Apple has experienced yet another advertising fumble, but good luck finding any evidence of it.

This week, Apple posted and abruptly deleted a 7-minute ad on YouTube titled "Convince Your Parents to Get You a Mac," which showed comedian Martin Herlihy giving a room full of teenagers a presentation teaching them how to persuade their parents to cough up the cash for a MacBook.

The ad has since been seemingly wiped from the internet and is no longer available on Apple's YouTube channel.

This isn't the first time Apple has quickly backpedaled on an advertising fumble recently, and arguably isn't anywhere close to its biggest slip-up. Here's a look at what you missed in the ad and a few highs (and lows) from Apple's advertising rollercoaster.

Apple mysteriously removes controversial MacBook ad

This weekend, Apple hastily removed a 7-minute ad from its YouTube channel less than 24 hours after the video went live. Titled "Convince Your Parents to Get You a Mac," it was an uncanny cross between an awkward skit and an unironic instruction manual for teenagers to persuade their parents to buy them a MacBook.

Apple even posted the "Parent Presentation" slides for teens to duplicate and use. The actual video has been removed from nearly every corner of the internet, but the slides are still accessible at the time of writing. Be warned, the presentation is 81 slides long.

The whole thing seems like it was probably meant as a meme, but it comes across as a little too manipulative. You can catch it in full in the X post above, one of the last few places the ad has managed to stay online.

Ironically, MacBooks are already considered among the best laptops for students, and considering iPhones are overwhelmingly the most popular phones for teenagers, this wasn't really a demographic Apple needed to do much to appeal to.

This somehow isn't Apple's biggest marketing fumble in recent years, either. That honor goes to the infamous "Crush" ad.

The "Crush" controversy: Apple's best (and worst) ads over the years

When Apple launched its thinnest iPad ever last year, all anyone could talk about was the (literally) soul-crushing ad that followed.

The "Crush" ad was quickly removed shortly after Apple posted it, but it showed a giant industrial press machine physically crushing a multitude of objects used for creating art and music. When everything was destroyed, the press opened again to reveal an iPad Pro.

The ad lives on in a response ad Samsung made with the tagline "Creativity cannot be crushed."

That ad is arguably Apple's most tone-deaf ad to date in light of artists' widespread fears of AI threatening their jobs. While the "Crush" ad didn't mention AI specifically, it seemed to imply that one device (or technology broadly) can replace a wealth of creative tools used for self-expression, from guitars to paint to cameras, and by extension, maybe even artists themselves.

Ironically, people do use iPads for creating art. Like the "Convince Your Parents to Buy a Mac" situation, Apple somehow managed to drop the ball while communicating with an audience it had already widely won over.

Both fumbles are perplexing considering Apple's marketing history. This is the same brand that produced some of the most iconic ads ever, like the long-running "I'm a Mac" series starring Justin Long.

Going back even further, one of the most famous ads ever was Apple's 1983 Super Bowl ad for the Macintosh 128K. Released in 1984, Apple introduced it in a surprisingly cinematic ad based on George Orwell's book 1984. This ad was meant as a subtle jab at Apple's then-rival IBM, but there's a lot of symbolism to unpack in it. The actual Macintosh 128K isn't even shown.

Of course, an advertising stumble doesn't mean MacBooks aren't good laptops for students. They're just not the only good laptops for students. If you're looking for the right laptop for college, you should probably be basing your decision on reviews and lab testing rather than a 7-minute Apple ad anyway.

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Amazon's annual Prime Day sale might still be a month away, but early deals are already popping up, including up to $150 off on Apple tech!

Some of my favorite daily driver devices are from Apple, like the iPad 11, which offers fantastic bang for your buck. Apple gear can be great, but it can also be pricey. That's why I highly recommend you wait for sales to roll around to save hard-earned cash.

For instance, right now you can pick up the iPad 11 for just $299, a $50 discount off the regular price. The Magic Keyboard Folio is also $50 off, so you can save a total of $100 on a budget-friendly laptop alternative. I had a surprisingly good experience with this combo, which is likely to get even better with some major upcoming improvements to iPadOS.

Even if you're not an iPad fan, there are still plenty of great deals you can snag right now on M4 MacBooks and Apple's full headphones line-up. These devices could sell out during Prime Day, so you might want to pick them up now ahead of that big sale.

See also: Amazon Prime Day 2025: When it starts and what to expect

Top 9 early Prime Day deals on MacBooks, iPads, and headphones

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It's not the Xbox 360's "red ring of death" or the PS5 System update bricking bonanza, but critical hardware failures are back in the spotlight this week, this time with Apple in the hot seat.

Not all Apple devices are impacted, just specific Mac Mini models. So, if you have a MacBook or an iPhone, you're safe.

According to a report from Mac Rumors, Mac Mini models with the M2 chipset have been randomly bricking.

Thankfully, there's already a fix in the works.

Here's what you need to know.

The problem?

Some Apple Mac Mini models with the Apple Silicon M2 series chipset have failed to power on due to a critical power issue.

This issue doesn't impact all Mac Mini M2 units, either. Apple launched the Mac Mini with the M2 chipset in January 2023; however, the impacted models were manufactured between June 16, 2024, and November 23, 2024.

If your Mac Mini consistently fails to power on, or if you think it might be part of the scuffed Mac Mini batch, don't despair.

There is a fix, and it is free.

The Fix

Apple has launched a worldwide repair program for impacted Mac Mini devices. If your Mac Mini is one of the affected units, you can drop it off at an Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple Store location for repair.

You can find out if your Mac Mini M2 is eligible for the repair program by entering its serial number into the search bar on the dedicated Apple Support page.

Since Apple provides this repair service for free, it's one of the few cases where bricked hardware won't cost you anything. So you don't need to turn your dead Mac Mini M2 into some modern art statement piece.

Unless you want to, that is. We won't stop you.

Even if your Mac Mini M2 is still powering on, it may still need to be repaired due to the critical hardware issue impacting this specific batch of Mac Minis. So, if you think your Mac might be one of the affected units, you should still get it fixed.

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• MacOS 26 Tahoe: The big reasons to update — or to not update

Apple is done with its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where it showed the upcoming software updates to all of its devices, which will now end with the number "26" as part of a new naming scheme.

With software out of the way, it's back to focusing on hardware. News of the next iPhone changes has been leaking for the past few months, including news of a thinner variant referred to as the iPhone 17 Air. The new MacBook Pro will make its way out soon after, but there are already rumors of what's new with next year's laptops from Apple.

A few big details of a MacBook Pro redesign set to happen in 2026 have already been leaked, according to a report by 9to5Mac. The most prominent leaks are regarding the upcoming laptop's processor, screen, and chassis.

Up first is the MacBook Pro's new chip, which will be a big jump from the current M4. This year's MacBooks will likely come with a new M5 chip, but Apple is rumored to be already developing the M6 and M7 chips at the same time. This will be the first generation of Apple Silicon to use 2nm technology from the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It'll be some time before testing can be done to see if this new tech will make for impressive performance gains for the MacBook Pro.

Another change for the 2026 model is its display. The Apple laptop is rumored to use the tandem OLED display currently found in the 2024 iPad Pro. The MacBook Pro 2026 will reportedly come with a two-stack OLED display, which would mean improved brightness and make it last longer. Current MacBook Pro laptops use the IPS LCD with mini-LED backlighting, so a jump to an OLED display would be significant.

It's also rumored that the 2026 MacBook Pro will slim down a bit. There are no specifics on how slim the laptop will be, but it's likely that the OLED display will reduce the size of the MacBook Pro just a bit.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the MacBook Pro 2026 redesign.

When are the new Macbooks coming out?

With WWDC over, Apple is heading into its season of prepping for its hardware releases.

September is typically the time when Apple releases its new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. This year, it’s speculated that Apple will debut the iPhone 17, Pro, and Max versions, along with the new iPhone 17 Air.

Apple then releases its line of computers and laptops in October. Last year, the company didn't hold an event for its new hardware, but it did show off its latest iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models.

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A new macOS update is coming soon, but is it worth your time?

Sure, you do want to keep your system relatively up to date to maintain proper app support and get all the latest security patches. But there's a difference between jumping on a new OS update immediately and getting to it a few weeks or months later.

During Monday's Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple shared details on its upcoming plans for the iPhone, Mac, and iPad platforms and some updates to the Apple App ecosystem.

As part of the Mac announcements, Apple detailed all of the changes coming with macOS Tahoe 26, which include an expanded Apple Intelligence portfolio, expanded Continuity features, a desktop facelift, and a revamped Spotlight search.

But are these updates enough? Let's take a look.

Expanded Apple Intelligence

Apple's proprietary AI features, called Apple Intelligence, have been generally underwhelming to start. Many of the features that were announced for Apple Intelligence at WWDC last year are still not available on any Apple devices.

If you were hoping for this year's WWDC to announce any significant changes there, you will continue to be disappointed. Apple still has not confirmed when it will be rolling out the better version of the Siri personal assistant, and the other AI updates are mostly just improvements on existing AI features like updates to the existing Apple Image Playground and Genmoji systems, better shortcuts, and AI-powered Reminders.

Apple's big AI win for Tahoe is live translation across the Messages, Phone, and FaceTime apps.

This is very similar to the Live Captions feature of Microsoft's Copilot+ or Google's translation system built into the Gemini AI on ChromeOS and Android devices.

Expanded Continuity features and Spotlight Search

Apple's other major changes with the macOS 26 Tahoe update are built around offering a more seamless experience.

Not only does macOS Tahoe come with a new design, offering more customization and better ease of use for quick settings controls, but the new operating system iteration also brings over some additional Continuity features to make switching from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac even more seamless.

With the Mac iPhone app, you can make and take calls more easily from your laptop or desktop. Tahoe makes the Phone app look even more like the Phone app from your iPhone and offers the same features, like Recents, Favorites, and Voicemail. Plus, the new Phone app for Mac includes Apple's enhanced call screening and hold assist features.

Live Activities also go over from iOS to Mac with the Tahoe update, porting straight from your iPhone. So if you've got an upcoming flight or ride-share notification on your phone, the information will also appear in the menu bar of your MacBook, so you don't lose track when you swap devices.

Finally, Spotlight Search is getting a major overhaul. You can now take direct action from the search window, including sending an email or playing a podcast. Spotlight Search can now access third-party cloud storage devices in addition to your local storage and iCloud drive.

Should you upgrade to macOS 26 immediately or wait?

Ultimately, it's up to you whether you install macOS Tahoe the instant its available on your MacBook or iMac.

The Apple Intelligence offerings for macOS and iOS devices are still slim and ultimately far from compelling. There's not enough new about Apple Intelligence coming with Tahoe, just the Image Playground and Genmoji features we've already seen on iOS or live translation on video calls, which launched on Windows Copilot+ PCs a year ago. So you won't be missing much if you hold off on your upgrade.

However, there are plenty of compelling reasons to update anyway. Between keeping your apps up to date, getting the latest security features, the revamped Phone app, and enhanced Spotlight Search, there's really no reason to hold off for long.

Certainly, Tahoe has its uses, even if it doesn't quite cash in on Apple Intelligence in a satisfying way.

Apple will launch macOS Tahoe 26 this fall, likely alongside the next generation of MacBooks. However, if you'd like to take an early look at macOS Tahoe, the OS update is currently available through the Apple Developer Program, and a public beta test will be available next month.

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Apple is planning a big gaming announcement for WWDC 2025, but it's still missing the key to taking gaming on the MacBook to the next level.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple will launch a "dedicated gaming app" at WWDC 2025. The app will "serve as a launcher for titles and centralize in-game achievements, leaderboards, communications, and other activity."

That might sound familiar to anyone who remembers Apple's little-used Game Center app. A new gaming app is all well and good, but it doesn't address the core issue holding Macs back from being true gaming devices.

Luckily, Valve has the secret ingredient Apple needs to make gaming on the Mac great.

See also: Best Apple deals in June 2025

Apple's new dedicated gaming app is a step in the right direction, but not enough

According to Bloomberg, Apple's new dedicated gaming app "will feature editorial content from Apple about new titles, offer access to the App Store’s game section and promote Arcade, the company’s $6.99-a-month subscription offering."

It sounds like this app will be a gaming-focused alternative to the App Store, incorporating the achievements and social features that used to be in Game Center. It won't just be for iOS, though.

Bloomberg notes perhaps the most important detail: "Apple is also planning a Mac version of the app that can tap into games downloaded outside of the App Store."

Apple seems to be putting special attention into the macOS version of this new app, potentially even folding in games from other game stores, which may hint that Apple is trying to make another push into gaming on the Mac.

Since the launch of the M-series chips, Macs have gotten significantly better at gaming. However, they still struggle to pose any serious threat to PC gaming on Windows or even handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck. This is largely because there aren't many games that are natively compatible with macOS.

That is why a new game launcher might not be what Apple needs to succeed in gaming. What it really needs is what Valve already has.

Apple needs to take a page from Valve's book

Valve's Steam Deck played a huge role in sparking the rising popularity of handheld gaming PCs over the past several years. But on paper, it shouldn't have been a success.

After all, it runs on Linux, and most PC games are designed for Windows. Most of the games on Steam, which the Steam Deck is explicitly built for, are not natively compatible with the Linux operating system on the handheld.

You'd hardly notice that while playing on a Steam Deck, though, and that's something Apple should be paying attention to.

Valve developed a compatibility layer called Proton to launch the Steam Deck with its own custom-built, Linux-based operating system without sacrificing game compatibility.

This compatibility layer effectively acts as a translator that allows Linux to understand and run Windows games. That means that even if a game isn't natively compatible with Linux, you can (usually) still play it on the Steam Deck.

