Apple redefined the concept of the ultraportable with its MacBook Air line. Sadly, today's lightest Macs sport a mind-blowing — and wallet-crushing — $1,299 price tag. They also rely on Intel's Core M processors, which should be sufficient for most users, but aren't the same flagship CPUs that previous MacBook Airs incorporated. And don't get us started on the new "butterfly" keyboard.
If you miss Apple's original ultraportables — or simply can't afford to drop $1,299 on a new system — your best bet remains the MacBook Air. Although Apple sells the 13-inch model for $999, retailers are known to discount the Air's price tag even further. As a case in point, Best Buy currently has the 13.3-inch MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD for just $799.99. That's $200 under the Apple Store's price and beats last month's best MacBook Air deal by $60.
Sure, there's no Retina screen and you're relying on a 1.6-GHz 5th generation Core i5 CPU, but unless you're a power user, that should be more than enough to get by. Plus, the MacBook Air still packs an impressive 14-hour battery life and includes all the ports you could possibly need in addition to an SD card slot and MagSafe connector.
If you need a little more storage, Newegg has the 256GB 13-inch MacBook Air for $1,019.98. That's $180 under Apple's price and the cheapest 256GB Mac laptop you can buy.
