And this is why apples laptop and computer sales have tanked.
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New Record Low MacBook Deals Include Massive $300 Discount on 15-Inch MacBook Air, Starting at $999
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I have a gaming PC and a 14" Lenovo laptop running Windows 11 and I see no ads. I also have no issues with build quality, inefficiency, heat, noise etc. In fact, my gaming PC is silent (Liquid cooled). Some window-based machines are cheap, others expensive.
I'm typing this on a 2018 Macbook Pro. I have owned two MacBook Pro's and had issues with both! The first machine, which I think was a 2015 machine, had the staingate issue and the coating on the keys was wearing off. This machine had the touchbar fail, butterfly keyboard issues, coating on the keys wearing off, and the screen failed, all of which had to be repaired by Apple. So yea, build quality has been great! 😂
Shows how Apple gets to 38% gross margin and how low sales are probably now.
I bought the 15" Macbook Air M2. I really enjoy it for some light photo editing and it can even do a little bit of video if they're shorter videos. Beyond that this thing is incredibly limited. I will say that with 8GB RAM it does more than I expect it to be able to do though.
Ouch that hurts...![]()
Today we're highlighting a few record low prices on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, all of which are available at Best Buy. The highlight of the sale is the 256GB 15-inch MacBook Air for $999.00, a $300 discount and all-time low price on the notebook.
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.![macbook-green.jpg]()
The deal on the MacBook Air does not require a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, but the MacBook Pro sales do require a membership. These start at $49.99 per year and grant exclusive access to certain deals, extended return windows, and more.
Best Buy still has a few options that ensure delivery before Christmas, including same and next-day shipping, as well as in-store pickup if your local Best Buy has stock. We are quickly approaching deadlines even for these options, so if you're still shopping be sure to place orders today or tomorrow to ensure delivery before the 25th.
15-inch M2 MacBook Air
![15in-macbook-air-green.jpg]()
Previously, this $300 markdown on the 15-inch MacBook Air was exclusive to My Best Buy Plus/Total members, but this massive deal is now available to everyone.
There's also the 512GB 15.3-inch M2 MacBook Air at $1,199.00, down from $1,499.00, which is another steep $300 markdown on the 2023 MacBook Air. You'll find every color on sale for both of these computers.
14-inch MacBook Pro
![16in-macbook-pro-green.jpg]()
Apple's 512GB 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro is available for a record low $1,349.00 for My Best Buy Plus/Total members, down from $1,599.00. Non-members can still purchase the notebook at a solid second-best price of $1,399.00.
Best Buy has the 1TB 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro for $1,549.00, down from $1,799.00. This one is a also a new all-time low price at $250 off, and it's again only available for My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members. The non-member price of $1,599.00 is still an excellent discount, however.
14-inch MacBook Pro (M3 512GB) for $1,349.00 ($250 OFF)
14-inch MacBook Pro (M3 1TB) for $1,549.00 ($250 OFF)
There are a few higher-end M3 Pro and M3 Max models on sale as well, and solid low prices across the board. These also require My Best Buy Plus or Total memberships.
14-inch MacBook Pro (11-Core M3 Pro, 512GB) for $1,799.00 ($200 OFF)16-inch MacBook Pro
14-inch MacBook Pro (12-Core M3 Pro, 1TB) for $2,199.00 ($200 OFF)
14-inch MacBook Pro (14-Core M3 Max, 1TB) for $2,949.00 ($250 OFF)
![14in-macbook-pro-green.jpg]()
You'll find similar discounts on the 16-inch models of the new MacBook Pro, with up to $300 off select models for My Best Buy Plus/Total members and second-best prices for everyone else.
16-inch MacBook Pro (12-Core M3 Pro, 18GB RAM, 512GB) for $2,249.00 ($250 OFF)
16-inch MacBook Pro (12-Core M3 Pro, 36GB RAM, 512GB) for $2,599.00 ($300 OFF)
16-inch MacBook Pro (16-Core M3 Max, 48GB RAM, 1TB) for $3,749.00 ($250 OFF)
Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
Article Link: New Record Low MacBook Deals Include Massive $300 Discount on 15-Inch MacBook Air, Starting at $999
Windows laptops above $600/700 are quality. Windows laptops around $1000 are about the same quality as $1500-2000 Apple laptops.
I mean the fan boys can nay say that’s fine. But they will reference a $199 Walmart Acer as evidence while solid aluminum foldable 10 core windows laptops with 3080s and 2TB of storage, 32gb of ram and upgradable serviceable are laughing at them for $1299
I have completely given up on the PC side of Apple. When they lie to use trying to scam off 8GB of ram in 2023 I laughed.
As far as tablet and phones there isn’t much that catch up to them.
But on the PC side they have excessive competition.
And the fact they have lost 40% of sales in the laptop market since 2020 says a lot.
On top of the massive discounts being offered on new laptops.
The world is starting to see the real cost of the Apple Tax. And it’s cutting into their market share.
Just sell the entry level MacBook Air for $899 already. And the entry 14” MBP for $1099.
