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Apple takes $30 off Beats Pill+ and Beats EP, but better deals found elsewhere

In time for the holidays, Apple on Tuesday slashed $30 off its Beats Pill+ speaker and Beats EP headphone, bringing the company's online and brick-and-mortar store pricing closer to offerings from third-party retailers.

Apple's $30 price cut is limited to the Beats Pill+ speaker and Beats EP on-ear headphones, which normally retail for $230 and $130, respectively. The new discount delivers respective round number price points of $200 and $100 ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.

As usual, Apple's out-the-door cost is still higher than third-party retailers carrying the same products. B&H Photo, for example, has the Beats Pill+ in black for $178 with no sales tax outside of New York. Amazon and big-box retailer Walmart also offer the Pill+ in black for the slightly higher price of $188 plus any applicable taxes.

Apple's Beats EP deal is more of a bargain, with B&H showing identical pricing — again without sales tax outside of NY — of $100 on in-stock models.

In addition, Apple is the only place to buy special hardware versions like the new Product (RED) editions for both Beats Pill+ and Beats EP.

The select Beats discounts arrive just hours after Apple updated its BeatsX webpage to reflect a release date in February, corroborating reports of an unexpected shipping delay on Monday.

Apple today also put its hotly anticipated AirPods wireless headphones up for sale after months of hold-ups. Last week, reports claimed the company was having trouble syncing audio between the untethered AirPods.