MacBook prices are getting the slash treatment at Best Buy this weekend. And so are Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book -- with the savings coming directly from Microsoft.
MacBooks:
If you're still outraged at the high prices of the new MacBook Pros (announced in October), Best Buy is offering a respite from the usual rarefied MacBook pricing.
The deals are good until February 20 (President's Day), according to a Best Buy spokesperson. But keep in mind that this probably isn't the last that you'll see of these kinds of deals. They invariably return and I've seen recent Best Buy discounts where, for example, the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (late 2016) was priced $2,249, $150 off the regular price of $2,399. And I've also seen the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (late 2016) get price cuts of between $150 and $200 at Best Buy.
But for now here are some highlights from the Best Buy deals this weekend.
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (2015): on sale for $999.99, $300 off the regular price of $1,299.99. Specs include a 5th-Generation Intel Core i5 "Broadwell" processor, 8GB Memory, and a 128GB flash drive. You're essentially getting a MacBook Pro for the price of a MacBook Air.
15-inch MacBook Pro (2015): on sale for $1,699.99, $300 of regular price of $1,999.99. Specs include Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 256GB Flash drive.
13-inch MacBook Pro (late 2016) non-Touch Bar model: $1,249.99 -- reduced $250 from the regular price of $1,499.99. Specs include a 6th-Generation Intel Core i5 “Skylake” processor, 8GB RAM, a 256GB flash drive, and a 2560-by-1600 resolution Retina display.
Note that the non-Touch-bar MacBook Pro can be seen as a replacement for 13-inch MacBook Air, whose physical design has remained stagnant for years (and could be EOLed eventually). And like the MacBook Air, the new MacBook Pros are thin/light at 0.59-inches thick/3 pounds, comparing favorably to the 0.71 inches/3.5 pounds for the previous generation MBP 13.
13-inch MacBook Air (latest Model): $749.99, a price cut of $250 off the regular price of $999.99. Specs include an Intel Core i5, 8GB Memory, and 128GB flash drive.
13-inch MacBook Air (latest Model): $949.99, a price reduction of $250 off the regular price of $1,199.99. Specs include an Intel Core i5, 8GB Memory, and 256GB flash drive.
12-inch MacBook (2016): $1,249.99, $350 price reduction from regular price of $1,599.99. Specs include a 6th-Generation Intel Core M5 processor, 8GB Memory, 512GB flash drive and a Retina display. The 12-inch MacBook with the the more powerful 1.2GHz processor has always had a very high list price, putting it out of reach for most consumers. This puts the 2-pound, tablet-like MacBook within striking distance for more consumers.
Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book:
While Best Buy sells MacBooks on the cheap, Microsoft is having its own President's Day sale.
Let's be clear, either Microsoft or Best Buy often do Surface sales. But Microsoft is going out its way to promote this one, so here's what's being offered on President's Day, aka, George Washington's birthday.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4: on sale for $999, reduced $200 from$1,199. That includes 256GB of storage, an Intel Core i5 (6th gen) processor, and 8GB RAM.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4: on sale for $699, reduced $200 from$899. This comes with 128GB of storage, an Intel Core m3 processor (6th gen) and 4GB RAM.
Microsoft Surface Book: on sale for $1,299, reduced $200 from $1,499. That includes 128GB of storage, Intel Core i5 processor (6th-Gen) and 8GB RAM.
Note that in the case of the Surface Book the keyboard is part of the package, while it is not included with the Surface Pro 4.
iPad:
iPad models are also being discounted at Best Buy, including the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, by up to $75 and $200 respectively.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 starts at $699 through Monday. (Credit: Microsoft)
