Among all the deals going on for Black Friday, laptop sales are perhaps the most enticing. But with all the brands and models on sale, how do you know which laptop deal is best?
I decided to buy a Windows laptop — to supplement my beloved Chromebook and Lenovo Duet — but Apple’s Mac lineup does have its own appeal. And that’s not even getting into budget PCs and the level of power I actually need versus what I think I need.
CNET tested and tried every computer we could get our hands on to help you buy the best laptop this holiday season. We’ve sifted through the numerous laptop deals to ensure you get one for a staggeringly low price from retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. For instance, the Apple MacBook Air M3, CNET’s pick as the best overall MacBook, has been marked down by $200.
Stay tuned to this guide, as we’ll be updating it regularly throughout the holiday weekend into Cyber Monday. If you’re looking for something a little more mobile, check out our roundups of the best Black Friday phone and tablet deals.
Best Black Friday laptop deals
The latest model in Apple’s lightweight lineup, the M3 MacBook Air sits at the top of our list for the best laptop of 2024. This model features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, an 18-hour battery life, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s also designed to work with Apple Intelligence. All colors and configurations are currently $200 off at Best Buy.
This HP Pavilion Plus earned the overall top spot on our list of the best Windows laptops of 2024. This configuration features a 14-inch, 2,560×1,600-pixel display, 512GB of storage and an Intel Core i5 processor. It’s also equipped with multiple USB-C and USB-A ports, an HDMI port and a headphone jack for serious versatility.
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Featuring a 14-inch, 1,920×1,200-pixel touchscreen, the Lenovo Yoga 7 is the best two-in-one laptop of 2024. This discounted configuration boasts some powerful hardware, including 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, an AMD Radeon 780M GPU and an AMD Ryzen 7 processor. It also comes with the Lenovo Digital Pen stylus.
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This Alienware model is already one of our favorite gaming laptops for folks on a budget, and right now you can pick it up for even less. There are a few different configurations on sale, but this $1,300 model is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
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This laptop can handle almost anything you need without weighing down your backpack or your lap. It has a 16-inch touchscreen display, an Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB of RAM and a whopping 1TB of storage.
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This 2024 laptop has a touchscreen display, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. It also has the Snapdragon X Elite processor, AI capabilities through Copilot Plus and gets up to 20 hours of battery life.
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Black Friday gaming laptop deals
This 16-inch gaming laptop has 16GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 4060 along with a 1TB SSD. It’s not top-end, but it’s a very solid choice for pretty much everyone who wants to game on the go and still enjoy solid specs.
This 15.6-inch gaming laptop features a 165Hz refresh rate, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB RAM and an AMD Ryzen 9 processor for gameplay as fast as your fingers can type. The 1TB solid-state drive can also hold your games and your work files with room to spare.
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Black Friday laptop deals for students
This budget-friendly Acer is the best cheap laptop of 2024. With an AMD Ryzen 3 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, it’s designed for the basics like scrolling social media and checking your email. It also has a built-in webcam, and an HDMI port and weighs just 3.2 pounds so it’s easy to take on the go.
Black Friday MacBook deals
A large screen and powerful hardware make this one of the best laptops for creatives. It’s packing some decent specs as well with 18GB of RAM and a lovely 16-inch screen. An excellent choice for Apple fans or fans-to-be.
Black Friday Chromebook deals
This affordable Lenovo two-in-one is one of the best Chromebooks of 2024. It has a compact 11-inch screen, making it really easy to carry around all day, and it still squeezes in 4GB of memory too.
What should you look for in a Black Friday laptop deal?
One of the biggest considerations is which laptop configuration is on sale. With the best laptop deals, typically only a specific version of the laptop is discounted, and making any changes to the hardware, specs or even color could affect the price. This means that sometimes you find that, for example, the 512GB model is actually cheaper than the 256GB option. Be careful when you’re adjusting specs and look out for sudden price changes.
Ultimately, you’re looking for the biggest savings compared with not only the price but the usual “street” price for a laptop. Don’t be fooled by list prices. Use price comparison sites or shopping extensions to make sure the discounted price is actually a good deal.
Which retailers usually offer the best Black Friday laptop deals?
You can usually find laptop deals at a variety of retailers. Major retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, plus smaller competitors like Newegg, Adorama and B&H Photo, tend to offer sales on more specific models, while manufacturers such as HP, Lenovo and Dell usually host larger sales that cover more models and configurations. If you’re looking for a specific model, you’ll want to keep checking back throughout the holiday shopping season for the latest batch of deals.
Will laptops be cheaper on Cyber Monday?
Usually, there are no significant differences between the Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts. Big hitters like Best Buy and Amazon tend to bring out the big discounts directly on Black Friday. You might be able to find some additional savings on items that haven’t run out just yet. If there’s something that catches your eye, we’d recommend jumping on it immediately. Most of these discounts end as soon as the product is out of stock.
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