other stores - Zon, Target, BB have been later the last couple of years. They usually start on 11/1.

If you buy during holiday return period you usually have until 1/15 of next year to return them (if you the price drops even lower at some point, for example).

Come on now. I'm not defending Apple. I rip on the airpod max's all the time.Those IMO are overpriced. I just dont see the same case here. Do the math however you want, but quality products typically cost more than knock off junk and last considerably longer, which means higher return on your investment. IMO People aren't buying new airpods because the battery is dead. They buy them because they got lost or want the new features. Just my opinion

I get your point and I do appreciate Apple quality. I use their stuff myself so obviously Im not saying AirPods are crap, they arent.
I just think we live in different times now. Making this stuff today costs peanuts compared to what it used to. Chinese factories have this kind of production so insanely well figured out by now that making millions of tiny earbuds with good quality is nothing exotic anymore. What looked like some crazy tech 10 or 15 years ago is just normal mass production today.
And sure AirPods were innovative when they came out. No question about that. But today? I dont know. Its more evolution than innovation. A bit better sound, better ANC, new chip, some new features etc. And there are tons of companies making really good earbuds now, some of them doing certain things better than Apple.
So its not really about quality for me. Its about how much they charge for something that probably costs a tiny fraction of that to actually make. Yes of course they have other costs, engineers, software, advertising, stores, warranty and all that crap costs money too. I get it. But come on, lets not pretend $200 earbuds cost anywhere near $200 to put in a box and sell.
They keep those margins because people keep paying them. Me included btw 😂 Thats really my point.

Amazon had these at $179 a while back. Should have picked them up. Waiting for that price again and with the holidays coming, I'm assuming we'll see it.

I had mines for a year. These are great headphones. If you get them $199.99 then go for it.

The 2-yr AppleCare addition is a deal-closer, for me. Son's b-day is October. 12, and he's wanting new AirPods. Done.

Edit: Picked up a set today. He'll be happy.