The M3 MacBook Air is the latest and greatest version of Apple’s entry-level laptop, but it’s not the cheapest version the company currently sells. The M2 MacBook Air is still being sold, and at a discounted starting price of $999. Even more enticing, you can usually find it for as low as $850 at online retailers.
That sounds like a good price, but there are lots of really great laptops that sell for even cheaper. Before pulling the trigger on a shiny new M2 MacBook Air, I recommend you consider one of the following five options instead, which are all cheaper.
In terms of value, there’s no laptop quite like the Zenbook 14 OLED. Despite having an excellent OLED screen and the latest Core Ultra 7 processor, you can buy it for just $800. Now, you might look at that price and wonder if it’s really worth buying it over the M2 MacBook Air, which can be bought for just an extra $50. But this $800 configuration comes with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, compared to the 8GB and 256GB of the M2 MacBook Air. Apple would charge you an extra $600 for that upgrade.
This becomes even more clear when you look at the $599 model, which still comes with 512GB of storage. So yeah, the Zenbook 14 OLED is a fantastic deal, and it has very few compromises. The keyboard and touchpad are great, it has a touchscreen, and there’s a wealth of ports.
Just don’t get this confused with the Zenbook 14 OLED Q, a spruced-up model that only comes in a high-end configuration. But really, the only true difference between the two laptops is a fancier lid design. That’s it. So, go with the Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405), and you’ll be delighted.
If there’s one really solid alternative to the M2 MacBook Air, it’s the M1 MacBook Air. I know, I know — it might feel like cheating, especially since Apple no longer sells it. However, you can find it online for a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the M2 model. Now, in general, I would point people toward the M2 MacBook Air since it offers a better webcam, better speakers, and a thinner chassis.
However, if you’re really pinching your pennies and are set on a MacBook, the M1 MacBook Air is as cheap as you can really want to go. In terms of the things that matter most, the M1 MacBook Air is still a really solid laptop that beats many Windows laptops in performance and battery life.
So, while I think the M2 MacBook Air is worth the extra cash, the M1 MacBook Air represents a cheaper version that is still quite good. The refurbished $599 model being sold at Best Buy is just a great deal.
The latest version of the Dell XPS 13 is rather expensive. It’s a premium machine that is priced closer to the M3 MacBook Air. Looking at the previous generation of the XPS 13, however, offers some really good, affordable options. The XPS 13 Plus recently got a significant price cut, with a new starting price of $999. This, however, is a specced-up configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It includes a 13th-gen Intel processor, as well as a gorgeous design.
Even better, however, is the XPS 13 (9315). It came out in 2022, but features a more standard design. It’s still a beautiful laptop, though, and it’s even thinner than the XPS 13 Plus. The one downside is performance, as the XPS 13 (9315) doesn’t use a fast processor. The $599 model is attractive, but the $799 model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is solid too.
The Zenbook 14 OLED is fantastic, but if you want something a little smaller to match the MacBook Air, then the Zenbook S 13 OLED is an equally good value. It’s a gorgeous little laptop that’s quite nearly as thin as the M2 MacBook Air. I like the black backdrop on the keyboard, which matches the MacBook Pro, and the fact that it has lots more ports.
The only real problem is that the Zenbook S 13 is currently only available in a more premium configuration with 32GB of RAM. That configuration doesn’t make a ton of sense for this type of laptop, unfortunately. But the 16GB version that used to be available was a fantastic deal. The other caveat is that it uses a Ryzen processor, so it may get refreshed with an update later this year.
The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 doesn’t offer a significant discount over the MacBook Air, but it has a few advantages that make it worth the extra money. As of the time of writing, the starting price of the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 is $1,027, which nets you 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a Core Ultra 7 processor. For that configuration, you’ll pay a bit more than you would for the MacBook Air M2.
More than that, the ThinkBook 13x has a better screen. It has a 13.5-inch, 2880 x 1920 panel with a faster 120Hz refresh rate. Not only is that a higher-resolution screen, but it’s rare to get a refresh rate over 60Hz on a laptop this cheap. That makes the ThinkBook 13x a standout.
The ThinkBook 13x is also a fairly thin and light laptop that’s only marginally chunkier than the MacBook Air.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.