I've been covering Cyber Monday MacBook deals for 7 years, and these are some of the best I've seen. Shop my pick of music-friendly M3 and M4 Mac laptops, including Air and Pro models
Plus, save even bigger if you go for an M2 or M1 MacBook
I don't want to worry you (you know there's a but coming, don't you?), but (there it is) Cyber Monday could be your last best chance to snag a new MacBook at a heavily reduced price. And, not to worry you even more, but there's not much of Cyber Monday left.
Whether you're upgrading your existing music production MacBook or making the jump from Windows - don't worry, we're not going to start debating which is the best operating system here - some of the best deals on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are still available, but they won't be around for much longer.
I’ve had more MacBooks through my door (and more DAWs on my MacBook - bad-dum tish!) than I care to remember, and that familiar ‘dong’ as I fire up a new model is as pleasing as it was when I bought my first iBook some time in the last century. And take it from me: that ‘brand-spanking laptop energy’ feels even more powerful when you’ve saved yourself a packet.
So what exactly is on offer? The new M4 MacBook Pro was released just a matter of weeks ago, complete with Apple’s latest generation of chips, but the incredible news that it’s already being discounted. Best Buy has the 14-inch model for just $1,499 in the US and, in the UK, the high-end M4 Pro model of the same size is discounted to £1,849 at Amazon.
Same goes for the MacBook Air: the new 13-inch and 15-inch models landed in March, just a few months ago, but there are bargains to be had on some of the slightly older models if you want them. You can bag a 2022 M2 model for as little as $799 from Best Buy if you’re in the US, which is a great buy.
In the UK, you can snaffle a 13-inch M3 Air for £949 and the 15-incher for £1,329, both courtesy of Amazon.
Check out all the current best deals below, and remember to keep checking back in case more come in.
Quick links
Amazon: Lowest price MacBooks
Best Buy: Big Air/Pro savings
B&H Photo: Bag an older model
Newegg: Save on refurbed
Walmart: MacBooks from just $599!
Amazon: Save £100s!
Argos: Same-day delivery
Currys: MacBooks from £749!
Ebuyer: Save over £200
John Lewis: 2-year guarantee as standard
Laptops Direct: Over £400 off
Very: Over £300 off MacBooks
Best MacBook Pro deals
🇺🇸 US deals
🇬🇧 UK deals
Best MacBook Air deals
🇺🇸 US deals
🇬🇧 UK deals
We're getting towards the sharp end of Cyber Monday now, but some of the best deals are still there if you want them. Take this M3 MacBook Air at Best Buy that we've just found - very much a steal at just $899, which is $200 off the retail price.
There are plenty of great MacBook deals around this Cyber Monday, as you now know, but you can also bag a bargain iPad if you're so inclined.
Possibly the most eye-catching deal is the one that's currently running on the entry-level 2022 10th gen model. It might be a couple of years old, but at just $279 in the US (Best Buy) and £289 in the UK (Amazon), it's definitely worth considering. The A14 processor still has plenty of poke, and while the 64GB of storage is a little limiting, that still leaves room for plenty of music-making apps.
Obviously, one of the great things about owning a MacBook is that it's portable, but if it's your main computer, the chances are that you're going to want to plug in an external display and use a separate mouse and keyboard. That's certainly my preferred setup, particularly if I know I'm going to sitting down to work or make music (which can also feel like work) for a long time.
While plenty of other decent options are also available, Apple sells its own 'Magic' mouse and keyboard, both of which will connect wirelessly to your MacBook. And, in the UK, Amazon is selling both of these at a decent discount: the Magic Mouse is down from £79 to £53, and the Magic Keyboard can be snaffled for £75, down from £99.
The bad news? The £849 deal on the M2 MacBook Air at Amazon looks like it's no longer available (we told you you needed to be quick). The good news? You can pick up the same machine, albeit with 8GB rather than 16GB of RAM, for £100 less! Yes, that's right: £749 is all you'll pay for this 2022 machine, which comes in a classy silver finish.
UPDATE: It looks like this deal is now done, too, which goes to show that you need to be quick if you want take advantage of these Cyber Weekend bargains!
I've mentioned a couple of times above that, if you buy a MacBook with just 256GB of storage, you might want to consider a portable SSD to bump up your capacity. In fact, even if go for a machine with 512GB or 1TB, you might still need more space.
If that's the case, consider this Black Friday deal on the 2TB version of SanDisk's popular Extreme portable external SSD. With up to 1050MB/s read speed and 1000MB/s write speed, it's a pacy little devil, and its rugged build means that it should be able to survive the inevitable bumps, scrapes and drops.
In the US, the SanDisk 2TB Extreme is down from $200 to $130 at Amazon, while in the UK, it's down to £110 to £156.88 from the same retailer. In both cases, it's a great saving on a high-quality bit of kit.
So you've decided to buy a new MacBook - how about a nice set of AirPods to go with it. Again, now's the time to buy, as Apple's flagship AirPods Pro 2s are currently down pretty much to their lowest ever price.
In the US, these stellar earbuds regularly retail for $250, but Best Buy currently has them at just $160, saving you $90. And, in the UK, you can bag them for £179, down from £229 - again via Amazon.
Thinking of making the switch from PC to Mac for music production? Matt on the MusicRadar team has just done that. Here's why this die-hard PC user jumped ship.
"I used a PC to produce music for 15 years, here's 6 reasons I'm picking up a MacBook in the Black Friday sales"
I've just found a killer deal on an M1 MacBook Air at Walmart. Sure, it's an old model, but I still stand by the performance, and it's one of the cheapest production-capable Macs you'll find online right now.
“I’ve had my M1 Mac since 2020 and I still use it to review the latest plugins and DAWs without any problems,” says MusicRadar’s hi-tech managing editor Si Truss. “I haven’t even considered upgrading and don’t plan on doing so any time soon.”
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch: Was $699, now $599 at Walmart
13" | M1 CPU | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
Yes, it was released in 2020, but this MacBook Air M1 is still a cracking laptop for music production, and at just $599, it's a total bargain. If this price is beaten this Cyber Weekend, we'd be very surprised.
It's Black Friday, which can only mean one thing. Well, it can mean a lot of things, obviously, but one of those things, undeniably, is MacBook deals.
We've picked out a selection of the best above, but if you're looking for a bonus deal, so to speak, how about this: a 13-inch MacBook Air for just $599! OK, it 'only' has an M1 chip in it and was released four years ago, but it's still a perfectly capable music-making machine that you won't max out in a hurry. US customers can grab it now at Walmart.
