Apple’s cheapest MacBook is even more affordable right now. Neither Apple nor Amazon will get you a MacBook in time for Christmas, but you might be able to pick one up at your local Apple Store. If you can wait until January for delivery, then you can save up to $199 on the M1-based MacBook Air at Amazon. The baseline 256GB model is $100 off, but you can double the savings when you double the SSD to 512GB and save $199 on the step-up MacBook Air. To arrive at the $199 discount, you’ll see an initial discount on Amazon plus additional savings at checkout. There are no price breaks available on Apple’s newest MacBooks, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, but you can save $150 on the older 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Check out these MacBook deals and be sure to check back; we’ll keep this page updated throughout the holiday shopping season as sales expire and new deals emerge.
Pricing for Apple’s MacBooks
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, and the new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499. If you don’t need the power of these high-end MacBooks nor the budget, you can spend less on the M1-powered MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air starts at $999, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,299.
To recap, you can save up to $199 on the MacBook Air and $150 on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. One benefit of paying full price and buying from Apple, however, is you can customize the machine and add more RAM or a higher-capacity solid-state drive, whereas the models sold on Amazon and other retailers are fixed configurations.
Want to go the refurb route? You can now find refurbished M1 MacBooks on Apple’s Certified Refurbished Mac page. Refurb inventory changes rapidly so you may not always see an M1 MacBook Air or Pro listed. It’s worth keeping an eye out, however, because you can lock in substantial savings, up to $200. Rick Broida, CNET’s Cheapskate emeritus, is a big fan of refurbs, particularly Apple’s — which are often as good as new.
It’s also worth noting that the Apple Store offers students an educational discount, which can trim hundreds of dollars from the price of a new laptop or tablet.
Keep reading to see the best MacBook laptop deals currently available for Apple’s current and previous-generation MacBooks. We update this list periodically.
Read more: Testing out the new Apple Mac M1 lineup
MacBook discounts, compared
| Model w/ CPU (and storage capacity) | List price | Best price (current) | Best price (all-time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.3-inch MacBook Air w/ M1 chip (256GB) | $999 | $899 | $750 |
| 13.3-inch MacBook Air w/ M1 chip (512GB) | $1,249 | $1,050 | $1,000 |
| 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 chip (256GB) | $1,299 | $1,249 | $1,050 |
| 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 chip (512GB) | $1,499 | $1,349 | $1,250 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,799 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,499 | $2,499 | $2,450 |
| 16-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $2,499 | $2,499 | $2,450 |
| 16-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,699 | $2,699 | $2,650 |
| 16-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Max chip (1TB) | $3,499 | $3,499 | $3,499 |
*Note that “all-time” means the best price that we’ve seen at an Apple-authorized retailer in the product’s lifetime.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The new, fanless MacBook Air starts at $999 and features Apple’s M1 processor, which has an eight‑core CPU, a seven‑core GPU and a 16‑core Neural Engine. The system also supplies 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It lacks the Touch Bar (which could be viewed as a net positive) but features a 13.3-inch Retina display, Touch ID and the Magic keyboard. Right now, you can save $100 on the 256GB model and $199 on the more useful 512GB model. For the latter, there’s an initial $149 discount plus an additional $50 taken off at checkout. Most laptop buyers will benefit from the added storage; a 256GB SSD can fill up fast.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The latest 13-inch MacBook Pro introduced last year uses Apple’s new M1 processor, which is an eight-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, an eight-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. The baseline model also features 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, a Retina display, the Magic Keyboard and the Touch Bar with Touch ID. The step-up model costs $1,499 and doubles the SSD to 512GB. Right now, you can save $50 on the 256B model and $150 on the more useful 512GB model.
Apple
The baseline model of the new 14-inch MacBook Pro costs $1,999 and features an eight-core M1 Pro chip, a 14-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The $2,499 step-up model features a 10-core M1 Pro chip, a 16-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display features a 3,024×1,964-pixel resolution. Discounts for Apple’s latest MacBook Pro have been rare to this point. Amazon occasionally drops the price of the $1,999 baseline model by $50, but that price break is not on offer at the moment.
Apple
The baseline model of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro costs $2,499 and features a 10-core M1 Pro chip, a 16-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512B SSD. There are two step-up models. The $2,699 model upgrades the storage to a 1TB SSD, and the $3,499 model features the M1 Max chip, a 32-core GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display features a 3,456×2,234-pixel resolution. We’ve seen a slight $49 discount on Amazon for the 16-inch MacBook Pro off and on this month, but that offer is currently turned off.
