The Prime Day Mac Book Deals I Recommend (2026) | WIRED

Overview

As Apple Hikes Prices, These Are the Best Prime Day Mac Book Deals

Mac Books tend to be the cheapest on Amazon, making them a great product to shop for on Prime Day. These days, though, it's increasingly confusing to know which one is right for you. The dependable Mac Book Air, powerful Mac Book Pro, and affordable Mac Book Neo are all on sale for Prime Day, though none are significant discounts beyond the norm.

Details

With the recent announcement of Apple's price hikes on Thursday, however, these prices have a new context. All of a sudden, this might be your last chance to get some affordable Mac Books.

Be sure to browse our roundup of the Absolute Best Prime Day Deals and our live blog, updated all day, every day of the event.

Updated 10 am ET Friday, June 26: I've added new context regarding Apple's pricing, and ensured deals are still live for the last day of Prime Day.

The days of the cheap Mac Book Air are already fading away. Apple increased the starting price to

1,299 and Amazon has already followed suit. However, there's one configuration on offer that's an actual deal. Amazon is selling the 1 TB model right now for

50 less than the 512 GB model at just

1,149. That's

450 less than Apple is selling it for on its website. The one caveat is that this configuration has the starting 8-core GPU, while Apple no longer sells the 8-core GPU when paired with 1 TB of storage. Instead, it now forces you to jump up to the 10-core GPU. As the cheapest version of the Mac Book Air you can buy right now, however, it's still a really great deal.

Amazon is selling the 1 TB model right now for

50 less than the 512 GB model at just

1,149

And what you're getting is the laptop that most people should buy. If you work at your laptop full time, you want something without major compromises, and that's exactly what the Mac Book Air delivers. It's a nearly perfect laptop for what it aims to be.

You might be tempted by the lower price of the Mac Book Neo or the flashier display of the Mac Book Pro. I get it. The appeal is strong in either direction, but trust me: The Mac Book Air is the more sensible choice. It's extremely portable, the screen is still vibrant and bright, and the performance of the M5 will hold up for years to come. But more importantly, the Mac Book Air is the one you'll buy that won't make you regret it later, either because you overpaid for a Mac Book Pro or feel limited by the restrictions of the Mac Book Neo.

It's certainly true that Apple was selling its previous Mac Book Air as low as

750 around this time last year. But the 2026 M5 model comes with twice the storage (now at 512 GB). The lowest price right now is over at Amazon, where the base configuration costs

949. That's

150 off, and while it's not the lowest I've seen this laptop go, it remains a solid deal compared to the competition in Windows land. It's especially good considering the new

1,299 starting price that Apple now sells this exact same configuration for. Whew.

There's also the 15-inch model to consider, which has a much larger screen without adding much in terms of thickness.

The next best Mac Book deal for Prime Day is on the M5 Mac Book Pro. This is the 14-inch model, which launched in late 2025. While it doesn't represent a significant increase in performance over the Mac Book Air, it does get you the HDR-ready Mini-LED display. It's brighter and more color-accurate than the Mac Book Air. It also comes with the option for the Nano Texture display, which is great at reducing glare. The other major upgrade is in the extra ports, which include HDMI and an SD card slot. Beyond that, it's a slightly thicker laptop with better speakers and a slightly larger display.

But what really makes this worthy of purchase is the price. Amazon has kept around the

1,550 starting model from before Apple raised its price to

1,999. Given the speed at which Amazon and other retailers have hikes its own prices to match Apple, I'm not sure how long this deal will stick around.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max configurations are where you really start to ramp up the performance, and there are some lower prices here to consider too. The 14-inch Mac Book Pro with the M5 Max comes with a starting price of

3,300 compared to Apple's pricing at

4,099. That's a very expensive laptop, yes, but they are also some tremendous savings.

The Mac Book Neo was supposed to be Apple's first truly affordable Mac Book, but the

100 price increase has made things trickier. Despite coming with only 8 GB of RAM, the laptop now sells for

699 (or $799 for the model with twice the storage). And don't forget: instead of a proper Mac chip, it uses the A18 Pro chip, which was designed for i Phones.

Unfortunately, Amazon has removed listings from before Apple's price change, so right now your options are limited. The only significant discount on offer is on the Blush version of the 512 GB-model, which is

110 cheaper than Apple. The good news is that Walmart is still selling its pre-price hike configurations, meaning you can still get the entry-level Mac Book Neo for

599.

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Key Takeaways

As Apple Hikes Prices, These Are the Best Prime Day Mac Book Deals
Mac Books tend to be the cheapest on Amazon, making them a great product to shop for on Prime Day
With the recent announcement of Apple's price hikes on Thursday, however, these prices have a new context
Be sure to browse our roundup of the Absolute Best Prime Day Deals and our live blog, updated all day, every day of the event
Updated 10 am ET Friday, June 26: I've added new context regarding Apple's pricing, and ensured deals are still live for the last day of Prime Day