Quick List
1. Best overall
2. Best on a budget
3. Best for students
4. Best for gaming
5. Best for creatives
6. Most powerful
Q&A
If you’re after one of the finest laptops that money can buy, you should look no further than the best MacBooks. Whether you’re looking at the MacBook Air line-up or the MacBook Pro range, weighing up a 13-, 14-, or 16-inch model, all MacBooks have oodles of power and an attention to detail in their designs that are second to none.
It’s the reason why the best MacBooks are so popular with so many different types of users. From the high-end designer working on a major creative project to the simple student looking for a lightweight workhorse to bring to a lecture, Apple’s portable computer range has a MacBook to suit all needs.
But which MacBook is right for you? With a wide range of prices, specification options, sizes and capabilities, making the choice can be difficult. Do you need an M3-chip in a 16-inch MacBook Pro, the top-tier supercharged machine at the premium end of Apple’s MacBook line-up? Or can you get by with an older M1 MacBook Air which, years after its initial release, still represents the best bang-for-buck laptop on the market?
We’ve tested every generation of MacBook to make sure you’re served with the precise information you need. Looking at every generation of Apple silicon, weighing up every screen size and chip configuration, if you’re looking for the best MacBook for you, this guide will make sure you grab the right model for your needs.
Quick list
The MacBook Pro with M3 Pro is a portable powerhouse with a super powerful chip on offer. It might not have the insane configurable performance as it's larger 16-inch cousin, but there are loads of options to make this more portable option an absolute beast. With specs to make the most powerful desktops blush, this is our pick for the best overall MacBook.
The MacBook Air M1 may be the cheapest MacBook that you can get your hands on — but don't be fooled. This is a perfectly powerful little laptop, with a great 13-inch screen and a punchy M1 chip under the hood. You get tremendous bang for the buck here, especially when you buy on sale. Though Apple itself no longer stocks the M1 Air, it’s still widely available at other retailers.
Even with M3 models now on shelves, the MacBook Air M2 remains an incredible portable machine, with a sleek shell and stunning 13-inch display. The 13-inch variant is perfect for students who want a laptop to take to college seminars, with loads of power from the M2 for all those Chrome tabs and research papers they'll have open. Apple still sells it despite the M3 upgrade being available, showing its staying power as the entry-level model in Apple’s MacBook range.
The base model M3 MacBook Pro is an excellent machine for those playing some games on the go. While you might want the extra power of the M3 Pro or the M3 Max, you only really need the power of the M3 to really get a solid gaming experience.
For artists and photo editors, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is perfect. Now upgraded to include Apple’s latest home-grown silicon, it's got plenty of power on tap thanks to the M3 chip, with a larger 15-inch screen that makes all the difference when you're trying to get some serious work done on the go. Video editors might want something a little beefier though, like an M3 Pro-packing MacBook Pro.
If you want the most MacBook that money can buy, then the MacBook Pro 16-inch with M3 Max is the one to choose. That's the biggest screen available on a MacBook, with the highest amount of configurable RAM, and the best processor all in one portable package. You'll pay thousands of dollars, but if you're a software engineer or 3D artist then this is the way to go.
Best overall
The best MacBook around isn't necessarily the most powerful, but arguably the best when power and price are balanced — as such, the best MacBook in our eyes is the MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 Pro. That's not the most expensive Mac by any stretch of the imagination (although it is not cheap), but it takes a top-quality processor in the M3 Pro and puts it in the svelte and attractive 14-inch MacBook Pro chassis.
For anyone looking for plenty of power, the M3 Pro MacBook Pro has it in spades. The M3 Pro chip features 11 CPU cores, divided up into 5 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. You can boost that up to 12 CPU cores and 18 GPUs, but you'll have to pay a lot more for the privilege.
