Solid-ReviewsWhen to Buy a Laptop or Tablet: The Best Months, and the Worst (2026)
When to Buy a Laptop or Tablet: The Best Months, and the Worst
Laptops and tablets run on the school calendar and the chip calendar. Back to school season discounts the mainstream machines, new processor launches reset the prices of the old ones, and Black Friday does the rest. This guide lays out the windows, with the dated prices our database actually holds and the rest labeled as mechanism-based advice.
How we define a deal: cheaper than it was a month ago and below its recent average is a valid deal for that date; a deal does not need to be the lowest price in history. We always disclose the lowest price we have seen and when it happened, and we never judge a discount against a launch price or a retailer's "was" price.
How solid is the evidence? One laptop and one tablet in our database have dated lowest-ever history records, which is below our bar for calling something a measured pattern. The rest of this guide is tracker observations plus mechanism, labeled as such. CamelCamelCamel verification for this category is still pending.
The laptop and tablet calendar
| Month | Laptops & Tablets |
|---|---|
| January | - |
| February | - |
| March | Good |
| April | - |
| May | - |
| June | - |
| July | Good |
| August | Best |
| September | Good |
| October | - |
| November | Best |
| December | - |
The evidence: dated lows and tracked prices
- Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 10 (gaming laptop): lowest recorded $2,399.99 on March 8, 2026, against an average of $2,544.23 and a high of $2,699.99 (pricehistory.app record). A spring low, in the season when new GPU and chip lineups reset gaming laptop prices.
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S11: lowest recorded $645 on October 7, 2026 (deal reporting), during Amazon's October Prime event.
- Apple iPad (A16): lowest tracked price $274 on November 28, 2025, Black Friday, against $329 in March 2025 and $399 in October 2026 in our observations.
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024): $149.99 on November 18, 2025 in our observations, in the run up to Black Friday, against $169.99 in October 2026.
- Apple MacBook Air (M5): $1,099 at Apple on March 11, 2026, launch month, and the same $1,099 at Amazon on October 6, 2026. Apple's own price barely moves, so MacBook discounts come from retailers and event days, not from Apple.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: lowest tracked $450 on September 21, 2025, back to school season, against $649.99 in October 2026.
Best windows: back to school and Black Friday
Back to school, July through September, is the window for mainstream laptops and Chromebooks, because that is education buying season and the Chromebook low above landed there. Black Friday is the window for gaming laptops and tablets: the iPad low landed on Black Friday itself, and the Kindle low landed ten days before it. New chip launch months, spring for the MacBook Air line, are the third window, when the previous generation gets its first retailer discounts and gaming lineups reset, as the Legion Pro's March low shows.
Worst time: launch weeks and the post-school lull
The first weeks of a new model at full list price are the worst time to buy it. For Chromebooks specifically, right after back to school ends is the other dead zone: the Flex 5i was $450 in September 2025 and $649.99 by October 2026, once event pricing disappeared.
FAQ
Is back to school or Black Friday better for a laptop? It depends on the machine. Back to school (July to September) is the education season and produced our Chromebook low. Black Friday produced our iPad and Kindle lows and is the safer bet for gaming laptops and tablets. If you are buying a mainstream school or work laptop, shop both windows and take the first genuine below-average price.
When do MacBooks go on sale? Rarely at Apple, whose price for the MacBook Air M5 was $1,099 in its March 2026 launch month and still $1,099 at Amazon in October 2026. Real MacBook discounts come from retailers around event days and when a new chip generation launches and the previous one gets cleared.
When do iPads go on sale? At the big event windows. Our lowest tracked iPad (A16) price, $274, landed on Black Friday 2025, against $329 in March 2025 and $399 in October 2026 outside the windows.
Is a spring laptop deal real, or should I wait for November? It can be real. The Legion Pro 5i's lowest recorded price, $2,399.99, landed on March 8, 2026, when new chip lineups reset gaming prices. Judge it by the deal definition, below average and cheaper than last month, not by the month on the calendar.
When to buy other things
Timing differs by category, and each of these guides uses the same deal definition and the same price database: when to buy a TV, when to buy headphones and speakers, when to buy a vacuum, when to buy kitchen and coffee gear, when to buy a wearable, and when to buy toys. For picks, our Black Friday laptop deals guide and Black Friday tablet deals guide track current prices in season. Timing gets you to the right month; those pages tell you whether this month's price is actually a deal.