I agree. The MBA has been Apple's most popular MacBook for over a decade. I really don't see them killing the brand. It makes no sense to me. The MBA is wildly popular for college, office work, and home use. It is a great choice for the large percentage of consumers that use productivity apps (e.g. MS Office, iWork, Google Docs), Mail, Safari, FaceTime/Zoom, Messages, and access cloud based school/corporate data bases.....just to name a few. You don't need a Pro machine to do this stuff, and the M2 MBA is a nice balance of performance, price, and portability.
I have the base 13" M2 MBA, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great everyday computer.
Agreed - Lots of FUD out there re: PC offerings.
The truth is that there is a ton of diversity in what's available and you'll largely get what you pay for, while getting much more value and versatility than with any Apple offerings at this point.
I just bought myself a new Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Nano 2K Display with a great discount. The build quality is exceptional and since it’s made mostly of carbon fiber there’s no denting or scratching the metal easily. The keyboard is fabulous, as it has farther key travel and the shape of the keys is perfect for typing (I type 90-100 WPM on it vs 80-90 on the MacBooks). The display is nicer than the MacBook Air (the resolution is excellent but far better is it has a matte display), and it has no notch! It comes with 16GB RAM base! The battery life is good not as good as a MacBook. And it’s not as fast of a chip, but I can take the SSD out if there’s a problem and recover my data which is definitely more important to most business users like myself. Was a screaming deal and cheaper than my MacBook Pro by about $3500.
For my workers, they all have MacBooks in some form using Apple Silicon. I use a Mac for a lot of things. But for on the go work, I now use the ThinkPad. It somehow feels and looks more professional, too. IDK
I definitely feel like the Apple con of 8GB of RAM will come back to haunt it. I know the business decision is for Tim to make more money and get more stock grants, but his whole mission of saving the environment is marketing gimmick. These 8GB Macs will not stand the test of time just like iPhones couldn’t with 1GB or 2GB of RAM. It’s creating guaranteed more sales of Macs in the future if people don’t understand the con they were sold to begin with. And people on here want to defend Apple all the time. I love many things about Apple, but they’re still act like a monopoly and most of their actions aren’t to save the environment but marketing speak to sell more product!!!
$250 for +8 GB RAM is outrageous
$250 USD for +8 GB RAM
$250 for +8 GB OF RAM!!!!
We need legislation to prohibit extreme price gouging. Apple is not paying anywhere near this for two 4 GB chips.
To those still spouting off about how 8 GB is good enough, notice that Apple can't sell them without extreme discounts! If Apple can't sell them at market rates, then clearly 8 GB RAM isn't good enough for a $1299 USD computer.
I’ll admit I was tempted, but the rational part of my brain won out. I’m happy enough with my M1 Air, so I’ll continue to hold out for 16GB at that price point.
The 8GB of ram costs about $1.15 per chip as its scale.
And that would be a shame. These machines are the perfect portability machines! Maybe they will drop the Air name and just be called MacBook though.
Honestly it's a good deal. The only better deals are contingent on being lucky enough to be in driving distance to a Micro Center.
And 8GB of RAM is NOT SUFFICIENT! It’s not sufficient right now let alone let it stand the test of time. The problem is like so many have mentioned, it costs an absurd amount to upgrade the RAM and most don’t realize they need more RAM than 8GB. I mean a few browser tabs, Office, and anything else means it’s just not going to cut it. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there proving Apple lied when it stated 8GB on the Mac is like 16GB on a PC. It’s absurd. And the RAM can be so much faster and is closer as it’s an SoC, but it’s still terribly limiting.
Add over time anything like an OS feature and they’re going to cut out the 8GB models first. It happens with iPhones, iPads, and even the MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM. There’s 12+GB of RAM in most Android phones sold at $600+ price point.
Apple should absolutely, raise the base price by $100 and make 16GB the starting RAM amount in any Mac. And people can say oh that’s too much money for people to pay, but at least Apple could be honest and state the problem is 8GB of RAM isn’t sufficient today let alone five years down the road. Five years down the road, the 8GB RAM limitation will have been felt for years. It doesn’t matter how many marketing gimmicks Apple comes up with, that RAM is the bottleneck in every Mac sold today. And even in 16GB MacBook Pros, the RAM will be the limiting bottleneck before any other component fails.
People want to say oh they upgraded because they needed WiFi 6e, but that’s never going to be a real bottleneck like the RAM is right now. They want a black 14” MacBook Pro and why do we have to pay more for the M3 Pro when all they need is the M3, well Apple is doing them at least a service of providing the minimum RAM needed right now of 16GB.
Sorry, but 8GB is sufficient. It is even sufficient to last 5 years. If what you do is using Microsoft Office or iWorks apps, it is plenty. Event for basic Photoshop tasks it is. RAM is not a good way to future proof your Mac. Apple uses RAM upgrades to boost their profit margin and that's all. RAM will never, ever, future proof you Mac. Apple always finds a way to make you want to upgrade your Mac and it's not with RAM. Did people who maxed their RAM on their intel i9 Mac future proof them? Heck, no! Apple makes you want to upgrade your computer with chips and ports. Apple may equip their next Mac with a brand new H3 chip which will allow lossless audio. They could also put a 5G modem on the next M4 MacBook! Hey! What about a new Apple external GPU that beats the heck out of anything NVIDIA has ever came up with! Sounds good? Hey! Who cares if you equipped your brand new Space Black M3 Max MacBook Pro with 500GB of RAM. It doesn't have the new Thunderbolt Pro (also known as ThunderBolt 5) the new M4 MB Pro with 18GB of RAM has so your out!