Display duties are handled with a 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel, and it's an absolute stunner. Color is handled with aplomb, and the ProMotion runs everything along at a slick 120Hz. For the display nerds, there are 1 billion colors here meeting the P3 Wide color gamut, and TrueTone color keeps everything looking good no matter the environmental light. There's Apple's XDR high dynamic range as well, giving a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and 1,000 nits peak brightness across the whole screen.
Display duties are handled with a 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel, and it's an absolute stunner.
Battery life is top-of-the-line as well — on a full charge, the 14-inch MacBook Pro will last 18 hours, and that only drops significantly if you start doing loads of hard work like video rendering. It's all kept cool with an active cooling system in its aluminum shell, and just like the previous models, you're only going to hear those fans turn on if you run the machine super hard.
Why is this the best MacBook overall? Because it gives everything you could ever actually need out of a MacBook, and means you don't have to spend through the nose to own one. This model, if you head to the Apple Store sets you back $1999. Sure, there are cheaper MacBooks, but this won't break the bank quite as much as some of the really powerful models.
Best on a budget
The MacBook Air M1 is not the newest machine out there, but it is the cheapest of the MacBooks that you can currently buy. It’s no longer stocked at Apple, but third party retailers still carry the MacBook Air M1, and we’ve seen its price tag reach crazy lows of as little as $399. You're still getting a hell of a computer — and you're not paying the most to get it. While it might not satisfy those who are looking for a MacBook with bucket loads of power on tap, it is more than adequate for users who want a MacBook for the lowest price possible.
That's not to say it's not got any power — far from it. For some light computing, document editing and even rudimentary photo editing, the M1 that resides inside its super slim shell is still a great performer for everyday computing. There are 8 CPU cores in there for all the computing stuff, and then a 7-core GPU that handles graphics duties. The M1 was a very powerful chip when it came out, and it's no-less powerful now — it's just that its sequels have upped the game.
The M1 that resides inside its super slim shell is still a great performer for everyday computing.
The display is nothing to be sniffed at either, even if it does lack the Liquid Retina moniker of the newer models. It's plenty colorful for watching some YouTube videos, and the 2560x1600 native resolution makes text look super crisp on a smaller display like this one. There's P3 wide color as well, and it gets bright enough for use in broad daylight with 400 nits peak brightness.
Battery life is good, with a solid 18 hours of video playback. That means you can slip it in your bag and not worry about losing battery when you take it out and about — be that to class or to work. It'll be easy to slip into your bag as well, with its super slim chassis. In fact, at its slimmest the MacBook Air M1 is a paper-like 0.41 inches, making it one of the thinnest MacBooks ever made. That makes the laptop super portable — more so than most of its range mates.
The MacBook Air M1 is the best MacBook on a budget because it's so cheap. You can often save extra money on top of its already super low price. The best time to pick one of these up is during one of the many deals events throughout the year — that way you'll get the absolute best price possible.
Best for students
Students need a little more power than your average person for all the research and work they do on a daily basis — but they also need a machine that is portable enough to put into a bag without any trouble at all. The MacBook Air with M2 chip is just the right laptop for a student studying at college, striking the perfect balance of price, performance, and portability. It’s now the cheapest model available direct from Apple, replacing the M1 Air on Apple’s shelves — and its price tag means we still recommend it for students despite a more powerful M3 chip version now also being available.
Running things along in the background is the 8 CPU-core M2 processor, which also features 8 GPU cores to handle the graphics processing. That's not a top of the range processor, but a student doesn't need top of the range. Instead, this power option gives plenty of juice for all those Chrome tabs you need open while you revise for tests, and runs productivity apps like Pages with aplomb so you can get those crucial papers written. Crucially, it also offers phenomenal battery life, easily getting you through a day and into the next morning’s lecture if you forget to plug the charger in overnight.
That's not to mention how the MacBook Air looks — after all, that kind of thing can be important to the cool kids on campus. The slim MacBook Air has a new svelte design with a more uniform chassis than its wedge-like predecessor, and it's a look that we really like. It's slim too at just 0.44 inches thick. Portable and powerful: just what a student needs.
This power option gives plenty of juice for all those Chrome tabs you need open while you revise for tests.
The display on this one was upgraded too, now a Liquid Retina. More importantly, however, it's also changed shape slightly — and it's a productivity godsend. Rather than 16:9 like most displays, the MacBook Air's screen is 16:10 which adds some vertical space, something you really notice when you're working on text in Pages or even in spreadsheet apps like Numbers. It's bright and colorful to boot — perfect for when you've stopped working.
This is the best MacBook for students because, as said up top, it balances power with portability — something that's super important when you have to cart your laptop around a college campus while getting some work done. If you're a student on a budget, then grab an M1 MacBook Air — you'll get a slightly less impressive machine, yes, but a solid one nonetheless.
Best for gaming
Gamers might think they want the most powerful laptop they can find — they also will unlikely be looking for a Mac. If you're after a Mac for work reasons or personal choice and you want to do a bit of gaming on the side, however, you should look no further than the base model M3 MacBook Pro 14-inch — and we'll tell you for why.
No, the M3 isn't going to run all the AAA games at 120FPS and 4K, but most of those games aren't available on Mac anyway. Instead, the kinds of games that you can run on a Mac are those directly ported over and optimized for use on a MacBook. Games like the Resident Evil 4 Remake run very well on an M3 chip, and even the very new (and award-winning) Baldur's Gate 3 will be munched up by the latest base model Apple chip with no problems at all. Indie games? Indie games are no challenge for the extremely potent M3 at the heart of the entry-level MacBook Pro.
"What about my AAA games? I want to play Cyberpunk!" Worry not, there is a solution. There is a very limited number of those optimized games that will run natively on Mac — and those that you'll find on Steam don't always work very well as they rely on a compatibility layer, which isn't an issue that those monster M3 Pro and Max chips are going to solve. Instead, you're better off running those AAA games on a service like Nvidia GeForce Now, which will stream games over the internet directly to you for a monthly fee. With these two things — the M3 running the ported, optimized games and GeForce now running those that wouldn't normally run on a Mac — you've got everything a gamer could want from a Mac.
The kinds of games that you can run on a Mac are those directly ported over and optimized for use on a MacBook.
The other bonus is that incredible screen — the same 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR from the more expensive models. That's a top quality display, and its ProMotion refresh rate of up to 120Hz will make any games you run on the MacBook buttery smooth. Just remember to grab one of the best wireless mice for Mac — the trackpad just isn't made for gaming.
Beyond your gaming specs there's some extras that just make it a great machine for normal computing tasks. Up to 22 hours of battery life is exemplary, and will give you plenty of juice if you're looking to game on the go. An excellent laptop, and our pick if you're looking for the best MacBook for gaming.
Best for creatives
If you're an on-the-go creative, photographer, or artist, then the latest 15-inch MacBook Air is the top pick for. It still provides plenty of power thanks to the upgrade to the base-level M3 chipset, but without the overkill in performance (and price) that the M3 Pro and M3 Max MacBook Pro line-up represents. And, you still have lots of screen real estate to see your canvases and art in large-scale detail.
As the name suggests, the headline feature here is the 15-inch Liquid Retina display. It's gloriously colorful, and while it lacks the 120Hz refresh rate of the ProMotion displays in the Pro models, it's still a wonderful panel, with great contrast and accurate color reproduction. P3 wide color is supported, with the ability to present 1 billion colors. The 500 nits peak brightness is a great bonus too, and you'll love how vibrant it is on the eye, even in direct sunlight.
Even without going up to the M3 Pro and M3 Max chip levels, there's plenty of power on tap as well, with M3 providing more than enough power for PhotoShop or Illustrator sessions. With support for up to 24GB of RAM there's plenty of multitasking power there as well, so you won't have to worry about having multiple layers in a project at all. For the computer nerds, there are 8 CPU cores here, joined by 10 GPU cores that handle those all-important graphics. Curiously, that's 2 more GPU cores than the base model 13-inch MacBook Air gets — which is just more juice for you to use in your work, as well as opening up some 3D overhead for gamers and CAD projects.
