To round things of for today, we'll just compare those MacBook Pro prices below with the best deals we're seeing on this year's M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. These are currently the top of the range of Apple laptops, and they already have some reasonable discounts. But compare these prices with those on the 2021 models below, and you'll see differences of around $500.
That's it for today, but we'll be here again tomorrow posting live updates on all the best Prime Day MacBook deals, so join us then.
- 2023 MacBook Pro 16 M2 Pro:
$2,699now $2,499 at Amazon - 2023 MacBook Pro 16 M2 Max: $
3,499now $3,299 at Amazon - 2023 MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro:
$2,499now $2,299 at Amazon
To add even more complexity to the challenge of choosing the best MacBook, you have the fact that the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are 'more Pro' than the 13-inch MacBook Pros (for example, the 2021 M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro 14 and 16 are more powerful than the 2022 M2 MacBook Pro 13 despite them having older chips. That's because they come with the 'Pro' or 'Max' versions of the M1 chip, which have further enhancements for handling video in particular.
If you need the power of those high-end devices, going for a 2021 model rather than the new 2023 generations could be a good option for saving money, depending on what specs you want. Generally, the bigger the specs, the bigger the saving, with massive $800 discounts on the top-of-the-range setups.
- 2021 MacBook Pro 16 M1 Pro:
$2,699now $1,899 at B&H Photo - 2021 MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max:
$3,499now $2,699 at Amazon - 2021 MacBook Pro 14 M1 Pro:
$2,499now $1,999 at Amazon
Perhaps the most complicated task MacBook buyers have ever faced is trying to work out the differences between last year's 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. They're a similar size, with similar quality displays, both powered by Apple's own M2 chip and practically the same price when configured with the same specs (see our full comparison).
All in all, we were pretty confused about why Apple launched such similar laptops within a couple of months of each other. Things get even more complicated when it comes to Prime Day MacBook deals, which can sometimes mean the Pro costs less than the Air.
In our own tests and actual usage of the two laptops, we've found the MacBook Pro 13 does provide slightly better performance for tasks that involve heavy lifting (think 3D or video rendering, colour grading in Davinci Resolve etc) and the battery can last up to a couple of hours longer, while the M2 Air is a thinner device and has a better webcam and speakers and an extra charging port. If either of those factors are very important to you, that might help you make your decision, otherwise it comes down to which is the best deal on the specs you need.
On which note, here are the best Prime Day MacBook deals on each right now. Strangely enough, I would personally go for the one that's actually the worst deal in terms of the size of the saving - the Air 16GB, 512GB at Adorama. A comfortable amount of memory and storage space, and the Pro with those specs would cost you £1,699 since there are no deals about.
- MacBook Pro 13 M2 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
$1,499$1,299 at Amazon - MacBook Pro 13 M2 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD $
1,299$1,099 at Amazon - MacBook Air 13 M2 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD:
$1,199$1,099 at Adorama - MacBook Air 13 M2 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD:
$1,399.95$1,299.96 at Amazon - MacBook Air 13 M2 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD:
$1,499$1,449 at Adorama
But, if you want the newest of the new, those in the UK can get the latest MacBook Air M2 from £1,399 now £1,279.97. This saving's been around since 23 June, which is pretty surprising considering this laptop was only released on 13 June!
It's a real curveball of a laptop since it takes the Air up to 15in rather than the usual 13in screen. That might make it a bit more tricky to fit into a bag, but, for some, that extra space will be very welcome, and the laptop is insanely thin and light for a 15 incher.
Going for a renewed MacBook is a good way of saving some extra money. Many sites have a range of certified renewed or refurbished MacBooks on offer, and one of our all-time favourites has a decent offering at Amazon right now. You can get the 2020 MacBook Air M1 256GB SSD renewed in 'excellent condition' for $704 at Amazon , which is $295 off the full price of a new model. Though it is on sale for $869 at Amazon right now, we've seen the price of a new one drop to $799 in the past so that could come down over the next few days. If you're set on a new one keep your eyes peeled for more of a discount if that price isn't low enough for you.
Working out whether a deal is worth it is a balance of checking price history and the context of the model in relation to recent new releases, and the chips included. So, for example, the 2021 MacBook Pro is subject to some pretty major discounts at the moment – especially for the ones with more serious specs. Pro users, you'll want to look at this – and it's about to get techy.
B&H Photo currently has an offer on the 14-inch MacBook Pro M1 Max (10-core) with 2TB SSD and 32-core GPU, which is about as serious as it gets for the 2021 lineup. It's RRP was $4,099 at time of release, and it's fallen to $2,699 – a saving of $1,400. If you don't mind not having the M2 chip, it's likely this machine will do everything you need it to (unless you're a super-mega-power-user, in which case you might want to look at the M2 equivalent – around $4,000 but for a 38-core GPU).
B&H Photo also have a serious deal on a slightly less (slightly, we said) hardcore machine, you can save $800 on the 1TB version with 16GB RAM, bringing it from $2,699 to $1,899 – a full $1000 less than the M2 equivalent (which currently has $200 off at Amazon, if you're fully committed to the latest model).
This year's addition to the MacBook Air lineup – the M2 15inch model – is currently sitting at an all-time low on Amazon. It's not a new discount, we've seen it hit this price twice before in its short life, but it's still a nice $100 off both the 256GB and 512GB models. We hope for better things, but it's useful info to provide context for your Prime Day buying experience.
If you're in the UK, you'll be seeing some savings on the MacBook Pro 2023 range across a couple of retailers right now. One of those deals is on the MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023) 14 inch (10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, 512Gb SSD) in silver.
Both Very and Amazon have this reduced by four per cent right now – bringing it down from £2,149 to £1,979.97 (this is at Amazon). This looks to be a manufacturer's discount rather than anything Prime-related, and we'd love to think it'll get more of a price cut (in May it went down to £1,933) but we can never guarantee anything, and it is still money off – so we'll leave you to decide whether to roll the dice.
And we're off! Sure, we've still got over a day until the official Prime Day event starts. But we're seeing some small savings appear already – so we're here to tell you all about them, and to provide some context on these offers and those about to come your way on Prime Day Proper.
So far, my favourite deal is $120 off the newest MacBook Air M2 (the 13-inch variety released in 2022) at B&H Photo, bringing it down from $1,099 to $979. Only released last year, the MacBook Air got supercharged with an M2 chip. This is the cheapest this model is currently on sale for – and it's only $10 more than the lowest we've ever seen it sell for. This bodes well for deals over the next few days, though if you're desperate for one right now, we already rate this deal.
