This page tracks Black Friday prices on six Macs from our best Mac for video editing guide: two MacBook Pro 14 configurations, the MacBook Air 13, two Mac minis and the Mac Studio. Each machine has its late-September price next to it, along with the price that should make an editor buy. You can use the list today to set a price alert at each target. From November 20 through Cyber Monday every line here gets updated with the deal price. Every link goes to a listing where Amazon itself is the seller, because a marketplace Mac at a great price is usually an international model with a warranty question attached. The one exception goes to Adorama, for the machine Amazon does not stock in the configuration we recommend.
Apple does not discount Macs, but Amazon and Best Buy do. Every November the current MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and Mac Studio drop by $100 to $250 at Amazon for a week, then go back up. The September numbers are the baseline because Apple’s list price is the wrong thing to compare against. The MacBook Pro 14 with the M5 Pro was already $147 under list in September, so a Black Friday tag that shows $150 off Apple’s price is the ordinary price. A deal has to beat the September number, and the targets are our read of what these machines have sold for in past Novembers.
Some links below are affiliate links. Buy through them and it helps keep the site running, at no extra cost to you. Deal prices land here the week of November 20. The broader list for every category is on the Black Friday deals for video editors page.
TLDR
Set an alert for two prices. The MacBook Pro 14 with the M5 Pro is the machine most editors should buy. It was $2,351.99 in September, so under $2,100 it is the deal of the season. The Mac mini M6 is the cheapest current Mac that edits 4K without complaint. It was $1,299, and under $1,150 it is the desk machine to buy, whether for a second seat or a first one. One caution applies to the whole list. Apple replaced the entry 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 model on October 27 at the same $1,999. Amazon took pre-orders from October 30, so a deep November cut on the M5 base 14-inch is a sell-through rather than a sale. The M5 Pro and M5 Max machines were not replaced, which means a cut on those is a deal on the current generation. The outgoing M5 base model is still a good machine at a good price, as long as the buyer knows which one they are getting.
The watch list
Best for most editors: MacBook Pro 14 (M5 Pro, 24 GB, 1 TB)
September price: $2,351.99. Target: under $2,100. The M5 Pro MacBook Pro 14 is the configuration the Mac guide points most editors at. It has 24 GB of unified memory and the full media engine, and its 1 TB drive holds a project without an external. Amazon’s Black Friday price on the Pro-chip 14-inch has landed $200 to $250 under Apple’s list in past years. This listing was already $147 under list in September. Apple did not replace this machine in October. It added the M6 base 14-inch below it and the OLED models above it, so the M5 Pro is still the current chip at this size. That means a Black Friday cut on it is a discount on the current model, with nothing to give up at any price.
Best budget laptop: MacBook Air 13 (M5, 16 GB, 512 GB)
September price: $1,234. Target: under $1,050. The M5 Air has the full media engine, ProRes decode included, and it scrubs 4K and 6K in Resolve and Final Cut, which would have been a joke on a fanless laptop five years ago. That makes it the Mac for students and for anyone whose deliverables are measured in minutes. The Air is also the most discounted Mac on Amazon every November, but hold out for the 16 GB and 512 GB configuration, because the 256 GB base model shows up cheaper and fills up by the second project.
The base 14-inch: MacBook Pro 14 (M5, 16 GB, 1 TB)
September price: $1,999 at Adorama. Target: under $1,750. At full price the Mac guide says to skip the base M5 MacBook Pro in the 16 GB and 1 TB configuration, because for $350 more the M5 Pro doubles the memory bandwidth and adds the second video encoder. Under $1,750 that advice no longer applies. At that price you get an XDR display and a 1 TB drive on a fast single-stream editing chip, which is all a one-camera editor needs. The link goes to Adorama, which stocks the 1 TB configuration Amazon does not.