MacBooks could become far better gaming devices if Apple developed an officially supported compatibility layer like Proton for macOS. If people knew they could play all the same games, more people might consider choosing a Mac over a Windows PC, significantly increasing the player base on macOS. That, in turn, would likely attract more developers to create natively compatible games for Macs.

Apple seems to want developers to come to its platform before gamers, but that's not fair considering the amount of time and resources it takes to create and launch a game, which relies on a good return on investment.

If Apple wants more developers to make games for macOS, it must bridge the gap and make Macs more appealing to gamers. A compatibility layer could achieve precisely this. Apple's new gaming app could even be a launcher for that compatibility layer!

Valve already has the answer here. All Apple needs to do is give Proton a spin and take notes.

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Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) takes place on Monday, June 9, and the company is set to spotlight its biggest software updates of the year — but will any of its new Apple Intelligence features win over frustrated Mac users?

Apple Intelligence may have been the star of last year's show, but the platform, pitched as "AI for the rest of us," has mostly failed to capture the awe of Mac, iPhone, or iPad users, with the one update everyone really wants to see is nowhere in sight.

There's no doubt that Apple will liberally flaunt the term AI during this year's WWDC, but a claimed lack of any killer AI features to show could highlight how far ahead Apple's competition is.

However, to some, that's a good thing. Take a look online and you'll see many Mac users souring on AI, and until Apple is ready to change their minds with something truly groundbreaking, it might be best to keep it out of the limelight a little longer.

See also: Best Apple deals in June 2025

WWDC will feature a rebranded macOS, but one key update will be missing

With WWDC 2025 now just a week away, we're getting our last, and arguably most exciting, wave of rumors about what to expect. The highlight, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, will be a major rebrand of Apple's operating systems along with the biggest visual overhaul since iOS 7.

For Mac users, that means the next OS update will be macOS 26, which will likely feature tweaked app icons and potentially changes to the overall UI, like more transparent elements. Rumors indicate that Apple is taking a lot of inspiration from visionOS for this sweeping visual overhaul across its platforms, giving a rough idea of what to expect.

What we're not expecting to see, however, is any major Apple Intelligence developments. Apple is expected to debut an AI battery optimization tool, which sounds useful, and potentially some other minor updates, but the big, large language model (LLM) Siri update we've all been waiting for is unlikely to make an appearance at WWDC.

That big Siri update is the AI feature its users really need. While it's disappointing we have to keep waiting for it, a lack of focus on AI in the meantime might actually be a good thing for Apple, judging by a cold response to AI from many Mac users.

One year later, Apple Intelligence still hasn't won over Mac users

Apple was undoubtedly late to the game in consumer AI, falling short of the innovations Google, Meta, and OpenAI have been announcing over recent years. OpenAI is even partnering with former Apple design chief Jony Ive to develop its own in-house AI device.

Considering all that, one might think Apple is in hot water, dropping the ball on AI like it has. However, that's assuming Apple users actually want a boatload of AI features on their devices, which might not be the case.

For instance, a user in one Reddit thread referred to Apple Intelligence as "5GB of pure bloatware," complaining that trying to disable or remove the feature can lead to bugs.

A user in another thread expressed frustration about not being able to completely remove Apple Intelligence, commenting, "Some of us don't like a service shoved down our throats we never asked for, and don't need. Sure, it can be turned off, but it should be optional to be installed to begin with. I’d like to use those few gigs of storage."

One user even described Apple's AI as "all hype, no value."

Comment from r/MacOS

Even users who don't outright dislike Apple Intelligence see little use in it, like one commenter who said: "I pretty much never use writing tools, even before they were integrated, so that’s been barely used. Sucks that what the majority of Apple AI is."

Another user pointed out the core of the issue: "Siri still seems dumb as a rock."

All of this effectively amounts to a lack of enthusiasm for AI in general, at least among Mac users. It makes me wonder, would Apple be better off differentiating itself by backing off on AI, at least until the new-and-improved Siri is ready?

So far, Apple Intelligence seems to be mimicking competitors' AI offerings, only with fewer features and years behind. That strategy clearly isn't winning over Mac users, though, who seem to be really looking for practical AI tools and a Siri update, not gimmicks like AI-generated emojis.

Instead of trying to convince us it's an AI brand now, maybe Apple could woo fans by showing it's focusing on launching AI tools that prioritize genuine usefulness and user privacy.

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Look, I'm never against some good nostalgia bait. As a '90s kid, I love to see transparent tech like MSI's Cyborg lineup, and I'm in a constant state of decision paralysis on whether or not I want to go down the Oblivion: Remastered rabbit hole.

Which is to say, 1-Bit Rainbow's mini vintage Macintosh speaks to me on a visceral level. The Pico-mac-nano is a tiny, fully functional vintage Mac powered by a Pico Zero Raspberry Pi, running the MicroMac 128K emulator to mimic the Macintosh operating system.

1-Bit Rainbow is mostly known as an online storefront for parts to maintain and repair vintage Apple products, but there are a few hidden gems on the site, like the old Apple Pro wired USB mouse and the Apple External Microphone for the old-school PowerBook laptops.

Pico-mac-nano: Specs

In a blog post, 1-Bit Rainbow's Nick Gillard details the build process of the Pico-mac-nano, including the micro-mini PC's USB-C keyboard and mouse support using a special splitter cable also sold on the 1-Bit store.

1-Bit Rainbow also offers a Collector's Edition of the Pico-mac-nano that comes in a miniaturized, vintage Macintosh shipping box for the complete unboxing experience.

The Pico-mac-nano is an open-source project, so you can make your own from scratch if you'd prefer and have access to a 3D printer.

Feed your old school Mac nostalgia

The Pico-mac-nano and the Pico-mac that inspired it are more proof-of-concept than full consumer devices. The miniature Pico-mac-nano doesn't have full audio support and may not run all early Macintosh software.

Unfortunately, since the new Mac Mini and Magic Mouse still have key features in the worst places, the Pico-mac-nano is far more usable than the Mac Mini M4, though it is far less powerful than Apple's latest mini PC.

If you're an old-school Mac enthusiast, you can buy one, made to order. It's a fun, quirky addition to a vintage computing collection. But if you want the full vintage Mac experience, you're better off getting a pre-owned Macintosh from a classic tech dealer or taking your chances on eBay.

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The Memorial Day deals for tech are out in full force this weekend. It's a great time to save some big money, especially with Apple laptops.

Amazon has the MacBook Pro 16 with M4 Pro for $2,229, which is $270 below the normal price of $2,499. This is one of the best MacBook Pro discounts for the year so far.

Browse: Amazon's entire sale

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro received a 4.5 out of 5 in our review and was named an Editor’s Choice winner following extensive real-world and lab tests. Apple’s latest MacBook blew away our expectations. The performance is unmatched when compared to what laptops are available right now. Combine that with a stunning display, improved speakers, and a top-tier built-in webcam, and you find yourself with one of the best laptops around.

This MacBook has a lot of power. The Geekbench 6.3 test came in at a score of 22,822, which is double that of other high-end laptops on the market. Video rendering, photo editing, and other graphics-intensive tasks are easy to handle with this MacBook. The laptop also comes with Apple Intelligence, which has been improving more and more since it was revealed last year.

Also, don't get it twisted, all this power doesn't need to be permanently connected to a power outlet. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro has impressive battery life, coming in at just under 21 hours for web browsing on Wi-Fi at 150 nits.

Memorial Day sales last only for the weekend, so if you want all this power for a discount, now is a good time to buy one.

This deal won't stick around after Memorial Day. If you’ve been waiting to buy a powerful Apple laptop, now is the time.

Memorial Day weekend M4 Pro MacBook Pro 16 deal

Apple's M5 chip isn't even here yet, but we're already hearing rumors about the next generation and beyond.

In his latest report for Bloomberg, Apple expert Mark Gurman indicates the company is already working on the next several generations of Apple silicon, including the M6 and M7 chipsets.

Apple is expected to launch the first products using the M5 in the fall, with the MacBook Pro models getting the chip first this time around. The iPad Pro and MacBook Air models with the M5 are expected to hit the market in early 2026.

This means that the soonest we could see the M6 is likely Fall 2026. But what do we know about the M6 and M7 so far?

M6 and M7 are reportedly in development

What are Apple's "Komodo" chips?

Gurman's latest Apple report includes the codenames for upcoming Apple Silicon chipsets. The "Komodo" chips are expected to be the M6 generation, while the "Borneo" chips are likely the M7. Gurman also includes information on a future Apple chip codenamed "Sotra."

The upcoming M6 and M7 chips are designed to power upcoming Mac devices, including the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. And likely an iPad or two. The Apple M6 generation is expected to be the first Apple chips manufactured on TSMC's 2nm silicon wafer process node.

While we still expect the M6 and M7 to be powerful computing chips, Apple appears to focus more on AI for future chip generations. This makes perfect sense.

As more people use artificial intelligence, we start demanding more from it, leading to more complex AI models that require more powerful hardware. Since AI uses all three hardware accelerators (CPU, GPU, and NPU), it stands to reason that the M6 and M7 will be powerful all-around chips.

But that's not Apple's development team's only AI in the works.

Apple is also working on data center chips that will be used in the Apple Intelligence servers, replacing the current high-end Mac chips that run the Apple servers. These chips are part of the "Baltra" project and are expected to be finished by 2027.

What this means for the M5 generation

Ultimately, this just means the Apple M5 will eventually be outpaced by its successor. That's not really news.

Chips should get better with each generation as chipmakers refine the technology and adapt to smaller and smaller silicon processes. No one is happy if a chipmaker puts out a new chip that underperforms compared to the last generation or doesn't increase in performance. That was Intel's main issue with the Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" launch on desktops last fall. Intel is still tweaking 200S performance even six months later.

If Apple's usual performance trend holds, the M5 generation will still improve over the M4. And the M6 will improve on the M5, while the M7 will improve on the M6.

If you just upgraded to an M3 or M4 Mac, you can wait until the M6 or later.

But if you're still using an old Intel-based Mac or the M1 generation, you may consider upgrading to the M5. After all, the average laptop upgrade cycle is around four years.

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Launched in March 2024, the MacBook Air M3 is just over a year old and was named 2024's Laptop Mag's best overall laptop. Despite being replaced by the MacBook Air M4, the M3-charged portable powerhouse is still one of the best laptops to buy in 2025.

B&H continues to sell the 512GB model 13-inch MacBook Air M3 for just $899. It usually commands a price of $1,299, so that's a whopping $400 in savings and its lowest price ever. It beats its former all-time low price of $999 spotted on Amazon back in December.

By comparison, it's $100 cheaper the Best Buy's current deal price for the same laptop. It's also $50 cheaper than this M4 MacBook Air's limited-time deal.

Browse: B&H's entire MacBook sale

As a shopping guru who tracks sales for a living, this is one of the best MacBook deals I've seen outside of major end-of-year sales.

Our resident laptop experts reviewed the MacBook Air M3 when it first launched in early March last year. Although it's passed the baton to the M4 MacBook Air, it remains one of the best laptops for most people.

In our MacBook Air M3 review, we rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars and gave it our esteemed Editor's Choice Award. Our expert praised its outstanding battery life, strong performance, bright Liquid Retina display, and comfortable keyboard.

The M3 MacBook Air scored an impressive 12,087 in our lab's Geekbench 6 overall performance tests. This surpasses the mainstream laptop average of 9,595 by far.

As for battery life, the MacBook Air M3 lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes in our Laptop Mag Battery Test. This endurance trial entails continuous web surfing over WiFi at a 150-nit display brightness.

"The fact that I can get this kind of performance from a laptop in a chassis this small is mind-bending.", said our reviewer.

If you prioritize powerful performance, long battery life, and a satisfying typing experience, the MacBook Air M3 might be right for you.

Especially now with this tempting $400 discount.

Today's best Apple MacBook Air M3 deal

Apple's next mixed reality headset could arrive soon, but with one major design change that could drag it down — literally.

It's been over a year since the Apple Vision Pro launched in February 2024, although it has struggled to find success since then, largely due to its sky-high price.

Now, Apple may be gearing up to launch a pair of new headsets with some changes that could resolve the common complaints users had with the original Vision Pro, according to a report from Bloomberg.

There's just one problem, however — one of those design changes could be a huge drawback, especially if you don't have a MacBook.

See also: Best Apple deals in April 2025

The next Apple Vision Pro could arrive soon — with one huge change

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on Sunday that Apple is preparing to launch two new headsets as a follow-up to the original Vision Pro released last year.

These new headsets will offer the same core features as the Vision Pro but, ideally, resolve a couple of critical issues users had: price and comfort.

The original Vision Pro launched at $3,500, making it one of the most expensive headsets on the market (roughly ten times the price of a Meta Quest headset).

Since that price was a big reason many people skipped the Vision Pro, Apple will likely try to reduce the price of both of the new headsets. Unfortunately, the constantly-shifting situation with Trump administration tariffs may end up making the new headsets just as expensive as the original, which was manufactured mainly in China.

While the price is challenging to predict, Gurman shared some hints about the design, which could feature a huge change.

The original Vision Pro was criticized for being too heavy, so both of the new models will likely weigh significantly less. At least one of the new headsets will accomplish that by being tethered to a MacBook, which would allow Apple to put less computing hardware in the headset itself, reducing the weight.

This headset would work a bit like the Mac-tethered AR glasses Apple reportedly scrapped earlier this year. It would need to be connected to a Mac to function, acting as more of an extension to your Mac and less of a distinct device itself. For some, that design might be a huge turn-off, but there are some positives and negatives to it.

