EE and Sky Mobile battle for the most affordable MacBook deal — don't miss out on this Apple price crash
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Looking to treat yourself to a new MacBook Air? While you've probably already thought to check the Apple Store, Amazon, AO.com, and Argos ...you might not realise that some of the UK's biggest mobile networks offer deals on these laptops. And right now, EE and Sky Mobile are in a battle for the most affordable plan.
Both EE and Sky Mobile offer monthly plans on the M2- and M3-powered MacBook Air.
First up, Sky Mobile will charge you £22 a month for this MacBook Air, which is available in a choice of Midnight, Starlight, or Space Grey. This 48-month contract comes with a £2 upfront fee too, but you will be sent a SIM card from Sky Mobile with 100MB of 5G data, unlimited calls and text messages at no extra cost.
If you're looking for a new SIM-only deal, or want to use the SIM in a spare phone for a family member, you can choose to pay an extra £5 per month to increase that mobile data allowance to 5GB. £10 a month increases the data allowance to 50GB.
EE doesn't include a SIM card with its MacBook Air M2 offer, it's completely separate from its mobile plans. Instead, you'll take delivery of the best-selling laptop — first launched in 2023 — for £20.23 a month.
EE has the full selection of finishes available from the Apple Store: Midnight, Starlight, Space Grey, and Silver.
MacBook Air is available in three different finishes: Starlight, Midnight, and Space Grey
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This deal comes with free delivery within 1 to 3 working days, and there's a 14-day cooling off period when you can return the MacBook Air for a full refund — no questions asked. Unlike Sky Mobile, EE offers the chance to buy the MacBook Air outright from its online store, in case you don't want to sign-up for a 48-month contract.
Although EE offers much lower monthly payments, it comes with an upfront cost of £107.90.
The total cost of Sky Mobile's offer over the 48-month contract, including a £2 upfront fee, amounts to £1,058. Meanwhile, the EE plan comes to a total of £1079 over the 48-months, including the upfront payment. Both of these MacBook Air offers are more expensice than purchasing the MacBook Air directly from the Apple Store at £999, so you're paying for the privilege of more manageable monthly payments.
Both of these deals are for the MacBook Air powered by Apple's custom-designed M2 chipset. For the launch of this laptop, Apple completely redesigned its best-selling MacBook with a sleek new design, measuring just 0.44 inches thick.
It comes equipped with a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone technology that adjusts the colour temperature to match your surroundings, reducing eye strain. There's also a HD-quality webcam fitted into the notch at the top of the screen.
Apple resurrected the clever MagSafe charging connection for the M2 MacBook Air, although you can refill the battery via USB-C if you prefer to pack a single charging cable on your next trip. Apple says you'll be able to watch 18-hours of video on your MacBook Air before it needs to be recharged.
Earlier this year, Apple refreshed its lightweight laptop with a newer M3 processor. Compared to the older M2, this upgraded MacBook Air added the ability to use two external monitors for the first time, hardware-accelerated ray tracing in console-quality games like Resident Evil: Village and Death Stranding.
In your local Apple Store, this newer model starts from £1,099 — a £100 premium over the M2 model.
Both Sky Mobile and EE have pay monthly deals on this MacBook Air too.
Prices with Sky Mobile start from £24 a month, with the same £2 upfront cost. You'll still get the choice of three finishes — Starlight, Space Grey, and Midnight. Yes, once again, Sky Mobile misses out on the Silver colourway.
As before, this Sky Mobile deal comes with a SIM deal with 100MB of 5G data, unlimited calls and text messages at no extra cost. You can choose to disregard that little bonus or, if you need a new SIM-only deal, you can pay £5 per month to bump that data allowance to 5GB. £10 a month increases the data allowance to 50GB.
EE offers the same laptop model from £22.29 monthly. As before, both of these deals last 48 months.
If you opt for EE, there's no SIM card bundled with this package. There's also a much higher upfront cost, with customers asked to put down £118.90 towards the cost of the laptop at checkout today.