Best Buy's Lenovo Laptop Deal With 16GB RAM Undercuts MacBook Neo By $200

by Paul Lilly — Friday, August 14, 2026, 11:33 AM EDT

Closeup render of Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3i laptop. — Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i - Image: Lenovo

While Apple raised eyebrows by bumping the starting price of its entry-level MacBook Neo to $699 for an 8GB RAM configuration, Windows laptop deals are filling the budget void. To wit, Best Buy has discounted Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3i down to $499.99, delivering double the memory of Apple’s entry-level machine for $200 less.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Is Best Buy's Deal Of The Day

This is Best Buy's deal of the day, which the retailer is advertising as a $400 discount. That's an inflated savings figure relative to the overall value proposition, but hey, the deal price is where Apple tried to get to before the reality of current market conditions caught up with it.

I can already feel the heat from the torches and stabs from the pitchforks in comparing the IdeaPad Slim 3i to the MacBook Neo. It's certainly fair to call that out. However, while macOS and Windows appeal to different user bases and the MacBook Neo remains a great option (see our review), buyers looking strictly for maximum hardware value per dollar for everyday productivity, school, or work will find plenty to like about this sub-$500 option.

So, what does it come with? As configured, Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3i sports a 15.6-inch narrow-bezel display with a 1920x1080 resolution. It's powered by a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-1335U processor (10C/12T, up to 4.6GHz, 12MB L3 cache) based on Raptor Lake, 16GB of LPDDR5-4800 RAM, and 256GB of solid state drive (SSD) storage.

Yes, Apple's custom A18 Pro chip inside the MacBook Neo holds some key advantages over the Core i5-1335U, and unlike newer architectures like Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, and Lunar Lake, there's no dedicated NPU for AI workloads.

Whether it's worth paying $200 more for the MacBook Neo, back-to-school shoppers and other buyers will have to decide for themselves. Time is of the essence on this particular model, though, as it will presumably go up in price tomorrow (though probably not by $400).

Here are some more budget-priced laptop deals:

Tags: deals, Lenovo, Laptops, Best Buy

Paul Lilly

Paul is a seasoned geek who cut this teeth on the Commodore 64. When he's not geeking out to tech, he's out riding his Harley and collecting stray cats.