Cyber Monday MacBook deals are live, and these are my favorite picks

Cyber Monday is coming in hot for Apple fans, and this year’s markdowns are genuinely impressive, with some of the steepest price drops I’ve seen on our favorite MacBooks, including several of our top recommendations.

● Browse Apple’s full Cyber Monday sale

Right now, my top pick, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air, is just $749 (down from $999) at Amazon in the US. That’s a hefty 25% off a machine that already delivered excellent value thanks to its ultra-efficient M4 chip, gorgeous 13-inch Liquid Retina display, and super-light design that makes it ideal for travel. In the UK, you can grab the same 13-inch M4 MacBook Air for £849 (was £999) at Amazon.

If you need more muscle under the hood, a few MacBook Pro configurations are also discounted. The latest 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5, 2025) is currently $1,349 (previously $1,599) at Amazon in the US. In the UK, the M5 MacBook Pro with 16GB memory and 1TB SSD is on sale for £1,649, down from £1,799.

Still on the fence about which MacBook to get? I’ve spent time with nearly every modern MacBook, and further down this page I give a full comparison between the two to break down the differences between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines, as well as the various M-series chips, so you can feel confident you’re picking the right MacBook for your workload and budget.

You can also head over to our complete roundup of Cyber Monday deals to see the best offers on everything from AirPods to iPads.

• MacBook Air (13-inch, M1): was $649 now $549 at Walmart
• MacBook Air (13-inch, M4): was $999 now $749 at Amazon
• MacBook Air (15-inch, M4) was $1,199 now $949 at Amazon
• MacBook Pro (16-inch, M4 Pro): was $2,499 now $2,189 at Best Buy
• MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5): was $1,599 now $1,349 at Amazon

For day-to-day use, a MacBook has been my main machine for years. I’ve owned or tested everything from an old Intel-powered MacBook Pro, to the M1 MacBook Air that got me through high school, to my current favorite: the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air.

Apple’s chips are on another level right now, with best-in-class battery life and outstanding performance that make light work of just about every workload (though it still has a long way to go before it can rival Windows in PC gaming).

A bunch of these Cyber Monday offers line up with our top picks for the best Macs and MacBooks of the year, so it’s worth checking out that guide if you want a deeper dive into each model. We break them down by price, design, performance, and battery life so you can be sure you’re picking the right one.

And if you’re torn between a MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro, let me quickly walk you through the key differences.

No contest here: if you’re trying to keep your budget in check, the MacBook Air is the obvious pick. Thanks to current Cyber Monday discounts, the latest 13-inch model drops to $749 at Amazon, and the 15-inch version is going for $949. By comparison, the most affordable new MacBook Pro (not counting used or refurbished units) still starts at $1,399 for the 14-inch M5 model, even on sale.

Performance winner – MacBook Pro

You pay more for the MacBook Pro, but the extra horsepower backs up the price tag. The Air is limited to the standard M4 chip, while the Pro lineup gives you access to M4 Pro, M4 Max, and M5 options, all of which offer significantly higher performance. You can also configure a MacBook Pro with up to 128GB of unified memory and a huge 8TB SSD. The Air tops out at 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

The M4 in the Air is still excellent for day-to-day use and even some heavier workloads like light gaming or basic content creation, but for demanding tasks—video editing, 3D work, or running large language models—the Pro’s chips pull far ahead.

Design winner – MacBook Air

This one’s almost a tie, since both machines are beautifully built, but the Air edges it out for me thanks to its featherweight design. The 13-inch MacBook Air comes in at about 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg), while the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts around 3.4 pounds (1.55 kg). On paper that difference looks small, but in a backpack or carried around campus, you really do feel it.

Both offer stunning Liquid Retina displays, though the Pro’s screen is a bit more advanced. The Pro also wins on connectivity, with an extra USB-C port, an SDXC card reader, and HDMI—great if you’re working with external displays or cameras.

Battery life winner – MacBook Pro

When it comes to staying unplugged, the MacBook Pro takes the lead. Its 72.4Whr battery is significantly larger than the Air’s 53.8Whr pack, which translates to roughly six extra hours of video streaming on the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 compared to the 13-inch MacBook Air M4.

The Pro also ships with a beefier 70W power adapter, while the Air’s standard charger is 35W. If you’re really pushing the Pro with intensive workloads, you can drain it more quickly, but the faster charging helps you bounce back in a hurry.

So, what do you need more?

If you want a lightweight and affordable laptop that’s efficient and long-lasting, there’s no beating the MacBook Air. Creative pros and enthusiasts, as well as those who want to do some PC gaming, will want to lean towards the MacBook Pro for its powerful performance, higher memory and storage capacity, and stellar battery life.

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $119
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe’s: up to 30% off appliances, holiday decor & tools
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off Christmas decor, clothing & furniture
• T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor