Battery life is mind-boggling for a laptop this powerful at just over 18 hours on a charge in our test, it also delivers that show-stopping Super Retina XDR mini-LED display, a super comfortable keyboard, and an excellent audio system. That means the new model retains the blessedly returned full HDMI and SDXC card reader. The notebook’s design is still virtually identical to the 2021 and early 2023 models, but that's not a complaint just yet. However, if you are a creative professional or someone who just wants the biggest and best without concern over cost this belongs on your short list. Starting at $2,499 for the M3 Pro model and $3,499 for the M2 Max model, the 16-inch MacBook Pro isn't for everyone. We called the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max the "new king of MacBooks" and while you might think that means it belongs at the top of this list, the price makes it a choice you need to carefully consider despite how phenomenal it is. Best MacBook for Performance and Battery Life See our full 14-inch MacBook Pro (2023, M3) review. However, these are minor quibbles regarding an outstanding laptop that is now available for a more affordable price. Our complaints with the 14-inch MacBook Pro are nothing new, the notch still isn't our favorite design choice and it still stings that they are using up all that display real estate without giving us Face ID. While Apple still isn't challenging the best gaming laptops, it is making a meaningful plunge into gaming after just dipping its toe in for years. Now if you are a content creator, a power user, or dare we say it even a gamer then the M3 Pro or M3 Max models may be calling to you. , the hardware is otherwise largely the same excellent laptop we got 2 years ago. That base M3 is going to offer plenty of performance for most users and the laptop still boasts incredible longevity with 17 hours and 16 minutes of battery life in our testing. See our full MacBook Air with M1 (2020) review Best affordable big screenĪfter rumors abounded that the M3 MacBooks weren't coming until 2024, Apple surprised us all with a new round of MacBook Pros to close out 2023 with the 14-inch MacBook Pro the most notable as it got a new base M3 option starting at $1,599. And, of course, Apple's least expensive 13.3-inch model is the most portable, coming in at only 0.6 inches thick and 2.8 pounds.Īs long as you don't mind the older design, the MacBook Air M1 remains one of the best laptop deals even when it's not discounted and should draw strong consideration from anyone considering a new MacBook. So why buy the MacBook Air instead of the Pro? While the Pro has better-sustained performance, the MacBook Air is cheaper and is pin-drop silent because it doesn't have a fan. For any typical computing tasks, the MacBook Air M1 is more than equal to the challenge and will outlast most competitors too. The performance still outclasses every comparably priced thin-and-light Windows laptop and it manages to deliver 14 hours and 41 minutes of battery life in our testing. Best of all you can often find it for $899 or less. What about the MacBook Air M2? It's a fantastic laptop that we'll cover next on this list, but the reality is that for the majority of users the upgrades aren't necessary and Apple is keeping it around in order to maintain that sub-$1,000 starting price. The MacBook Air M1 remains the best MacBook for most people. See our full MacBook Air M2 review M1 Power for Under $1,000 If you find yourself cresting the $1,499 mark for your configuration then you may want to consider the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, which I cover later in this list and can now be regularly found for $1,799. As I mentioned the Air M1 stuck around at $999, so you are paying a premium for the M2 model. The biggest consideration with the Air M2 is the price if you need to upgrade much from the $1,199 base model. That first will be particularly welcome to those that are using the Air M2 on the go and may be faced with less than optimal lighting conditions. The list of upgrades also includes a brighter display, a quad-speaker array and the new 1080p webcam. The fact that it does all this while staying whisper quiet and cool without fans remains astounding. You also get a nice performance bump and it still delivered 14 hours and 6 minutes in our battery life test, placing it easily ahead of the Windows competition and ridiculously so when factoring in performance.
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