Tragedy of the commons.
Over use of sales has rendered it meaningless.
Retailers only have themselves to blame.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Get Major Discounts at Best Buy, Save Up to $300 This Weekend Only
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Tragedy of the commons.
Over use of sales has rendered it meaningless.
Retailers only have themselves to blame.
What most people don't understand is that isn't 8GB for the CPU, as in the past.
It's 8GB that has to be shared by the CPu and GPU.
So 4GB for the CPU and 4GB for the GPU.
Nice spec for a $500 Wally World pee cee.
Kinda dubious for a $1K and up Macbook that can't be upgraded.
My iPad 8 needed a new battery but I was able to trade it in with best buy for a 9 for a net cost of $110 including tax. Now the battery is Apple’s problem and I get a slightly faster iPad with a warranty.
Anyone else remember when Apple never had sales? I feel like the brand value is closer to an Acer now that they are always on sale for this one time only every other weekend
That's what I hate about all these so-called "deals;" they are all so poorly specified that they are useless for any real work. The MBP with the M3 Pro is almost reasonable, but I'd want at least 24-36GB RAM and 1TB of storage.
I believe the share of RAM is dynamic ( and no where near a 50:50 split) and since most people are not doing heavy gaming or intensive processing on the base model... that 8 GB should be fine for regular consumer use. Even if you pushed it and made the Mac use virtual memory... by the time the SSD wore out.. the Mac would be well past its useful life (battery, hinges, keyboard, connectors would probably wear out sooner).
It’s been for sale in and off at this price for months now.
And it’s a four year old base model.
Apple still never does. These are 3rd party retailers who are clearing inventory.
Still a decent laptop.... they will support it at least another 3 years from the moment it is discontinued at retail sale... and up to 5 years hardware servicing etc
The older design is somewhat nicer than the more recent design... I wish my MacBook Air M2 had the wedge shape... it really does make a difference for longer session typing comfort.
If you actually go look at the sales they have pretty much every model discounted by $200 to $300. 18GB and 36GB RAM in MBP M3 Pro configurations. They even have M3 Max with 48GB of RAM on sale. So this sale is not like most others, as normally it is just a base model then if you want higher specs you have to pay full retail. So this is an unusual deal.
Yes, that's true and I agree with your point about the SSD not wearing out prematurely. I just wanted to illustrate that someone thinking that the CPU is getting all that memory is going to be disappointed. Macbooks high resolution screens definitely need significant memory, even if it is shared dynamically with the CPU.
That's not quite right. It's a common misconception that unified memory effectively decreases your available RAM in the way you describe. In fact, a lot of the of the data in GPU RAM needs to be mirrored in CPU RAM, so the CPU and GPU can talk to each other.
What's going on is more like this (not an exact example, since I don't know what the actual nos. are, and they probably vary significantly by task, but it gives the idea):
Suppose the CPU-specific RAM needs are 3 GB, and the GPU-specific RAM needs are also 3 GB. Now let's compare an AS system with 8 GB unified RAM to a discrete system with 8 GB CPU RAM + 4 GB GPU RAM
Case I: AS with 8 GB unified RAM:
RAM used = 3 GB for CPU-specific calcs + 3 GB GPU for GPU-specific calcs = 6 GB
Available unified RAM = 2 GB
Case II: Discrete-GPU system with 8 GB CPU RAM + 4 GB GPU RAM
GPU RAM used: 3 GB
CPU RAM used: 3 GB for CPU-specific calcs, plus 2.5 GB of GPU data that needs to be mirrored in the CPU = 5.5 GB
Available CPU RAM = 2.5 GB
That is probably true but the 200$ I got off of the M3 Pro in this sale was worth it to me to get the 12c/1TB for 2199$ instead of 2399. Out the door I was at 2400, so it basically covered the taxes which is nice.
That is a great response! Also, newer versions of MacOS is not helpful either.
I agree with what you’re saying here. And all the scientific videos on YouTube show things like what happens with five browser tabs open vs twenty tabs open; simply put 8GB of RAM works but everything runs much slower. Things take effectively more than 2x the time. And some things it’s not as important as others. But swap files while may not be enough to degrade the SSD (not clear based on the data), but they’re definitely going to slow everything down to a crawl.
I used to not like one of the channels Max Tech but now it really hits home as they have some videos where they have six different MacBook Pro M3 configurations and show what happens to different apps and etc based upon the specs of the MacBooks. They go as far as saying do not buy the 8GB base MBP M3, as 8GB of RAM is always the bottleneck. They also say probably if you want M3 Max performance you need the cooling capabilities of the 16” MBP. So it’s not just RAM but whole machines that are affected.
I have several Macs. I don’t like carrying around my 16” MBP, but I don’t like carrying around a 14” MBP either to just be able to have one Mac, as that will not give me the maximum performance when connecting to the 6K display or a 5K studio display. If I could only have one Mac, I would go with the 16” MBP with M3 Max 16/40c 128GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD.
