Shop E Store Apple Intelligence requires an M1 chip or newer, so now’s the perfect time to buy your first MacBook or upgrade an older MacBook you’re still using. MacBooks are more affordable than ever since the Apple Silicon era, with the cheapest options starting at less than $600. With Cyber Monday sales, there’s never been a better time to buy a new MacBook without draining your bank account.
Our friends at 9to5Toys also have all the latest information on the best Cyber Monday sales.
M1 MacBook Air
Since entering the Apple Silicon era, Apple has released three MacBook Airs with M1, M2, and M3 chips. The M1 MacBook Air still sports the familiar wedge design from the Intel era, which many users may prefer.
The M1 MacBook Air is still a great laptop for the price, even though it’s four years old. It boasts blazingly fast performance thanks to the M1 chip, a beautiful Retina display (though it has thicker bezels than the new MacBook Air), a great keyboard, up to 18 hours of battery life, and a sound that doesn’t sound like an airplane. If you open it in public, it will almost take off.
The M1 MacBook Air is the oldest on this list, so it’s also the cheapest. One thing to note about the M1 MacBook Air is that it’s hard to find new ones with more than 256 GB of storage, so if you need a lot of storage you’ll have to buy a new Air. On the bright side, it’s the only Apple Silicon MacBook available in a proper gold color.
The M1 MacBook Air is available at Walmart for as low as $599 in all three colors: Silver, Space Gray, and Gold.
- 13-inch MacBook Air (M1) with 256GB storage and 8GB memory: $599 at Walmart
M2 MacBook Air
In 2022, Apple introduced a redesigned MacBook Air with a thinner design, a larger display with slimmer bezels, and reintroduced MagSafe. In addition to Silver and Space Gray, new Starlight and Midnight colors have also arrived, while Gold has been discontinued.
If you’re looking for the latest MacBook but also want to save money, this could be your best option. It’s not the latest model, so it’s often on sale. It’s essentially the latest and greatest, except it’s a little slower than the M3 model. You can also now get double the RAM, 16 GB of unified memory.
Get up to $250 off the M2 MacBook Air with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB of unified memory starting at $749 from various retailers. The 16GB model starts at $799.
M3 MacBook Air
Apple refreshed the MacBook Air with the M3 chip earlier this year, and it remains the latest model. It has the same design as the previous MacBook Air, but it’s faster. The M4 refresh won’t arrive until sometime next year, but if you want the latest chipset, there are still some great deals to look at here.
You can currently secure discounts of up to $250, and configurations with 512 GB of storage are also available. There’s also a sale on the 15-inch version of the M3 MacBook Air.
13-inch model with M3 chip:
15-inch model with M3 chip:
14-inch MacBook Pro
Apple redesigned the MacBook Pro in 2021 with a new 14-inch miniLED display with ProMotion, more ports (especially an HDMI port and an SD card reader), a larger battery and better heat dissipation. . It also includes a 1080p webcam for the first time.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro isn’t as affordable as the other MacBooks listed, but there are still some great deals if you want a great display and extra ports.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro featured here comes in two main versions, one with the M3 chipset and one with the M4 family of chips.
The baseline M3 model comes with 8GB of memory and lacks an additional USB-C port on the right side. It’s a reasonable compromise, but it’s the cheapest way to get Apple’s amazing miniLED display into your laptop.
All M4 models have at least 16 GB of memory and are fully equipped with ports. It also features a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera for center stage, making FaceTime calls even more fun.
Since the M3 model is no longer the latest and greatest, there are some great deals that can save you up to $300. There are also some great discounts already available on the new M4 models.
M3 chip model:
M4 chip model:
This isn’t the focus of this article, but if you’re interested in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Best Buy is having a great clearance sale on M3 Pro models starting at $1,999.
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