Black Friday is a few days away, but most of the big sales at major retailers kicked off today. We’re tracking the best laptop sales from Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Acer at the big stores: Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy.
Also: Our favorite Black Friday deals live now
If you’re in the market for a new laptop, you’re in luck, because all the devices on this list were hand-picked by our team of experts, applying a rigorous testing methodology to evaluate hardware specs such as RAM, storage, and battery life, and most importantly, performance. We only recommend laptops we’ve either tested personally or are closely familiar with.
Need more help making a decision? We test and review laptops consistently; that research can be found on our page on the best laptops of 2025.
Find Black Friday deals
- Current price: $749
- Original price: $999
Apple released the MacBook Air M4 earlier this year, so it’s still the latest Air model you can get. $750 for the 13-inch is the best price we’ve seen yet, putting it squarely in competition with the army of thin and light Windows PCs that released this year.
The MacBook Air M4 comes with more base memory than previous versions (16GB of unified RAM) and a gorgeous Liquid retina display that supports up to two additional monitors with the lid open. This model comes with 512GB SSD storage, but you can also find one with 256GB for $799.
- Current price: $1,499
- Regular price: $1,899
The thin and light 16-inch gaming laptop that set the standard for portability is on sale for $300 off right now. With 16GB of RAM, a GeForce RTX 5060, and brilliant 2.5K display at 240Hz, you’re getting the complete gaming package for a $400 discount.
- Current price: $749
- Original price: $999
We praised the Surface Laptop for its absolute marathon battery life and practical use case applications for the everyday user. The slim form factor, cool color options, and affordable price point round out the package for a competitive Copilot+ PC that does it all.
- Lenovo ThinkPad E16: $909 (save $330 at Lenovo): This 16-inch ThinkPad from the E series features an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and full-sized keyboard with all the I/O and connectivity you’d expect from a ThinkPad.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: $430 (save $400 at B&H Photo/Video): The IdeaPad Slim 5i is Lenovo’s budget-friendly line of jack-of-all-trades laptops, geared for all-around usability with a thin and light form factor.
- Dell 16 Pro: $709 (save $290 at B&H Photo/Video): Dell’s latest 16-inch from its mainstream consumer line is a reliable, versatile device for all-around use at home or in the office. This one has 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for users who work primarily in the cloud and don’t need extensive local storage.
- HP OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1: $898 (save $152 at Best Buy): This 14-inch 2-in-1 is a thin and light all-around device that’s well-equipped for a variety of use cases. The Intel Core Ultra 7 processor enables great battery life and snappy performance.
- MacBook Pro M4 (16-inch): $2,189 (save $310): This 16-inch configuration of the MacBook Pro is over $300 off — a steal for 24GB of unified memory, a gorgeous 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, and all the latest Apple Intelligence features in MacOS 26 Tahoe, the newest Mac operating system that just came out a few months ago.
- Apple MacBook Air M2 (13-inch): $649 (save $150): Willing to opt for a slightly older MacBook to save? The M2 Air from 2022 is still a competitive laptop in 2025,with 16GB of memory and the same operating system and features that that the newest MacBooks use.
- Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1: $629 (save $420): The versatile Yoga 7i focuses on what matters most for a work computer: delivering dependable performance with the flexibility that a 2-in-1 design provides. The hardware on board is solid: an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Also: The best laptops of 2025: I’ve tested dozens of laptops and these are my favorite
Best laptop deals under $500
- Current price: $499
- Regular price: $599
The 15-inch Inspiron is the perfect jack-of-all-trades laptop for a wide range of consumers. The hardware here is equally suited to students, office workers, or every day tasks: you’ve got an Intel 10-Core i5 with 16GB of RAM, more than enough for most use cases. At nearly $100 off, it’s a solid deal for the quintessential Dell device.
- Current price: $139
- Regular price: $220
Looking for a well-priced Chromebook for handling the basics? The CX15 is one of the best options out there. We went hands-on with this Chromebook earlier this year and praised its durability, full-sized keyboard, and nice trackpad. Walmart has it on sale right now for $139, a price you can’t argue with.
