Cheap MacBook: Is Black Friday or Christmas the Better Time to Buy?

You've found the MacBook you want, the price makes you wince, and Black Friday is still five weeks off. Getting a cheap MacBook comes down to which chip you buy and which week you buy it. The worry is the same either way: pay too much now, or wait and miss the price you wanted.

For a new MacBook, Black Friday and the weeks before Christmas have landed in about the same place. In 2025, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air hit $749 at Amazon on Black Friday, was back at $749 on Dec. 17, and sat at $799 in January. The biggest gaps show up on older chips, not the newest models, and no price is guaranteed to drop.

Black Friday 2026 on the Calendar: Nov. 27 and Nov. 30

The 2026 sale weekend runs from Black Friday on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, to Cyber Monday on Nov. 30, the Monday after. Most people plan around those four days, and our guide to when Apple prices are lowest, Black Friday or Christmas covers the wider Apple lineup, but last year the low price on a MacBook Air showed up weeks earlier.

Here is how the 2025 run-up went on the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air (256GB, $999 list), as MacRumors reported it:

• Nov. 5: $749.99, already about $250 under list.
• Nov. 18: $249 off every M4 Air configuration.
• Nov. 28, Black Friday: $749 at Amazon, which MacRumors called an all-time low.

This means "wait for Black Friday" really meant "start watching in early November." The price on Black Friday itself was 99 cents lower than the one posted three weeks before.

What Black Friday Looked Like Last Year: About a Fifth Off

On the current MacBook Air, Black Friday has usually brought roughly a fifth to a quarter off the list price. The model Apple has just replaced tends to go further.

Take the 2025 example. The 13-inch M4 Air listed at $999 and sold for $749, so you saved $250, a quarter of the price. A year earlier, shopping press put the previous-generation 13-inch M2 Air at around $749 against a $1,099 list, closer to a third off. Those older figures vary by about $50 between sources, so read them as a range, not an exact price.

The MacBook Pro followed a similar pattern. Macworld's deal list, updated Dec. 1, 2025, showed the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro at $1,349, $250 off its $1,599 list, and the 16-inch M4 Max at $3,499, down from $3,999.

Between Cyber Monday and Christmas: Prices Came Back

Yes, in 2025 the Black Friday price came back well before Christmas. On Dec. 17, Amazon restored the full $250 off across the M4 MacBook Air line and Best Buy matched it, according to 9to5Mac. The 13-inch 256GB model was $749 again, the same price as on Black Friday.

The same report says prices rose for a short stretch between Cyber Monday and Dec. 17. That is the only record of the dip, but it fits how retailers tend to run sales: in cycles, not in a straight line down.

Holiday prices behave more like a tide than a staircase. You can learn when it usually comes in, but you can't make it arrive. Here is the worked number for 2025: if you missed Black Friday and bought on Dec. 17, waiting cost you nothing on that model. If you'd waited past Christmas into January, it cost you $50.

What Changes in January: $200 Off, Not a New Low

January has brought a decent sale, not a better one. On Jan. 6 and again on Jan. 14, 2026, Amazon had $200 off the M4 MacBook Air, at $799 for the 13-inch and $999 for the 15-inch, with Best Buy matching, MacRumors reported. The year before, the M3 Air was $899 (from $1,099) at Amazon and Best Buy in the week of Jan. 20, 2025.

So January sat $50 above the Black Friday low on the M4 Air, and still $200 under list. No dated record we found shows Christmas week or January reliably beating Black Friday on a new MacBook.

The other thing that moves in the new year is the lineup itself. On March 11, 2026, Apple launched the M5 MacBook Air, the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Neo. A launch like that changes which models are on sale and how much stock is left, and there's no fixed rule for when it happens.

Why Older Chips Show the Biggest Gaps

The deepest MacBook deals are usually leftover stock being cleared, much like older iPhones getting cheaper when a new one launches. When Apple launched the M4 MacBook Air in March 2025, it pulled the M2 and M3 Air from its own store, and tech press reported that Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart kept selling their remaining units at sharp discounts.

The same thing applies now. Since the March 11, 2026 launch, Apple's own lineup is the M5 Air, the MacBook Neo and the M5 Pro and Max MacBook Pro. Any new M1, M2, M3 or M4 Air you find is a retailer's remaining stock, and what it costs depends on how much each store has left.

Is an older chip still worth buying? Our comparison of which chip is worth paying for, M1, M2 or M3 goes deeper. For most everyday work, the support list is the place to check. Apple's macOS Tahoe 26 compatibility page includes every MacBook Air from the M1 on. On the Intel side, only the 16-inch 2019 MacBook Pro and the 13-inch 2020 four-port model make the list, which is why Apple's own chips (M1 and later) are the safer place to start. Before you settle on one, compare the features you care about on Apple's own spec pages.

Private-seller prices show how far older chips have fallen. On one large resale marketplace on Sept. 23, 2026, an M1 MacBook Air with 256GB sold for about $368, and a 13-inch M2 Air for about $620. Those are as-is sales from individuals, with no testing and no warranty behind them.

