The best deals on MacBooks right now

Apple sells MacBooks equipped with its own M-series chips in a wide range of sizes and price points. The offerings start with the 13-inch MacBook Air from 2020 at $999 and go all the way up to last year’s 16-inch MacBook Pro at $2,499 (not counting anything you can spec out to the stratosphere). But finding a deal on a current Mac with an M1 or M2 chip — or a higher-end Pro or Max version — is usually not too difficult. Plus, with the next Amazon Prime Day event approaching on October 10th and 11th, we may see all kinds of discounts on various MacBooks.

At this point, we don’t recommend buying any older Intel-based Macs. They’re just completely outclassed by all the newer models unless you have some super-niche Windows Boot Camp needs.

Alternatively, purchasing refurbished is another way to save money on an Apple computer. Apple’s refurbished store provides a one-year warranty on all products and generally offers discounts of up to 15 to 20 percent off the price of a new unit. If you’re looking for a new model, however, here are the best MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini deals available.

The MacBook Air is Apple’s entry-level laptop. It’s best suited for typical productivity work, with a comfortable keyboard, an excellent trackpad, and all-day battery life. The redesigned M2 version of the MacBook Air has been with us for a bit — there’s now even a 15-inch M2 Air — but the 2020 version with an M1 processor and fanless design remains in the lineup as the budget option. For many people, the M1 Air still ticks the right boxes when it comes to performance and price, even if it’s long enough in the tooth to have been finally dethroned in our guide to the best laptops.

The base MacBook Air with the M1 chip comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It typically sells for $999, but Amazon is currently discounting it to $749.99 ($250 off). That’s matching its lowest price, and even more than two years after its release, it’s hard to beat the M1 Air’s value — especially when it comes to performance and battery life.

As for the newer, fancier 13-inch MacBook Air with M2, the base model with 256GB of storage and an eight-core GPU recently got a price drop. Along with introducing a 15-inch M2 Air, Apple announced during WWDC that the 13-inch model now starts at $1,099 instead of $1,199. As for deals, the 13-incher is currently selling for $949 ($150 off) at Best Buy. Best Buy also has a good deal on the upgraded configuration with a 512GB SSD and 10-core GPU for $1,249 ($150 off).

The new MacBook Air is a super slim and light laptop with a 1080p webcam that’s actually usable, as well as a handy magnetic charger that frees up one of its precious two USB-C ports. Its M2 processor didn’t kick-start a revolution like the M1 generation, but it’s a great performer for any user outside of more demanding creatives.

It does have some slight downsides, like slower storage in the base configuration and a notch cutout in its otherwise excellent screen. But even so, there hasn’t been a more travel-friendly laptop offered by Apple since the days of the polarizing 12-inch MacBook, and this one’s good enough to be the No. 1 laptop we now recommend in our buying guide.

The recently launched 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 is a lot like a blown-up 13-inch Air, and judging from our glowing review, there’s nothing wrong with that. Like its smaller counterpart, it has an M2 chip, two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports, and MagSafe charging, and its base model comes with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. But it differs by having a larger 15.3-inch notched screen with 2880 x 1864 resolution, six speakers instead of four, a 10-core GPU that costs extra on the 13-inch, and a higher starting price of $1,299. Bumping up to a larger, faster 512GB of storage will run you $1,499.

Surprisingly, the 15-inch M2 Air started receiving some discounts before it shipped, which let early adopters save between $50 and $100. As of right now, you can only get it for a small discount of $55 by ordering it at Amazon, where it currently sells for $1,099. The expanded 512GB model is also on a marginal sale at Amazon, selling for $1,434 ($65 off).

The MacBook Pro line has been split into two different segments — for the time being. The M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2022 remains the lone Touch Bar holdout. It’s sort of a sibling to the 2020 MacBook Air, with a similar design save mostly for a fan that allows it to run at peak performance for longer. And while it’s still plagued by the Touch Bar and has its shortcomings when it comes to speed (at least on the base model), it features terrific battery life, and we occasionally see discounts up to $150 to $200 that help make it more worthwhile.

Right now, the best deals on the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro are at Best Buy and Amazon, where the 256GB model with 8GB of RAM is receiving its best discount to date ($300 off). That drops the price from $1,299 to $999. Best Buy is also discounting the 512GB model by $300, making it $1,199 instead of $1,499. These are excellent deals if the Touch Bar-equipped Mac still floats your boat, but those of you who do intensive creative work may still be better served spending a bit more on the more capable 14-inch MacBook Pro (if you can stretch your budget, of course).

As for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, the latest models are mostly a spec-bumped refresh from the M1 Pro / M1 Max generation, but they now feature faster M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, with the 16-inch M2 Max MacBook Pro also showcasing some excellent battery life gains thanks to the efficiency of the new chips. And now, we’re finally starting to see some good discounts on the M2-based models.

Right now, deals on the base 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM have temporarily dried up. This comes just after it hit a new low price of $1,699 on a one-day deal in September. However, there’s slightly better news if you need additional storage, as the 14-inch model with 1TB of storage, a 12-core M2 Pro CPU, and 19 GPU cores is down to $2,359 ($140 off) at Amazon.

Sadly, the situation is even worse with the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro. There really aren’t any deals right now on the creator-friendly laptop. It’s still an excellent and very capable computer at its full price of $2,499 for the base 512GB model and $2,699 with 1TB, but unless you absolutely need one right now, you may be best served waiting for discounts to come around again.

For now, the older 2021 MacBook Pros remain fine machines, especially if you can get one at a steep discount. However, they’re getting increasingly harder to find in any of their cheaper base and midrange configurations.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 with expanded 1TB storage is available at B&H Photo for a discount of $750. That drops the price down to $1,949, which is an excellent deal. The only caveat is that this specific model has extra storage but just the base 16GB of RAM (and it was even $50 cheaper not long ago). However, it’s the best value you can get on a 16-inch M1 Pro right now.

Our reviews of Apple’s M1 Pro and Max MacBook Pro lineup were absolutely beaming with praise. Whether it was the beautiful display or the remarkable performance and battery life they exhibited, these premium laptops are investments that we still recommend — at least until the newer M2 generation starts seeing bigger discounts. It’s great to see the return of more ports, an SD card reader, and MagSafe charging to some Mac laptops we can once again say are well poised for actual pros. Just mind the notch — or better yet, make it more useful with software.

The new Mac Mini comes in a base configuration with Apple’s M2 processor or in a more powerful configuration with the M2 Pro. It’s an excellent upgrade to one of the most affordable yet performant desktop computers you can get (as long as gaming isn’t your priority). The M2 model Mac Mini starts with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for $599, while the M2 Pro model features a superior processor plus 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $1,299.

The latter model also features an expanded port selection, from two USB-C ports to four. It’s almost like getting an M2 Pro-powered MacBook Pro 14 but in desktop form. Though, keep in mind that buying any Mac Mini means you have to provide your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

While the M2 Mac Mini was recently as much as $100 off the base model and $150 off the more powerful M2 Pro model, all those deals have now gone quiet. Hopefully, they’ll return again soon, as the M2 / M2 Pro Minis are great values for a desktop computer, with the M2 Pro version being like a baby Mac Studio for much less.