With the M4 model that has a better design and faster specs costing just $150 more, most shoppers should go that route.

If your old laptop is hanging on by a thread, this might be the perfect upgrade moment. You can currently get a Grade A refurbished MacBook Air with an M1 chip for $384.99. If you’ve been wanting a fast, reliable, travel-friendly laptop without playing financial Jenga, this might be your easiest tech win of the year.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip, 16GB of unified memory, and 512GB of storage just dropped to $1,444 on Amazon, down from its $1,599 retail price. The 1TB models are also on sale but his configuration hits the sweet spot between capability and cost: enough power for serious work without the premium attached to maxed-out specs.

During testing, reviewers found the Air M4 to comfortably handle multitasking, 4K video scrubbing, large documents, and dozens of browser tabs without breaking a sweat. With the new M4 chip, Apple has made the Air significantly faster and cooler than the previous generation.

Nevertheless, I will also keep my MacBook around for activities that remain macOS exclusives, such as HomePod mini OS recovery. My world has flipped: My iPad Pro is now a functional laptop replacement… and I only need to keep my Mac around for specific, uncommon use cases.

TL;DR: Right now, you can get a MacBook Pro for $440. The end of the year is one of the best times to get Apple tech, especially this year. Normally, this MacBook Pro would cost $1,999, but right now, it’s only $439.99, and shipping is free.

The M5 MacBook Pro has incredible performance gains, especially for AI. But is that good enough to overlook the same design, screen, and ports selection?