The strongest U.S. Mac discounts advertised around Black Friday 2016 were on older MacBook Air and iMac models: Best Buy cut selected prices by $200, while Amazon’s identified discount on the new 2016 MacBook Pro was $100. One important date correction: the featured eBay MacBook Air and iMac offers were reported as Cyber Monday deals, not Black Friday offers. These are historical prices from November 2016, not current buying advice.
2016 Mac deals at a glance
Prices below were reported in U.S. dollars in contemporary coverage. “Regular price” means the stated comparison price in that coverage, not necessarily a verified manufacturer MSRP. The original roundup was published November 23, 2016; Black Friday fell on November 25 and Cyber Monday on November 28.
| Retailer | Product and configuration | Reported sale price | Stated regular price | Saving | Timing and condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Buy | 13-inch MacBook Air, 128GB | $800 | $999 | $200 | Black Friday offer; older Air generation. Some reports showed $799.99. |
| Best Buy | 13-inch MacBook Air, 256GB | $1,000 | $1,199 | $200 | Black Friday offer; coupon code MACBOOKDEAL was reported. |
| Best Buy | 21-inch iMac, 1TB | About $900 | $1,099 or $1,199, depending on the reported listing | $200 | Black Friday offer; coupon code IMACDEAL was reported. Price was also shown as $899.99. |
| Best Buy | 27-inch 5K iMac, 1TB | $1,600 | $1,799 | $200 | Black Friday offer; price was also shown as $1,599.99. |
| Amazon | 13-inch 2016 MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, 256GB | $1,399 | $1,499 | $100 | Reported Black Friday-period offer; exact seller and condition should be checked in any archived listing. |
| eBay | 13-inch MacBook Air, 128GB | $787 | $999 | $212 | Reported as a Cyber Monday offer. Marketplace seller and condition are not established by the price report. |
| eBay | 27-inch 5K iMac, 2TB | $1,900 | $2,229 | $329 | Reported as a Cyber Monday offer. Seller, condition, and warranty terms are not established by the price report. |
| Newegg | 11.6-inch MacBook Air | $379.99 | $499.99 | $120 | Reported price; model year, full configuration, condition, seller, warranty, shipping, and any code requirement are not established. |
The rounded Best Buy prices and .99 versions appear to be alternate presentations of the same offers, rather than evidence of separate promotions. Fortune independently reported the $800 Air and $900 21.5-inch iMac prices and $200 reductions: Fortune’s 2016 Black Friday tech-deals roundup. The original four-retailer roundup and reported coupon codes are at Tech Times.
Best Buy: the clearest discounts were on Air and iMac
13-inch MacBook Air: $800 for 128GB or $1,000 for 256GB
Best Buy’s reported $800 128GB configuration was $200 below its stated $999 regular price. The 256GB version was reported at $1,000 against $1,199, also a $200 reduction; Tech Times said the code MACBOOKDEAL applied. These were 13-inch Air offers, not the lowest-cost 11.6-inch listing later reported at Newegg.
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The discounts applied to the older Air design rather than a newly redesigned 2016 model. Apple’s specifications for the 13-inch Early 2015 Air list 128GB and 256GB flash configurations, a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 base processor, up to 8GB onboard memory, MagSafe 2, USB 3, Thunderbolt 2, and an SDXC slot: Apple’s Early 2015 MacBook Air specifications.
21-inch iMac: about $900 for 1TB
The reported offer was about $900, or roughly $200 off. Sources differed on the stated regular price—$1,099 or $1,199—and some displayed the sale price as $899.99. Tech Times reported the code IMACDEAL. Because the source reports do not fully settle the exact listing’s storage technology and configuration, the 1TB figure alone is not enough to determine whether it used a hard drive, Fusion Drive, or flash storage.
27-inch 5K iMac: $1,600 for 1TB
Best Buy’s reported 1TB 27-inch 5K iMac was $1,600, $200 below a stated $1,799 regular price; some reports showed $1,599.99. It was a different capacity and listing from eBay’s 2TB machine at $1,900, so the prices are not direct like-for-like comparisons. Apple identifies the relevant 27-inch Late 2015 generation as having a 5120×2880 Retina display, quad-core Intel processors, and configurations with hard drive, Fusion Drive, or flash storage: Apple’s Late 2015 27-inch iMac specifications.
Rank #2
- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
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- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
Amazon: $1,399 for the 2016 MacBook Pro without Touch Bar
The identified Amazon deal was for the 13-inch 2016 MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, with 256GB storage: $1,399 against a stated $1,499 regular price, a $100 saving. It was not a blanket discount on every MacBook Pro configuration, and it should not be mistaken for the more expensive Touch Bar version.
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The deal’s value was therefore not mainly the size of the markdown. It was the chance to buy the newer Pro design at a modest reduction. Its Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports also meant that some buyers with older USB-A or other legacy peripherals would need adapters, unlike the Air’s older port selection.
Rank #3
- SUPERCHARGED BY M5 — The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. Featuring all-day battery life and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1600 nits peak brightness, it’s pro in every way.*
- HAPPILY EVER FASTER — Along with its faster CPU and unified memory, M5 features a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.