The pros and cons of an Apple Vision Pro tethered to your MacBook

At first glance, a Vision Pro that needs to constantly be wired to a MacBook sounds a bit clunky to me. However, there are admittedly some potential upsides to this design, which is effectively a return to older VR headsets that needed to be tethered to gaming PCs.

One positive is reduced latency. Since the headset would be connected directly to your Mac, it would be able to load and display content from your Mac more quickly than through a wireless connection like on the Vision Pro.

Another obvious positive is reduced weight. It's absolutely critical for Apple to cut down the weight of its next-gen headsets, and if that means requiring a wired connection a Mac, that could be a worthy trade-off, especially if the price goes down, too.

It's also possible a tethered connection could lead to better battery life, but that's still up in the air. The wired connection could mean the headset will draw power from your MacBook, but it might also need its own dedicated battery pack like the original Vision Pro.

Ideally, that won't be the case, though. A MacBook would likely be able to offer better battery life than the pocket-sized battery packs Apple's original headset uses.

Of course, the downside to all this is less mobility and flexibility. Since the headset needs a wired connection to a MacBook, it will be harder to walk around with it on and could effectively make the headset more of an accessory since it won't really be functional without a Mac.

Either way, it looks like Apple hasn't given up on the Vision Pro quite yet, though it still has a lot of progress to make when it comes to making a headset that people can actually afford.

More from Laptop Mag

• Inside Apple’s AI struggles: Budget cuts, delays, and a stalled Siri upgrade
• One crucial feature could give Samsung an early victory over Apple in the headset wars
• Samsung's Vision Pro alternative may bury its best feature under a ridiculous price tag

The spring sales continue to flow this weekend: Take B&H for example, which has a healthy discount on the Apple MacBook Air M3.

Currently, B&H offers the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air M3 is now $899 , a savings of $400 from the regular price. This price is valid on the Space Gray colorway (Silver is $100 more).

While this is not the lowest price ever (we saw it drop to $799 briefly at Amazon), it's the best price available right now, and the lowest price you can find for this early 2024 MacBook Air model (all four colorways for the MacBook Air M3 are $999 at Best Buy).

Note that this model has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which is enough to do most daily tasks. If you do more memory intensive tasks like keep hundreds of open browser tabs, edit complex spreadhseets, or do a lot of creative work with large video and image files, you may prefer stepping up to the M3 model with 16GB of RAM at $999(now $200 off at B&H Photo).

In our review of the MacBook Air M3, we appreciated its lightweight design, gorgeous display, excellent performance, and long 15+ hour battery life. (We reviewed the configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD). We gave the system 4.5 stars, and at this lower price, it remains a good choice, even with the M4 version already on the market (albeit at a higher price).

At 3.3 pounds, the 15-inch MacBook Air remains one of the most highly portable systems you can buy. Snag this instant savings at B&H while you can.

Today's best 15-inch MacBook Air M3 deal

Amazon's Big Spring Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Monday, March 31, 2025 — so act fast to take advantage of these deals.

Apple makes some of the best laptops, tablets, and smartwatches around, but they can be pretty pricey if you get them at full price. Luckily, you can save hundreds on a few top devices right now, from the Editor's Choice MacBook Air M3 for $300 off to the Apple Watch SE for just $199!

We hand-picked the best Apple deals in Amazon's Spring Sale, but there are plenty more still available if you're looking for a Windows laptop or an Android tablet.

There are also plenty of deals on headphones and Apple accessories. For instance, the Apple Pencil USB-C is on sale for just $69.

Desktop users are in luck, too. The Mac Mini M4 is $743 right now, which is $56 off the list price for the configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. This is a great fit for anyone looking for a more compact, affordable alternative to the iMac.

Fab 4: Apple deals in Amazon's Spring Sale

More from Laptop Mag

• Live: Amazon Big Spring Sale's best laptop and MacBook deals
• We love the M3 MacBook Pro design and performance — and it just got a deep discount
• Apple iPad Mini 7 (2024) review: The ultimate mobile entertainment device

Spring is in the air, and Amazon isn't the only retailer with massive sales to welcome the season. B&H Photo joins in with a terrific deal on the Apple MacBook Pro with M3 Pro processor that slashes $600 from its usual $1,999 price.

You can now buy the Apple MacBook Pro with M3 Pro processor for just $1,399 at B&H Photo (black colorway only). Best Buy has this model at the same price in both the silver and black colorways (although there, it's only a $500 discount over the usual cost). Both retailers have the MacBook Pro with a 14-inch display, 18GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

In our review of the MacBook Pro with M3 Max, we gave this model a near-perfect 4.5 star rating. We lauded its excellent overall performance, good gaming performance, and terrific battery life. This model's processor is a slight step down but still delivers plenty of performance power.

This model remains an outstanding deal even if you consider that it is one generation behind the latest version with the M4 Pro chip (and 24GB of RAM) inside.

The new version costs almost $400 more if you consider its current $1,779 sale price — and $600 more if you consider that model's $1,999 selling price.

B&H Photo notes it has limited quantities at this price, and it's only available through March 29, while Best Buy doesn't specify when its deal ends. Either way, if a 14-inch MacBook Pro sounds appealing, you won't find a better deal around.

Today's best MacBook Pro with M3 Pro deal

Despite our name, Laptop Mag are unabashed supporters of the growing mini PC market. The little boxes are powerful machines that are potent portables.

The arrival of the M4 processor-powered Mac mini in October 2024 ushered in Apple’s most current entrant into a burgeoning market. The Mac Mini goes back more than 20 years now, and it continues to live rent-free in my mind.

During Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, the M4 Pro-powered Mini, with a three-year Apple Care+ warranty, is $105 off. This is Apple’s top-of-the-line Mac Mini desktop computer if you're looking to invest in something powerful that will last for years, the deal below is for you.

But hurry — Amazon's Big Spring Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Monday, March 31.

You may not immediately think of a Mac Mini desktop computer as your next computer, but it should be. This underrated little productivity powerhouse is could be derided as the “hipster’s choice” of computers, but let that pejorative flow right by you.

Apple's even made an interesting choice for the location of the power button. (Though if you don't like it, there's a DIY alternative.)

Here’s why it might be the right choice for your sensibilities, needs, and, most importantly, your budget.

Design: The design-focused side of my brain — and maybe yours — can also see how the sleek Mac Mini desktop is a space-saver in your home or office, too.

Practicality and affordability: The more practical benefits of a mini PC are energy efficiency, a low amount of noise, reduced heat output, and affordability.

See also:

➟ All external monitors on sale for Amazon's Big Spring Sale

➟ All Logitech keyboards and mice on sale for Amazon's Big Spring Sale

If stunning visuals aren’t important to you but top-tier performance is, a Mac Mini desktop PC is also a great value. Let’s compare prices for a moment:

The Mac Mini with an M4 Pro processor and 24GB of unified memory, and 512 GB of storage is $1,199. And you can buy a much larger monitor (like this 27” Samsung full HD screen which is 39% off right now).

Meanwhile, if you wanted those specs (24GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage) in a Mac laptop, the best you could do is $1,364.

The Mac Mini is small and mighty. If you’d like the ability to quickly connect it to any display — including your TV — and keep a smaller footprint for your device, it’s the smart choice.

Reviews of the new Apple MacBook Air — powered by the new Apple M4 processor —are so crammed with superlatives and praise that it's nearly comical. "I have no notes," reads a particularly good headline on one review.

The Laptop Mag review of the 13-inch model makes it plain: "cheaper and better." We gave it five stars, something we've only done 44 times on reviews in our more than thirty-year history.

This is a laptop worth buying. It starts at $999. And right now, it's on sale for $949 at a variety of retailers, many trying to keep up with Amazon during its Big Spring Sale happening through Monday, March 31.

Let's talk about color, though.

Right now, you can get the M4 MacBook Air with 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of local storage for $949 on Amazon in the colors starlight (a warm golden-bronze color), midnight (black), or sky blue (an icy-grayish blue).

Meanwhile, you can get the same laptop — 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage — at Best Buy for $949, but only in the midnight black color.

Finally, you can buy the same spec'd model in starlight, sky blue, or midnight for $949 at B&H. Midnight isn't on sale.

We'd be remiss if we didn't remark on battery life for the M4 MacBook Air, which, during the famously rigourous Laptop Mag battery test, survived 15 hours and 30 minutes of visiting websites with video and images at 150 nits of brightness before it finally ran out of power.

In a world where everything is going up in price, the Apple M4 MacBook Air is actually going down in cost — which is definitely worth noting as you make your buying decision.

Apple did away with the version of the old MacBook Air that only had 8GB of unified memory and brought the price down, too. Experts speculate Apple decided to ditch 8GB of memory because that's not enough to run Apple Intelligence features. While there's no proof of that, it certainly seems plausible, given the demands of generative AI.

In 2022, the 13-inch MacBook (with an M2 processor) came with 8GB of memory and cost $1,199.00.

Here in 2025, the 13-inch MacBook Air with an M4 processor at 16GB of memory costs $999. Except for right now. If you're in the market for a new laptop, what are you waiting for?

Apple’s transition from the M2 to the M3 was a huge leap forward in its silicon strategy. One that would push its performance and efficiency further than ever before as the first chip built on a cutting-edge 3-nanometer (nm) process, N3B, from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). This promised faster CPU and GPU performance and improved power efficiency, alongside a whole host of other features.

Johny Srouji, Apple’s SVP of Hardware Technologies, touted the M3 series in October 2023 as “the most advanced chips ever built for a personal computer” in an official Apple press release because of its new GPU architecture, faster neural engine, and more unified memory.

However, this transition — while a success in bringing all-new levels of performance to consumer devices — quickly became problematic for Apple, leading to what is widely recognized as the shortest lifespan of any microchip in Apple’s history.

Strangled by low yield rates

Apple’s move to 3nm fabrication seemed logical at first glance. The company had previously seen great success with TSMC’s 5nm process, which powered M1 and M2. In addition, shrinking transistor sizes theoretically bring greater power efficiency and performance gains, allowing Apple to maintain its competitive edge over Intel and AMD, which were still on 5nm processes then.

Apple worked with TSMC to develop the N3B variant of the 3nm process. N3B was essentially a trial node that, while offering high transistor density, suffers from lower yields and is incompatible with TSMC’s future 3nm refinements.

As it transpired, N3B came with serious production problems, primarily due to its aggressive design rules and the introduction of new components like self-aligned contacts to insulate against electrical shorts. These factors contributed to lower yields and challenges in metal stack performance. Compounding these issues was Apple’s desire to be the first to market with a 3nm chip, leading the company to secure TSMC's entire initial production of 3nm chips.

This was a calculated risk by Apple that ultimately backfired, exposing the company to the inherent risks of early adoption, including lower initial yields and higher production costs. TSMC’s yield rates for these chips were reportedly as low as 55% during early production, meaning that almost half of all M3 chips produced were defective. It wouldn’t be surprising if this low yield rate made the M3 one of Apple's more expensive chip productions, as each wafer was already drastically costlier than its 5nm predecessors.

Apple’s A17 Pro chip (in the iPhone 15 Pro) and the Mac M3 chips were the first mass-market 3nm chips, according to Apple, so the company encountered these process node challenges head-on. However, these extremely low production yields were unforeseen, forcing Apple and TSMC to negotiate, as one observer characterized it, a “sweetheart deal,” whereby Apple only paid for working chips instead of whole wafers.

This was an unusual concession for the semiconductor industry, where the standard practice is for chip designers to purchase entire wafers — the thin slice of semiconductor material that acts as a base for integrated circuits like the M3 — regardless of how many functioning chips (“dies”) are produced from each one.

This is a fundamental aspect of the business model that fairly distributes risk between foundries and their customers. In Apple’s case, however, they had reportedly booked some 90% of TSMC’s 3nm production and this pricing arrangement was critical for them to offset the financial impact of M3’s low yield rates.

In response to these problems, Apple quickly pivoted to TSMC’s N3E process (the second variant of TSMC’s 3nm node) for the A17 Pro in late 2025 for late-cycle iPhone 15 Pro production. This pivot protected its profit margins without requiring significant chip specification changes and enabled volume production of lower-tier chips like the A18, thereby expanding 3nm adoption across Apple’s iPhone 16 lineup. However, a $1 billion redesign of CPU clusters and memory controllers for the M3 family was needed.

Inconsistencies in the M3 lineup

This split between the N3B and N3E processes for M3 production created inconsistencies in the lineup. The M3 Pro, for example, which was built on the earlier N3B process, actually had 25% less memory bandwidth than its M1 and M2 Pro predecessors (150GB/s vs. 200 GB/s). Apple achieved this by using a narrow memory bus, which likely improved chip yields, reduced die size, and even cut down the CPU core count, with six performance cores in the M3 Pro vs. eight in the M2 Pro.

Likewise, the lower-bin M3 Max had its memory bandwidth capped at 300GB/s instead of the full 400GB/s that previous iterations of Max chips had. These atypical downgrades in spec were curious and drew notice since, as you would expect, new chip generations are only meant to go up in capability. Although there has been no official confirmation, it’s suspected by some that Apple made these design tweaks to accommodate the realities of the N3B process and prioritize manufacturability over brute-force specs.

The impact of these N3B process woes was evident in the performance and production of M3 chips. Performance-wise, the M3 series still delivered generational gains, especially in GPU capabilities, but these were uneven. The base M3 saw a healthy ~15% single-core uplift over M2 thanks to the new 3nm cores, but its reduced core count overshadowed the M3 Pro’s multi-core improvements—and in some tasks, the M2 Pro could almost match it.