But since I can have more than one, a Mac Studio with a 13” MBA fully spec’d out seems like my personal sweet spot. Now, I still play around all the time and have too many Macs. I always would buy the upgraded RAM spec in every single Mac I own.
At the same time I can see why students and others running spreadsheets or text documents could be perfectly happy running 8GB of RAM. So we all have our wants and needs. My argument has always been that AAPL will ensure people that buy the base models have to replace them due to some constraint. Right now even for basic web browsing the bottleneck is the 8GB of RAM.
$1749 for the M3 Pro in base config is a pretty solid deal, that’s less than I’d even expect to find them priced at in the refurb store soon.
Best Buy has a big Presidents' Day sale happening this weekend, and it includes some of the best prices we've ever seen on Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. This event will last through the weekend and end on Monday, February 19. Our article from yesterday has a deeper dive into everything being discounted during the sale.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Some of these deals (particularly the MacBook Pro discounts) require a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total membership, which start at $49.99/year. In addition to exclusive access to select discounts, you'll get free 2-day shipping, an extended 60-day return window, and more.
MacBook Air
The highlight of the MacBook Air deals is on the 256GB M2 15-inch MacBook Air, priced at $999.00, down from $1,299.00. You can also get the 512GB M2 model on sale at $1,199.00, down from $1,499.00. Both of these $300 discounts are a match for the best prices we've ever seen on the M2 15-inch MacBook Air.
13-inch M1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $749.99 ($250 OFF)
15-inch M2 MacBook Air (256GB) for $999.00 ($300 OFF)
15-inch M2 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,199.00 ($300 OFF)
You can also find solid discounts on the M2 13-inch MacBook Air and M1 13-inch MacBook Air during Best Buy's new sale. Prices on the M2 models begin at $949.00 and prices on the M1 models begin at $749.99, both of which are matching previous record low discounts.
MacBook Pro
There are a few more MacBook Pro discounts than MacBook Air discounts, but they will all require a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership. If you don't have one, you can still get solid second-best prices on these computers at Best Buy this weekend.
Note: My Best Buy Plus/Total membership required to see final deal price.
M3 14-inch MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,399.00 ($200 OFF)
M3 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,749.00 ($250 OFF)
M3 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro (1TB) for $2,149.00 ($250 OFF)
Some of the highlights include the 512GB M3 14-inch MacBook Pro for $1,399.00 and the 512GB M3 Pro model at $1,749.00. In total, you'll find up to $250 off these computers, and there are also a few 16-inch models on sale this weekend as well.
Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.
Article Link: Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Get Major Discounts at Best Buy, Save Up to $300 This Weekend Only
There are some crazy good deals on M2 MBAs too. Maybe my spouse needs an upgrade so I can set up a new toy? 😅
As other posters have pointed out - it's not just base configs on sale. You can get upgraded memory or storage and retain or even increase the discount amount.
My partner needed a new Macbook, and I was able to get him a Starlight M2 15" Air with upgraded 16GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive upgrades -- total of $400 off. Great deal.
Agree that usually BestBuy does these firesale deals on stock configs but I think this sale has a lot of value that can offset the cost of bumping up RAM or storage.
Get em while they're still there!
My partner needed a new Macbook, and I was able to get him a Starlight M2 15" Air with upgraded 16GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive upgrades -- total of $400 off. Great deal.
Agree that usually BestBuy does these firesale deals on stock configs but I think this sale has a lot of value that can offset the cost of bumping up RAM or storage.
Get em while they're still there!
They seem pretty clear to me. As noted in the article, some of the sale prices require a Best Buy membership. As with any similar purchase, sales tax would need to be paid where applicable.
These are third party retailer sales/discounts and those have routinely been going on with Apple products since the 1970s. Apple used to offer rebates on products but their "sales" tend to involve gift cards these days.
It’s $50 to get an extra $50 or $100 off depending on the Mac. The MBPs for example are $200 off with no membership. The MBA is $300 off in 15” size with no membership.
So just look at what you’re saying. It takes one minute to go to Best Buy’s website and look it up yourself.
Now, what I found out yesterday is if you pay $50, you get a 60-day return window, save $50 to $100 more on the MacBook and you get further discounts for a year. If you pay $179 for a membership, you get the same extra $50 to $100 more discounted but you also get AppleCare+ for free included with the membership.
I actually believe Apple works with Best Buy and Amazon and perhaps some other retailers to dump inventory. I mean I don’t think Best Buy is going to lose $250 - $300 off a 15” MBA that Apple is eliminating next month since they will introduce the M3 version. So Apple doesn’t want to show it ever discounts, and I know some people who only buy at Apple Stores, so Apple uses third party retailers to dump the inventory that will be outdated soon. I also believe this is how can get $2k off an M1 Max MBP at Adorama or B&H!
It’s obvious Apple bought more than they needed of all of these from their suppliers, or to use the components and get proper economies of scale they just kept building beyond demand. One thing I know for sure is AAPL is still making plenty and the third parties are making money on them too!