Huge back-to-school laptop sale is live at Best Buy – I’ve hand-picked the 12 top deals

The school year may have just barely ended for most, but retailers are moving fast to kick off back-to-school sales early. That includes Best Buy, which has just launched a huge sale on laptops, featuring price cuts of up to $500 on dozens of devices – from cheap Chromebooks to powerful Copilot Plus AI machines.

• Browse the full back-to-school sale at Best Buy

If you’re shopping for a new laptop for the upcoming academic year, I’ve searched through Best Buy’s sale and hand-picked 12 of the best deals that I’d recommend. As TechRadar’s resident laptop deals expert, I’ve considered price, performance and value for money with all of these picks, so there should be an option that meets your needs.

If it’s good performance you need at a low price, I’d suggest this Lenovo IdeaPad 1 for $319.99 (was $579.99). With its AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD for storage, it’s a good entry-level option if you need a device for basic everyday use and general schoolwork.

If you need something with a bit more power and versatility behind it for multitasking and more demanding work, I’d instead consider this HP OmniBook X Flip for $549.99 (was $899.99). As well as a more modern AMD Ryzen AI 5 CPU, it also features 16GB of RAM and a larger 512GB SSD. Those are excellent all-around components that will keep up with most workloads, plus you get the flexible 14-inch touchscreen display that can be used in tablet mode.

Lastly, I should shout out the MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) for $699 (was $799) – that’s a new record-low price for the Apple laptop. It’s older now, sure, but still plenty powerful for a lot of creative and productivity tasks, sports a similar slick design and boasts fantastic all-day battery life. Plus, it’s around $300 cheaper than the newest M4 model – a bargain.

Do take a look through the rest of my top picks from the Best Buy back-to-school laptop sale below. I’ll keep an eye on the retailer and others over the coming weeks to share more recommendations, as I’m sure there will be many more savings up for grabs if a device here doesn’t completely meet your needs or budget.

Today’s 5 best laptop deals at Best Buy

Best Buy back to school laptop sale