When Is the Best Time to Buy a Laptop in 2026?
If you've been eyeing a new laptop but aren't sure whether to pull the trigger now or wait, you're asking the right question. Laptop prices swing pretty dramatically throughout the year, and buying at the wrong time can easily cost you an extra $100-300.
We've been tracking laptop prices across major retailers for a while now, and the patterns are honestly pretty consistent year to year. Here's what we've found.
The Big Three Sale Windows
Back-to-School (July - September) is probably the single best window if you're after a mainstream laptop. Retailers are fighting over student dollars, and the discounts are real — not the fake "was $999, now $949" stuff. We're talking 20-35% off on solid machines from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and ASUS. Best Buy and Amazon tend to be the most aggressive here.
Black Friday / Cyber Monday (November) gets all the hype, and honestly? It's a mixed bag. The doorbuster deals are genuinely good — we saw RTX 4060 gaming laptops under $700 last year — but a lot of the "deals" are on lower-spec models that retailers created specifically for the event. If you know exactly what specs you want, it can be great. If you're just browsing, you might grab something that looks like a deal but isn't.
Post-Holiday Clearance (January - February) is underrated. Retailers need to clear out last year's inventory before spring refreshes hit. We consistently see some of the lowest prices of the year during this window, especially on higher-end machines. The catch: selection gets thin fast.
When NOT to Buy
March through May is historically the worst time. New models are being announced or just launched, so everything is at full MSRP. Retailers have no reason to discount because the product cycle just reset.
Early October is another dead zone — retailers are holding back their best deals for Black Friday, so you get this awkward period where nothing is really on sale.
The Model Year Trick
Here's something a lot of people miss: you almost never need the current year's model. When the 2026 versions launch, the 2025 versions drop 25-40% practically overnight, and the actual performance difference is usually marginal. A 13th-gen Intel chip vs 14th-gen matters way less than the $200 you saved.
We track these price drops in real time on our deals page. When a model gets replaced, the old one shows up fast.
Our Actual Advice
If you need a laptop right now — just buy it. Waiting 6 months to save $80 isn't worth it if you need the machine today.
But if you have flexibility? July/August for mainstream laptops, January for premium/gaming machines. Bookmark our deals page and check back — we update prices daily across multiple retailers.
The worst thing you can do is keep waiting for a better deal forever. At some point you gotta just buy the thing.