Heads up! We share savvy shopping and personal finance tips to put extra cash in your wallet. iMore may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network. Please note that the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.
Apple Card's highest level of cash back rewards is focused around one thing: purchases made at Apple. The card boasts unlimited 3% cash back on all Apple purchases, whether that be a new Mac, AirPods, or even Apple's services like Apple Music and iCloud storage. When shopping for your next MacBook, it could be easy to default to using Apple Card to make that purchase. Apple credit card makes sense for buying an Apple product, right? Not so fast. While it may seem like a natural match, we've found that there are other credit cards that beats out Apple for buying its own products.
We've covered the best credit card to use when buying your next iPhone, and that was clearly the American Express Cash Magnet® Card. That card, funnily enough, is still the best credit card to use when buying your next Macbook, with one huge exception.
If you're buying the base model MacBook
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Right now the base model MacBook is $1,299. At that price, you're getting Intel's 7th generation m3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. It's a great machine for those who need a computer to perform the basics really well. I've used a MacBook for a few years for the normal productivity needs (Excel, Word, basic photo editing). I've even used iMovie pretty extensively for some more basic videos that found their way to YouTube.
If you're in the market for the base model MacBook, you might be looking to maximize your savings and your rewards when getting ready to buy it. Let's face it: even the base MacBook is a major purchase at over $1,000. Well, the American Express Cash Magnet® Card is a pretty enticing card to make this happen. New cardholders will earn a $150 statement credit after spending $1,000 or more in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership, which buying a new Macbook basically guarantees. You can find great sales on the new MacBook to help save even more as well. Best Buy, for instance, frequently runs sales of up to $400 off, so between those savings and the statement credit you could essentially grab a new MacBook for $750. The card also features an intro APR of 0% for 15 months on purchases (then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%), so you'll be able to pay off your new MacBook with ease.
Unlimited 1.5% Cash Back on your purchases. Earn a $150 statement credit after you spend $1,000 or more in purchases with your new Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Low intro APR: 0% for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable rate, currently 15.24% to 26.24%. No annual fee.
If you're going for the most specs you can get
If you want a MacBook but want the most powerful version you can get of it, you're going to see a few upgrades. The high end MacBook spots an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. It's a pretty substantial jump from the base model, and will definitely handle more performance intensive tasks that power users throw at it. It's not built to be a professional photo or editing machine, but it will fly for most productivity needs. Since the price effectively doubles, we might as well double the cash back bonus offer with the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card.
This is a great card for those looking to max out savings when buying a completely spec'd out MacBook. New cardholders will earn a one-time $300 cash bonus after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening, and the first year's annual fee is waived ($95 annually after that). Since the MacBook can currently be upgraded to almost $2,000, this card's cash bonus is definitely obtainable considering you have three months to hit the $3,000 threshold.
This card gets you unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% cash back at grocery stores, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. You'll earn a valuable sign-up bonus to the tune of a $300 cash bonus after you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. The card has a $95 annual fee which is waived the first year.
Final word
The new MacBook is a great computer, and a solid base model in the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro family. In fact, all of these strategies work just as well if you are interested in the MacBook Air, as it starts at $1,119 for the base configuration and ends upwards of $2,499 if you want an enormous SSD. No matter what level of performance you are looking to get out of your new MacBook, these two credit cards are sure to help you maximize your savings and rewards.
