Technologies

Best MacBook Air M2 Deals: Up to $150 Off at B&H Photo

Score rare savings on Apple’s latest sleek and powerful MacBook Air.

The latest model in Apple’s sleek MacBook Air lineup is here, and we’ve named it the overall best laptop on the market right now for most people. Equipped with the new cutting-edge M2 processor, it’s lightweight and powerful, though not the most affordable model out there with a starting price of $1,199. But while deals on the latest Apple devices aren’t exactly common, there are a few discounts available that can knock as much as $150 off the starting price.

M2 MacBook Air on a table — Dan Ackerman/CNET

The M2 chip inside allows for a performance bump of up to 40% and battery life as long as 18 hours, according to Apple. It also has a slightly larger display than the previous-gen model, up to 13.6 inches from 13.3 inches.

All of those improvements do come at a cost, though, as the MacBook Air M2’s price starts at $100 more than its predecessor. For that reason, it’s well worth trying to score a MacBook Air M2 deal where possible. We’re keeping tabs on any and all M2 MacBook Air savings we see below.

Best MacBook Air M2 deals

B&H Photo

$150 off

B&H is offering the best discount out there on the MacBook Air M2 at the moment, and has knocked $150 off the midnight color variant, dropping the starting price down to $1,049. The retailer also offers a neat way to save on sales tax, too, with its own-brand B&H Payboo credit card that gives you the tax back as cash. On a purchase as large as a MacBook Air, that could be a decent chunk of change.

$1,049 at B&H

Amazon

Up to $80 off

Some configurations are currently sold out at Amazon, but if you’re looking for the space gray color variant, you can save $50 on the base 256GB model, or $80 on the 512GB model, dropping the prices down to $1,149 and $1,419.

$1,149 at Amazon

You’re receiving price alerts for MacBook Air M2 (Midnight, 256GB, 8-core)

Apple

$100 off for students

Apple is renowned for not offering direct discounts, but its education store offers a $100 cheaper price, plus discounted AppleCare coverage. If you’re not a student, you can still save by trading in your old MacBook (or any Apple device) for credit against your new one, or by using your Apple Card to spread the cost of your purchase while getting 3% cash back.

$1,099 at Apple

Best Buy

No discounts currently available

In the past, we’ve seen Best Buy offer as much as $200 off the MacBook Air M2, but there aren’t any discounts available at the moment. The retailer does have tons of different configurations in stock and has its own trade-in program, where you can save hundreds in exchange for your old laptop from Apple, Microsoft, HP and other brands.

$1,199 at Best Buy

You’re receiving price alerts for MacBook Air M2 (Midnight, 256GB, 8-core)

Adorama

No discounts currently available

Adorama has offered direct discounts on the new MacBook Air M2 in the past, but doesn’t have any currently available. However, the retailer does have its Adorama Rewards program, which is free to sign up for and allows you to earn points to redeem as credit against future purchases.

$1,199 at Adorama

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.