The best Black Friday MacBook deals – save 25% on my all-time favorite model

the-best-black-friday-macbook-deals-–-save-25%-on-my-all-time-favorite-model
The best Black Friday MacBook deals – save 25% on my all-time favorite model
13-inch M4 MacBook Air against a blue TechRadar deals background
(Image credit: Apple / Future)

Wait, Black Friday deals are actually good this year? These are some of the best Apple discounts I’ve ever seen in my time covering Black Friday, with major price cuts on a lot of our top picks for MacBooks.

Shop Apple’s full Black Friday sale

Today’s best MacBook Black Friday deals in the US

Today’s best MacBook Black Friday deals in the UK

I’m a Windows PC guy for life, but when it comes to laptops, I love a good MacBook.

It’s been my go-to daily driver for years now, and I’ve personally owned or reviewed everything from an Intel-based MacBook Pro to the M1 MacBook Air I used every day in high school to my favorite model, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air.

There’s just no beating Apple Silicon, especially at these Black Friday prices. $749 for the latest MacBook Air is a no-brainer if you need a new laptop for work or school.

MacBooks have great longevity, too. If I wanted to, I could boot up my old 2016 MB Pro and keep using it to this day.

Several of these Black Friday deals are also on our picks for the best Macs and MacBooks, which you should definitely check out if you want even more info on each of these Apple laptops. We break every model down by price, design, performance, and battery life to give you all the information you need to be confident in your purchase.

Speaking of which, if you’re still deciding between a MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro, let me give you a quick rundown on what sets them apart.

Should I buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro?

When I’m looking for a new laptop, these are the four key features I keep in mind: price, performance, design, and battery life. I’ll explain why I think the MacBook Air or Pro wins each category.

Price winner – MacBook Air: This one is easy. If you’re looking for the most affordable MacBook you can get, it’s the MacBook Air. With the Black Friday deals going on, you can get the latest 13-inch model for well under $1,000 ($749 at Amazon to be exact) and the 15-inch model for $949. The cheapest MacBook Pro you can get (aside from second-hand or refurbished options), even with Black Friday discounts, is $1,399 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5.

Performance winner – MacBook Pro: The MacBook Pro is more expensive, but for good reason. You can’t get an M4 Pro, M4 Max, or M5 processor in a MacBook Air, all of which are more performant than the base M4 chip. The Pro lineup also features up to 128GB of unified memory, whereas the Air maxes out at 32GB. Similarly, the MacBook Pro can house four times the storage in a massive 8TB SSD compared to the MacBook Air’s 2TB. The M4 chip is still amazing for everyday tasks and even some resource-intensive ones like light gaming, but it simply doesn’t stack up to the M4 Pro in tasks like video editing and working with LLMs.

Design winner – MacBook Air: This one is close because both designs are immaculate, but the MacBook Air wins it for me because of its super lightweight frame (hence the name). The slender 13-inch MacBook Air weighs in at just 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg) compared to the 14-inch MacBook Pro’s base weight of 3.4 pounds (1.55 kg). It may not sound like much, but having taken both of these laptops with me to class, you can definitely notice the difference. Both laptops feature a gorgeous Liquid Retina display, though the MacBook Pro’s offers slightly higher fidelity. As for ports, the MacBook Pro has one more USB-C slot, plus an SDXC card slot and an HDMI port.

Battery Life winner – MacBook Pro: The MacBook Pro comes out on top here with a 72.4Whr battery compared to the Air’s 53.8Whr capacity. In practice, that’s about six more hours of video streaming on the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 compared to the 13-inch MacBook Air M4. And the Pro lineup has the charger to match, with its 70W charger doubling the Air’s 35W adapter. Granted, you may burn through the MacBook Pro’s battery life faster if you’re constantly working on demanding tasks, but the incredibly fast charging makes up for it.

So, what matters more to you?

If you want something lightweight and affordable that’s still quite efficient, the MacBook Air is your clear winner. If you’re a creative professional (or hobbyist) or into video games, the MacBook Pro’s superior performance, storage, and battery life are the better bet for you.

More Black Friday deals in the US

More Black Friday deals in the UK

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Marcus Mears III is the Computing Reviews and Buying Guides Editor at TechRadar. He’s been covering the latest in consumer tech for over 5 years, and he’s gone hands-on with everything from the M2 MacBook Air to Valve’s Steam Deck. Marcus is an advocate for Right to Repair laws and believes everyone can benefit from getting under the hood of your daily-driver tech. He’ll also beat you in Texas Hold ‘Em, too.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *