The best deal in laptops is back again for a limited time, as Walmart is selling the M1 MacBook Air for just $649 ($250 off). Walmart currently requires a Walmart Plus subscription to get the discounted price, but everyone else can get in and buy it from the retailer’s site at 5PM ET / 2PM PT today.
We haven’t seen the price drop this low since March, shortly after the newer M3 Air debuted. Since then, Walmart has become pretty much the exclusive seller of the M1 MacBook Air, usually offering the 13-inch laptop from 2020 for around $700. Even being nearly four years old and only offered in its base configuration with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, the aging MacBook remains a very good machine for everyday productivity and some very light creative work. Its newer peers have outclassed it with MagSafe chargers, newer M chips, and better performance, but it’s hard to beat the M1 Air and its excellent battery life / standby time for just $650.
Despite its age, the M1 MacBook Air is set to receive macOS 15 Sequoia, complete with new Apple Intelligence AI features. It’s hard to say how the first-gen M processor will handle AI tasks, especially since nobody outside of Apple has demoed these features on a Mac or even an iPhone. Either way, the M1 Air remained the top recommendation in our laptop buying guide for years, having only been overthrown by its own direct successors. It still seems worthwhile if you can nab it at such a low price.