On the manufacturing side, the low yields heavily constrained output, forcing Apple to make tough choices. The company seemingly held back its high-end Macs until the 3nm process could mature, with machines like the Mac Studio not appearing with M3 architecture until March 5, 2025. The Mac Pro is still shipping with the M2 Ultra at the time of publication of this report.

The MacBook product line also faced delays, with Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo commenting in September 2023: “It seems that Apple will not launch new MacBook models (equipped with M3 series processors) before the end of this year.”

Performance shortfalls all around

At the high end, the M3 Max was well received for its massive GPU performance boost, with a 40-core GPU outperforming previous MacBook Pro models in intensive creative workloads​. However, Apple’s decision to skip an M3 Ultra model on the N3B process variant — which would have powered high-end Mac Studio and Mac Pro desktops — was a notable omission at the time.

Beyond raw performance, efficiency and thermal management have become notable talking points among users. The iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip was widely criticized for overheating issues, leading to speculation that M3 chips suffered from similar inefficiencies​. “Users of the iPhone 15 have reported that after 30 minutes of use, the mobile processor reaches temperatures exceeding 48˚C... Many have pointed their finger at TSMC’s 3nm process,” observed Robin Mitchell on the engineering news website Electropages.

All this illustrates how the choice of N3B vs. N3E impacted the M3. Apple started M3 production on the bleeding-edge N3B to get 3nm Macs out sooner but faced yield and efficiency hurdles, resulting in a somewhat transitional product.

A stepping stone to the M4?

Apple has historically maintained a measured, iterative approach to updating its M-series chips with a roughly 18-month cycle between generations. However, the transition from M3 to M4 is happening at an unprecedented pace, suggesting that Apple is eager to move past the issues faced with M3.

TSMC’s transition from the N3B process to the N3E process is at the core of this generational shift. Unlike N3B, which only achieves ~55% yields, N3E offers ~70-80% yields and improved manufacturability, allowing for lower production costs and more consistent performance.

It’s also not too farfetched to consider that perhaps this was Apple’s game plan all along: To introduce an early 3nm chip (A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro and the M3 for Macs) as a transitional design — a necessary early step to develop the “first 3nm,” but not the design Apple considered fully optimized.

This sentiment is reflected in how quickly Apple pivoted its lineup beyond M3 and excluded many mainline products — Mac Mini, Mac Studio, Mac Pro — from the M3 generation so that their next update would launch with M4 chips instead.

While Apple hasn’t publicly criticized its own M3 chips (on the contrary, its press releases praise M3’s advancements), there are hints of internal acknowledgment of challenges. For instance, the A17 Pro chip, which is built on the same 3nm family as M3, had well-publicized thermal issues in the iPhone 15 Pro launch, which some insiders attributed to the rushed 3nm process​ and others to a bug in iOS 17.

Indeed, Apple’s chip engineers had to design two versions of the A17/M3 cores — one for the early N3B node and another for the more mature N3E node — essentially a do-over for better efficiency.

There’s also some interesting context if you read between the lines. When Apple (surprisingly) introduced an M4 chip in the iPad Pro just six months after the M3 launch, it raised eyebrows: “The M3 chip and its siblings were the first Apple silicon generation to use a 3-nanometer fabrication process. But that process was lacking, as the M4 arrives via an entirely new, reconfigured method,” observes Ryan Christoffel in 9to5Mac, adding, “It seems there were continuing inefficiencies and yield issues with that original process, and Apple wasn’t content dealing with those problems any longer.”

Notably, Apple emphasized that the M4 was built on “second-generation 3-nanometer technology, implying the first-gen 3nm in M3 had shortcomings. A report from EE Times had earlier highlighted that TSMC was “straining to meet demand” for 3nm chips and that yield struggles were impeding volume production​.

The result was an unusually fast generation leap, marking what one outlet characterized as an “aggressive update schedule” compared to the more typical 18-month cadence seen with the M1 and M2.

The chart above shows how M4 performance compares to other similar laptops, including a MacBook powered by the M3 chip.

Transitioning to the M4

Despite all the challenges faced with the M3, Apple’s control over its silicon roadmap remains a massive advantage. These challenges, however, exposed the risks of being too aggressive with new manufacturing nodes.

By going all-in on TSMC’s N3B process, Apple faced low yields, higher costs, and unexpected performance trade-offs — a stark contrast to the smooth transition seen between the M1 and M2. This aggressive push for early 3nm adoption was driven in part by competition, as other industry players like Intel, with the Xeon 6 and Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake processors, and AMD, with the EPYC Turin, were also integrating 3nm technology.

Looking ahead, Apple has already invested $2.5 billion in TSMC’s Arizona fab, highlighting the company’s commitment to securing long-term supply chain stability.

While the Arizona facility is not expected to produce Apple’s leading-edge chips immediately, this suggests a more strategic, controlled approach to future chip development, potentially avoiding another rushed transition like M3. It’s worth noting that TSMC has experienced significant staffing issues at the Arizona facility due to alleged worker abuses and differences in workplace regulations.

At the same time, Apple will prepare for its next major process: the transition to 2nm chips. TSMC has confirmed that N2 production will begin in the second half of 2025, with Apple likely among the first customers​. However, the question remains: Will Apple once again take a risky early-adopter approach, or will it wait for a more refined version of the node, such as N2P, before fully committing?

That said, Apple has not abandoned the M3 entirely. While it skipped the chip in key product lines like the Mac Mini and Mac Pro, it did introduce an M3 Ultra Mac Studio and iPad Air in early March 2025. This naturally raises the question of why Apple would continue to release select M3 devices while transitioning to M4 elsewhere. The likely answer lies in production scalability, with the Mac Studio and iPad Air being lower-volume products compared to MacBooks and iPhones, making low-yield constraints less of an issue.

Ultimately, the M3 transition will likely be remembered as an ambitious and successful experiment, but not without its challenges — and ultimately, a necessary step in Apple’s silicon evolution. With the announcement of the M4 MacBook Air potentially putting Apple’s M3 lineup on the back burner, it’s not unreasonable to wonder whether Apple might secretly be glad to move on.

More from Laptop Mag

• Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 vs. MacBook Air 13-inch M3: Which is the better value?
• Apple quietly discontinues these MacBooks following the M4 MacBook Air reveal
• Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 review: Rarified Air

Amazon Big Spring Sale savings are here with the season's best MacBook deals in tow which means Apple's premium laptops are ripe for the picking.

With the new season upon us, chances are the new M4 MacBook Air is high on your spring tech refresh list. If so, it's not too early to save thanks to Amazon's Big Spring Sale deals preview.

Browse: Amazon Big Spring Sale deals

At this very instant, you can get the M4 MacBook Air with 3 years of Apple Care Plus for $1,148 ($50 off). This is the lowest price for the just-released MacBook Air bundle and one of the top deals on Amazon today.

Without Apple Care Plus the M4 MacBook Air costs $949 ($50 off). Given that last year's M3 MacBook Air fetched $1,099 at launch, this is an excellent value for the price.

In our M4 MacBook Air review, we liked its excellent performance, bright Liquid Retina display, and long battery life, which lasted 15 hours and 30 minutes in one test. We also praised its superior webcam and new lower price point, rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Simply put, the M4 MacBook Air is as close to perfect as a laptop can get.

As an alternative, you double up on storage with the 512GB model M3 MacBook Air for $999 ($300 off). Launched in 2024, the M3 MacBook Air is still a powerhouse laptop in its own right. It too earned our Editor's Choice Award for its capable performance, bright, colorful display, comfortable keyboard, and 15-hour life.

And that's just a small portion of the Amazon's discounts and spring clearance deals on MacBooks. See more of my favorite discounts below.

Amazon Big Spring Sale MacBook deals preview — Quick links

• Apple M4 MacBook Air 13: was $999 now $949 at Amazon
• Apple M3 MacBook Air 13: was $1299 now $999 at Amazon
• Apple M4 MacBook Air 13 w/ Apple Care+: was $1,198 now $1,148 at Amazon
• Apple M4 MacBook Air 15 w/ Apple Care+: was $1,428 now $1,379 at Amazon
• Apple M3 MacBook Air 13 w/ Apple Care+: was $1,298 now $1,036 at Amazon
• Apple M4 MacBook Pro 14 w/ Apple Care+: was $3,478 now $3,128 at Amazon
• Apple M4 MacBook Pro 16 w/ Apple Care+: was $3,898 now $3,698 at Amazon

Amazon Big Spring Sale MacBook deals

It's the middle of June and the best laptop deals right now offer solid discounts top-rated computers from Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and more.

If you want to buy a laptop for yourself or someone else, there are plenty of bargains available.

Currently, I'm seeing Chromebooks from as low as $139,Windows laptops from just $199, and MacBooks from $699 at Best Buy.

Buying a new laptop for school, work, or the family shouldn't be a daunting task or a huge strain on your wallet. That's where reviews from our resident laptop expert and my shopping savvy come to the rescue. I check retailer sales and share my hand-selected laptop deals right there in one place.

My recommendations are based on laptops we've tested and rated ourselves, as well as feedback from verified purchases.

Whether you're looking for a cheap laptop for basic use, a college laptop, or a business notebook, I have you covered.

From sub-$500 laptops to workstations, here are the laptop deals right now:

Best laptop deals — Quick links

• HP 14-inch Laptop: was $199 now $139 at Best Buy (ends June 17)
• Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 Laptop: was $359 now $299 at Lenovo
• Acer Aspire 3 Laptop: was $349 now $299 at Amazon
• Dell Inspiron 14 Laptop: was $849 now $599 at Dell
• Samsung Galaxy Book 4: was $899 now $599 at Best Buy
• Apple M3 MacBook Air: was $899 now $699 at Best Buy
• Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 Laptop: was $869 now $749 at Lenovo
• Dell 14 Plus: was $1,099 now $749 at Dell
• Apple M4 MacBook Air 13 Laptop: was $999 now $849 at Amazon
• Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 8: was $1,009 now $804 at Lenovo via coupon, "SAVEONTHINKBOOK" and "BUYMORELENOVO
• Apple M4 MacBook Air 15 Laptop: was $1,199 now $1,049 at Amazon
• Lenovo Yoga Book 9i: was $1,999 now $1,549 at Best Buy
• Apple M4 MacBook Pro 14 Laptop: was $1,599 now $1,429 at Amazon
• Amazon: Laptop deals from $173
• Best Buy: Laptop deals from $139
• Dell: Laptop deals from $599
• Lenovo: Laptop deals from $259
• Newegg: Laptop deals from $313

Laptop Mag's Top picks

Best laptop deals under $500

Best laptop deals under $1000

Best laptop deals under $1500

Best laptop deals under $2000

Sometimes, I come across a piece of tech that's a fantastic deal… even though one flaw keeps it from perfection. The HP Victus 16 is a perfect example.

It looks great on paper with an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, along with a fair budget-friendly starting price. The Victus 16 lived up to and even exceeded my expectations in many ways, but it came up short in one critical area.

Are the Victus 16's strengths enough to make it one of the best gaming laptops or best HP laptops despite its Achilles heel? After using it as my main laptop for a couple of weeks, I can safely say there's a lot to love about it, but one big flaw is hard to overlook (literally).

HP Victus 16: Specs and benchmarks

HP Victus 16 (S100): Price and configurations

The HP Victus 16 is available in a few configurations starting at $1,099. The base model includes an AMD Ryzen 5 8645HS CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. The next configuration up includes the same processor but with an RTX 4050 GPU and 1TB of storage.

Our review configuration costs $1,499, which includes an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. However, if you are looking to get it for even less, check out our best gaming laptop deals, as it is regularly discounted.

It's also worth noting you can install an additional SSD to increase the storage in the HP Victus 16, so if you can find a great deal on the 512GB SSD model, don't worry; you can upgrade that SSD later.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Design

With a more streamlined, minimal design than other gaming laptops, the HP Victus 16 is a good option for anyone who isn't a fan of all-over RGB. The Victus' sleek, steel-gray plastic chassis won't stand out at school or the office.

The Victus 16 features a full-size keyboard with a number pad and white backlighting. The only thing I don't like about it is the power button placement between the F12 and Delete keys. It's shaped like a regular key as well! It's doubly likely you'll hit the power button by accident. Offsetting it from the main keys would have prevented that.

Like most budget gaming laptops, the Victus 16 is on the bulky side. It measures 14.53 x 10.21 x 0.94 inches and weighs a whopping 5.2 pounds. But again, that's to be expected in this category and matches up with its competitors:

• Dell G16 (7630) (16-inch): 14.05 x 11.37 x 1.01 inches, 6 pounds
• Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (16-inch): 14.3 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches, 5.4 pounds
• Asus TUF Gaming A14 (14-inch): 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.78 inches, 3.2 pounds

HP Victus 16 (S100): Ports

The HP Victus 16 offers all the ports most gamers need, including:

• 3x USB Type-A 3.0
• 1x USB Type-C 3.0
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 1x Ethernet port
• 1x 3.5mm headphone jack

That’s plenty of ports for me, but if you find yourself needing more ports, you can always hook up the Victus 16 to one of the best USB Type-C hubs or laptop docking stations.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Battery life

Gaming laptops typically struggle with battery life, so it's rare to find one that can last a whole day without recharging. The HP Victus 16 won't make it through a full day, but its battery life is better than most. In our battery life testing, it lasted 6 hours and 27 minutes while web browsing and 1 hour and 30 minutes while gaming.

The only rival laptop that outscored the Victus in either category was the Asus TUF Gaming A14, which lasted 10 hours and 4 minutes while web browsing but fell behind the Victus while gaming, lasting just over one hour.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Display

Display quality is the HP Victus 16's Achilles' heel. It's a 16.1-inch 1080p panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. On paper, that sounds pretty standard for a gaming laptop. Unfortunately, this display struggles with color quality and brightness.

