Apple’s latest sale is here: Shop deals on MacBook Air and Pro models at Amazon and Walmart
Save up to 20% on Apple’s MacBook models.
Apple MacBook Air M1
$629.00
$699.00
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If you travel or work remotely, this is one of the best laptops for the price. It’s compact and lightweight. It also gets up to 18 hours of battery life — more than enough to go without a charge for a couple of days, in my experience. The M2 is currently 20% off, a great discount for a laptop that can easily work for years. It has 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a bright liquid retina display.
The M1 MacBook Air was released in 2020, but still delivers great performance in a compact size. NBC Select editorial projects manager Rebecca Rodriguez has used this model for years to tackle emails, spreadsheets, task management and streaming. I’ve also used this MacBook Air as my main laptop for five years. I’m able to stream shows and edit documents with very little issue. It’s lightweight and portable and gets up to 18 hours of battery life, according to the brand. While it might not move as fast and have as many ports as other MacBooks, it is more than enough for most people’s needs, especially at such a low price.
“The M4 is an excellent all-round laptop that I would recommend to any creative professional. I can open dozens (read: way too many) tabs, hop on video calls and edit large video sequences in programs like Adobe Premiere Pro without the computer slowing down or getting too hot to handle,” says Rabinowitz. The screen is bright with vibrant colors and the highest resolution of any laptop on this list. It is slightly heavier and larger than the MacBook Air models, but you get better performance overall.
NBC Select staff have used different MacBook Air laptops for years. This M3 model is a good fit for anyone, outside of creative professionals and gamers. It has a high-resolution screen and a speedy processor. “I can have tons of tabs open, tackle video calls and browse spreadsheets without slowing down,” says NBC Select reporter Harry Rabinowitz. This M3 version has a faster processor than the previous version and has 16GB of memory by default for even more speed.
I am an editor at NBC Select who writes and edits stories on various topics including tech, fitness, home and more. I have covered major shopping holidays and other events for over five years. I’ve also tested and tried tech products for over five years including headphones, speakers and computers.
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