Today’s best deals: Apple MacBook Air, Ring Fit Adventure, and more

Today’s best deals: Apple MacBook Air, Ring Fit Adventure, and more
Ars Technica

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes a solid price for Apple’s M1-based MacBook Air, the entry-level version of which is currently down to $850 at Amazon. You should see a notice of an extra $100 off on Amazon’s listing page, with the full discount applied in your cart.

Outside of a couple brief drops to $800 last year, this is the lowest price we’ve tracked for this notebook version—which includes a basic 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage—from a major retailer. The deal comes out to $149 less than Apple’s MSRP and roughly $90 lower than the average street price we’ve seen online in recent months.

Note that this deal applies to the MacBook Air that launched in 2020 and runs on Apple’s M1 chip, not the model that arrived earlier this year with a revamped design and faster M2 SoC. We generally recommend the latter to most people in the market for a new MacBook today, as it offers a moderate performance boost (largely on the graphics side of things), a brighter screen with a bit more real estate (albeit with a “notched” design), a MagSafe connector, and a much nicer camera and audio system for video calls. The entry-level version of that notebook is also on sale today for $1,099, which is $100 off Apple’s MSRP.

That’s still a good ways above the M1 MacBook Air’s current deal price, though, and the older model remains a good buy for those who need a competent Mac laptop for as little as possible. Despite being a couple of years old, the M1 chip is still more than capable of handling web browsing, word processing, and other casual day-to-day tasks with little issue. And while the thicker bezels and mere two USB-C ports aren’t ideal, the notebook itself remains sturdy and lightweight, with an excellent keyboard and trackpad, a still-strong display, and fantastic battery life that lasted for more than 14 hours per charge in our testing.

Apart from the middling port selection, the major drawbacks to the M1 Air are that it can’t connect to multiple external displays at a time and, more pressingly, its 720p webcam is flat-out bad. But if you want a Mac for the essentials on a (relative) budget, this is a good value.

If you don’t need a new laptop, our roundup also includes a near-low on the popular workout game Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch, a joint-low on the excellent action-RPG Horizon Forbidden West for the PS4 and PS5, and a deal that brings digital copies of the Ars-favorite sci-fi novel Project Hail Mary down to $3. We also have lower-than-usual prices on Google Nest Hub smart displays, LG OLED TVs, well-reviewed SSDs, Anker charging gear, and much more. You can check out our full curated list of deals below.

Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Featured deals of the day

<a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-129-inch-iPad-Pro-front.jpeg" class="enlarge" data-height="2521" data-width="3855" alt="The 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro is still a highly powerful tablet. Just note that a refreshed model may arrive next month.”><img alt="The 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro is still a highly powerful tablet. Just note that a refreshed model may arrive next month.” src=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-1.jpg” width=”640″ height=”419″ srcset=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-6.jpg 2x”>
Enlarge / The 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro is still a highly powerful tablet. Just note that a refreshed model may arrive next month.
Samuel Axon

Electronics deals

<a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Ars-Technica-Nest-Hub-2nd-Generation-Review-9.jpg" class="enlarge" data-height="1532" data-width="2296" alt="Google's second-generation Nest Hub.”><img alt="Google's second-generation Nest Hub.” src=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-2.jpg” width=”640″ height=”427″ srcset=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-7.jpg 2x”>
Enlarge / Google’s second-generation Nest Hub.
Corey Gaskin

Laptop and desktop PC deals

The 13-inch MacBook Air with Apple's M1 chip.
Enlarge / The 13-inch MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 chip.
Lee Hutchinson

Video game deals

<a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/71xMjwoZLaL._SL1500_.jpg" class="enlarge" data-height="844" data-width="1500" alt="Ring Fit Adventure is an exercise game attached to deeper-than-usual RPG mechanics, at least relative to other titles of this type.”><img alt="Ring Fit Adventure is an exercise game attached to deeper-than-usual RPG mechanics, at least relative to other titles of this type.” src=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-4.jpg” width=”640″ height=”360″ srcset=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-9.jpg 2x”>
Enlarge / Ring Fit Adventure is an exercise game attached to deeper-than-usual RPG mechanics, at least relative to other titles of this type.
<a href="https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-1.png" class="enlarge" data-height="927" data-width="1215" alt="A port of the classic FPS GoldenEye 007 will be added to Microsoft’s Rare Replay anthology in the near future, though it won’t feature online play, unlike the game’s upcoming rerelease on the Nintendo Switch.”><img alt="A port of the classic FPS GoldenEye 007 will be added to Microsoft’s Rare Replay anthology in the near future, though it won’t feature online play, unlike the game’s upcoming rerelease on the Nintendo Switch.” src=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more.png” width=”640″ height=”488″ srcset=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-1.png 2x”>
Enlarge / A port of the classic FPS GoldenEye 007 will be added to Microsoft’s Rare Replay anthology in the near future, though it won’t feature online play, unlike the game’s upcoming rerelease on the Nintendo Switch.
Danjaq / MGM

Gaming deals

<a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/phm.jpg" class="enlarge" data-height="1070" data-width="1692" alt="Cover art for Project Hail Mary, an Ars favorite from 2021 and the latest from The Martian author Andy Weir.”><img alt="Cover art for Project Hail Mary, an Ars favorite from 2021 and the latest from The Martian author Andy Weir.” src=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-5.jpg” width=”640″ height=”405″ srcset=”https://rassegna.lbit-solution.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/todays-best-deals-apple-macbook-air-ring-fit-adventure-and-more-10.jpg 2x”>
Enlarge / Cover art for Project Hail Mary, an Ars favorite from 2021 and the latest from The Martian author Andy Weir.
Ballantine Books

Accessories and miscellaneous deals

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