When you buy a Mac, you have to think about what you want to do with it for the next few years and that's all. Also, always go with the base model of the Mac you want so you'll get the best value if you want to sell it afterwards. Apple sells their base Macs with sufficient RAM to have good enough performance for the task they have been designed to do. The rest is all about upselling and profit margin.
You'll be waiting forever at this rate. When Apple first opted for non-upgradability about a decade ago, the benchmark was 8 GB. 10 years Apple elected to remain stagnant for the specific purpose of gouging customers with computers which must be configured for its expected lifetime.
You should not presume to know customers' needs or wants better than they do. YOU obviously are the kind that want the newest an shiniest piece of tech, but most people don't really notice the difference in performance between Thunderbolt 4 or 5. I don't think anyone would seriously replace their computer in order to get that brand new bluetooth or wifi 5G.
What tends to compel us to upgrade is when our hardware hits limits that are no longer 'good enough' such as storage, RAM, and graphics. That super duper fast CPU and graphics are at least justifiable for casual consumers in that they consume less energy. Storage can be expanded via external enclosures and this affects desktops much less so than laptops... and yet going small also means getting slower performance. Thanks Apple for making even THAT a good reason to pay more for storage you don't need.
But then what happens when you do max out the RAM and start using SSD, which has a limited number of read/write cycles? That alone makes the health of the computer suspect and reduces its sell back value. So even if I did buy your future proof assertion, selling the computer back or buying one used comes with a built-in point of failure. Having both upgraded RAM and storage indeed future proofs the computer because you get considerably more read/write cycles.
The last time I looked at the list of devices eligible for macOS Sonoma updates, it did not mention RAM. The only criteria were model and year. If you buy more RAM, you will not get any more OS updates than the base model.
I have owned my base M2 MBA (8GB) for over a year, and it performs flawlessly. In 5 years or so, I will replace this MBA for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with RAM. It will be because of features that I want that the old model does not have.
So, why would I want to spend an extra $100 for a computer that is working perfectly? Why foist this expense upon the huge number of everyday consumers that will never notice the difference? You do realize that many MBA consumers have no idea what type of chip is in their computer or how much memory is in the base model. They don't even know what RAM is....and they never think about it. Rather, they are focused on questions like these;
- Can I run Office for reports and spreadsheets?
- How good is the FaceTime camera for classes or meetings?
- Can I access and collaborate on assignments in Google Docs?
- Can I annotate a PDF?
- Will the school/work email client work on my Mac?
- Can I get through the day on a single battery charge?
At present the minimum specs for Apple OS 14 is 4 GB. That's half of the memory going towards the OS requirements. It's doubtful the OS will actually demand 4 GB but the fact is that memory requirements constantly increase and with it you have less to pass around to other operations. And the graphics are shared with the memory, meaning even less than half of that going towards your actual functions.
My major gripe with 8 GB standard is that it's a step back from all of Apple's competitors. Whether or not that's good enough for most users, Apple has historically been amongst the highest specs for the fact they're more expensive. Now that they've designed the machines to not be upgradable they're deliberately hindering their base models and tacking on huge upgrade costs. Now it's not a matter of manufacturing cost but how low Apple can aim in order to compel customers to pay their 'Apple tax.'
As such they have to design their software around the limits of the 8 GB models rather than simply boosting them to 16 GB to justify the higher price. I don't buy Apple computers for simply being 'good enough' because I don't want to suffer buyer's remorse later on. An increase in RAM and storage may not be required but it does remove anxiety and satisfy a much wider range of users than the 8 GB & 256GB models.
My major gripe with 8 GB standard is that it's a step back from all of Apple's competitors. Whether or not that's good enough for most users, Apple has historically been amongst the highest specs for the fact they're more expensive. Now that they've designed the machines to not be upgradable they're deliberately hindering their base models and tacking on huge upgrade costs. Now it's not a matter of manufacturing cost but how low Apple can aim in order to compel customers to pay their 'Apple tax.'
As such they have to design their software around the limits of the 8 GB models rather than simply boosting them to 16 GB to justify the higher price. I don't buy Apple computers for simply being 'good enough' because I don't want to suffer buyer's remorse later on. An increase in RAM and storage may not be required but it does remove anxiety and satisfy a much wider range of users than the 8 GB & 256GB models.
Check out bhphoto for the upgraded MacBook models. If the base model is discounted, the upgraded models are "usually" discounted as well.
Plus their CC gives you your tax rate (in my case, 7%) back as an additional discount. Add in free shipping...and they "usually" have the best deal around, especially if you want more RAM or SSD.