I immediately noticed the washed-out and low-saturated colors on the desktop when I opened the Victus 16. The contrast is good, but beyond that, it leaves a lot to be desired.

It's especially noticeable in games with rich, vibrant visuals like No Man's Sky, which appeared much less lively on the Victus 16, lacking its usual rainbow of neon hues. The poor color quality isn't as apparent in games with more toned-down visuals, like the moody graphics in Pacific Drive, but even then, little details like pops of color from anomalies aren't as vivid as they should be.

Considering my in-person impressions, I wasn't surprised that the Victus 16 vastly underperformed on our lab display tests. It came in far behind all its rivals on display brightness, sRGB color gamut, and DCI-P3 color gamut.

The Dell G16, Lenovo Legion Pro 5i, and Asus TUF Gaming A14 are all in the same price range as the Victus 16. None of these laptops sport ultra-premium OLED displays, either. So the fact that the Victus 16's display scored far below all of them reinforces its poor quality.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Keyboard and touchpad

The full-size keyboard on the HP Victus 16 is clicky and responsive with a clear, minimal font. The number pad is perfect for gamers who play MMOs or MOBAs, especially those who use macros and keyboard shortcuts.

I enjoyed gaming and typing on the Victus 16's keyboard and found it snappy and responsive. Some may not like the half-size arrow keys, but that didn't bother me. What did bother me was the placement of the power button, which is integrated into the keyboard between the F12 and Delete keys. It's very easy to accidentally press it in this position, and I wish HP had placed it elsewhere.

Power button aside, the keyboard on the Victus 16 looks and feels good overall. On the Monkeytype typing test, I scored 101 words per minute with 99% accuracy, which is just shy of my top score of 105 wpm with 100% accuracy, set on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X.

The touchpad on the Victus 16 is smooth and responsive and is good enough for basic tasks like web browsing. There's a bit of travel when clicking, but not too much, so it still feels snappy. When it comes to gaming, though, you'll want to connect one of the best gaming mice or gaming controllers to get the best experience.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Audio

The speaker quality on the HP Victus 16 isn't bad. It features two speakers on the front corners of the keyboard deck that get plenty loud, but the bass is a bit lackluster.

I noticed this right away while listening to the Hades soundtrack. "Out of Tartarus," one of my favorite tracks, lacked its usual punchiness on the low-end, even though the highs and mids were fine overall. Similarly, "Hunger of the Pine" by Alt J had smooth, piercing highs and good mids, but the bass notes just didn't hit as hard as I'm used to hearing them.

The lackluster bass is less noticeable in games, where in-game ambiance and sound effects are the main focus. The eerie sounds of the Pacific Northwest in Pacific Drive were immersive and well-balanced with my car's engine noise and radio tunes. The radio music could have been a bit punchier on the low end, but it isn't a deal-breaker.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Gaming and graphics

The HP Victus 16 may have a few drawbacks, but it offers great overall gaming performance. Our review configuration is powered by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GPU that blazed through every game we threw at it. I played a few of my favorite games on it, as well, and had a great time with all of them, often averaging over 100 frames per second (at 1080p on high settings).

For example, No Man's Sky ran perfectly with an average of 118 fps, quick load times, and zero lag. The Victus 16 had no problem generating and loading in worlds and didn't even get particularly hot until I turned up my FPS cap to 120.

Smaller indie games like Pacific Drive and Death's Door were no sweat for the Victus 16. It ran Death's Door at a speedy 144 fps with quick and snappy movement and no noticeable temperature increases. Pacific Drive averaged 66 fps, much lower than Death's Door or No Man's Sky, but still ran perfectly smooth with short load times between different zones.

The Victus 16 aced our gaming tests, surpassing its rivals on almost every benchmark. For instance, the Victus 16 averaged 98 fps in Assassin's Creed Mirage at Ultra, 1080p, just a couple of points shy of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (which fell behind the Victus 16 in other titles like Borderlands 3 and Total War: Warhammer III).

For context, the Legion Pro 5i is also powered by an RTX 4070. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 and Dell G16 (7630) had an RTX 4080 in our review configurations.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Performance and heat

The HP Victus 16 features an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, which performed well overall in my hands-on testing. It handled CPU-heavy games like No Man's Sky without lag or crashing and had no trouble keeping up with everyday tasks like web browsing and word processing. Multi-tasking was a breeze. The Victus 16 could have scored a bit higher on our performance tests, but it was on par with similar laptops across the board. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (Intel Core i9-14900HX) was the only competitor that significantly outscored it, coming in at 1,440 higher on the Geekbench 6 benchmark. However, the Legion Pro 5i has a shorter gaming battery life and higher peak temperatures, so there are trade-offs compared to the Victus 16.

For context, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 features an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (the same chip as the Victus 16), while the Dell G16 (7630) runs on an older Intel Core i7-1365HX.

Speaking of heat, the Victus 16 stayed relatively cool during my hands-on testing. It never grew noticeably warm during basic tasks like web browsing. Of course, it armed up while gaming, especially when plugged in.

The Victus 16 peaked at 109 degrees Fahrenheit in our thermal tests, which is significantly higher than our 95-degree comfort threshold. However, gaming laptops run hot, so that's not unusual.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Webcam

Laptop webcams usually leave me disappointed, so I was surprised that the webcam and mic on the Victus 16 were pretty good. The 1080p camera offers good lighting, contrast, and sharpness, and lacks the graininess of most other laptop webcams. There's a built-in webcam shutter, as well, which is a favorite feature of mine.

The built-in mic sounds surprisingly good. It's not podcast-quality or anything, but it's clear enough for Discord calls and game voice chats. It picked up my voice well without interference from background noise or any distortion or popping.

HP Victus 16 (S100): Software and warranty

The HP Victus 16 includes Windows 11 Home along with the standard suite of Microsoft apps such as the Xbox app, Microsoft Edge, and the Microsoft Store. It also includes HP's OMEN Gaming Hub app, where you can view system performance and settings, set up custom game overlays, shop for games, and more.

The Victus 16 comes with HP's standard one-year warranty, which you can extend through HP Care Pack for an additional cost.

Bottom line

The HP Victus 16 balances an affordable entry-level price with great overall gaming performance, making it a good deal as long as you're willing to sacrifice display quality. The display on the Victus 16 is disappointing enough to be a major drawback to an otherwise solid gaming laptop.

The Victus 16 is a good pick for gamers looking to get one of the best gaming laptops under $1,500. Above-average battery life, a minimalist design, a full-size keyboard, and a surprisingly good webcam are added bonuses that help balance out the disappointing display.

However, if display quality is a top priority for you, the similarly-priced Dell G16 (7630) would be a better fit. Not sure if either one is the right fit? Our best cheap gaming laptops cover the most affordable option with each Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU.

The world is a better place when we can enjoy room-filling sound.

As a major movie and music fan, someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of every alternative-rock band in existence and follows science-fiction movies with religious vigor, I can tell you that pristine high-res audio can impact your mood and help you find some peace and serenity in a chaotic world.

I know this from personal experience. A few years ago, I added tower speakers to my office using a standard AV receiver connected to my Apple MacBook. It was like finding an ancient treasure — my office now has rich, high-fidelity audio.

I used to pound away on a keyboard while wearing headphones or listening to cheap bookshelf speakers.

However, having tower speakers changed my attitude about work for a far more transformative experience. I now enjoy superb audio quality and have been known to sneak into my home office just to play a new album.

The setup is easier than you think, and the costs can vary widely depending on your budget and desired level of sound quality.

I’m not advocating for audiophile levels of fidelity here since most of us likely won’t know the difference between $800 speakers and $8,000 speakers. Tower speakers, in particular, will help you stay productive, tuning out the world and allowing you to focus on your work.

Here’s all the equipment you’ll need to make it work. I used a MacBook for this, but just about any recent laptop with a USB-C port will work fine with this setup.

Getting the right gear

One thing that can happen right away when you are trying to upgrade the gear in an office is analysis paralysis. There are so many speaker brands, cables, and wiring that it can lead to some serious confusion. Not only that, but the costs can vary wildly from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Here are a few essential considerations to make right away, though. I’d start by picking your overall budget right away.

I wanted to test a good setup without edging into audiophile territory. A friend of mine has a home setup that costs $40,000. I was thinking more like $2,000. You can easily make this all work for under $1,000. I’ll explain how.

I started with the SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase. I wanted some flexibility in how I connected, and the SoundBase has connections for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a digital optical cable, HDMI, and 3.5mm.

That should cover just about anything. I knew I would use a USB-C to digital optical cable (this one) because it would give me excellent audio quality, and the connection is simple and uncluttered.

I paired the SoundBase with the SVS Prime Tower speakers, which cost $1,200. This was still under $2,000 for a primo but affordable kit. I won’t bore you with the technical specs of the Prime Tower speakers except to say they provide a rich, organic sound with distinct bass and vocals that are not muddy at all.

You can spend a lot more, or you can spend less. However, this was an impressive setup for me.

Making the connections

To make it all work, you’ll need to plug the USB-C to digital optical cable into a free port on your MacBook and run the other end into the digital optical port on the SoundBase.

The optical port looks like a bite-sized ethernet jack. On the SoundBase, it’s marked Optical In. SVS includes a remote with the receiver, so press the Optical button to choose that connection.

Your MacBook won’t automatically switch to the USB-C connection, so go to the Apple menu > System Settings > Sound and select USB for output. Turn up the volume a little on the MacBook and the SoundBase.

Connect the SoundBase to the speakers using standard speaker wire. You'll be ready to go once you have the MacBook connected and the speakers wired.

I use the Tidal app for high-res audio playback. Apple Music also offers lossless audio quality, and there are persistent rumors that Spotify will soon offer it.

I like Tidal because it is good at suggesting new albums. Just make sure you enable the highest audio quality settings. In Tidal, this is called Max. That means you are streaming at 24-bit 192-kHz sound quality to SoundBase.

Play one of your favorite songs as a test. You’ll probably notice sound quality is noticeably good, loud and rich — distinct enough for even discerning ears.

Why this setup works so well

My setup is simple. There’s one cable running from my MacBook to the SoundBase, and the overall price is reasonable.

Because my eyes tend to glaze over when people talk about meaningless technical specs, let me explain why this setup hits the sweet spot for me by relaying a few real-world examples.

I’ve been listening to a new album by the artist Cassandra Jenkins on repeat ever since it came out. “Aurora, IL” is great for testing because, later in the song, there’s a chaotic segment with multiple guitars that sounds like a mess on a car stereo or bookshelf speakers.

Tower speakers like the Prime models sound better because they are bigger -- they can replicate what the artist intended.

Another excellent test track by Adrianne Lenker is “Sadness is a Gift.” Listen for the creaking sounds from the recording studio and the supple, woody guitar — the SVS setup will make it seem like you’re listening to live music in the room.

You can choose any recent audio receiver if you want to spend less than $2,000. I like the SoundBase because it’s small enough to fit on my desk. To keep it simple, I recommend sticking with a digital optical connection.

You’ll feel more productive when you can enjoy audio that fills the room, played right from your laptop.

More from Laptop Mag

• Best MacBook in 2025: Which Apple laptop should you buy?
• I've worked from home for 4 years — this is the laptop I would buy
• The AirPods Pro 2's first-of-its-kind hearing aid feature is here to end your reliance on subtitles

Could the MacBook Air M4 be Apple's best laptop yet? The reviews are in, and the verdict is positive, but the latest MacBook isn't without a few flaws.

If you're in the market for a new laptop, the MacBook Air M4 is probably on your shortlist. Before you go hunting for deals on the new MacBook Air, though, you should probably know a few pros and cons, according to reviewers.

Here's a look at what the experts are saying about the MacBook Air M4 so far, from the good to the bad to the frustrating.

The MacBook Air M4 pairs stellar battery life with a lower price

There's a lot to love about the MacBook Air M4 and reviewers across the internet are in agreement about at least a few top features.

For starters, the MacBook Air M4 has a lower starting price than last year's model. It's back down to $999 for the base 13-inch model with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That's an even better deal than the previous M-series MacBooks because the base RAM on the M4 model is 16GB rather than just 8GB, meaning you're effectively getting a free RAM upgrade.

Laptop Mag's Sean Riley praised the MacBook Air M4's excellent battery life, as well, explaining in his review, "While the competition is stronger than ever for the laptops with the best battery life, the Air is still holding up exceptionally well, particularly when considering performance."

In our tests, the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M4 models both boasted over 15 hours of battery life. That's not enough to break our battery life record of 21 hours and 3 minutes, set by the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. However, 15+ hours is still way more than enough for a full day of work or school.

The MacBook Air M4 also manages to pair its long battery life with excellent performance. In our tests, the M4 Air outperformed not only last year's MacBook Air M3 but also a few of its closest rivals, all by a margin of over 2,000 points. As Wired's Brenda Stolyar points out, the M4 chip also boasts much stronger graphics performance than previous MacBooks along with support for Apple Intelligence.

Where the MacBook Air M4 falls short

The MacBook Air M4 is a great laptop, but no laptop is perfect. There are still a few drawbacks that, while they may not be deal breakers, are frustrating or mildly inconvenient.

For instance, by far the most common drawback in reviews so far is the limited number of ports. The 15-inch and 13-inch models both include just two USB Type-C ports, a headphone jack, and the MagSafe charging port. That's it. It's easier to excuse that on the smaller 13-inch MacBook Air M4, but it would have been nice to get at least one extra port on the larger 15-inch model.

