The best time to buy a laptop in the US is the stretch from Best Buy’s Black Friday doorbusters on November 19 to the end of Cyber Week on December 6. Black Friday falls on November 27 this year and Cyber Monday on November 30.
Adobe tracked computer discounts peaking at 23% off listed price on Cyber Monday 2025, against 20% in the first week of December. Students are the exception: Apple’s summer offer adds a gift card on top of education pricing, which the holiday window does not.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the strongest window this year
The holiday season now starts long before Thanksgiving. Best Buy’s 2026 holiday calendar opened with doorbusters on October 30, added early Black Friday deals on November 6 with new drops every Friday, and runs ten days of Black Friday doorbusters from November 19.
Cyber Week deals follow from December 1 to December 6. That gives you nearly three weeks of scheduled discounting instead of one frantic Friday.
The depth matters more than the date. According to Adobe Digital Insights, computers peaked at 23% off listed price on Cyber Monday 2025, and electronics overall at 31%.
The window does not slam shut on Monday night either. In the first week of December 2025, Adobe still measured computer discounts peaking at 20%.
Adobe’s 2026 forecast for overall online discounts builds the same way: 14% in early November, 21% just before Thanksgiving and 30% once Cyber Week starts. So the late part of the window, not the first early deal, is where the average discount is deepest.
RetailMeNot’s walkthrough is worth the nine minutes if you are shopping for a MacBook or Chromebook. It argues the summer back-to-school stretch can beat Black Friday for some laptop types, which matches what the calendar below shows for students.
The month-by-month laptop price pattern
Laptop prices move on two clocks. One is the retail calendar, where stores schedule sales. The other is the product calendar, where chipmakers and laptop brands launch new generations and the old ones lose shelf space.
The table lines up both clocks for the US market, using only dates the retailers and manufacturers published themselves.
| Month | What is scheduled | What it means for laptop prices |
|---|---|---|
| January | CES launches. Intel showed Core Ultra Series 3 on Jan 5, 2026; laptops shipped from Jan 27 | New models arrive. Compare the outgoing generation’s price before paying for the new one |
| February to May | Model refreshes, such as Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro (in stores March 11, 2026). No sale on the retailer calendars checked for this guide | Prices follow model age, not the calendar |
| June | Amazon Prime Day, June 23 to 26, 2026, Prime members only | Cuts on selected models sold on Amazon, not across the market |
| July to September | Apple Back to School, July 16 to September 24, 2026: an Apple Gift Card with a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro for eligible buyers | Strongest window for eligible students and education staff |
| October | Prime Big Deal Days Oct 6 to 7; new MacBook Pro announced Oct 28; Best Buy holiday deals from Oct 30 | Early holiday prices appear; new flagships launch at full price |
| November | Best Buy early deals from Nov 6, Black Friday doorbusters from Nov 19, Black Friday Nov 27, Cyber Monday Nov 30 | Deepest holiday discounts in Adobe’s data |
| December | Best Buy Cyber Week deals Dec 1 to 6 | Computer discounts still peaked at 20% in the first week of December 2025 |
Source: Intel newsroom, Apple newsroom, Amazon, Apple Back to School terms, Best Buy holiday calendar, Adobe Digital Insights. All pages checked November 4, 2026.
Read the gaps as carefully as the busy months. Between February and May none of the calendars checked here lists a sale, so the price of a given laptop depends mostly on how long it has been on the market.
Back to school and Prime Day: the summer windows
Summer has two separate events, and they suit different buyers.
Amazon’s Prime Day ran June 23 to June 26, 2026, and it is open to Prime members only. The cuts apply to selected models sold on Amazon, so check that the laptop you want is part of the event, not just listed nearby.
Apple’s Back to School offer ran from July 16 to September 24, 2026 in the US. Under Apple’s published terms, a qualified buyer of a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro received an Apple Gift Card, on top of education pricing.
