One of the most attention-grabbing Cyber Monday MacBook deals is the MacBook Air M1, dropping to just $599 at Walmart. MacBooks are great, but often painfully expensive, so seeing a new MacBook for under $600 will get you to sit up and take notice, but if you want the best value, it isn’t the MacBook you should buy for Cyber Monday.
The MacBook Air M1 celebrated its fourth birthday last month, encroaching on geriatric in laptop years. Still, it’s less about the MacBook Air M1 and more about what’s happened to the rest of the MacBook Air lineup that should drive you to look elsewhere when considering a new MacBook during Black Friday.
One big factor is Apple’s move to 16GB of RAM as the base option on the current M2 and M3 MacBook Air. This was previously a $200 upgrade that I recommended for the Air, and it’s not available as part of the M1 Air deal, while the M2 Air for $799 at Amazon and the M3 Air for $844 at Amazon both include 16GB of RAM.
This, in addition to the upgraded M2 and M3 chips, which are roughly 25% and 40% faster than the M1, respectively, will allow you to use either laptop happily for likely 3-5 more years than the M1. So, if you view your laptop purchase as a cost per year of ownership rather than the purchase price alone, you’re getting a better experience today and a better value over time on either the M2 or M3 Air.
Now, if you are looking at the Air M1 as a secondary laptop like a Chromebook that is purely going to be used for web browsing, go right ahead, but if this is your primary laptop and a long-term investment for you, either the M2 or M3 Air is the better choice. Considering the MacBook Pro? You can check our Cyber Monday MacBook deals for the best prices on every model right now.
Swipe to scroll horizontallyMacBook Air Deal comparisonRow 0 – Cell 0 MacBook Air 13 M1MacBook Air 13 (M2)MacBook Air 13 (M3)Black Friday Price$599$799$844CPUM1M2M3RAM8GB16GB16GBDisplay13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)13.6 inches (2560 x 1600)13.6 inches (2560 x 1600)Ports2 Thunderbolt 3 and a headphone jack2 Thunderbolt 3/USB 4, Magsafe, headphone2 Thunderbolt 3/USB 4, MagSafe, headphoneGraphicsM1M2M3Storage256GBup to 2TBup to 2TBBattery Life (hrs)14:59 (tested)14:06 (tested)15:13 (tested)SecurityTouch IDTouch IDTouch IDSize12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inchesWeight2.8 pounds2.7 pounds2.7 poundsToday’s best 13-inch MacBook Air deals