Even without going up to the M3 Pro and M3 Max chip levels, there's plenty of power on tap as well, with M3 providing more than enough power for PhotoShop or Illustrator sessions.
Battery life is good for when you want to take your work on a train or a bus, or you fancy working at the local cafe — you'll get up to 18 hours which means far fewer trips to the power outlet. You won't worry about anyone tripping over the cable and yanking the power cord (and your laptop with it): MagSafe is back so the connector just pops out without taking the laptop with it.
Artists and other creatives will love the extra screen size of the 15-inch MacBook Air, and then they'll slip it into their bag super easily with its 0.45 inch belt line. It's the creme de la creme of ultimate portable laptops, giving you oodles of power on the go. Hook up a USB-C drawing tablet and you're away. If you’re working on really demanding 3D projects or need to carry out light-speed video exports, maybe consider stepping up to a MacBook Pro. But for many creatives, they won’t be able to touch the sides of what this MacBook can achieve.
Most powerful
If you want the most powerful MacBook you can lay your hands on then you won't need to go any further than the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max. That's an impressive $7199 worth of laptop if you go for the fully specced machine — a true desktop replacement for all but the most power-hungry of users.
That is for the most extreme version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, however, with 128GB of memory and an 8TB SSD, so make some sensible cuts and you still get a monstrous machine with a slightly less monstrous price tag. The M3 Max is a beast right across its configurations — there are 16 CPU cores on board, connected to an insane 40-core GPU. For those keeping track, that's an absolute powerhouse of a processor, and will absolutely destroy pretty much any computing task you throw at it.
For some users, however, that's exactly what they need. If you're a video editor for movies, a programmer or graphics specialist, then you'll need all the power that the most powerful MacBook can provide you with. Granted, you don't need to opt for all the RAM or SSD space that Apple tempts you with — the base Max option with a mere 32GB of memory is only $3499. Still a lot of money, but you're still getting that incredible processor for a little less financial outlay.
If you're a video editor for movies, a programmer or graphics specialist, then you'll need all the power that the most powerful MacBook can provide you with.
There's more than just the power here — that ProMotion equipped 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display is a stunner, with sumptuous colors and oodles of brightness on tap. The whole package is incredible, with all that power on tap in a deceptively slim chassis. The most powerful, most impressive MacBook Pro is the best if you want a laptop with everything — although you'll have to pay to get it.
Q&A
Should I buy an older MacBook?
If you want the most up-to-date machine, then no, you shouldn't. Older laptops run a greater risk of being made obsolete by Apple's yearly macOS operating system upgrades. If you want to save some money, however, then an older MacBook is a great way of getting a great deal on yesterday's laptops. There is usually some stock of slightly out-of-date machinery to be found, although it can be thin on the ground — thankfully, they're not collector's items so you won't have to pay full price when you find them.
How about refurbished MacBooks?
A refurbished MacBook is another good way of saving some money, but you should be careful about where you go to find one. We'd recommend sticking with Apple-accredited refurbs, because they're reconditioned by Apple engineers with proper Apple parts. Amazon can also be good — although make sure the returns policy is up to scratch in case you're not happy with the product you get in the post.
Will I need a dongle with the best MacBook?
That depends on the MacBook that you've bought. If you've grabbed yourself a MacBook Air and want to connect multple USB devices, then you should look for one of the best USB-C hubs so that you can hook everything up properly. If you've bought a MacBook Pro, then you'll have more ports — including an SD card slot and HDMI port. You might not need a dock or a dongle with this laptop, although they are useful to have lying around just in case. Take a look at our picks for the best docking stations for MacBook Pro.