- APPS FLY WITH APPLE SILICON — All your favorites, including Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, run lightning fast in macOS.*
eBay: two headline prices were Cyber Monday offers
The $787 128GB 13-inch MacBook Air and $1,900 2TB 27-inch 5K iMac are often grouped with Black Friday coverage, but the contemporary 9to5Toys roundup labeled these eBay offers Cyber Monday deals. They should not be presented as Black Friday-day prices. That roundup is at 9to5Toys’ Apple Black Friday 2016 deals coverage.
Later, on November 25, another roundup noted additional eBay Apple prices, including a 256GB 13-inch Air at $930 and a 27-inch 5K iMac at $1,500. Those were later live-sale observations, not necessarily the same listings or terms as the earlier reported Cyber Monday offers: 9to5Mac’s November 25 update.
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Rank #4
- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR AI — Apple silicon, and every major component that powers it, is designed to run demanding on-device AI workloads like LLM inference and training. And Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
Newegg: the $379.99 Air was the cheapest reported laptop, with the most unknowns
Tech Times reported an 11.6-inch MacBook Air at $379.99 against $499.99, a claimed $120 saving. The report does not establish the exact model year, processor, RAM, storage capacity, condition, seller, warranty, shipping charge, or promo-code requirement. Another contemporary deal report also listed the offer, but the missing configuration details remain material: Player.One’s Apple deal coverage.
That price is a historical reported offer, not a verified apples-to-apples alternative to Best Buy’s 13-inch Air. Before buying a similarly described marketplace or clearance Mac, a buyer would need to confirm the exact model identifier, storage and memory, new/refurbished/open-box status, seller, warranty, shipping, and return window.
Which 2016 offer fit each kind of buyer?
- Lowest reported laptop price: Newegg’s $379.99 11.6-inch Air, but only if the actual configuration and condition were acceptable; its price report is the least complete.
- More straightforward ultraportable discount: Best Buy’s 13-inch 128GB Air at $800, with a stated $200 reduction and clearer configuration than the Newegg report.
- Newer MacBook design: Amazon’s 2016 13-inch Pro without Touch Bar at $1,399. The reduction was only $100, so the draw was the new-generation Pro rather than an unusually deep discount.
- Lower-cost desktop: Best Buy’s 21-inch iMac at about $900, provided the precise storage technology and configuration met the buyer’s needs.
- Large, high-resolution desktop display: Best Buy’s 27-inch 5K iMac at $1,600 for 1TB. The 5K screen is the defining difference from the cheaper 21-inch offer.
- More iMac storage: eBay’s reported 2TB 5K model at $1,900, but it was a Cyber Monday marketplace listing and its seller and condition terms are not established by the headline price.
How to compare the machines rather than just the markdowns
MacBook Air versus MacBook Pro
The Air’s 2015-era design emphasized lower cost and legacy connectivity: MagSafe 2, USB 3, Thunderbolt 2, and an SDXC card slot. The 2016 Pro was a newer platform with a Retina display and Thunderbolt 3/USB-C connectivity. That is a meaningful generation and port difference, not simply two prices for equivalent laptops. Check the precise model and memory/storage configuration before weighing the $800 Air against the $1,399 Pro.
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- FAST RUNS IN THE FAMILY — The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip brings next-generation speed and powerful on-device AI to personal, professional, and creative tasks. With all-day battery life, double the starting storage,* and a breathtaking Liquid Retina XDR display, it’s pro in every way.*
- BUCKLE UP — Along with a next-generation CPU, faster unified memory, and up to 2x faster SSD storage,* M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a more powerful GPU with a Neural Accelerator built into each core, delivering faster AI performance and on-device training capabilities. So you can blaze through demanding workloads at mind-bending speeds.
- BUILT FOR AI — Apple silicon, and every major component that powers it, is designed to run demanding on-device AI workloads like LLM inference and training. And Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- ALL-DAY BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Pro delivers the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in.*
- MACOS RUNS APPS FAST — All your go-to apps run lightning fast in macOS, including built-in apps like FaceTime and Messages. Plus, built-in virus protection and free software updates help keep your Mac running smoothly and securely.
21-inch versus 27-inch iMac
The 27-inch 5K model offered a 5120×2880 display and a different desktop class from the 21-inch iMac. Storage also matters: a 1TB hard drive, Fusion Drive, and flash storage do not offer the same performance. Apple’s Late 2015 27-inch specifications also document user-accessible SO-DIMM memory slots, a relevant distinction for buyers considering memory upgrades; do not infer that feature or equivalent upgradeability for every iMac listing without identifying its exact model.
Retailer and listing checks
- Best Buy: The reported prices were comparatively clear, but coupon codes, exact configuration, stock, and local availability could affect the transaction.
- Amazon: Verify seller, model identifier, storage, RAM, and Touch Bar status; the deal report does not establish terms for every listing.
- eBay: Treat seller feedback, condition, warranty, returns, and fulfillment as part of the price comparison.
- Newegg: Confirm the full configuration and whether the seller is Newegg or a marketplace seller before comparing the offer with a known 13-inch Air.
What the 2016 prices do—and do not—tell you now
These promotions expired in November 2016. The advertised prices and codes should not be treated as available today or as a current benchmark for whether an Intel Mac is worth buying. This roundup reconstructs what was reported during that sale period; a present-day purchase decision requires checking live inventory, support status, condition, warranty, and return terms separately.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
