Microsoft’s Surface Laptop (7th Gen) with the screen facing away from the camera on a table. — The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop is Microsoft’s closest rival to the MacBook Air, using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chipsets for exceptional battery life. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. However, it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers).

That’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now. In addition to the latest discounts, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top gaming laptops.

The best laptop deals

Apple MacBook deals

M1 MacBook Air

2020 MacBook Air with M1 (256GB)

The 2020 MacBook Air has been discontinued but remains a great value. It comes outfitted with the company’s original M1 chip in one of three different colors (silver, space gray, and gold).

The MacBook Air is the most impressive laptop I’ve used in years

Where to Buy:

~~$649~~ $599 at Walmart

Apple itself no longer sells the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 — and hasn’t for years — but you can still get this solid laptop for $599.99 ($50 off) at Walmart. The 2020 model is available in one configuration, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it’s still capable at handling basic tasks like a champ, including streaming video, browsing, and dealing with documents. You can also use the M1 MacBook Air for creative work in Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Pixelmator, though you may experience slowdown due to its low 8GB of memory.

The laptop’s battery lasted between eight and ten hours when we originally reviewed it, and those figures should be mostly accurate, barring some differences likely caused by operating system updates. In addition to offering great performance for its price, the laptop also comes with other nice-to-have features, including a comfortable keyboard and an excellent trackpad. Just note its 720p webcam isn’t particularly good, so if a high-resolution webcam matters a lot to you, you may want to buy one separately. Also, be aware that, due to the limitations of the M1 chip, you can only use one external display at a time and port selection is also more limited than newer models.

M2 MacBook Air

13-inch MacBook Air with M2 (2022)

The 2022 MacBook Air is a thin, lightweight device powered by Apple’s M2 chip. The M2 model touts an improved 1080p webcam and a better display than its predecessor while retaining features like long battery life and MagSafe charging.

The M2 MacBook Air is opened, facing the camera. Its display is on, showcasing a psychedelic purple and black wallpaper created by The Verge’s art and illustration team.

Where to Buy:

~~$799~~ $699 at Best Buy (16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)

Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip is a significant leap above the M1 model it succeeded, both in terms of design and performance. The old wedge-shaped look was replaced for a more squared-off design that’s still used by the current-generation MacBook Air. It has a 1080p webcam, which was a welcome improvement given the disappointing camera on the 2020 M1 model. It’s also much lighter and thus more portable as well, yet it retains features like MagSafe charging and Touch ID, as well as a nice display.

Despite its age, the M2 processor inside of this machine is still powerful enough to handle many tasks, from common ones such as browsing to more complex and creative projects. Compared to newer, pricier models, this one unsurprisingly struggles with gaming. That being said, it’s capable of running Cyberpunk 2077. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 launched with 8GB of RAM, but that configuration became unavailable last year when Apple made 16GB the new standard.

While a well-rounded laptop overall, there is one key area where Apple’s M1 model is better: storage. The base M2 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage is actually slower than its predecessor because it’s stored in a single NAND chip. This was corrected in subsequent MacBook Air models, so the slowdown is unique to M2 machines with 256GB of storage. Also, be aware as well that port selection isn’t great, and the included display notch — which is also found on both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros — can make using the menu bar more challenging until you get used to it. If that doesn’t bother you, however, you can get a configuration with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, an 8-core CPU and GPU for $699 ($100 off) at Best Buy.

M4 MacBook Air

13-inch Apple MacBook Air 13 (2025, M4)

The M4 MacBook Air has a speedy processor, and double the RAM of previous models. It has a thin and light design, all day battery life, and still starts with 256GB of storage. Read our review.

Where to Buy:

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 is Apple’s latest thin and lightweight laptop, and it’s our top pick in The Verge’s guide to the best laptops right now. It’s not a MacBook Pro, but Apple’s M4 processor in the Air is still mighty capable. In our tests, it only throttled under heavy load from creative applications, which is understandable given its fanless design. The machine comes with 16GB of RAM as standard rather than an optional upgrade, but the base configuration still comes with just 256GB of storage, so be mindful of that limitation if you work with a lot of larger files.

Apple hasn’t increased the number of ports on a MacBook Air since reintroducing MagSafe to the M2 model in 2022, but this generation has Thunderbolt 4 ports rather than Thunderbolt 3 for faster file transfer speeds. Another notable addition is the 1080p Center Stage camera from the MacBook Pro, so you’ll stay in frame if you move around on a video call. Battery life should last all day, though your experience will vary depending on how hard you push this machine.

You can currently get a configuration of the 13-inch with M4 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and a 10-core CPU and GPU for around $897.50 ($102 off) at Amazon, and $899.99 at B&H Photo. If you need a larger screen, you can get the 15-inch MacBook Air with the same specs for $999 ($200 off) at Amazon and B&H Photo.