Best desktop value: Mac mini (M6, 24 GB, 512 GB)
September price: $1,299. Target: under $1,150. The Mac guide calls the M6 Mac mini with 24 GB the best value in the lineup, because it pairs the current-generation chip with enough memory for Resolve in a box that disappears behind a monitor. The mini gets a smaller cut than the laptops because Apple prices it tighter to begin with; $100 to $150 off is a real deal, and a marketplace listing at $300 off is a different model. Photographers can judge the mini and iMac discounts against the configurations picked in best Mac for photo editing, where 24GB is the default and the 16GB model is the value pick.
The step-up desktop: Mac mini (M5 Pro, 24 GB, 512 GB)
September price: $1,669. Target: under $1,500. The M5 Pro mini is the desk machine for an editor who wants the Pro chip’s second video encoder and Thunderbolt 5 without paying for a Studio. The $370 gap to the M6 mini tends to narrow in deal week, and that changes the answer for anyone cutting multicam or 6K.
The heavy machine: Mac Studio (M5 Max, 36 GB, 512 GB)
September price: $2,449. Target: under $2,200. The M5 Max Studio is where Fusion, noise reduction and 8K timelines stop being a wait, and it is the Mac we point at for a working suite. Studios get the least predictable Black Friday treatment, since some years Amazon cuts $250 and some years nothing. Set the alert and do not chase it, because the Studio you buy in January costs the same. There was no Amazon-sold listing for the M5 Ultra configuration in September, so it is not on the list.
Side by side
| Mac | September price | Buy at | Deal-week price |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 14 M5 Pro | $2,351.99 (Amazon) | Under $2,100 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| MacBook Air 13 M5 | $1,234 (Amazon) | Under $1,050 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| MacBook Pro 14 M5 | $1,999 (Adorama) | Under $1,750 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Mac mini M6 | $1,299 (Amazon) | Under $1,150 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Mac mini M5 Pro | $1,669 (Amazon) | Under $1,500 | Checked from Nov 20 |
| Mac Studio M5 Max | $2,449 (Amazon) | Under $2,200 | Checked from Nov 20 |
How to shop a Mac deal without getting burned
Buy from Amazon as the seller, or walk away. Marketplace Macs at surprising prices are often international units with a keyboard layout or a warranty that does not match, and the price can change between the click and the cart. Read the configuration before the chip, because Amazon lists a 16 GB and a 24 GB version of the same laptop on adjacent listings. The cheaper one is usually the one on sale; the memory is the spec that decides whether the machine edits comfortably in three years. Whether the Air is enough at all, against the 14-inch Pro, is in MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro for video editing. Know which generation you are buying, too. Apple announced the M6 14-inch on October 27, so a discounted base-model 14-inch in November is the outgoing M5. The outgoing model is fine at the right price and not worth it at last month’s price; the M5 Pro and M5 Max models in both sizes are still current. What the M6 changes and what stayed current is in our read of the M6 MacBook Pro and iMac. And skip “renewed”: a renewed Mac is a return with a 90-day warranty, and Black Friday is the one week the new one is close enough in price. Apple added an OLED MacBook Pro on October 28 at $2,899 and up, which makes the mini-LED M5 Pro the model most likely to be discounted; the price gap on launch day is in our OLED MacBook Pro read.
FAQ
Does Apple itself have Black Friday deals?
Apple runs a gift-card promotion on some purchases and nothing else. The price cuts come from Amazon and Best Buy, and Amazon’s are usually deeper on the Pro configurations.
Should I wait for the new MacBook Pro instead?
For most editors there is nothing left to wait for. The new MacBook Pros arrived in October, and neither one replaced the M5 Pro 14-inch. Apple put the M6 chip in the base 14-inch at $1,999 and added OLED models at $2,899 and up. The mini-LED M5 Pro sits between them and is still the current model, so a Black Friday cut on it is the better buy. Pay full price for the OLED only if the display is what the work needs.
Is Best Buy worth checking for Macs?
Yes, for the price. Best Buy often matches Amazon on the Air and the mini and occasionally undercuts on open-box units. Links here go to Amazon, but if Best Buy is lower that morning, buy there.
From November 20 the list gets a fresh look every morning. The full category list is on the Black Friday deals for video editors page, and the reasoning behind each pick is in the Mac guide. The October warm-up was Prime Big Deal Days, which has its own page.
