My Favorite MacBook Has Never Been Cheaper Than It Is Right Now for Prime Day
When you think of a MacBook Air, you probably envision the 13-inch model that's popular with students and anyone with limited laptop funds. After all, it's the most affordable and portable MacBook. The 13-inch Air is undeniably a great laptop , but unless you are criss-crossing campus each day or otherwise travel daily with your laptop in tow, the 15-inch Air is the better pick . And right now, you can get the 15-inch MacBook Air for the same price that Apple charges for the 13-inch Air.
The 13-inch MacBook Air costs $999, and the 15-inch Air costs $1,199 from Apple. You can usually find each discounted by around $100 at Amazon, but both are $200 off right now for Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days to hit all-time-low prices. Students looking for a new laptop can't do better than $799 for the 13-inch Air . For the rest of us, I'd point you to the 15-inch Air for $999 .
15 > 13
Here's my reasoning for the 15-inch Air:
The larger, 15.3-inch display feels so much roomier than the 13.6-inch panel on the smaller Air. If you don't have an external display setup, then the 15-inch Air is much better for working all day. It makes juggling multiple windows during busy multitasking days so much easier than on the smaller Air. And movies and shows look better on it when you want to kick back at night.
And you don't pay much of a portability penalty for the added screen space. It weighs a reasonable 3.3 pounds, which is only about a half a pound heavier than the 2.7-pound, 13-inch Air. I can easily slip it into my backpack and take it with me to the airport or just down to my local coffee shop.
And in one way, the 15-inch Air is the more portable of the two. Its larger size allows for a bigger battery, which in turn delivers longer battery life. Both offer all-day battery life, but the 15-inch Air lasted almost an hour longer than the 13-inch Air on my battery drain tests.
15-inch M4 MacBook Air: $999 (original price: $1,199)
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Latest M4 power
Many times you'll find big discounts on previous-gen products, but this deal is is the latest M4 MacBook Air. It delivers excellent all-around performance that should keep up for years and years.
Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money .
The MacBook Air is far from the only laptop on sale today. For more, check out the best laptop deals we found for Prime Day .
Double the regular discount
The $200 discount on the 15-inch MacBook Air is roughly double the savings usually on offer at Amazon. At $999, the 15-inch Air has never been cheaper. (The same goes for the 13-inch Air at $799.) You won't find the MacBook Air's same mix of a sleek design, awesome display, strong performance and long battery life in other laptops at this price.