M4 and M4 Pro MacBook Pro

14-inch MacBook Pro with M4

The entry-level MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM — double that of its predecessor — and a 512GB SSD for the same starting price of $1,599. It also gets a third USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port and comes in a space black option.

A 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 laptop on a wooden cafe counter near a window.

Where to Buy:

14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with a 12-core / 16-core M4 Pro chip starts with 24GB of RAM — a 6GB increase over the prior generation. It also has a 512GB SSD, three Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports, an optional nano-texture display, and a 12-megapixel webcam.

Where to Buy:

16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro starts with 24GB of RAM and offers more computing cores (14 for the CPU and 20 for the GPU) compared to the 14-inch model. It also picks up Thunderbolt 5 ports and a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera.

Someone sitting on ground using MacBook Pro

Where to Buy:

The M4 generation MacBook Pros are Apple’s fastest laptops yet. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and comes equipped with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a MagSafe charging port. It can send video to two external displays simultaneously (the previous generation could only handle one) and has an improved 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with better video quality.

The M4 MacBook Pro and M4 MacBook Air run on the same chip, but the Pro’s cooling system is better, so it handles resource-intensive tasks (including games) without throttling as easily. The laptop’s 14.2-inch screen is bright (up to 1,600 nits when viewing HDR content), and supports the P3 color gamut, both of which are important to professionals who rely on color accuracy when editing photos and video. The display has a 120Hz refresh rate, so scrolling through webpages or moving windows around should appear smoother than 60Hz screens. In our stress test, which included editing 33-megapixel RAW images and working with a large photo library in Adobe Lightroom, the laptop ran for 12 hours without kicking up the fans or feeling hot to the touch.

If you want even more power, you can jump up to the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro processor. It comes with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 12-core CPU, and a 16-core GPU. The M4 Pro MacBook Pro has over twice the memory bandwidth of the base M4 MacBook Pro, so it should perform better across the board. That said, it might be tough to notice the benefits of its extra memory and processing power during casual use, but it will come in handy when you’re pushing the laptop to the limits while video editing or playing games. It has three Thunderbolt 5 ports, and you can use that extra bandwidth with an external SSD with fast transfer speeds, to name an example. You can also get the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro with a 16-inch screen if you’d like to work on a larger display.

Right now, the 14-inch M4 model with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU is $1,426 ($173 off) at Amazon. You can get a 14-inch M4 Pro model with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, 12-core CPU, and 16-core GPU for around $1,699 at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo. The 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, 14-core CPU, and 20-core GPU is currently on sale for $2,227 ($272 off) at Amazon.

Microsoft Surface deals

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition

The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop is Microsoft’s closest rival to the MacBook Air, using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chipsets for exceptional battery life.

Where to Buy:

We chose Microsoft’s 7th Edition Surface Laptop as one of the best laptops you can get because it’s the top Snapdragon Copilot Plus PC we’ve tried yet. The laptop runs on a power-efficient ARM processor that doesn’t skimp on performance. Its 13.8-inch 2,304 x 1,536 120Hz screen supports Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) and looks very nice. It has a large, precision haptic trackpad that gives you plenty of room to tap and swipe, an offers satisfying feedback no matter where you press it.

The laptop has a pair of USB 4 ports, one USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 port, plus a headphone jack. One of the concerns of using an ARM-based Windows PC has been software compatibility, but this model proves that’s no longer something to be as worried about. It runs Photoshop, and apps compiled for X86 processors work thanks to Microsoft’s Prism emulator. Be sure to check the compatibility of the specific Windows app you rely, though, as there’s still a chance they won’t work as intended.

Even after our toughest tests, the battery lasted seven hours. That’s with 100 percent screen brightness, after downloading multiple Steam games, attending video calls, and running through multiple projects in Photoshop. Using the laptop with less power-hungry apps, including Slack, WhatsApp, Discord, and Chrome, the laptop used just 30 percent of its battery in seven hours. For the best battery life, you’ll want to stick to using native ARM apps when possible. If you want to make the switch to an ARM-based laptop to get some of the benefits MacBook users have had for years, the 7th Generation Surface Laptop is worth checking out.

You can get a 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition) with a Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD for around $888.86 ($211 off) at B&H Photo and Amazon. A model with the Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD is on sale for $949.99 ($450 off) at Amazon.

Asus laptop deals

Asus Zenbook S 16

The Asus Zenbook S 16 features AMD’s Ryzen AI mobile processors. It’s one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops available and doesn’t cut corners on performance. It’s a mighty machine that can handle all sorts of heavy workloads with ease and grace.

