M1 MacBook Air Drops from $700 to $650 at Walmart

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Walmart+ members have early access to the deal as of 12 p.m. Eastern Time today, and it will be available to all Walmart customers starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time today.

Walmart first began selling the MacBook Air with the M1 chip for $699 in March, marking the first time the retailer ever sold Macs directly. Now, it is available for an even lower $649 heading into the back-to-school shopping season. It is unclear how long the deal will last.

The M1 MacBook Air will turn 4 years old in November, but it remains an excellent laptop, including support for the upcoming Apple Intelligence features in MacOS 15 Sequoia. As I wrote in March, when this partnership started:

And while, yes, these machines are now over three years old, for $700 this is a great deal. That’s 30 percent less than the cheapest MacBook in an Apple Store. I’d bet serious money that a base M1 MacBook Air outperforms any other $700 laptop on the market. Show me another $700 laptop with a retina display. I’ll wait.

Fascinating example of pricing-as-branding that Apple won’t sell this machine in its own stores, but will through Walmart — which doesn’t sell any other Macs.

★ Wednesday, 10 July 2024