The pricing isn't all sunshine and rainbows, either. As Andrew E. Freedman at Tom's Hardware points out in his review, storage and RAM upgrades are still quite expensive. This is especially difficult to overlook since the "affordable" base MacBook Air M4 only includes 256GB of storage. As a general rule, Laptop Mag recommends at least 512GB of storage, especially if you plan to use your MacBook for things like video or photo editing.

There's also the matter of the new "Sky Blue" color. Marques Brownlee showed off the new colorway in his MacBook Air M4 review, but highlighted that this shade of blue isn't very... blue. As Brownlee said, "If I could rename it, I'd rename it 'Barely Blue'."

Of course, the color is up to personal preference, but it's hard to tell the "Sky Blue" isn't just silver and it would be nice to see some more colorful MacBooks like the iBooks of old again.

These issues may be a bit frustrating, but they don't outweigh the MacBook Air M4's strengths. It has been met with shining reviews so far, including a rare 5-star rating from Laptop Mag and an Editor's Choice award. Its few flaws aside, the MacBook Air M4 might just be the best laptop you can buy right now.

More from Laptop Mag

• Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 review: Rarified Air
• Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 review: Cheaper and better
• Apple quietly discontinues these MacBooks following the M4 MacBook Air reveal

Apple's MacBook Air 13-inch M4 is not a perfect laptop, but at its new starting price of $999, it is the perfect laptop for many people.

Outwardly, little has changed, but internally the new M4 chip has the Air once again outpacing most of its Windows on ARM rivals with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips, while still delivering over 15 hours of battery life. You also can't see the upgraded Center Stage webcam, but the difference will jump off the screen at you the first time you use it.

Some minor complaints remain, like its limited ports and wishing Apple would make the move to a 120Hz refresh rate or even new display tech, but the $100 price drop helps cover over issues that most Air buyers would likely never worry about.

Read on for a closer look at what makes the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 stand out from the crowd to earn a spot among our best laptops.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Specs and benchmarks

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Price and configurations

The price is arguably the biggest upgrade for the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 with all configurations dropping by $100 compared to their predecessors. This is notable not only because we are seeing prices climb on many other consumer electronics in 2025, but also because of the upgrade to 16GB of RAM on the base MacBook Air that Apple announced in October 2024, which remains in place for the new M4 models.

The base configuration of the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 returns to $999 after Apple moved to $1,099 for the base price of the Air with 2022's MacBook Air 13-inch M2. The base model includes 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an Apple M4 with a 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU.

While the base price is outstanding, upgrades remain as expensive as ever. You’ll want to choose your additions carefully or risk spoiling the great value offered. My review unit is a configuration I would recommend for most people, for $1,199 your storage is doubled to 512GB, and you get the slightly enhanced M4 configuration with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU.

Extra storage is almost always welcome, as a full hard drive will slow your laptop down in the future. However, there are more immediate reasons to make this choice that I’ll address in the performance and heat section. If you’re a power user on the edge of opting for a MacBook Pro, you may also want to consider paying the $200 to upgrade to 24GB of RAM.

It’s worth noting that if you are a student, the parent of a student, a faculty member, or staff at any school, or a homeschool teacher, you are eligible to shop through Apple’s Education Store, which will take another $100 off the price of any configuration.

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 still falls into the premium laptop category, but it is one of the most affordable options. Apple is no longer keeping the old MacBook Air around as a cheaper option, so outside of sales on the older models (while there is still stock), if you need something cheaper, you may want to consider one of the best Chromebooks.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Design

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the price drop we just covered, the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 design remains completely unchanged from last year, save for replacing the "Space Gray" colorway with "Sky Blue."

I recently reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge, which comes in what Samsung calls “Sapphire Blue,” and I feel similarly gaslit by Apple’s “Sky Blue.” Both laptops look silver unless you place them next to a silver laptop. “Hint of Blue” or “Is that Blue?” would be more accurate names. Please Apple, let the iMac team share the love with one of its actually fun pastel hues.

Prosaic Pantone protests aside, the overall design of the MacBook Air remains excellent. I love intriguing new laptop designs like Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 with its rollable display, but a traditional clamshell laptop design done well is still a perfect fit for many people.

The bezels around the display aren’t the smallest that I’ve ever seen, but they aren’t distractingly large either.

At 2.7 pounds and 12 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, the MacBook Air remains one of the thinnest and lightest laptops around, even beating the best Ultrabooks. Here’s how it holds up to its closest rivals:

• Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: 2.8 pounds, 12.8 x 8.8 x 0.51 inches
• MacBook Air 13-inch M3: 2.7 pounds, 12 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches
• Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425): 3 pounds, 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Ports

The MacBook Air 13 M4’s port selection remains as light as the laptop itself. I remain pleased that Apple brought back MagSafe to keep its two Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports free, but competitors do manage to squeeze more into similarly sized laptops.

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Type-C
• 1 x MagSafe 3
• 1 x headphone mic/jack

It would obviously compromise the current internal design of the laptop, but it’s also regrettable only the headphone jack is on the right side, the MagSafe 3 and Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports are all stacked up on the left side, which makes things a little crowded if you do need to make use of all the ports.

If you need more ports than the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 offers, we’ve tested and reviewed the best MacBook docking stations and best USB Type-C hubs to identify the perfect port partner for your Apple laptop.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Battery life

Battery life stopped being a concern for the MacBook Air when Apple Silicon arrived in 2020. This remains true with the MacBook Air 13-inch M4, eclipsing the 15-hour mark like its predecessor. You will see less than that if you push the laptop at full brightness, but I'm still giving that the "all-day battery life" stamp of approval.

While the competition is stronger than ever for the laptops with the best battery life, the Air is still holding up exceptionally well, particularly when considering performance, which I’ll address later.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves navigating a set group of websites with video and static images while the display is set at 150 nits of brightness, the MacBook Air 13 M4 lasted an average of 15 hours and 30 minutes. Here’s how that stacks up against the battery life of the Air M4’s rivals.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Display

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 features a 13.6-inch 2560 x 1664 Liquid Retina LCD. It’s not the most feature-packed panel, but with the Air returning to a sub-$1,000 starting price I’m willing to accept it.

I watched the trailer for The Surfer on YouTube in enhanced 1080p for my real-world testing, and the wild and highly stylized look of the Nick Cage vehicle did not disappoint on the Air’s display. While the Air doesn’t have the most colorful panel I’ve seen on a laptop, it’s sharp and very color-accurate, which made it an effective canvas for the heavily filtered look of the tense thriller.

Brightness is stellar, with the Air M4 averaging 463 nits in our testing. In practical terms, you’ll be fine in anything other than direct sunlight, so you have nothing to fear from that table next to the window in your local coffee shop.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Keyboard and touchpad

While Lenovo isn’t in danger of losing its crown as high ruler of the laptop keyboard kingdom, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines have established outstanding consistency since the dark days of the butterfly keyboard that Apple left behind in 2020.

While the key travel is still relatively shallow at 1mm, the keys spring back quickly, allowing me to type at a fast pace without sacrificing accuracy. In the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I hit 92 words per minute with 99% accuracy, beating my average of 88 words per minute with 99% accuracy.

I find the keyboard comfortable to type on all day, but if you are more sensitive to key travel, you may want to either check out our best laptops for writers or pair the MacBook Air M4 with one of the best keyboards.

The touchpad measures 5 x 3.1 inches, which is large without dominating the deck of the laptop. Apple certainly started the massive touchpad trend, but it’s far from the biggest around anymore.

I think Apple found the right place to stop, there’s plenty of room to navigate and use multi-finger gestures, but I’m not left wondering where to rest my hands when typing. Ultimately, I will typically opt for one of the best wireless mice over using a built-in touchpad, but Apple’s is certainly one of the best.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Audio

Apple’s most portable laptop still features a quad-speaker system with support for Spatial Audio. While bass remains elusive, it’s an impressive feat of engineering that allows a laptop this thin-and-light to easily fill my office with clear sound and even create a surround sound effect.

Listening to one of my typical workday playlists, Relaxing Film Scores, “Chaos Is a Ladder” from season 3 of Game of Thrones proved a suitable test for the laptop's speakers as the song starts with a swirling resonance that moved around the room and then builds to a powerful crescendo that overtook my office entirely.

The built-in speakers in the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 are better than they have any right to be, but they still can’t beat the best wireless headphones or best computer speakers if you are looking for the best possible audio experience.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Performance and heat

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 is powered by a 10-core Apple M4 CPU, which represents a fairly significant performance boost over the M3, helping the Air once again challenge some of the strong Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite laptops that arrived in mid-2024.

The most notable jump among our benchmarks was the HandBrake video transcoding test, where the Air M4 shaved a full two minutes off the time it took to convert a 4k video to 1080p, dropping from 7:40 to 5:40. While the Air isn’t going to supplant the MacBook Pro on our best video editing laptops page, it’s certainly capable if the need arises.

I mentioned in the price and configuration section that there was another reason to upgrade from the 256GB to 512GB SSD, and that is the speed of those respective drives. In our testing, the 512GB SSD has an 80% faster write speed than the 256GB SSD. Now if you are doing basic productivity work that isn’t something you’ll likely notice, but if you are doing video or photo work where you are manipulating and moving large files, it will make a perceptible difference.

When it comes to general tasks, like loading up far more Chrome tabs and windows than is wise, the Air M4 is also game and was able to handle three windows with roughly six tabs each, including three running 1080p YouTube videos. The Apple M4 will be game for as much of this kind of workload as you can throw at it, but if you are like me and have questionable windows management habits, you may want to pay to upgrade the RAM to 24 or even 32GB.

Despite this powerful performance, the Air M4 manages to keep its cool, with the hottest point on the laptop only reaching 85.2 degrees Fahrenheit in our testing. That’s well below our 95-degree comfort threshold, making it a laptop-friendly laptop.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Gaming and graphics

Is gaming improving on Apple laptops? Absolutely. Apple’s integrated graphics performance is getting better and the company is working to bring more titles natively to macOS. With that said, if gaming is a primary interest on your laptop, you will still want to choose one of the best gaming laptops or best cheap gaming laptops over any MacBook, let alone the MacBook Air 13 M4.

Of the four gaming benchmarks we ran on the MacBook Air M4, only two achieved our 30 frames per second playability standard. Those were the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark and Shadow of the Tomb Raider; those games are over 6 years old, if your plans include modern AAA titles, look elsewhere.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: AI features

There are several Apple Intelligence features available on the MacBook Air 13-inch M4, but as with most of the best AI PCs, we are still in the early days of AI with the features always improving. The Air M4 is certainly well-equipped from a hardware standpoint to deliver on the promise of Apple Intelligence.

Writing Tools are one of the more universally applicable Apple Intelligence features available currently, offering editorial advice on your writing throughout macOS and summarizing long text passages and notifications.

Several image-based AI features allow you to generate images like Genmoji and Image Playground or craft memory movies from your photos and videos. Finally, Siri gains some expanded features with AI including integration with ChatGPT.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Webcam

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 benefits from an upgrade to a 12MP Center Stage camera, and it is equally as impressive as the one found in the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4. The camera produces a sharp image that tolerates shifting lighting conditions better than some of the best webcams.

Even deliberately tiling it to catch the glare from the overhead lighting in my office, the camera adjusted effectively to avoid blowing out the image, a common failing of built-in webcams. Apple also added Desk View, allowing you to show your desktop and your face on camera simultaneously. This is a niche feature, but it works well for those that need it.

I hope to see other laptop manufacturers rise to the challenge now that Apple has brought a high-quality webcam to its entire laptop lineup, we still see far too many weak webcams in 2025, considering the prevalence of video calling for work and personal use.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: Software and warranty

The MacBook Air 13 M4 comes with macOS Sequoia 15.3, which means the typical assortment of Apple apps installed by default. However, Apple is good about avoiding bloatware, so you shouldn’t have anything too pressing to remove. Particularly if you have other devices in the Apple ecosystem, there are benefits to using Apple’s native apps like Notes, so consider giving them a try if you haven’t previously.

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 ships with a typical one-year limited warranty, but it can be extended with AppleCare+ for $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year on the MacBook Air 13-inch. AppleCare+ gives you access to technical support and reduced repair costs, including a $99 fee to repair screen or external enclosure damage or $299 for other accidental damage.

Bottom line

Apple hit the sweet spot with this laptop, delivering an affordable option that should check all the boxes for a swath of users.

The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 feels like the return of the original M1 Air. It's an undeniable value that will give you years of excellent performance, even if you pick up the base model. My limited complaints are also similar to those of the M1 Air, there are features that the vast majority of people will never miss.

If you need one of the best 2-in-1 laptops, best Windows laptops, or best gaming laptops, then this isn't the laptop for you, but the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 is one of the best laptops and best MacBooks for most people.

The Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 lands an interesting position in Apple's lineup, one that could be overlooked in favor of the cheaper 13-inch MacBook Air M4 or the more powerful 14-inch MacBook Pro M4. But, like its siblings, it deserves to be in the conversation for the best laptops overall.

Its increasingly rare 15-inch size may be partly to blame, as most laptop manufacturers have settled around 14-inch and 16-inch sizes for mainstream laptops. However, that rarified size might make it the right fit for you.

Beyond a new M4 chipset, the 15-inch MacBook Air gets a Center Stage webcam, a fresh Sky Blue colorway, and perhaps most importantly a $100 price drop for 2025.

It's not a massive transformation, but those changes add up. Let's take a closer look at how the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 held up to our rigorous testing and review process.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Specs and benchmarks

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Price and configurations

Like its smaller sibling, the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 gets a $100 price drop across the board from last year’s M3 pricing. Considering we’re expecting the exact opposite from most consumer tech in 2025, this is certainly a welcome surprise from Apple, particularly considering the base model still starts with 16GB of RAM — double what the 15-inch M3 offered when it launched in March 2024.

