Apple unveiled a new MacBook Air at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. The new MacBook Air is bigger than the previous Air with the promise of more power. Along with a bigger 13.6-inch display and new M2 chip, however, comes a higher price. Gone is the $999 starting price; the new M2 MacBook Air line starts at $1,199. It starts shipping next month.
If you can’t wait until July to make a purchase or are looking to spend less, then you can get the previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chip and 13.3-inch display for $949 at Amazon. That’s $50 less than you’ll pay at Apple and $250 less than the baseline M2 MacBook Air. A better deal is available for the 512GB model. It’s $49 off and you can save an additional $150 at checkout. That amounts to being $199 less than you’ll pay at Apple and $449 less than the step-up M2 MacBook Air model.
Discounts are harder to come by for Apple’s MacBook Pros at the moment. The 14-inch MacBook Pro and its larger 16-inch Pro sibling, both based on Apple’s M1 Pro chip, are the company’s biggest and most powerful MacBooks. These models are in short supply and selling at full price. The 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020, however, is $149 off at Amazon right now. It lacks the M1 Pro processor of its bigger Pro siblings, but its M1 chip is a big step up from the previous Intel-based MacBook Pro.
We keep our eyes on the prices for all of Apple’s current MacBook models and keep this page updated with any notable drops and deals, so be sure to check back frequently.
Pricing for Apple’s MacBooks
The new M2 MacBook Air starts at $1,199 (£1,249, AU$1,899), and the previous M1 MacBook Air starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,499). The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 (£1,349, AU$1,999), the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499.
While Amazon has the best prices at the moment, one benefit to paying full price and buying from Apple is you can customize the machine and add more RAM or a higher-capacity SSD. The models sold by Amazon and other retailers are fixed configurations.
Want to go the refurbished 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: MacBook Pro 2021 Review: Apple’s M1 Max Chip Meets Retro Ports
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 | $949 | $750 |
| 13.3-inch MacBook Air w/ M1 chip (512GB) | $1,249 | $1,050 | $1,000 |
| 13.6-inch MacBook Air w/ M2 chip (256GB) | $1,199 | $1,199 | $1,199 |
| 13.6-inch MacBook Air w/ M2 chip (512GB) | $1,499 | $1,499 | $1,499 |
| 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 chip (256GB) | $1,299 | $1,150 | $1,050 |
| 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 chip (512GB) | $1,499 | $1,499 | $1,250 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,749 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,499 | $2,499 | $2,229 |
| 16-inch Macbook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $2,499 | $2,499 | $2,299 |
| 16-inch Macbook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,699 | $2,699 | $2,499 |
| 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. Prices change frequently and may differ between color variants.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The MacBook Air starts at $999 from Apple 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 has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It lacks the Touch Bar (which could be viewed as a positive), and does have a 13.3-inch Retina display, Touch ID and the Magic keyboard. The step-up model costs $1,249 from Apple and doubles the solid-state storage to 512GB.
The baseline 256GB model is $50 off at Amazon, but you can save $199 on the 512GB model in space gray right now. It’s listed with a $49 discount, and you can save an additional $150 at checkout.
Read our MacBook Air (M1) review.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
Originally released in 2020, this is the most recent model of the 13-inch Pro. It comes with 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. It also features 8GB of RAM, a Retina display, the Magic Keyboard and the Touch Bar with Touch ID.
Discounts are meager at the moment. You can save $50 on the 256GB model and $50 on the 512GB model at Amazon. We recommend a 512GB SSD at minimum for most laptop buyers; a 256GB SSD can fill up fast.
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 has a 3,024×1,964-pixel resolution.
Stock appears to be low for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and no discounts are available on either the 512GB or 1TB model.
Read our 14-inch MacBook Pro review.
Apple
The baseline model of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro lists for $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 packs 3,456×2,234 pixels.
As with the smaller model, there are no price breaks to be found right now on the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Read our 16-inch MacBook Pro review.
