The best Presidents' Day laptop deal? My pick is a 16GB MacBook Air for under $800

Apple released M3 models last year, and there are rumours that M4 MacBook Airs may be on the way. But for anyone that needs a sleek portable laptop for general productivity and work on the go, the M2 MacBook Air still does the job and offers much better value. And even the base version can handle software for more complex photo and video editing now that it starts at 16GB of memory.

The M2 13in MacBook Air initially started with 8GB of RAM, which mean it could struggle with heavy multi-tasking or editing across multiple layers. But Apple discontinued the 8GB version and knocked known the starting price of the 16GB configuration to take it's place. Now Best Buy has a further $200 off for Presidents' Day, slashing the price to $799.

It's not the first time we've seen this price. The deal's been popping up every few weeks since Black Friday last year, when the price briefly fell to $699. But we think it's still the best deal this Presidents' Day for most general users who want a highly portable laptop to work on in a lecture, a cafe or office. It also continues to top our guide to the best student laptops.

If you want more screen space, Best Buy also has $200 off last year's 15-inch M3 MacBook Air – now from $1,099. We gave that 4.5 stars in our original review back in 2023. For more savings, see the huge Samsung Galaxy Tab Presidents' Day deals.

MacBook Air 13.6-inch (M2, 2022)
Was: $999
Now: $799 at Best Buy
Save: $200

Overview: This is close to the cheapest price to date on what remains a near-perfect lightweight laptop for working on the go. The newer M3-chipped version is slightly faster and more optimised for AI work, but the M2 version is still fast enough for general productivity as well as some light creative work like Photo editing thanks to the 16GB of memory.

Key features: Display: 13.6-inch (2560 x 1664) | Processor: Apple M2 Chip (8-core)| RAM: 16GB | SSD: 256GB |Weight: 1.24kg | Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 charging port.

Release date: July 2022.

Price history: The best price I've seen on this was $699 over Black Friday. This is $100 from hat record low. But $799 is still a good price for an Apple laptop.

Current price: Amazon: also $799

Review consensus: We loved the MacBook Air (M2) as much as we loved the previous M1 device. We gave this model a near-perfect 4.5-star out of 5 review. With its excellent performance and battery life, we think it's the best option for the most amount of users.

CreativeBloq ⭑⭑⭑⭑ | Tom's Guide ⭑⭑⭑⭑ |

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