This Year Is Different: Apple's June 2026 Price Increase

Last year's prices are a guide, not a promise, because Apple raised US Mac prices on June 25, 2026, reportedly because memory chips cost more to buy. 9to5Mac reported these changes:

• MacBook Neo: $599 to $699.
• 13-inch MacBook Air (M5): $1,099 to $1,299.
• 15-inch MacBook Air (M5): $1,299 to $1,499.

Here's what that does to a holiday price. A fifth to a quarter off $1,299 is about $975 to $1,040, some $225 to $290 above last year's $749 deal on the M4 Air. The percentage off can look the same as last year while the price you pay is much higher.

The MacBook Neo is Apple's cheapest MacBook now. Apple launched it with an A18 Pro chip, 8GB of memory (RAM, and our look at whether 8GB or 16GB is enough can help you decide) and a 13-inch display, and MacRumors' deals guide on Oct. 16, 2026 listed it at $689 to $699 across retailers.

Adobe's holiday forecast from Sept. 28, 2026 expects electronics discounts to peak at about 30% off list, deepest on Cyber Monday, close to 2025's peak. That covers all electronics, not MacBooks in particular, so treat it as background rather than a price you can count on.

Plug Certified vs. Waiting for a Sale

A retailer's sale on a new MacBook can beat a Plug Certified price on a given day. What you pay for with Plug is the testing and the warranty. Here is how the four usual ways to buy a cheaper MacBook compare:

How you buy	What you pay	Warranty	Who stands behind it
New-model sale at a retailer	The sale price on the day; last year, a fifth to a quarter off list on the current Air	Check the retailer's listing	The retailer and Apple
Apple Certified Refurbished	Up to 15% off, per Apple	Apple's standard one-year limited warranty	Apple
Private seller	Whatever the seller asks, e.g. about $368 for an M1 Air 256GB on Sept. 23, 2026	Whatever the seller agrees to	The seller, as-is
Plug Certified	The live "from" price on Plug's MacBook collection, up to 70% off retail	12-Month Plug Warranty	Plug

Plug prices each MacBook from live market data, so the number on the collection page today may not match next week's. Check it on the day you buy.

Before a MacBook goes on sale at Plug, it passes the 90+ Point Inspection and has to show battery health of 80% or higher. Plug's 12-Month Warranty then covers hardware and software faults under normal use, though not accidental damage, and it's the same warranty Plug puts on every iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch it sells. Grades (Good, Great, Excellent) are about cosmetic condition alone; each one is fully tested and covered the same way. Shipping is free on US orders, returns are accepted within 30 days, and you can split the cost with Afterpay or Affirm at checkout.

If You Buy Used From Anyone: Four Checks

Buying from a private seller? Run these four checks while the Mac is in front of you:

1. Cycle count: Hold Option, open the Apple menu, choose System Information, then go to Hardware > Power and read the Cycle Count.
2. Battery condition: Open System Settings > Battery > Battery Health. You want to see Normal, not Service Recommended.
3. Activation Lock: If setup asks for the previous owner's Apple Account, the Mac is still locked to them. Ask the seller to remove it before you pay.
4. Serial number: Enter it on Apple's Check Coverage page to see the model and whether any Apple coverage is left.

On a Plug Certified MacBook, that checking has already been done before the box leaves Plug.

The Simple Rule for This Season

If the MacBook you want shows up at a fifth to a quarter off list, in November or December, buy it when you see it. Last year's record says waiting until January wouldn't have saved you more. If you'd rather not track prices at all, an older-chip Plug Certified MacBook gets you a tested Mac with Plug's 12-Month Warranty, and the testing and warranty stay the same whichever week you buy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Apple do Black Friday sales?

Not with lower prices, in recent years. Apple's own Black Friday event has given Apple Gift Cards with eligible purchases instead of cutting the price. The MacBook price cuts come from retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy. Check Apple's site and each retailer on the day to compare a gift card against a straight discount.

Is it better to buy a laptop now or wait for Black Friday?

For a MacBook, waiting has usually cost little in price but can cost you choice. Older configurations are leftover stock, and once a store sells out of one, it doesn't come back. If the exact chip, memory and storage you want is already about a fifth off, waiting mostly adds the risk that it sells out.

Do Apple products ever go on sale?

Yes, and students have their own picks in our guide to the best MacBook for students on Black Friday. Mostly, mostly through retailers rather than Apple directly. Apple's own routes are education pricing, which launched the MacBook Neo at $499 for eligible students and staff (one MacBook per eligible buyer per academic year), and Apple Certified Refurbished, which adds up to 90 days of free technical support alongside its one-year limited warranty.

How much is a MacBook Air on Black Friday?

In 2025, the larger 15-inch M4 MacBook Air was $949 on Black Friday, $250 under its $1,199 list, alongside the 13-inch at $749. Those were last year's prices, set before Apple's June 2026 increase, so treat them as a guide to the size of the discount rather than to this year's price.

Is there a sale on an M4 MacBook Air?

Yes, at some retailers, as long as their stock lasts. On Dec. 17, 2025, the higher configurations dropped too: $949 for the 13-inch with 512GB and $1,149 for the 13-inch with 24GB of memory and 512GB. New M4 Airs are now retailer leftovers, so check each seller's price and stock on the day.