- Current price: $199
- Regular price: $299
One of our favorite budget laptops, the Aspire Go 15, is down to just $199 at Amazon ahead of Black Friday. This 15.6-inch laptop has a hardware loadout that’s ideal for everyday tasks like surfing the web, checking email, and running Microsoft 365 productivity apps like Word and Excel.
- Current price: $425
- Regular price: $500
One of our top-rated budget laptops, the Vivobook 15 has an Intel Core 5 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for a very affordable price at Walmart for the configuration without the OLED display.
- Acer Aspire Premium 3: $320: (save $30 at Amazon): This 15-inch from Acer’s budget lineup has an AMD Ryzen 3 CPU and modest hardware loadout that’s ideal for everyday tasks like surfing the web, YouTube, and catching up on emails.
- Lenovo Chromebook Duet (2025): $199 (save $90 at Amazon): If you want an expressly portable 2-in-1 tablet/laptop, the Chromebook Duet is a 10-inch Chromebook with an ultralight form factor and fantastic battery life. We recommend it for covering the basics and watching media.
Best gaming laptop deals
- Current price: $1,362
- Regular price: $1,619
Looking for a portable gaming laptop with power? The 16-inch Omen Ultra Slim has 32B of RAM, an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 GPU with 2TB of local storage — a strong set of hardware to run the latest gaming titles. The Full HD display at 144Hz, RGB keyboard, and over seven hours of battery life seal the deal as a practical, high performance gaming machine.
- Current price: $1,149
- Regular price: $1,699
The Legion 5i is a gaming beast with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM, but it’s also versatile enough to take on other roles. This is a laptop you could easily take to the office or use as a video editing workstation, with the gorgeous 15.1-inch OLED display as the cherry on top.
- HP Victus (15-inch): $599 (save $451 at Best Buy): The 15-inch Victus has a thin and light form factor and mid-range hardware geared toward gaming performance. However, the full-sized keyboard and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU enables creative workflows as well, especially with the 144Hz refresh rate.
- MSI Katana 15 HX for $1,369: (save $276 at Amazon): MSI’s Katana line is well-known for balancing power and accessible features, and this rig is no exception. It comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and 32GB of RAM for a very competitive price, ready to tackle QHD+ gaming on the 165Hz display.
- Acer Nitro V: $1,099 (save $200 at Amazon): Armed with an AMD Ryzen 7 260 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, the Nitro V brings some serious gaming performance to a 180Hz WUXGA display and 32GB of RAM. At 15% off, this is a steal on a solid gaming rig.
- Lenovo LOQ (15-inch): $650 (save $450 at Best Buy): Lenovo’s accessible line of LOQ gaming computers come with optimized hardware without all the bells and whistles to keep prices low. This 15-inch features a full-sized keyboard, Intel Core i5 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, and 16GB of RAM for under $1k. Not bad for a laptop that’ll easily run the latest titles.
- Lenovo IdeaPad 15-inch: $279 (save $140 at Amazon): This 15-inch IdeaPad is a solid option for students or anyone looking to cover the basics for a competitive sale price. It also comes in some unique colorways.
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday is Friday, Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. While it’s typically associated with general retail sales, we’re seeing a lot more online deals, as well. Cyber Monday, the traditional online shopping sale day, is Monday, Dec. 1. Both of these days will have some great deals, and there will be some overlap.
Are laptops really cheaper during Black Friday?
Absolutely. Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday see price drops that are often better than regular sales. Online retailers feel the pressure to deliver significant deals during the holiday, and consumers expect to find exclusive deals that are better than regular sales.
How did we choose these Black Friday deals?
ZDNET focuses on products we’ve either covered personally or can vouch for through personal use. We’ve tested and reviewed almost all of the products on this list, linking to our reviews wherever possible to help provide context around each individual product.
Our experts looked for deals that were at least 20% off (or are hardly ever on sale), using established price comparison tools and trackers to determine whether the deal is actually on sale and how frequently it drops.
ZDNET Recommends
Editorial standards
Comments are closed.