Skip to main content

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

Apple MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13 discounted ahead of Prime Day

The Dell XPS 13 is the company’s crowning glory, and also our top pick for the best laptop of 2020. It’s got everything that you could ever want in a premium portable PC: Top-tier performance, beautiful design, and exceptional hardware. Unfortunately, it normally comes with a hefty price tag. Not anymore. Right now, you can get it at Dell’s official website for a huge $108 off. Or if it’s the MacOS experience that you want, check out the 13-inch MacBook Air below. It, too, boasts high-end hardware and software components and comes in at a whopping $99 off ahead of Prime Day. Read on to decide which laptop suits you best.

Dell XPS 13

– $750, was $858

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Dell XPS 13 is the perfect Ultrabook. Refresh after refresh, Dell has managed to land on the top spot of our annual list of best laptops. The latest iteration of the XPS 13 fixes its predecessor’s biggest flaw: The tragic “nosecam.” For some confounding reason, Dell placed it in the center of the bottom bezel, giving the person you’re video chatting with a charming view of your nostrils. Now, the webcam has been moved to its rightful place at the top bezel. Another major highlight is this laptop’s touchscreen. The previous XPS 13’s display was already stunning, but Dell just wasn’t satisfied with it and decided to remove nearly all of its surrounding bezels. The result is a 13.4-inch touchscreen panel that’s 6.8% larger than its predecessor, giving you a more immersive view of your work. This unit’s Intel Core i5 processor is extremely powerful. Normal day-to-day tasks will prove no challenge at all, and neither will having multiple browser tabs and CPU-intensive programs open simultaneously. In fact, this chip makes this laptop more powerful than the MacBook Air, detailed below, which costs $150 more. Battery life is also quite excellent, lasting over 12 hours in our continuous web surfing test. The Dell XPS 13 may be a bit pricey, but it is worth every penny thanks to its top-notch design, solid performance, and day-long battery life. Get it today for $750 instead of $858 at Dell’s official website – a huge $108 off.

13-inch MacBook Air

— $900, was $999

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The MacBook Air is Apple’s most well-balanced and affordable laptop offering. It is now bedecked with the perfect keyboard, Apple ditched the pretty yet unnecessary Touch Bar (which also contributes to the lower price), and it offers a good performance well-suited to everyday computing tasks. The older MacBook’s Butterfly keyboard offered a typing experience that was comparable to typing on a block of wood. Thankfully, Apple listened to its many fans’ complaints and came up with the much-improved Magic keyboard. It provides a deeper, more satisfying feel and no longer feels flimsy as did its predecessor. Apple also wisely chose to remove the divisive Touch Bar in favor of a row of physical function keys and a standalone Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Finally, this unit comes with a tenth-generation Intel Core i3 processor which can easily tackle the most basic of tasks, although it’s not suitable for CPU-intensive work such as photo and video editing. If your primary reasons for buying a laptop involve researching, editing documents, sending emails, and updating social media, this will more than suffice. Get the 13-inch MacBook Air, our choice for the best laptop for students, at Amazon today for $900 instead of $999.

Still having a difficult time deciding? Check out some of the other Black Friday Dell XPS deals, laptop deals, and MacBook deals happening now. Rather see what’s happening on Prime Day? Check out our expert guide’s to Prime Day laptop deals and Prime Day Macbook deals.

Editors' Recommendations

Timothy Taylor
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Timothy is a deals writer for Digital Trends that specializes in finding the best discounts on smartphones, wireless…
The 2022 MacBook Air has a nice discount at Amazon today
The screen of the MacBook Air on a table.

Always a great place to check for laptop deals, Amazon has a great one on the Apple MacBook Air with M2 chip right now. Usually costing $999, you can buy the popular laptop for just $829 right now so you’re saving a huge $170. The discount is highly unlikely to stick around given it’s a limited time deal, so if you’re keen to learn more about it, take a quick read below before you miss out.

Why you should buy the Apple MacBook Air M2
When we reviewed the Apple MacBook Air M2, we described it as “what Apple has always wanted”. It’s incredibly thin, has great battery life, all while performing admirably. At its heart is its M2 chip along with 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. We’d like to have seen more storage but memory wise, this may not sound as good as the best laptops but Apple knows how to use its hardware well.

Read more
The Dell XPS 13 laptop is at its clearance price
The Dell XPS 13 on a table with the Start Menu open.

With the arrival of the new Dell XPS 13, the previous-generation model of the popular laptop is available with a $200 discount in a clearance sale from Dell. From its original price of $799, it's down to an affordable $599, but we're not exactly sure for how long. Once stocks of this version of the Dell XPS 13 are gone, we're not sure if there will be more Dell XPS deals for another chance at buying this device. If you don't want to miss out on this offer, you need to complete your purchase as soon as possible.

Why you should buy the Dell XPS 13
Despite the arrival of the new Dell XPS 13 following the Dell XPS reset, the 2022 release of the Dell XPS 13 is still included in our list of the best laptops. We've tagged it as the best budget laptop because of the value that you'll get from its 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and 8GB of RAM. Its components aren't in line with the top-of-the-line models of premium laptops, but the Dell XPS 13 will prove to be a reliable device for everyday activities such as browsing the internet, watching streaming shows, and catching up on social media.

Read more
Best MacBook deals: Get an Air for $605 and save on M3 MacBook Pro
A MacBook Pro M2 sits on a wooden table with a nice bokeh background.

If you're looking for a thin yet powerful laptop, then it's hard to beat Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, as they are some of the best laptops on the market, especially with the latest Apple chips inside of them. That said, they do come at quite a steep price, so you'll want to rely on one of several Apple deals below to save you a little bit of extra money when grabbing one of the most powerful laptops on the market. You can also check out some of these great AirPods deals, Apple Watch deals, and iPhone deals to pair with your new MacBook, or, if you don't want a MacBook at all, check out some of these great laptop deals instead.
Best MacBook Air (M1) deals

The Apple MacBook Air (M1) started a seismic shift for Apple being the first of its Airs to have an Apple-based processor. We took a look at the differences between the M2 and M1 and the M1 is still looking pretty great. It's also a touch nearer to affordable than anything else here. Fast yet fanless so it's silent to use, you gain an 18-hour battery life, a gorgeous looking 13.3-inch Retina display along with all the effortless style you'd expect from an Apple device. These laptops are best for students or those who want something stylish yet reasonably powerful to use on the move. Nowadays, deals are becoming a little harder to come by unless you're willing to consider a refurbished/renewed model.

Read more