Where to Buy:

~~$1799.99~~ $1199.99 at Asus

We chose Asus’ Zenbook S 16 as another one of our top recommendations for students, but it’s a solid laptop for anyone who wants a large-screened Windows laptop. In our tests, the 16-inch 120Hz 3K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED display emits vivid colors and excellent contrast. The laptop was more than capable of handling common tasks, including video chats using its 1080p webcam, music streaming, but its graphics and gaming performance is what really sets it apart from laptops in its size and price classes.

This machine runs Cyberpunk 2077 at around 77 frames per second with the resolution set to 1080p with AMD’s FSR 2.1 upscaling software turned on. The laptop isn’t designed for gaming, but it’s good to know it’s up to the task if you’re willing to turn down some graphical settings. The Zenbook S 16’s battery lasted 11 hours during our testing. However, the percentage indicator in the Windows taskbar would often fluctuate, making it difficult to pin down exactly how much juice was left.

You can get a configuration of the laptop with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor for $1,199.99 ($600 off) from Asus. To get the deal, which lasts through September 7th, you’ll need to sign up for a free Asus membership.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (2025, RTX 5080)

Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 is a powerful gaming laptop configured with a 16-inch 2.5K 240Hz screen, Nvidia 5080 graphics card, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage.

ROG Strix Scar 16 and 18 with lights around base.

Where to Buy:

If you want to take a powerful gaming PC with you on the go, Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 is one of the best we recommend. It has a 16-inch 240Hz Mini LED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. The screen can’t quite match an OLED when it comes to rich contrast, but you get Dolby Vision HDR here, and its color accuracy impressed us in our tests. The laptop has larger keys instead of a number pad, which makes sense for a gaming-focused laptop. If you need a number pad, you can bring up a touch-sensitive one by clicking and holding the top part of the laptop’s large trackpad.

Under the hood, Asus fitted the ROG Strix Scar 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card with 16GB of dedicated video memory. The laptop’s display supports Nvidia’s G-Sync technology, so you shouldn’t see screen tearing or other graphical anomalies when playing games. The laptop has three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet port, and two Thunderbolt 5 ports. You can use either the HDMI 2.1 port or Thunderbolt 5 ports to carry a 4K 120Hz video signal to a compatible TV or gaming monitor.

In case aesthetics matter to you, the ROG Strix Scar 16 has RGB lighting on its underside as well as a dot-matrix LED array that can display animations on its lid. These features aren’t new, but each can add some flair to your setup. Right now, you can get the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 in its base configuration for around $2,899.99 ($400 off) at Walmart and Best Buy.

The best Lenovo laptop deals

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i (2024)

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is a dual-screen laptop that can fold and flip into several different modes. A Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and stylus come with it, along with a keyboard folio that can transform into a laptop stand. It’s the Swiss Army knife of laptops. Read our head-to-head review.

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i laptop with two screens open.

Where to Buy:

~~$1999.99~~ $1499.99 at Best Buy

A dual-screen laptop is admittedly pretty niche, but we chose Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i is the best of the bunch in our best laptops guide. It runs on Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155U processor, and comes with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and integrated Intel UHD graphics chip. Its key feature is the pair of 13.3-inch 60Hz OLED touchscreen displays, which each have a 2880 x 1800 resolution. The screens have a clamshell design and are attached by a hinge, so the Yoga Book 9i looks like a typical laptop when opened.

You can use the laptop in a few configurations. In clamshell mode, the bottom screen displays a full-sized virtual keyboard with trackpad to give you a traditional laptop experience. Our experience in this mode was mixed because it’s too easy to accidentally minimize apps, or make typos if you’re used to the tactile feel of a physical keyboard.

You can attach the Yoga Book 9i to the included keyboard folio, which props it up and allows you to use both screens independently like a laptop attached to an external monitor (except, in the Yoga Book 9i’s case, they’re built-in). One screen can be folded completely over the other display to use the laptop like a large-screen tablet, or folded partially to prop one screen up if you want to watch a movie at a more comfortable angle.

During our testing, the Yoga Book 9i was difficult to use on a lap with the included Bluetooth keyboard because it would shift around while being used. However, moving apps from one display to another using touch gestures was intuitive thanks to tutorials in the User Center app, which immediately launch upon the first boot. The software also lets you enable and disable gestures, if you find some confusing or unnecessary. Switching from a traditional laptop to a dual-screen model will likely take an adjustment period, so it’s very helpful that Lenovo designed software to help ease you through the transition.

Despite having two screens, the Yoga Book 9i only weighs 2.95 pounds, which was light enough to carry in a backpack without weighing us down. The keyboard folio adds some bulk, but comes with an attached elastic band to keep the laptop and accessory from getting detached while you travel. If you’re dedicated to the dual-screen lifestyle, or you want to give it a try, the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is on sale for $1499.99 ($500 off) at Best Buy.

Update, September 5th: Updated pricing and availability, and added a deal for Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i (2024), as well as one for the Asus Zenbook S 16 that expires on September 7th.

The Verge

The best laptop deals you can get right now

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