You know what they say about the best deals? Sometimes looking back is the way forward – which would very much be the case with this MacBook Air M-series laptop deal that I've plucked from Amazon ahead of its Prime Day 2 sale kicking off. Well, it's officially called Big Deal Days, but nobody calls it that.
Check out the £547 MacBook Air deal on Amazon
No, it's not the latest M3 Air. Nor is it the previous-gen M2 model. But just because it's the MacBook Air M1 doesn't mean it'll be in any way unreliable – and in this almost-half-price deal for a refurbished model means it's rubbing shoulders with being at Chromebook-levels of affordable.
MacBook Air M1 (Renewed): just £547 on Amazon
Often touted as 'the best laptop for most people' the original M-series in Apple's Air model was a runaway success. Yes, it's a couple of generations older now, but it's still a highly capable machine for a cut of the price.
I still use this very laptop everyday and I continue to be impressed with it. Sure, the M1 came out before Apple's redesign of the Air series, but if you're looking for a solid deal and are happy to have a little more screen bezel, then I think this is one great way of doing so.
I might have said otherwise if the SSD wasn't larger than 128GB, though, but this model delivers double that, at 256GB, so it's an ideal starting platform. Indeed, this might be the best student laptop buy ahead of a late-start University season. And if new is important to you, then Amazon is still selling the M1 Air brand new at £879 – which is still quite reasonable.
Keep an eye on T3's Amazon Prime Day 2 coverage throughout Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 October, as those two days are sure to surface other best laptop offerings. But I think it's worth pausing before you buy and asking whether you always need the latest and greatest – or if a cut-price deal such as this MacBook is your perfect match.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Mike is T3's Tech Editor. He's been writing about consumer technology for 15 years and his beat covers phones – of which he's seen hundreds of handsets over the years – laptops, gaming, TV & audio, and more. There's little consumer tech he's not had a hand at trying, and with extensive commissioning and editing experience, he knows the industry inside out. As the former Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint for 10 years where he furthered his knowledge and expertise, whilst writing about literally thousands of products, he's also provided work for publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Metro, and more.