You should avoid the Apple Watch Series 3 this Black Friday

Even though we’re still over a week away from Black Friday’s official beginning, plenty of retailers have jumped the gun with a slathering of early deals to whet everyone’s consumerist appetites.

While it’s tempting, and in some cases useful to make use of these early deals, there’s one device that you should steer clear off now, and when the sale properly commences: the Apple Watch Series 3.

On the surface, that might seem like an odd product to single out. After all, Black Friday tends to be a very useful time of year for Apple fans to add a new device to an existing ecosystem, without breaking the bank. I’m guilty of doing the same thing myself – this year I may pick up an Apple AirTag or two.

If you fancy nabbing an Apple Watch this year then there are lots of great choices out there, but for those who have already had a look around to see which deals are available ahead of Black Friday, you might have noticed some impressively cheap offers on the Apple Watch Series 3.

At the time of writing, it’s possible to pick up a refurbished Apple Watch 3 for around £140 on Amazon and while that might seem like a pretty tempting offer – it’s one that should be avoided at all costs. The reason for this is that the Apple Watch 3 is no longer included in Apple’s regular software and security update cycle.

From watchOS 9 onwards, Apple made the decision to leave the Series 3 out of its supported line of wearables, meaning that it’s already lacking some of the features you’ll find on newer watches, and that disparity will only continue to grow.

If you are looking for a genuine Apple Watch bargain then I’d suggest keeping your eye on the first-generation Apple Watch SE. Even though the device is no longer sold by Apple officially, it still features the same S5 chipset found in the Apple Watch Series 6, so you won’t have to worry about it becoming obsolete for quite some time.

Of course, if you do prefer to shop with Apple directly then the second generation Apple Watch SE is easily the best value option there, shipping with the latest S8 chipset inside. If you need a bit more help in the coming days then you can check out our live blog of the best Black Friday deals, including the best Apple Watch offers as they come in (just don’t expect the Apple Watch Series 3 to make an appearance).