December 28, 2024

Don’t waste your money – these are the only Cyber Monday laptop deals you need to buy

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There are loads of Cyber Monday laptop deals out there – but which ones are actually worth buying?

I’ve been covering Cyber Monday on TechRadar for almost a decade, so I know a thing or two when it comes to picking a Cyber Monday laptop deal. Unfortunately, not every laptop deal retailers are pushing are good value. Sometimes there are just too many compromises – such as older or under-powered components being used – to bring down the price. I’ve seen some retailers trying to sell Windows 11 laptops with 4GB of RAM, for example, and that’s a bad joke.

To make it easier for you, I’ve curated a list of the best Cyber Monday laptop deals that are available today. However, that’s still a long list, so below you’ll find my very top picks for you depending on what your budget is and what you need the laptop for. There will be both US and UK deals for each, and if you’re not in either of those locations, at the bottom you’ll find a list of great laptop deals where you are.

Today’s best Cyber Monday laptop deal overall

For years the Dell XPS 13 was our pick as the best laptop for most people. It was thin, light and very powerful – and it was good value as well. Then Apple released the M1 MacBook Air, which did everything the Dell XPS 13 did – but better.

However, this Cyber Monday, I actually think the Dell XPS 13 is the best laptop overall, thanks to some big price cuts on both side of the Atlantic which makes Dell’s brilliant laptop more affordable than ever. This is perfect for people looking for a dependable laptop for day-to-day use (and check out our Dell Cyber Monday deals) roundup.

Dell XPS 13: was $799 now $599 at Dell
Lowest-ever price:
Here we go folks – this is the cheapest price we’ve ever seen for a Dell XPS 13 laptop, and it’s one of the latest models no less. As you’d expect, this isn’t the highest configuration since it’s got a 12th gen Intel Core i5 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, but this is a superb price for such a premium machine. The main selling points for the XPS 13 are the gorgeous aluminum chassis, excellent display, and incredibly lightweight design that’s perfect for everyday carry. We awarded this model four stars out of five with our Dell XPS 13 2022 reviewView Deal

Dell XPS 13: was £1,048 now £848.99 at Dell
One of the best deals in the Dell Cyber Monday sale is on this 2-in-1 XPS 13 – one of our favourite models here at TechRadar. Inside, it features an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 256GB SSD. View Deal

Today’s best Cyber Monday laptop deal for a MacBook

If you want a great MacBook deal, then the M2 MacBook Air is the one to get. Sure, there are cheaper prices for the older, but still very good MacBook Air with M1, but the M2 model is more powerful, and therefore more futureproof.

When the M2 model launched, Apple upped the price tag, which was a real shame, as the best thing about the MacBook Air was its pure value for money. No Windows laptop could compete at the same price point. 

Now that Cyber Monday has knocked money off the asking price for the newest 13-inch MacBook Air, it’s once again excellent value. Unless you’re a video editing professional, trust me: you don’t need a massively powerful and expensive MacBook Pro. Get the M2 Air instead (and check out our roundup of the best MacBook Cyber Monday deals as well).

MacBook Air 13-inch (M2, 2022): was $1,099 now $949 at Best Buy
If you’d prefer to get the latest Apple device, Best Buy has the recent MacBook Air M2 for a saving of $150 (though it was at $899 last week). We concluded that this is the best laptop you can buy in our MacBook Air M2 review, thanks to the stylish design, clear display, impressive performance, and long battery life. For those needing a premium powerhouse for creative apps such as photo editing, video editing, and more intense workloads, this is worth the extra investment. The M1 is still up to those jobs too, so you’ll still be fine with the cheaper option if your budget is smaller.View Deal

MacBook Air 13-inch (M2, 2022): was £1,119 now £1,049 at John Lewis
Apple’s latest 13.6-inch MacBook Air comes with a stylish redesign and boosted M2 processor. This model, with 8GB memory and 256GB SSD, gets a price cut, making it better value, and it’s now just £60 more than what the older M1 model usually sells for.View Deal

Today’s best ultra-cheap Cyber Monday laptop deal

If you want an ultra-cheap laptop this Cyber Monday, I’m going to be honest. AVOID Windows 11 machines. You may find some for less than $200, but trust me – they are not worth buying. They’ll be sluggish, under powered and just all-round frustrating.

Instead, get a Chromebook. Running the ChromeOS operating system, the best Chromebooks run brilliantly on less powerful (and therefore cheaper) hardware. They are ideal for people on a budget that just want something to browse the web, write up documents, and do homework on. For kids, they are a great first laptop as they are cheap, dependable, and come with parental controls.

I’ve picked two great Chromebooks below for US and UK readers. Both offer excellent value for money – and check out our collection of Chromebook Cyber Monday deals for more offers.

HP 14 Chromebook: was $299 now $129 at Best Buy
Under half price:
An absolutely fantastic budget Chromebook deal in the Best Buy Cyber Monday sale, this HP 14 is the perfect choice for light browser-based tasks and school work. Not only is it incredibly cheap thanks to a huge $170 price cut, but the combination of an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage are going to set you up nicely for the basics. View Deal

Asus Chromebook 14: was £249 now £139 at Amazon
This Asus Chromebook 14 is a basic device but it’s great value for money if you need a cheap laptop for light use such as general browsing and schoolwork. It sports a 14-inch display, full-day battery life and the lean Chrome OS that make it a great buy for students or those always on the move with around £150 to spend.View Deal

Today’s best student Cyber Monday laptop deal

As I mentioned above, Chromebooks make brilliant student laptops, so unless you or the student in your life is studying a course that needs a powerful laptop, a Chromebook is a great choice.

