This Is the Only MacBook Air M3 Deal You Should Bother With

The MacBook Air M3 is a good laptop. And generally, it’s a bad deal. I’ve passed over most of them because they just weren’t much, if any, cheaper than the MacBook Air M4 that improved upon the M3, however subtly.

Well, if you like Starlight gold, then I’ve finally found a MacBook Air M3 deal worth your attention. You have to look beyond the price tag and consider the specs to see why it’s a real deal, though.

It’s brand new, not refurbished or pre-owned. Apple plopped it into a box, shipped it somewhere to sit on a warehouse shelf for a year or two, and now it’s in Amazon’s clutches, waiting for somebody to break the tape that seals the box shut.

why it makes sense

When Apple dropped the starting price by $100 on the MacBook Air M4 without lowering the specifications or quality, my expectation was that Apple would do as it usually does and clear out the old stock of MacBook Air M2s with good deals and begin positioning the MacBook Air M3, via its own deals, as the bargain alternative to the new MacBook Air M4 that appeared on store shelves on March 12, 2025.

One of those things happened. The MacBook Air M3 deals, perhaps because of its higher starting price, have been lukewarm or junk, depending on the moment and the retailer. If at all cheaper than than the MacBook Air M4’s seemingly here-to-stay “sale,” by which the M4 is always hovering around $850 to $900, then it hasn’t been by enough to justify buying a year-old machine.

The MacBook Air M3 deal for $899 comes with 512GB of internal storage, rather than the standard 256GB. Apple loves to price the ever-loving hell out of its expanded storage options, and so if you want a MacBook Air M4 with 512GB, you have to shell out $1,049. It’s still on sale from its $1,199 retail price, but it’s a fair bit more than the M3 deal.

That’s as Apples to Apples the comparison can get. Both machines come with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, with a $150 difference between them. Springing for the 24GB RAM/512GB SSD version is similarly a good deal at $1,099, as the same configuration of the M4 is $1,249.

Still not cheap enough? If you’re in the market for a factory refurbished MacBook, you can score a hell of a deal on an older model.