The base configuration of the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is now $1,199 and includes 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an Apple M4 processor with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. If you're looking to get the best band for your buck, the key is trying to stay as close to this base configuration as possible.

Apple hasn’t lowered the prices on any of the MacBook Air's upgrades, so just a few tweaks to this configuration will have you waving goodbye to that startlingly affordable opening price.

My review unit is valued at $1,399 and doubles the base model storage to 512GB, but otherwise matches it exactly. This is a smart choice if you plan on keeping your laptop for at least five years, as it will help keep things running smoothly as your files pile up.

If you consider yourself a power user, you may also want to consider paying an additional $200 to upgrade to 24GB of RAM. You'll get a smoother computing experience under heavy load, but you’ll now face a $1,599 price tag, the same starting price for the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4. If you're unsure which of these devices suits you best, consider perusing our MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro buying guide for a helping hand.

If you are a student, the parent of a student, a faculty member, or staff at any school (including homeschool teachers), you are eligible to shop through Apple’s Education Store, which will take another $100 off the price of any configuration.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Design

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 didn’t get any major design changes this year, but I’ll take it in exchange for that price drop. Apple is likely a generation or two away from another design shakeup for the Air. But, for now, this is a comfortable classic.

One potentially notable change is that “Sky Blue” replaces “Space Gray” as a color option. That said, I would challenge you to identify it as blue without a Silver or Starlight MacBook next to it to differentiate. I’d love to see at least one bold color option for the Air in the future, but, for the time being, a slight shift in hue is all we get.

Inside, things remain similarly unchanged. The MacBook Air's bezels are small enough on the display that they don’t call attention to themselves, and the build quality of the laptop remains impeccable.

As mentioned, the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is in somewhat rarified air these days as a 15-inch laptop. Most laptop manufacturers have abandoned this size, so we’re comparing it to some of the best 14-inch laptops, but if you want something even larger, some of the best 16-inch laptops are still quite thin-and-light.

At 3.3 pounds and 12.4 x 8.7 x 0.44 inches, the MacBook Air 15-inch is slightly heavier than its 14-inch rivals here but manages to maintain a very similar footprint, so you should have no problem fitting it in any of the best laptop bags. Here’s how the competition measures up.

• Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406): 2.6 pounds, 12.22 x 8.45 x 0.51 inches
• MacBook Air 15-inch M3: 3.3 pounds, 12 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches
• Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 9): 2.9 pounds, 12.4 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Ports

The MacBook Air 15 M4’s port selection mirrors the minimal collection found on the 13-inch Air:

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Type-C
• 1 x MagSafe 3
• 1 x headphone mic/jack

I’m more disappointed in the 15-inch model's port selection than its 13-inch sibling, as there is unquestionably space on the larger chassis to accommodate additional I/O. Even as little as a third Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Type-C port on the right-hand side of the laptop would make for a welcome addition.

With that said, the MagSafe 3 connection alleviates some of the pain as the two Type-C Thunderbolt ports aren’t tied up with charging. If you opt for the dual charger, you’ll also have a second USB-C port available on the charger itself to charge another device rather than connecting to the laptop as an accessory.

For users with more robust port needs, we’ve tested and reviewed the best MacBook docking stations and best USB Type-C hubs to identify the perfect port partner for your Apple laptop.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Battery life

You haven’t had to worry about battery life on a MacBook Air since the transition to Apple Silicon in 2020, and that isn’t changing this year. However, as you’ll see in our benchmark testing at the bottom of this section, there's also no notable uptick in battery life to anticipate either. Fortunately, that’s not much of a complaint given that the MacBook Air's uptime was already clocking in at above 15 hours.

After almost four years of dominance, MacBooks finally face serious competition in power efficiency with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptops all claiming spots among our laptops with the best battery life throughout 2024. In 2025, Apple still offers the most consistently solid blend of performance to battery life, but it’s no longer a runaway victory.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves navigating a set group of websites with video and static images while the display is set at 150 nits of brightness, the MacBook Air 15 M4 lasted an average of 15 hours and 14 minutes. Here’s how that stacks up against the battery life of the Air M4’s rivals.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Display

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 features a 15.3-inch 2880 x 1864 Liquid Retina LCD display. Many of the best Windows laptops in this price range offer either OLED or 120Hz refresh rate displays, but Apple has kept high-end display features as a MacBook Pro exclusive.

I watched the trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps on YouTube in 2160p for my real-world testing, and the '60s action looked sharp, although not as vibrant as I've seen on some of the OLED laptops I have tested previously. However, that's only really noticeable when viewing them side-by-side, which presumably isn't something you would be doing — in a vacuum, the colors are accurate and look good.

Brightness is stellar with the Air M4 averaging 463 nits in our testing. In practical terms, this means you’ll be fine in anything other than direct sunlight, so you have nothing to fear from that table next to the window in your local coffee shop.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Keyboard and touchpad

The notorious butterfly keyboard MacBooks were one of the key factors that had me switch to Windows in 2019, but, thankfully, Apple returned to a scissor switch in 2020 and has offered consistently excellent keyboards ever since.

Apple’s still guilty of not offering generous key travel, it's roughly 1mm on the 15-inch Air M4, but the responsiveness of the keys renders this a non-issue for me. In the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I hit 94 words per minute with 99% accuracy, outpacing my average of 88 words per minute with 99% accuracy.

I spent dozens of hours typing on this keyboard over the last few days and my fingers never felt fatigued. If key travel is a larger concern for you then our best laptops for writers guide includes some laptops with up to 1.5mm of key travel, or if you are regularly using your MacBook Air at home or the office, you could pair it with one of the best keyboards.

The touchpad measures 5.8 x 3.6 inches, which takes up a considerable amount of the laptop deck, but I didn’t find that it interfered with my hand placement while typing. Apple’s touchpads remain the gold standard, allowing for easy navigation and reliable multi-touch gestures.

I’m often working at my desk where I will always use one of the best wireless mice, but Apple’s touchpad doesn’t slow me down when I’m working away from home.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Audio

Both Air M4 models feature a quad-speaker system with support for Spatial Audio. Apple hasn’t unlocked the magic of delivering rumbling bass in this small chassis, but it's loud, clear, and does a remarkable job of creating a surround sound effect.

Relaxing Film Scores is one of my typical workday audio companions, “Time” by Hans Zimmer on the Inception soundtrack stuck out to me as I was running the 15-inch Air M4 through its paces. Subtly building from just a lone piano and strings to a thunderous collection of instruments echoing in my office, the Air did the song justice.

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 speakers are certainly equal to the task if you need some ambient music or to watch a video with a friend, but if you’re in public and can’t blast your audio, the best wireless headphones will save you from silence.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Performance and heat

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is powered by a 10-core Apple M4 CPU, which represents a fairly significant performance boost over the M3, helping the Air once again challenge some of the strong Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite laptops that arrived in mid-2024.

The most notable jump among our benchmarks was the HandBrake video transcoding test, where the Air M4 shaved a full two minutes off the time it took to convert a 4k video to 1080p, dropping from 7:40 to 5:40. While the Air isn’t going to supplant the MacBook Pro on our best video editing laptops page, it’s certainly capable if the need arises.

For more general tasks, like loading up far more Chrome tabs and windows than is wise, the Air M4 is also game and easily handled three windows with roughly six tabs each, including three running 1080p YouTube videos. The Apple M4 is a match for as much of this kind of workload as you can throw at it, but if you are like me and have questionable window management habits, you may want to pay to upgrade the RAM to 24 or even 32GB.

Despite this powerful performance, the Air M4 keeps its cool, with the hottest point on the laptop only reaching 85.2 degrees Fahrenheit in our testing. That’s well below our 95-degree comfort threshold, making it a laptop-friendly laptop.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Gaming and graphics

The MacBook Air is not a gaming laptop, but that doesn't mean you can't game on it. In fact, there are plenty of games that play perfectly fine on the Air, but if gaming is a primary interest for you, one of the best gaming laptops or best cheap gaming laptops will likely serve you far better.

We ran four gaming benchmarks on the MacBook Air M4, and only two were above our 30 frames-per-second playability standard. Those were the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Keep in mind, those games are over 6 years old, if your plans include modern AAA titles, look elsewhere.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: AI features

There are several Apple Intelligence features available on the MacBook Air 15-inch M4, but as with most of the best AI PCs, we are still in the early days of AI with the features always improving. The Air M4 is certainly well-equipped from a hardware standpoint to deliver on the promise of Apple Intelligence.

Writing Tools are one of the more universally applicable Apple Intelligence features available currently, offering editorial advice on your writing throughout macOS in addition to summarizing long text passages and notifications.

Several image-based AI features allow you to either generate images like Genmoji and Image Playground or craft memory movies from your own photos and videos. Finally, Siri has gained some expanded features with AI, including integration with ChatGPT.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Webcam

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 benefits from an upgrade to a 12MP Center Stage camera, and it is equally as impressive as the one found in the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4. The camera produces a sharp image that tolerates shifting lighting conditions better than some of the best webcams.

Even deliberately tiling it to catch the glare from the overhead lighting in my office, the camera adjusted effectively to avoid blowing out the image, a common failing of built-in webcams. Apple also added Desk View, which allows you to show your desktop and your face on camera simultaneously. This is a niche feature, but it works well for those that need it.

I hope to see other laptop manufacturers rise to the challenge now that Apple has brought a high-quality webcam to its entire laptop lineup, we still see far too many weak webcams in 2025, considering the prevalence of video calling for work and personal use.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4: Software and warranty

The MacBook Air 15 M4 comes with macOS Sequoia 15.3, which means the typical assortment of Apple apps installed by default. However, Apple is good about avoiding bloatware, so you shouldn’t have anything pressing to remove. Particularly if you have other devices in the Apple ecosystem, there are benefits to using Apple’s native apps like Notes, so consider giving them a try if you haven’t previously.

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 ships with a typical one-year limited warranty, but it can be extended with AppleCare+ for $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year on the MacBook Air 13-inch. AppleCare+ gives you access to technical support along with reduced costs for repairs, including a $99 fee to repair screen or external enclosure damage or $299 for other accidental damage.

Bottom line

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is a fairly unique laptop, delivering a larger screen in what is basically a 14-inch chassis, but it has far more than that to offer.

The M4 chip brings the Air back among the top-performing mainstream premium laptops while offering over 15 hours of battery life. The bright display makes it ideal for frequent travelers or anyone who is often working in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. That combination along with its reasonable pricing makes this one of the best student laptops.

While I would like to see Apple upgrade the display on the MacBook Air, that's more of a wish than a serious complaint as it is a good LCD panel. The limited ports are my biggest frustration with the 15-inch Air, and I'd concede it isn't a concern that will bother many users.

The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is an excellent laptop that will find its way to several of our buying guides in the coming weeks, but if you're unsure if it's the right choice for you, consider checking our best laptops page for our current top recommendations across numerous categories.

After weeks of speculation, Apple made the big reveal of its M4 MacBook Air on Wednesday. The newest laptop featuring the latest Apple Silicon also has one of the lowest starting prices of just $999.

As with previous Apple hardware launches, older models are phased out.

Apple discontinued the M2 and M3 MacBook Air from its website not long after the reveal of the M4 MacBook Air. The company's site does still have the older laptops available to compare with each other, but there is no longer a buy button for them.

Now, this doesn't mean that the M2 and M3 MacBook Air have blinked out of existence. Retail stores such as Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy are getting rid of their inventory and selling the laptops for the lowest prices ever.

Out with the old, in with the new

Apple's M4 MacBook Air appears to be one of the best-value laptops the company has released. The MacBook Airs with the M chips were already some of the best laptops around. Starting at less than $1,000—$100 less than the M3 MacBook Air at launch—the new laptop model offers an even better value.

Although the M4 MacBook Air isn't out yet, the specs of the laptop are already available. There are two variants of the new MacBook Air, one 13.6-inch and the other 15.3-inch, and they come in a new Sky Blue color as well as the standard color options.

Powering the laptop is the M4 chip with its 10-core CPU and up to 10-core GPU. Apple says the M4 MacBook Air will be twice as powerful as the M1 MacBook Air. A leaked benchmark for the new MacBook Air showed a score higher than the M3 MacBook Air, approaching performance levels of the M4 MacBook Pro.

The M4 MacBook Air starts off with 16GB of unified RAM and 256GB of storage, with options to go up to 32GB and a 2TB SSD. It also comes with a 12MP Center Stage camera, which is an upgrade from the M3 MacBook Air's 1080p FaceTime HD camera. One other new change with the M4 MacBook Air is the support for two external displays.

Pre-orders for the M4 MacBook Air are available on Apple's site. The laptop officially launches on March 12. More details about the overall performance, battery life, and other improvements will likely emerge after the laptop’s release and some testing can be done.

This week, Apple finally announced the new MacBook Air M4, which features a faster processor and a new "Sky Blue" color option. Even better, it has a lower starting price at just $999 with 16GB of base RAM.

If you plan to upgrade to the MacBook Air M4 (or make it your first MacBook), you can level up your Mac experience with top accessories, like headphones, mice, and a case to protect that shiny new chassis.

Whenever I get a new laptop or tablet, I need a case. Luckily, there are plenty to choose from that won't break the bank. For instance, the MOSISO 13.3-inch MacBook Air case, on sale for just $13 on Amazon, offers padding and protection for your Mac in over a dozen colors.

Another must-have accessory for any MacBook is a good mouse. The touchpads on MacBooks are nice, don't get me wrong. However, an external mouse just can't be beat when it comes to precision tasks like photo editing or filling in spreadsheets. If you want an all-Apple Mac setup, the Magic Mouse is a popular pick.

