Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

I’ve tested every MacBook, but I still recommend this $600 one on sale today

The gold MacBook Air M1's logo and keyboard.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I don’t normally recommend four-year-old laptops — especially as someone who’s reviewed every MacBook, up to and including the latest M4 MacBook Pros. But look — finding a laptop for $600 that doesn’t suck isn’t easy, and the M1 MacBook Air is still startlingly good despite its age.

It’s $100 off for Cyber Week over at Walmart, bringing it to its lowest price ever. Without a doubt, this is one of the best laptops to ever be sold for $600, and in terms of the best MacBook deals, look no further.

While it’s a few generations back in terms of Apple Silicon, it’s the perfect option for a high school or college student, or even a remote worker who doesn’t need anything too powerful. If you’re coming from an older laptop, you’ll be surprised by how fast the chip is and how long-lasting the battery life is.

In my own testing, the laptop lasted 15 and a half hours in web browsing and over 18 hours in video playback. While your mileage may vary in terms of what applications you’re running, you’re likely to get through the majority of a work or school day without having to charge. While it’s true that’s become more commonplace in 2024 across MacBooks and modern Windows laptops, that can’t be said about other laptops in this price range right now.

This is the entry-level configuration, so it comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You do get the option of any of the three color options though: Gold, Silver, or Space Gray.

Apple MacBook Air M1 open, on a table.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

This 13.3-inch MacBook Air debuted the M1 chip back in the fall of 2020, and while the chassis wasn’t anything new at the time, the performance was out of this world compared to its predecessors. It kicked off the entire Apple Silicon revolution, and it still holds up today a lot better than you might expect.

Don’t get me wrong — the newer M2 MacBook Air and M3 MacBook Air models do provide some meaningful updates, such as faster GPU performance, a higher-resolution webcam, slimmer bezels, and an overall thinner profile. But even during Cyber Week, the M2 MacBook Air will cost you an extra $150. $750 for the M2 MacBook Air is also a solid deal, and I do think those improvements are worth the extra cash. But sometimes you just need the rock-bottom pricing, and there’s nothing out there quite like the M1 MacBook Air right now.

Speaking of rock-bottom pricing, you can even get this same M1 MacBook Air for even less if you’re willing to get a refurbished model. The lowest price I could find was also at Walmart, which is selling a refurbished model for $488. It’s absolutely bonkers that a laptop this good can be purchased for under $500, even if it’s not new. It’s a huge step up over the Chromebooks and low-end Windows laptops that typically sell at this price.

You may see some MacBooks on sale for even less during Cyber Week, but I would strongly encourage you not to buy anything older than the M1 MacBook Air. The Intel-based MacBook Airs from 2019 or earlier weren’t even very impressive at the time of releasing. Five years later, they’re bound to be a disappointment in terms of performance — no matter how low the prices get.

If you do happen to be someone who’s looking for something more powerful, I’d recommend checking out the M4 MacBook Pro. It has the better screen, performance, and extra ports that MacBook Airs are missing.

Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen is the Senior Editor of Computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
Best refurbished MacBook deals: Get a MacBook Air for $101 and more
A stack of MacBooks is pictured from the top down.

Apple is easily one of the best laptop brands that you're going to find, which often makes Apple MacBooks quite pricey, especially when you consider that the Apple brand adds a premium to the price tag. So, if you're in the Apple ecosystem and looking for the best laptops, you're going to get them, but you'll also have to pay a pretty penny for them. Luckily, you can grab yourself a refurbished laptop to save yourself a little bit of extra money, not to mention it's great for the environment since it reduces electronic waste.

To help you pick the best MacBook for your budget, we've gone out and picked some of the best refurbished MacBook deals we could find and compiled them below. Apple deals are notoriously slim pickings, so if you want a complete Apple suite for cheap, check out refurbished iPhone deals and refurbished iPad deals too.
MacBook Air 11.6-inch (2015) -- from $101

Read more
Prime Big Deal Days Apple deals still available: AirPods, MacBooks, iPads
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/10/24: Apple doesn't always have a lot of great deals, which is why we're happy to see that there are still a ton of sales going on several Apple products, even though Prime Day is officially over. The deals below have been updated to reflect the latest prices, and we'll try to keep on top of pricing, although you should grab anything you like quickly!

The Prime Day deals are over, and while that usually means missing out on some great Apple deals, there are still many options available for you to check out that you may have missed out on. In fact, we're actually seeing quite a lot of excellent sales across the board, which is why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Prime Day Apple deals for you below. Also, if you're looking for more specific deals on Apple products, then check out our roundup on these Prime Day MacBook deals, Prime Day smartwatch deals, and Prime Day headphones deals.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (256GB, Boost Mobile) — $0 $1,200 100% off

Read more
Prime Big Deal Days 2024 MacBook Deals: What’s still available?
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/10/24: We've said goodbye to Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, but it looks like we've still got some time with these MacBook deals from both Amazon and Best Buy. Some discounts were reduced as the shopping event ended, but at least you've still got the chance at huge savings with any of these bargains.

If you've always wanted to grab yourself a MacBook, then the Prime Big Deal Days sale was the perfect time to do so. The shopping event has ended though -- if you missed it, the good news is that most of the offers that we recommended on this page are still available. We're not sure for how much longer though, so if any of these bargains catch your eye, you're going to want to proceed with the purchase as soon as you can.

Read more