As part of Best Buy's Black Friday in July sale, the price of the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) has dropped to $1199 (was $1299).
Powered by Apple's M5 chip, it combines a 10-core CPU, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD in a lightweight design. For my money, with the extra RAM and storage this makes it to model to choose if you're buying a MacBook Air.
It's an excellent choice for students, professionals, and anyone looking for a premium everyday laptop that's lightweight and loaded with long-term value - especially given Apple recently announced price increases across all its laptops and tablets.
Today's best MacBook Air deal
Should you buy it?
✅ Buy this deal if...
You want a lightweight premium laptop with strong everyday performance, and enough memory and storage for years of work, study, and creative tasks. Battery life impressed us during testing, lasting around 15.5 hours of web use and comfortably getting through a full working day on a single charge.
❌ Skip this deal if...
You need a larger display, more ports than Thunderbolt 4 provides, or dedicated graphics for demanding professional workloads and modern PC gaming. In that case, check out the MacBook Pro instead.
Why we recommend it
In his review, our laptop expert Lance said the latest MacBook Air was "the best ultraportable I've ever used". He noted it delivers an outstanding balance of performance, battery life, and portability, handling everything from everyday productivity to photo editing, 8K video editing, and even gaming without feeling out of its depth.
Despite its slim, fanless design, he found it surprisingly difficult to push the M5 chip to its limits, even with demanding creative applications and heavy multitasking.
The 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16GB of memory provide plenty of performance for work, creative projects, and everyday computing, while the upgraded 512GB SSD delivers faster storage than previous entry-level MacBook Air models, helping applications launch quickly and improving file transfers.
At just 2.7 pounds, it's easy to carry every day, while the premium aluminum chassis feels exceptionally solid despite its lightweight design.
Price Context & Historical Value
Although the $100 discount isn't huge, deals on Apple's newest MacBook Air models are relatively rare - especially with Apple recently hiking prices across all its devices. With the upgraded 512GB base storage and M5 processor, Apple's latest ultraportable is a must-have.
The Catch: What to know before you buy
This configuration offers excellent everyday performance, but it isn't designed for intensive 3D rendering, high-end gaming, or workloads that benefit from dedicated graphics.
Connectivity is also limited to two Thunderbolt 4 ports, so you may need a hub or dock if you regularly connect multiple wired accessories.
