Essential Considerations Before Purchasing a MacBook Air in 2025

Apple has reinstated the starting price of the MacBook Air to the appealing $999 mark with the launch of the M4 MacBook Air. In recent times, the company often depended on selling an older model of the MacBook Air to maintain a price under $1,000.

Offering cutting-edge technology at a lower price is a significant advantage for consumers. This also suggests that customers can anticipate even further reductions on older generation MacBook Air models that are still available for sale.

Thinking about purchasing an M2 or M3 MacBook Air now that the M4 MacBook Air is available? Here are some important points to consider before making a purchase.

Please note that the following advice pertains to the base model of the 13-inch MacBook Air. Recommendations for the 15-inch models and those with upgraded storage configurations will be discussed in another article.

Apple’s latest MacBook Air is already priced competitively

Firstly, it’s important to stay informed about the pricing of the M4 MacBook Air and any potential discounts that may arise from retailers.

The starting price for the base model 13-inch M4 MacBook Air is $999, featuring a 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive.

It won’t be long before retailers begin to offer the M4 MacBook Air at discounted rates.

Be cautious of misleading sale prices

Secondly, remember that a significant discount on older models doesn’t necessarily equate to a better value when compared to the new models.

For instance, you might come across an M3 MacBook Air priced at $899 (originally $1099), but that $200 reduction does not imply that it’s a better value than an M4 MacBook Air that may be discounted by $100.

Avoid paying more than the following prices

Lastly, be aware that there are plenty of new MacBook Air configurations still on the market. Thankfully, Apple’s new stock is currently limited to M4 models, which isn’t the case for other retailers.

Other retailers offer the M4 MacBook Air, M3 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM, M2 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM, M3 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM, and M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM — and that’s just a glimpse of the base configurations. There are even M1 MacBook Airs still lingering in inventories.

Apple initially launched the M2 and M3 models with 8GB RAM. Last year, the company upgraded the RAM to 16GB for the base models of the M2 and M3 without changing their prices.

This was incredibly beneficial for consumers at the time, but it adds a layer of complexity to the current marketplace.

16GB RAM

For base model customers, I recommend considering only the following three 13-inch MacBook Air models at these maximum prices:

• $999 | M4 MacBook Air
• $899 | M3 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM
• $799 | M2 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM

Due to the mid-cycle RAM increase for M2 and M3 models, once retailers lower the M4 MacBook Air by $100, expect similar reductions for the M3 and M2 models before considering a purchase.

8GB RAM

I advise against purchasing any M2 or M3 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM if possible. However, if it’s necessary, consider these reasonable prices for the 8GB RAM models currently available:

• $799 | M3 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM
• $699 | M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM

These prices offer a fair deal if they align with your budget, but I wouldn’t recommend exceeding these suggested prices for the M3 and M2 versions—especially if you can find a deal on a model with 16GB RAM.

The only exception is the M1 MacBook Air available at Walmart. The current price of $629 is acceptable if you’re stretching your budget, but the regular price of $699 isn’t appealing anymore.

If you can afford the $799 price and are conflicted between the M3 with 8GB RAM and the M2 with 16GB RAM, I suggest opting for the higher RAM option. In my experience, the performance difference is more significant with double the RAM compared to a newer generation processor.

What about refurbished and used options?

It’s important to remember that these price recommendations pertain to new-in-box models. For refurbished devices that come with the same warranty, subtract an additional 10% from the prices listed.

If you’re considering a used product on eBay or Facebook Marketplace without warranty protection, I suggest discounting the new prices by 25%. It’s common for sellers to price their used devices based on what they initially paid.

For instance, individuals may attempt to sell a used M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM for the same price or even higher than that of a new M3 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM. Sellers might not always be aware of the current market value of their older models, and buyers might overlook critical details like processor generations and RAM upgrades.