Don't buy the cheapest MacBook Air for Black Friday, here's what you should get instead

MacBook Air M2 in silver colorway against green background

(Image credit: Apple, Laptop Mag)

One of the most attention-grabbing Black Friday MacBook deals so far is the MacBook Air M1 dropping to just $599 at Walmart. Apple famously doesn't make a cheap laptop, so seeing a new MacBook for under $600 should get you to sit up and take notice, but if you want the best value, it isn't the MacBook you should buy for Black Friday.

The MacBook Air M1 is celebrating its fourth birthday this month, encroaching on geriatric laptop years, but 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 $749 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 longterm investment for you, either the M2 or M3 Air are the better Black Friday MacBook deals.

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MacBook Air Deal comparison
Row 0 - Cell 0	MacBook Air 13 M1	MacBook Air 13 (M2)	MacBook Air 13 (M3)
Black Friday Price	$599	$749	$844
CPU	M1	M2	M3
RAM	8GB	16GB	16GB
Display	13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)	13.6 inches (2560 x 1600)	13.6 inches (2560 x 1600)
Ports	2 Thunderbolt 3 and a headphone jack	2 Thunderbolt 3/USB 4, Magsafe, headphone	2 Thunderbolt 3/USB 4, MagSafe, headphone
Graphics	M1	M2	M3
Storage	256GB	up to 2TB	up to 2TB
Battery Life (hrs)	14:59 (tested)	14:06 (tested)	15:13 (tested)
Security	Touch ID	Touch ID	Touch ID
Size	12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches	11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches	11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches
Weight	2.8 pounds	2.7 pounds	2.7 pounds

Today's best 13-inch MacBook Air deals

Best Buy takes $255 off the 13-inch Apple M3 MacBook Air for Black Friday! This is the best laptop to buy if you're looking for a portable and reliable daily driver. We gave it a shining 4.5 out of 5 stars in our MacBook Air M3 review. Plus, it's the Editor's Choice best overall laptop for its outstanding 15-hour battery life and powerful performance.

Features: 13.6-inch (2560 x 1664) 500-nit Liquid Retina display, M3 8-core processor, 8-Core GPU, 16-core neural engine, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p FaceTime HD camera, three-mic array with directional beamforming, Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, quad-speakers with Spatial Audio support, macOS

Take $250 off the M2 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage via Amazon's on page coupon. In our MacBook Air M2 review, we were floored by the MacBook Air M2's elegant redesign, fantastic performance, and bright, colorful screen. Its battery life lasted 14 hours in our Laptop Mag Battery test which is impressive.

Features: 13.6-inch (2560 x 1664) Liquid Retina display, M2 8-core processor, 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage., Magic Keyboard, Touch Bar, and Touch ID.

The 2020 M1 MacBook Air is $400 off and the cheapest MacBook you can buy right now! Succeeded by the M2 MacBook Air, it's still one of the best laptops out there. It packs blazing-fast performance and long battery life into a slim, unibody design (in fact, it's the last MacBook with the iconic "wedge" design).

Features: 13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) IPS Retina display, Apple M1 8-core processor, 8GB RAM, Apple M1 7-core GPU, 256GB SSD, macOS

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more. Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.