Qualified buyers include college students and staff, K-12 employees, and parents buying for a child enrolled in or accepted to college.
New-chip launches: waiting for the next model can cost more
The common advice is to wait for the next generation because the old one will get cheaper. The catch is that the new model can cost more than the one it replaces.
Apple’s own newsroom shows it this year. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro launched in March 2026 starting at $2,199. The redesigned 14-inch MacBook Pro announced on October 28, with the PROLED XDR display and M5 Pro, starts at $2,899, or $2,749 with education savings.
The two are different designs, but the entry price for a 14-inch M5 Pro machine still rose by $700.
On the Windows side, Intel unveiled Core Ultra Series 3 at CES on January 5, 2026, with laptops available from January 27. That was two months after Black Friday 2025, so a buyer who held out for the new chip skipped that holiday sale on the previous generation.
So if you want the newest chip, expect to pay launch price. If you want the lowest price, buy the generation that is about to be replaced, and buy it during a sale event rather than after it sells out.
How to tell a real laptop deal from an inflated one
A big percentage on a sale tag proves nothing on its own. The FTC’s pricing guides set the bar in its Guides Against Deceptive Pricing: a former price is legitimate only if the product was openly offered at it for a reasonably substantial period.
A price inflated just to advertise a large reduction makes the bargain false. Those guides describe what sellers should do. They do not stop every listing from stretching the truth, so you check.
Three checks help. First, look up the model’s price history before the sale with a price tracker. Second, compare the full model number against the manufacturer’s spec page.
A doorbuster can share a series name with the reviewed model and still ship with less memory or storage. If the sale unit has 8GB of RAM, read our 8GB vs 16GB RAM performance tests before you decide the savings are worth it.
Third, read the checkout. The add-on protection plans pushed at the register can erase the discount, and our guide to when an extended warranty is worth it covers which ones pay off.
Wait or buy now: when each choice wins
Timing only helps if the wait costs you nothing. Use this split to decide.
- Your current laptop still works and the deadline is weeks away, not days.
- You already know the exact model and configuration you want.
- The retailer offers a holiday price match or a return window that runs into January.
- You are flexible on brand, so any of several comparable models can hit your target price.
- The old laptop is dead and you need one for work or school this week.
- You qualify for education pricing and the store runs a student offer you can stack.
- Today’s price already matches the lowest price in the model’s history.
- The model you want launched days ago and is not part of any sale yet.
The extended return policy is your second net. Best Buy says most purchases made from October 30 through December 31 can be returned through January 15, 2027, or January 31 for Plus and Total members.
CNET’s short guide shows the price-tracking routine in practice, including how to spot price anchoring on a sale page.
A buying plan for the next 60 days
With Black Friday three weeks out, the plan is simple: decide what you need, price it now, and let the calendar and the return windows do the rest.
If you are unsure what to put on the spec list, our laptop buying guide on which specs actually matter covers CPU class, RAM, storage and screens.
Once the laptop arrives, spend the first evening clearing the trial software it ships with. Our guide on how to remove bloatware from a new laptop walks through it.
Questions buyers ask about laptop timing
Is Black Friday or Cyber Monday better for laptops?
Both sit inside the same discount window. Adobe recorded the 2025 peak for computers, 23% off listed price, on Cyber Monday, but Best Buy started its Black Friday doorbusters on November 19 this year, a week before Thanksgiving. Buy when your target price appears inside that window.
Do laptop prices drop after new models launch?
The outgoing model can get cheaper. The new model rarely does at launch, and it can cost more: Apple’s October 2026 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,899, against $2,199 for the March 2026 model. The two are different designs, so compare specs before treating the gap as a price rise.
What if the price drops after I buy?
Ask the store for the difference. Best Buy’s Holiday Price Match Guarantee covers price drops on products it sells, excluding Marketplace items, and its extended returns run to January 15, 2027 for most purchases made October 30 to December 31.