How price tracking works
We keep the current comparable price, the evidence behind a discount, and replacement timing as separate facts. The final recommendation can use all three without turning an excluded retailer price check into the price we tell you to buy at.
The three-step check
We collect retailer price checks
On a daily cycle, from retailers and maker stores. Each price check keeps its source, product generation and read time. An inactive source stops participating in current publication instead of lingering until an old price check expires.
We choose the comparable offer
The headline price is selected only from current offers eligible for an ordinary comparison. Wrong configurations, special-price conditions, marketplace sellers, stale reads and other excluded price checks can remain visible without becoming the price on the Buy control or in shopping structured data.
We make the purchase call
Clear cases follow fixed rules using the selected price, price history and release timing. When it is close, we take a closer look. That call only holds for the facts we judged. If the price or timing changes, we look again.
Timing is evidence, not the verdict
We don't expect a newer model soon enough to change whether you should buy. That alone doesn't mean today's price is good.
A newer model is close enough that waiting could matter. This is about the calendar, not a sign that today's price is bad.
A newer model is on our radar, but its timing isn't firm enough to count down to. We say so rather than invent a date.
Which price claims we will and will not make
Below the maker’s price compares a selected retailer offer with the maker’s own current published price. Best price found is deliberately narrower than “lowest verified” when retailer or SKU coverage is incomplete. Lowest in N days names the history window we actually hold. We do not call something a “lowest ever” or “new low” until the tracking history is long enough to support that claim, and we never use a retailer’s own struck-through “was” price as our reference.
The current-price window is operationally wider than one scheduled cycle so a delayed daily collection pass has room to recover. That does not turn an older price check into a claim that it was checked “today”: the card shows when the selected offer was actually read.
Questions we get
How often are prices updated?
Our collector runs on a daily cycle. The current-price window includes some retry room beyond one scheduled cycle so a delayed run does not make the page blink empty, and every selected price keeps the exact time it was read. We show that timestamp rather than pretending every retailer was checked at the same instant. A price with no defensible comparison is shown as a price and nothing more. We will not show a "new low" or a "lowest ever" until we have tracked a product for 90 days, because those are claims about all recorded history and a shorter window cannot support them.
Do you earn a commission if I buy through a link?
Yes. Some retailer links are paid links and iDevice may earn a commission. It does not change the price you pay, and affiliate economics are not available to the offer-ranking or recommendation logic. The shopper-facing price is selected from eligible current offers, and the recommendation uses price evidence, replacement timing and structured product facts — not which link earns us money.
What does the buy-or-wait advice actually mean?
Clear cases follow fixed rules: for example, a replacement that is close enough can force Wait, while a strong current price or a return to a meaningful recorded-low range can produce Buy now. When it is close, we take a closer look and choose among Buy now, Wait, Buy the older one or No rush. That call cannot break the fixed rules, and it is redone as soon as the price, timing or other facts change.
Why can a retailer price appear without becoming the headline price?
Because a price check and a comparable offer are different things. We can keep a price check visible while refusing to use it as the headline if the listing is the wrong configuration, used or refurbished, sold by a marketplace seller, out of stock, stale, or requires special terms. Those rows stay inspectable under Other retailer price checks and say why they were excluded.
Why do you link to Amazon and Best Buy but quote prices from other shops?
Because a link and a price are different things. Amazon and Best Buy are the paid retailer relationships currently wired into this section, while price checks can come from a wider set of retailers and maker stores. A usable price can be shown even when we have no paid relationship with that seller. Paid-link coverage, raw price coverage and selected comparable-price coverage are reported as different facts rather than made to stand in for one another.
What if a price or a link looks wrong?
Tell us. Prices and links are filed against a specific product generation rather than a product line, and an inactive price source is removed from current publication as well as collection. Retail pages still move, product identities can be messy, and a reader can spot a bad match before we do.
Disclosure. Retailer links are paid links. iDevice may earn a commission if you buy through one. It does not change the price you pay, and it never affects what we say about a product. The footer’s “not affiliated with Apple, Google, Samsung or Meta” is a separate statement — it disclaims a relationship with the manufacturers and says nothing about retail commission.