Apple's latest Mac computers are some of the best desktop and laptops around for general productivity tasks and content creation, thanks to their fast (and battery-efficient) M1 chips. Now you can get either the current-gen MacBook Air or Mac Mini on sale, for $150 and $100 off their usual prices, respectively. The MacBook Air has already dropped to this price at least once, and the Mini has been on sale for $600 a few times, but these are still excellent deals.
The discounted MacBook Air configuration has Apple’s M1 chipset, with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and 8GB RAM all on the same chipset. You also get 256GB of SSD storage, a backlit keyboard, a FaceTime HD webcam, and a 13-inch Retina Display. Not a bad package at all for $850, especially compared to sub-$1000 Windows laptops. The Mac Mini has the same M1 chip, 256GB SSD, and 8GB RAM. However, the Mini requires you to supply your own keyboard, mouse, and display.
Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
This is the cheapest version of the latest MacBook Air, with 256GB of SSD storage and 8GB RAM. The full discount is applied at checkout.
Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020)
The M1-powered Mac Mini has dropped to this price a few times already, but it's still a great deal for a capable macOS desktop. The full discount is applied at checkout.
Most mainstream macOS software already supports the M1 chip natively, but most older x86-based applications can run in the Rosetta compatibility layer. However, Macs with M1 chips can’t boot into Windows (which is possible on x86 Macs), but you can still run Windows for ARM in a virtual machine with Parallels.