The two deals below are amazing Chromebooks for students thanks to their 2-in-1 designs which allows them to be used as both traditional laptops or as a tablet-like device. This lets students save space when they move to University, or go to campus, as they only need one device – and, of course, they are also great at the end of the day when it’s time to unwind.

HP Chromebook X360 14-inch 2-in-1: was $329 now $289.99 at Walmart
With an Intel Celeron processor and 4GB DDR4 RAM, this Chromebook isn’t going to be setting any records, but it’s a great 2-in-1 for young students who’ll love the splash of teal color on the outside, while you’ll love that it’s $40 off at Walmart ahead of Cyber Monday.View Deal

Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3: was £399 now £249 at Argos
We’re big fans of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet at TechRadar so definitely want to share this significant reduction on the flexible 11-inch laptop that brings it down to a record-low price for this configuration. In our very positive Lenovo Chromebook Duet review, we thought the original version offered an excellent balance between tablet portability and Chromebook flexibility. This version boasts 8GB of RAM for good performance and a healthy 128GB of storage. Plus, the day-long battery life is a huge boost for those who are always on the go.View Deal

Today’s best Cyber Monday gaming laptop deal

Gaming laptops can be one of the trickiest things to buy on Cyber Monday. This is a time when many unscrupulous retailers try and shift older stock – so what might seem like a great deal actually isn’t.

And, let’s face it, very few of us can afford a high-end, super-powerful gaming laptop either – even if they get big price cuts.

So, I’ve picked two laptops below, one for US, one for UK, which offer brilliant value for money, as well as good performance when playing modern games – a very tricky balance at these prices.

Despite their prices, they both offer Nvidia’s latest RTX 4000 series GPUs, which means they can make use of DLSS 3. This clever upscaling tech makes games run better and is especially helpful with mid-range gaming laptops.

They both have modern Intel processors and 16GB of RAM as well. Many ‘deals’ are selling gaming laptops with 8GB of RAM, which doesn’t really cut it these days.

Asus TUF 15.6-inch gaming laptop: was $1,399 now $979.99 at Best Buy
This heavily-reduced Asus TUF is easily one of the cheapest laptops we’ve ever seen to feature the speedy new RTX 4070 graphics card. This GPU, combined with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD means this Asus is packing some serious gaming chops under the hood. While it’s not at the very cutting edge of components or overall design, you’re getting almost unbeatable bang for the buck here with this Asus, thanks to a healthy $300 discount at Best Buy. View Deal

Gigabyte G5: was £1,556.97 now £847.97 at Laptops Direct
Don’t sleep on Gigabyte’s budget gaming laptops, folks. This G5 model features an RTX 4060 GPU and Intel Core i5 12500H CPU, making it an absolutely blinding deal at less than £900. A 15.6-inch 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate is the perfect companion to that RTX graphics card, and the overall design is also surprisingly thin and light for a gaming laptop.View Deal

Let our AI bot help

None of those Cyber Monday laptop deals float your boat? Then check out our AI bot below. Type in what kind of laptop you’re looking for, and it’ll search our website (and our sister publications) for the very best deals that are still live!

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More US Cyber Monday deals

Amazon: 50% off TVs, air fryers, AirPods & clothingApple: AirPods Pro, Apple Watch 8 & iPads from $99Adidas: 40% off running shoes, sweatshirts & leggingsBeauty: 51% off viral makeup, skincare & hair toolsBest Buy: up to $800 off 4K TVs, laptops & headphonesCheap TVs: big-screen 4K TVs from $269.99Christmas: 40% off decor, pajamas & treesDell: save on best-selling Inspiron and XPS laptopsDreamCloud: 40% off all mattressesFamily pajamas: matching Christmas PJs from $12.99Gaming: console bundles from $289.99 at WalmartLowe’s: up to $800 off major appliancesNectar: mattress deals starting at $359Nordstrom: 30% off Nike, Levi’s, Skims, Adidas & more Samsung: up to $2,000 of TVs, phones and appliancesTarget: 40% off furniture, TVs, clothing & appliances Toys: Disney, Barbie, Lego & board games from $14.99Walmart: Apple Watch 9, cheap TVs, air fryers & toys

More UK Cyber Monday deals 

Amazon: up to 65% off everythingAO: up to 40% off appliances, TVs and techArgos: up to 50% off toys, tools and AppleBoots: discounts on 1,000s of beauty productsCurrys: up to 40% off all techDyson: shop exclusive dealseBay: up to 60% off refurbished itemsEbuyer: up to 45% off computingEE Store: huge phones and gaming saleEmma: up to 65% off mattresses + moreJohn Lewis: best for tech, home and clothingJessops: up to £550 off camerasNinja: up to 25% off air fryersO2: up to £600 off phonesSamsung: best deals on Samsung techScan: PC components and peripheralsShark: up to £100 off vacuumsSimba: up to 55% off mattressesSuperdrug: up to 60% offToolstation: up to 30% off tools and DIYVery: tech, decor, appliances and furnitureVodafone: half-price SIMs from £11.50