New MacBook Are Coming Soon. Does That Mean You Should Wait to Buy?

It’s a strange time to be buying a MacBook. On one hand, it’s Amazon Prime Day, meaning everything is discounted—both the various MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models. On the other hand, you might be wondering if now is truly a good time to buy a MacBook and how soon we’ll be seeing some new models coming out. It is Techtober after all.

Before going further, if you need more information on what separates all these MacBook models, read our in-depth Best MacBooks guide, which will get you up to speed.

Should You Buy a MacBook Air?

First, let’s get to the actual discounts. All the current MacBooks are at least $200 off on Amazon, and the cheaper the laptop, the bigger percentage of the total price that $200 will be. That means, based on the math alone, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best deal on a MacBook for Prime Day this year.

We’ve seen this laptop drop to $800 just once before, and I don’t anticipate it going any lower. This $800 configuration gets you 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. As I’ve said since its launch, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air is the laptop most people should buy. They perform effortlessly (and actually have more oomph than you might think), and have fantastic battery life. They can even support two 4K external monitors at 144 Hz now with the MacBook lid open.

There are rumors of an M5 MacBook Air floating around, but I can say confidently that you shouldn’t worry about them. MacBook Airs are not performance-driven devices, so the bump from M4 to M5 won’t be as big of a deal as it is for the MacBook Pro. I’m sure Apple will have some meaningful upgrades to offer for the M5 MacBook Air, but whether any of them will be worth $200 feels less likely, especially since we aren’t expecting any major design changes in this next generation. Furthermore, Apple doesn’t tend to keep older models around officially, so once the M5 MacBook Air comes out, the M4 MacBook Air may not even be available anymore.

Suffice to say, if you’re thinking about buying the M4 MacBook Air, whether a 13-inch or 15-inch model now is a very good time to buy one.

There’s also the M1 MacBook Air to consider. Yes, this five-year old laptop is still being sold, exclusively through Walmart, and the price is now down to $600. It’s been that price since this summer, and it remains a tempting purchase for students and anyone who’s always wanted a MacBook but couldn’t afford one.

But here’s the thing: Apple is rumored to be launching a new entry-level MacBook to the lineup, possibly as early as later this month. Spring 2026 feels like a more appropriate time, but no one knows for sure. Reports have indicated that this mysterious new MacBook will use an iPhone chip and possibly have a smaller, 12.9-inch display. My point is that whatever this new MacBook is, it’ll most likely replace the M1 MacBook Air and improve upon it. Again, these aren’t performance-driven laptops necessarily, but an updated design with more ports, an improved webcam, and better external display support could really feel like a significant upgrade over the M1 MacBook Air. All of that is speculation, of course. If you need a cheap MacBook for school or work right now, I would still recommend the M1 MacBook Air has a solid option.

What about the MacBook Pro?

What about the MacBook Pro? Well, that can be trickier. The M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max MacBook Pros are only about 10 percent off. The base M4 MacBook Pro is $200 off, which is a 13 percent discount, while the M4 Pro and M4 Max are both discounted by just 10 percent. Not only is it a lower discount, the rumors of an M5 MacBook Pro are a bit more threatening to this model’s longevity. After all, if you’re after an M4 Max, you’ll probably salivating over the idea of an M5 Max (even if we have no idea what it’ll be like). The rumors around when the M5 MacBook Pros will be launching, however, aren’t clear. We know they’re in production and could be coming soon, but that could be anytime between in a couple of weeks to a few months. Some very recent indications point to an M5 MacBook Pro launching this month without the M5 Pro and M5 Max.

To be clear, there is also a much-hyped OLED MacBook Pro that has reportedly been in the works for years, which will be thinner and may even have a touchscreen. Most reports indicate that this new design will be reserved for the M6 generation, whenever that ends up being.

The inevitable upcoming launch of the M5 MacBook Pro doesn’t detract from the fact that the M4 MacBook Pros are fantastic laptops in their own right and have been ruling the roost since they launched, with a special nod to the M4 Max, which is incredibly powerful. However, if it’s ultimate power you’re looking for, it might be worth waiting just to what Apple has cooked up this time.