Best MacBook Air M4 Deals Right Now: Every Retailer Compared
2026-02-14 · BuyGetRewards Staid Staff
The Assignment
The BuyGetRewards Editorial Staff was asked to find the best MacBook Air M4 deal. We interpreted this as a directive to check every major retailer simultaneously, record the results in a spreadsheet, and then stare at the spreadsheet until patterns emerged. This process took four hours. The patterns emerged in the first twenty minutes. We continued staring for the remaining three hours and forty minutes because thoroughness is not a switch we can turn off.
The Retailers, Ranked by Current Price
We checked prices on the MacBook Air M4 13-inch (16GB/256GB, the base configuration that Apple would prefer you think of as insufficient) on February 13, 2026. Here is what we found.
Amazon: $799-$849.99
Amazon continues its tradition of offering the lowest sticker price on MacBooks while changing that price with a frequency that suggests the algorithm is caffeinated. The 13-inch M4 base model has fluctuated between $799 and $999 since launch. At the time of writing, it sits at $849.99. By the time you read this, it may be $879. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, it may be something else entirely. We do not control Amazon's pricing. Nobody controls Amazon's pricing. We are not convinced Amazon controls Amazon's pricing.
The 16GB/512GB configuration — the one the Editorial Staff actually recommends, for reasons we will explain shortly — is currently $1,049, down from its $1,199 MSRP. This is a $150 discount. We noted it without celebration.
B&H Photo: $899
B&H has held steady at $899 for the base model for several weeks. B&H does not charge sales tax in most states. This is not technically a discount, but your bank account cannot tell the difference. For a buyer in California (7.25% state sales tax), the tax savings on an $899 purchase amount to $65.18. For a buyer in New York City (8.875%), the savings are $79.79. We computed both because we had the calculator open.
Best Buy: $849.99-$999
Best Buy oscillates between $849.99 and full MSRP with the regularity of a metronome operated by someone with inconsistent rhythm. The $999 price appears roughly two weeks out of every four. Best Buy also intermittently bundles a $50 gift card with the purchase. When the $849.99 price and the gift card coincide — which occurred three times in the past sixty days — the effective price drops to $799.99, matching Amazon's historical low.
Best Buy's My Best Buy Plus membership ($49.99/year) provides an additional benefit: exclusive member pricing that occasionally undercuts the public price by $50-$100. Whether $49.99 is worth paying for this privilege depends on your annual Best Buy spend. We built a break-even calculator. The break-even point is $900 in annual purchases. We will not share the calculator because it contains formulas we consider proprietary, which is to say, embarrassing.
Apple.com: $999
Apple sells the MacBook Air M4 for $999. Apple has always sold the MacBook Air M4 for $999. Apple will continue to sell the MacBook Air M4 for $999 until the M5 is announced, at which point the M4 will either be discontinued or reduced by exactly $100, as is tradition. Apple's pricing page is the most stable object in the known universe. We check it daily out of obligation, not optimism.
The one exception: Apple offers a $100 education discount ($899 for the base model) to students, educators, and anyone with a .edu email address and a willingness to click a checkbox. We will address this further in a future article about saving $200+ on any MacBook.
Walmart: $849.99-$999
Walmart carries the MacBook Air M4 at $849.99-$999, matching Best Buy's range with slightly less frequency at the lower end. Walmart+ members occasionally receive early access to price drops. The Editorial Staff does not have Walmart+ memberships. We considered subscribing for research purposes. We decided against it.
Costco: $949.99
Costco bundles the MacBook Air M4 with a 2-year warranty extension (beyond Apple's standard 1-year) at $949.99. The extended warranty, if purchased separately as AppleCare, would cost $79. The effective hardware price is therefore $870.99, which places Costco in an unexpectedly competitive position. We found this noteworthy. Costco sells MacBooks between pallets of paper towels and industrial quantities of olive oil. The juxtaposition is something we think about more than is probably healthy.
Which Configuration to Buy
The 16GB/256GB base model is adequate for browsing, email, document editing, and light photo work. The 16GB/512GB model ($1,199 MSRP, currently $1,049 at Amazon) is what we recommend. The $100-$200 premium for double the storage is the single most cost-effective upgrade in Apple's lineup. External storage is an option, but external storage requires remembering to bring external storage, which requires a level of organizational discipline the Editorial Staff has not consistently demonstrated.
The 24GB/512GB model ($1,399 MSRP) is for users who know why they need 24GB of RAM. If you are unsure whether you need 24GB of RAM, you do not need 24GB of RAM.
The Bottom Line
Best overall price: Amazon at $799-$849.99 (fluctuates; set a CamelCamelCamel alert)
Best tax-free option: B&H Photo at $899
Best with gift card timing: Best Buy at $849.99 + $50 gift card = $799.99 effective
Best with warranty: Costco at $949.99 with 2-year extended warranty
Best for students: Apple.com education store at $899
The MacBook Air M4 is currently listed on our [deals page](/deals) at its lowest verified price. We will update it when the price changes. The price will change. It always changes.
-- The BuyGetRewards Editorial Staff
