Black Friday is a great time to go hunting for a laptop and if you are buying for an astronomer, student or creative, you really cannot go wrong with a MacBook. Thanks to Amazon’s Black Friday sale, this 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch M3 laptop is the cheapest it has ever been at an amazing $255 off this Black Friday, making it just $844.
Get the 2024 MacBook Air 13-Inch M3 laptop in Amazon’s Black Friday sale for $844.
MacBooks are popular with students, creatives and other business professionals and for good reason. They are easy to use, gorgeous to look at and so reliable that this particular laptop could be with you for years. This model boasts a 256GB SSD drive and 16 GB of memory, enough for many tasks and is also available in four colors.
And if you are buying for a budding astronomer (Christmas is only 3 and a half weeks after Black Friday!) this is the laptop to buy! We chose an M3-powered MacBook as our best laptop for astronomers and this model will fit the bill too.
This MacBook Air is one of the sleekest most portable laptops and yet, thanks to the M3 chip, it is not short on power. It comes with 16 GB of memory and 256 GB storage. You will have to provide your own laptop bag as there is nothing in the way of accessories on this deal.
We are big fans of MacBooks here at Space. We picked an M3-powered MacBook as our best laptop for astronomers and this MacBook Air 13 inch M3 laptop is a real treat for whoever ends up using it (remember, Christmas is only three weeks after Black Friday).
Available in four colors (Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray and Silver) it boasts a pin-sharp liquid retina display that will make whatever you view leap out at you. And at 1.24 kg in weight, it is even lighter than some of our best binoculars.
However, while this is a great laptop for students, budding creatives and astronomers, it has its own OS, MacOS. If you have Windows-specific software you need to run, you are best off with a Windows laptop, such as this Dell Inspiron 16 Plus which has 26% off at Amazon this Black Friday.
Key features: 13.6-inch liquid retina display, M3 chip, 16 GB memory, 256 GB SSD storage, available in four colors; Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray and Silver, 1.24 kg (2.73 lbs) weight.
Product launched: 2024
Price history: This MacBook Air dropped to $899 earlier this month which, at the time, was a $200 saving but this is the cheapest it has ever been, a little surprising considering it launched this year.
Price comparison: Amazon: $844 | Best Buy: $849 | Apple: $1099
Reviews consensus: Our sister sites TechRadar and T3 awarded this an unbeatable five stars, with TechRadar calling it, “Easily the best MacBook money can buy for most people”. The only real criticism is that you cannot upgrade the memory yourself.
TechRadar: ★★★★★ | Toms Guide: ★★★★½ | T3: ★★★★★
✅ Buy it if: You want a powerful, portable laptop with enough power for many tasks, whether you are an astronomer, student, artist or professional.
❌ Don’t buy it if: You need to use Windows software; MacBooks use a different operating system. Also, if you are into video editing, 256 GB might not be enough storage for you. Consider this Microsoft Surface Laptop 13″, $100 off at Best Buy for Black Friday.
Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.
