Apple unveiled new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models based on its new M2 chip earlier this year. 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. The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip starts at the same $1,299 list price as the previous model.
As holiday shopping season nears, the new M2 machines are selling at sizable discounts. You can save up to $150 on the M2 MacBook Air and $149 on the M2 MacBook Pro at Amazon. If you’re sad to see the Air’s $999 starting price disappear (we are; sniff), you can get the previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chip and 13.3-inch display for $800 at Amazon — a savings of $199.
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. You can save up to $499 on the 14-inch model and $400 on the 16-inch unit.
US pricing for Apple’s MacBooks
The new M2 MacBook Air starts at $1,199, and the previous M1 MacBook Air starts at $999. The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,299, 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 that you can customize the machine and add more RAM or a higher-capacity solid-state drive. 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 MacBook Air (256GB) | $999 | $800 | $750 |
| M1 MacBook Air (512GB) | $1,199 | $1,199 | $1,000 |
| M2 MacBook Air (256GB) | $1,199 | $1,099 | $1,049 |
| M2 MacBook Air (512GB) | $1,499 | $1,349 | $1,299 |
| 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (256GB) | $1,299 | $1,150 | $1,150 |
| 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (512GB) | $1,499 | $1,350 | $1,399 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $1,999 | $1,999 | $1,500 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,499 | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| 16-inch Macbook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (512GB) | $2,499 | $2,199 | $2,099 |
| 16-inch Macbook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip (1TB) | $2,699 | $2,299 | $2,299 |
| 16-inch Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max chip (1TB) | $3,499 | $3,350 | $3,099 |
*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.
Best MacBook deals
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The baseline model of the 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.
There are no discounts currently available on the baseline 14-inch Pro, and it’s going in and out of stock on Amazon. You can, however, save $499 on the 1TB model at Amazon — that’s the biggest discount we’ve seen yet for it.
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