Skip to main content

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

Best Labor Day MacBook Deals 2020: MacBook Air And MacBook Pro

Labor Day sales are now well underway (and fast drawing to a close) so if you’re looking for a new laptop, this is the time to seek one out if you want to save plenty of cash. With MacBooks often some of the pricier options out there, there are big savings to be found right now when it comes to great MacBook deals and we’ve got you covered with some special Labor Day deals, providing some of the best offers we’ve seen in a while.

Today’s Best Labor Day MacBook Deals

  • 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1650, was $1800
  • 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1850, was $2000
  • 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $2100, was $2400
  • 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $2500, was $2800

How To Choose A New MacBook

When you’re trying to decide which MacBook to buy, the main decision involves knowing whether to get a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to know their distinctions.

The MacBook Air is the cheapest of all the Apple laptops, but there’s a reason for that. Typically, MacBook Airs are less powerful than other MacBooks and often a little slower. That means they’re not very good if you plan on gaming, video editing, music processing, or doing anything vaguely complex on your laptop. While they are not powerful devices, they’re perfect for portability and general productivity tasks. They’re incredibly light so they’re ideal if you simply want something you can take out and about with you with minimal hassle.

MacBook Pros weigh more but that’s because they also offer more. They tend to offer more powerful processors as well as, sometimes, a dedicated graphics card depending on the MacBook Pro you purchase. These are better for video editing tasks, Photoshop work, and other more full-on computer processing tasks.

In either case, you get the Magic Keyboard so it’s a pleasant experience to type on, and both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have good Retina screens, although the Pro has a brighter screen. Both systems offer a minimum of a 13-inch screen although the MacBook Pro is also available in a 16-inch variety if you need the extra screen space.

When you’re trying to decide which system is for you, don’t forget storage. Both MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros come with 256GB of SSD storage at a minimum but if you know you’re going to be creating or editing a lot of image files or videos, you’ll need more than that. You can buy external hard drives to supplement it, but it’s far easier to have plenty of storage built-in.

When it comes to deciding between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, the main question you should ask yourself is how powerful you need it to be, then take it from there.

Editors' Recommendations

Jennifer Allen
Jennifer Allen is a technology writer with over 10 years of experience. She primarily writes about the best deals coverage…
Best laptop deals: Save on the Dell XPS 14, MacBook Pro 16 and more
The Dell XPS 14 on a white table with the screen open.

There's no shortage of laptop deals online, so narrowing down your choices will be an overwhelming task. Fortunately, we're here to help you out as we've gathered our favorite bargains on some of the best laptops below. These include offers on hardware from the best laptop brands like HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, Apple, and Dell, with discounts that will let you pocket hundreds of dollars in savings. Read on to figure out what your next laptop should be, and to learn other important things that you need to know before making your decision.

Today's best laptop deals
HP Chromebook 14a -- $200, was $310

Read more
Best student laptop deals: Laptops for college from $215
online web browser game list

Whether in high school or college, the costs of being a student can add up quickly. A laptop is pretty much a necessity these days, and options among the best laptops don’t often come with discounted prices. Shopping the best laptop deals is a good idea, but we’ve also rounded up some laptop deals with students more specifically in mind. The laptops you’ll find here — for the most part — will hold their own with the best budget laptops, and offer a wide range of hardware configurations and price points. And while you may want to consult our laptop buying guide for more specifics, reading onward you’ll find along with the best student laptop deals a little information on which may be the best choice for you.
HP Laptop 14 -- $215, was $269

The HP Laptop 14 is a popular choice among students because of its entry level price point. It's specs aren't going to blow anyone away, but they're good value for the price and are plenty to get the job done. This build of the HP Laptop 14 has 8GB of RAM and a quad-core Intel Celeron processor. It does check in with just 64GB of storage space -- this may not be enough for some users, but if you aren't planning on loading your laptop up with media this is one that will accompany you well around campus.

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.

Apple has long been known to turn out some of the best laptops, with models like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro regularly being among the most sought-after laptops. It can actually be difficult to land some decent Apple deals, as the brand's popularity keeps many of its products from seeing the bargain bin. Right now, however, Apple has a lot of options among the best laptop deals. The original Apple Silicon MacBook Air is seeing some of its lowest prices ever, and there’s even some newer MacBook Pros discounted right now. Whether you’re in search of a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, reading onward you’ll find the best MacBook deals currently available.
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