This is a really great deal if you are an Apple fan and in the market for the lightest Mac around. This is my personal laptop and, even though I came from a 15″ MacBook Pro, I really love working on it. This is the best price on it yet so move if you want it!
There have been some complaints by reviewers about the sacrifices made (a single port on this for connecting devices) but I have found that I almost never use the USB-C port and, when I need to connect more than one thing, I have a cheap USB hub that fits in my bag nicely. This is really a great computer for one who travels as the battery life is good, it has a small footprint, and the screen is fantastic!
Great Deal: 12″ MacBook $300 Off (possibly more)
- MacBook 12″ 256GB SSD/8GB/1.1GHz
- Available in Gray/Silver/Gold
- Regular price – $1,299
- Sale price – $999
- Best Buy Link
But, Wait! It Gets Better!
If you want to really maximize this, follow these steps:
- go to Best Buy and purchase gift cards with your Amex cards that have the $199 spend/$20 back offer on it
- Next,you can pick up a USPS mover’s coupon on eBay for around $10 that will give you another 10% off!
- After that, go online and buy through a shopping portal (United is giving 2 miles per dollar). If you don’t mind open-box (which I don’t), you can get another $90 off as well!
If you put all of that together, you will pay a total of (pre-tax) of $810 for a new one and pick up 1,800 United miles. If you opt for an open-box, you will get it for $731 (pre-tax) and 1,600 United miles! That is a killer deal on this laptop!
Summary
This laptop certainly isn’t for everyone and there are some great options on the Windows side that add things that this doesn’t have (like touchscreen). But, if you are in the Apple system (like I am), this is really the best it gets for thin-and-light. While not as powerful a processor as the Macbook Air laptops have, this does come standard with 8GB of RAM that will help with some of the things you may do on this. All in all, I really like mine and this is a great price if you are thinking about one as well!
Would using Apple Pay with Discover get a better net price and less hassel?
It certainly could! I have heard of some people having problems at Best Buy with it so bring your card if you try it.
The unfortunate thing is you have to spend another 100$ for all the peripherals to make this thing actually work like a normal laptop.. the single port is just absolutely killer.. Split the port for power, usb, SD.. Would do this in a heartbeat with the old 13″ airs, but people have to be real apple fans to buy this computer.. Friends that bought it, absolutely hate it, they have to carry soooooo many things with them in their bags to make the thing function like a normal computer on a trip that it is just not worth it.
That said, thanks for posting, it is an amazing deal for people that just need a computer to type on and watch movies and not do real work with.
That is too bad. I realize it may not be what some people are looking for (also depends on what you call “real work” – most of my computer-based work can be done on it easily!). I wondered if I would hate it but, like I said, I found that I could get along quite nicely without the peripherals. The one exception is that I do carry the USB-C/USB adapter for my little Samsung T1 SSD and plugging my phone in. I can actually carry the thing with me all day in my small bag and it is super light!
For home use, I will be getting the MacBook dock that OWC is putting out. It has everything a home-user would want for ports and it is $129 (I think). That should work for home.
Obviously, Google and Apple are trying to move people toward the single port/more cloud-based computing. While not there yet, we could be at some point. I forgot how important a DVD drive in a laptop used to be to me – now I haven’t used a DVD in 4 years! 🙂
It’s Intel® Core™ M processor … not i3 or i5 ……so no deal because Intel Core M is slower than those two.
Well, it is not a deal for you! 🙂 It is still a great deal because of what it has and that it does a great job for many people. Like I said, I came from a fully-loaded MBPro 15″ and this is just fine for my needs. I am not doing video editing on it, but even basic Photoshop work is fine with it. Remember, the 12″ screen will already limit the kind of work that you would probably need the extra power for anyway. I certainly respect that it is not a good deal for you, but it apparently has been a really good one for many so far!
Thanks for your input Charlie, actually I am in the fence to pull the trigger. I am in need of portable laptop that powerful enough for video and photo editing, this seems to meet my needs but I am just worry about Intel M processor. What kind of processor is your MB pro 15″? M, i3, i5?
Thanks! The 15″ was the retina i7 2.5. That is definitely the machine for video and is still portable! I would suggest that one. It is not super portable but certainly can travel nicely. For me, I ended up doing more blogging on my laptop than anything else and being in cramped regional planes and carrying light loads, this 12″ came in handy.
If you can wait, Apple will probably come out with a more powerful version in March or June. Or, just buy one now and sell later. In fact, if you want, shoot me an email and I will tell you if my “secret” place that you can get a great deal on macs (and sell it later at the same price of better) :). Charlie@runningwithmiles.com