If you want to save hard-earned cash, you can also snag the Logitech Pebble keyboard and mouse combo for just $43 at Best Buy.

Top deals on MacBook Air M4 accessories this weekend

The M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chipsets were launched last year; however, the M3 Ultra has finally surfaced.

Yes, over four months after Apple unveiled the latest generation of Apple Silicon, the company has finally unleashed the most powerful version of the previous generation.

Apple announced chipset refreshes of several products earlier this week, including the highly anticipated M4 version of the MacBook Air, an M3 iPad Air, and an updated Mac Studio.

The Mac Studio has often been the only product to launch with the Ultra variant of the M-series chipsets, and the 2025 Mac Studio is no different. But if you were hoping for the M4 Ultra, sadly, it seems we'll need to wait on that launch. The Mac Studio 2025 comes with either an M4 Max or M3 Ultra chipset.

Now, you might be wondering why you might want the older CPU architecture on the Mac Studio, and thanks to a leaked benchmark run found on the Geekbench 6 archives, we might have an answer.

M3 Ultra Geekbench scores compared to M4 Max

Spotted on social media, the Geekbench 6 Archive listing for a Mac 15,14 indicates a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 3,221 and a multicore score of 27,749.

The Geekbench 6 listing does identify the CPU as the M3 Ultra with 32 CPU cores and 256GB of memory. While this is a bonkers amount of RAM, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra can be configured with 96GB up to 512GB of unified memory.

The M4 Max can be configured with 36GB up to 128GB of unified memory and features up to 16 CPU cores.

Based on the best M4 Max 16-core benchmark results on the Geekbench 6 archives, you'll notice the M4 Max has the lead on single-core performance, while the M3 Ultra has a serious multi-core advantage, having double the CPU cores.

The M3 Ultra was always going to benchmark higher in multicore performance, as it does feature twice the core-count of the M4 Max. However, you might be expecting a much wider gap between the M3 Ultra's 32-core CPU and the M4 Max's 16-core CPU, but the M4 operates at a higher boost frequency than the M3, which can make up some of the performance loss from a lower core count.

There's also the architecture difference of the Ultra series SoC (system-on-a-chip). An M-Ultra chip is essentially two Max CPUs connected via an UltraFusion interconnect, so the M3 Ultra is essentially two M3 Max chips working together. While this is an interesting design challenge that takes time to develop, there is a performance loss on the Ultra chips.

The performance loss of the M3 Ultra comes down to simple semiconductor math. The smaller a circuit, the more efficient it is. So, the M4 Max not only operates at a higher frequency than the M3 Max chips inside the M3 Ultra, but the M4 Max cores are all contained on a single die chipset rather than the Ultra's dual-chipset and interconnect design.

What this means for the Mac Studio

Depending on what kind of work you do, the M4 Max may be the better Mac Studio to opt for.

The M4 Max isn't far behind the M3 Ultra in multicore performance, but if you need additional memory to handle heavy GPU workloads, the increased GPU cores and massive unified memory cache of the M3 Ultra is the way to go. So for video editing and 3D rendering, the M3 Ultra will likely still be the better choice.

But if your work mostly includes photo editing or 2D design, the M4 Max may be the most economical choice. After all, photo editing and 2D design wouldn't often require the M3 Ultra's gigantic unified memory cache or additional GPU cores.

Neither Mac Studio is a bargain, with the M4 Max 14-core variant starting at $1,999 and the M3 Ultra 28-core starting at $3,999. However, when fully configured with a 32-core CPU and maximum memory and storage options, the M3 Ultra Mac Studio costs about $14,099. Meanwhile, a fully configured M4 Max 16-core CPU with maximum memory and storage options is $5,899.

The M4 Max Studio limits you in CPU cores, unified memory cache, and storage options. But you can still get a powerful 16-core CPU, up to 128GB of unified memory, and up to 8TB of storage. So that $5,899 M4 Max Mac Studio is still an absolute powerhouse.

But if you're looking to take on Pixar with a 3D animation studio run from your garage, the M3 Ultra may be worth the investment.

More from Laptop Mag

• MacBook Air M4 vs. MacBook Air M3: Should you buy the M4 Air?
• Apple M4 vs M3: The biggest differences and tradeoffs
• iPad 11 vs. iPad 10: What's the difference?

Well, that was a surprise. We expected the M4 MacBook Air to launch this week given Apple’s massive “there’s something in the Air” teaser, but I did not anticipate this.

The hype for the M4 MacBook Air in the Laptop Mag office was palpable, and that’s because the M3 MacBook Air currently sits at the top of our best laptops page. Outstanding battery life, strong performance, and a bright display all in a premium package for just $1,099? That’s great.

But Apple hit us with the new M4 MacBook Air priced at $100 less, bringing you down to just $999. That’s a wild pivot, considering the current state of our political climate. But are we losing anything in this price drop?

M4 MacBook Air is eyeing the crown

Apple unceremoniously unveiled the M4 MacBook Air in a blog post. For just $999, you get the M4 chipset with a 10-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664, LED-backlit display with IPS technology.

Now, the low storage sucks, but for a premium product like this to drop in the triple digits is quite the feat. No, $1,000 isn’t cheap, and for some, it isn’t actually affordable, but in the era of tariffs spiking laptop prices, it’s an unexpected twist.

When the M3 MacBook Air launched, it featured an 8-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. What kind of performance uptick can we expect? Comparing the M4 and M3 in the MacBook Pro, there was a ~26.3% increase in overall performance in the Geekbench 6 test. The M4 scored 15,114. Our current best budget laptop, the Acer Swift Go 14 is rocking an older Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, but that scored 12,434 (and it was reviewed at $999).

If you’re wondering if we lost anything in the price drop, we didn’t. In fact, we gained quite a bit outside of the performance. There’s the new flavor — sky blue, which is by far my favorite colorway among the new MacBook Airs. This model also comes with a new 12MP webcam, whereas the previous M3 MacBook Air had a 2MP webcam. And then there’s the external display connectivity, which supports up to two 6K external displays.

Then there’s Apple Intelligence, which will be shipped with the M4 MacBook Air on day one (no more waiting till the end of the year). One of the key features of Apple Intelligence is ChatGPT, not to mention all of the generative art programs where an artist cries every time you click generate.

If you’re on a budget and looking for a quality device that sports a decent kick in performance for light video and photo editing, then the M4 MacBook Air is gunning for that spot in your shopping cart.

But what’s the same? Apart from the new colorway, nothing has changed with the overall design, which is identical down to the decimal. Apple claims that the M4 MacBook Air can get up to 15 hours of battery life on the web, which tracks with the previous M3.

Not every budget user needs to go with the M4 MacBook Air, and we cannot comment on its quality right now, but we have a pretty good feeling that it’s going to be great. You can pre-order starting today, with the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air starting at $999 and the 15-inch model starting at $1,199.

Don’t jump just yet. We should get the M4 MacBook Air through our lab sooner than later, then we’ll hit you with all of the benchmarks and our full review. Question is, will the M4 MacBook Air land at the top of our best laptops page again? You’ll just have to wait and see.

More from Laptop Mag

• Apple's M4 MacBook Air has a new color, webcam, and somehow lowers its price by $100
• Apple Intelligence just ran into more bad news — and Siri is the problem
• Best laptops in 2025: My top 10 recommendations based on testing and reviews

After weeks of anticipation, Apple finally unveiled the new MacBook Air M4 on Wednesday, complete with a new color and a lower starting price.

The new MacBook Air, announced in a press release, features the same basic design as the M3 model, but with some welcome improvements in performance from the M4 chip. The chassis also comes in a new color, "Sky Blue," which resembles the classic silver hue but with a colder pale blue.

According to Apple, the MacBook Air M4 is up to twice as fast as the MacBook Air M1 and up to 23 times faster than Intel-powered MacBooks. The M4 chip might not be a significant leap if you're coming from an M3 MacBook, but if you're thinking about switching from an older model, you'll definitely notice the difference. That's especially true for Intel MacBook users since Apple's new M-series chips support Apple Intelligence.

The new-and-improved MacBook Air also received a camera upgrade. The 12MP camera in the M4 model supports Center Stage and Desk View, which is especially handy for students and remote workers. Desk View can show what's on the desk in front of you during video calls, like homework, crafts, or other documents.

MacBook Air M4: Price and release date

As if those upgrades weren't enough, Apple also lowered the price of the MacBook Air. Now it starts at $999, which is especially surprising considering that last year Apple increased the base RAM in the MacBook Air to 16GB. That means that now you're paying less overall and you don't need to pay extra just to get a good starting amount of RAM.

Unfortunately, Apple is still offering a measly 256GB of base storage, so you'll probably want to pay extra to bump up to 512GB or more, but at least that's more affordable now. Even so, I'd like to see Apple bump up the base storage like it did with the base RAM since 256GB is really not enough storage for most people in 2025.

The MacBook Air M4 is available to pre-order starting today with the 13-inch model starting at $999 and the 15-model starting at $1,199.

We'll be sharing our full review of the MacBook Air M4 soon along with benchmarks and all the latest MacBook deals, so make sure to stay tuned for more details.

More from Laptop Mag

• Tim Cook’s MacBook Air M4 teaser was actually… a new iPad Air?
• Apple Intelligence just ran into more bad news — and Siri is the problem
• Best laptops in 2025: My top 10 recommendations based on testing and reviews

Looks like that M4 MacBook Air could be right around the corner.

In a post on X, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, just gave us the biggest teaser of Apple's rumored MacBook Air refresh we've seen yet.

Apple's MacBook Air M4: What we think we know

While Cook didn't specify which of its "Air" products would be getting an update this week, all signs point to the MacBook Air, which is expected to get an M4 upgrade.

We don't know exactly what that update will look like, but we've already gotten some clues on the performance side of things.

In February, benchmarks for the MacBook Air M4 showed up online, suggesting Apple's new Air MacBooks may bring impressive performance, while remaining lighter and more affordable than the MacBook Pro.

Leaked benchmarks showed a Geekbench Metal score of 54,806 for the upcoming MacBook. That would put it well ahead of the MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024) and its 41,045 score and only slightly behind the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) with its score of 57,479. The MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) still retains a decisive advantage, with a score of 112,261.

Despite leaks, there are still lots of questions that I'm sure we'll have answers to soon. For one, there's the price.

When the MacBook Air M3 launched last year, it debuted at $1,099 for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In October of 2024, Apple moved to a base of 16GB in all of its laptops and desktops. Despite this, we've still seen the M3 MacBook Air sold brand-new for $899 in our tracking of the best MacBook deals. Whether the M4 maintains that price point, however, is anyone's guess — especially with tariffs threatening to raise laptop prices across the board.

There's a chance that Apple could avoid those tariff price hikes, however. TSMC is reportedly producing Apple's A16 chips in Arizona, which might be just enough to get around any proposed tariffs. The semiconductor company also has an eye on buying manufacturing plants currently owned by Intel.

An iPad Air M4 surprise?

That's not the only Air product rumored to be getting an update soon.

The iPad Air is also rumored to be the recipient of a chip upgrade, getting a bump up to the M3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Fueling an imminent iPad rumor, according to Gurman, are stock levels of Apple's 10th-gen iPads, which are currently running low — a usual indicator that a new iPad is about to arrive.

While the iPad Air M4 could be soon, Gurman says this week will be all about the MacBook Air and that an iPad announcement might be in the coming weeks.

Keep a look out

While we don't have a specific date for when Apple's MacBook Air M4 will arrive, we can expect — outside of performance — for the update to be fairly incremental.

That being said, the prospect of a light, reasonably priced laptop that rivals the base MacBook Pro M4 in performance is an enticing one and could make the Air a no-brainer pick for anyone who's looking for a more budget-friendly new laptop that still pulls its weight.

Either way, we'll have answers soon enough, and if you've been waiting for a new Air upgrade that's really worth the price, this may be your time to strike.

Whether you're fully embedded in the Apple ecosystem, or you're looking to take your first bite there's bound to be something appealing for you during the Best Buy Apple trade-up event that's live right now.

There are some fantastic offers across the whole range of Apple products, including the best MacBooks, Mac Minis, Mac Studios, iPads, iPhones, and even accessories and wearables like the Apple Watch and AirPods.

And while these deals are all worth looking at by themselves, this sale is called the "Trade Up" event for a reason — You can save extra money by trading in your old Apple devices to upgrade to a more recent model in the same category (iPad to iPad, iPhone to iPhone, etc). Check out the Trade Up page to see how much you can save for each type of Apple device, but here are the cliff notes:

• Save up to $1,200 on a new MacBook with qualifying MacBook trade-in
• Save up to $615 on a new iPad with qualifying iPad trade-in
• Save up to $375 on a new Apple Watch with qualifying Apple Watch trade-in
• Save up to $540 on a new Mac with qualifying Mac trade-in
• Save up to $475 on a new unlocked iPhone with qualifying iPhone trade-in

Most of these offers are available to everyone, but a couple of them are either exclusive to — or better for — Best Buy Total members. Best Buy Total is a premium subscription that gives you access to free 2-day shipping, exclusive sales, 24/7 Geek Squad support, and protection plans with your purchases (including AppleCare+).

Best Buy Apple Trade In Sale — Quick Links

• Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M3): Was $1499 now $1299
• Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4 Pro): Was $1999 now $1899
• Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3): Was $1699 now $1399
• Apple MacBook Air 13.6-inch (M2): Was $1099 now $849
• Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro): Was $1199 now $899
• Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max): Was $1999 now $1799 (Total Members only)
• Apple AirPods Max: Was $549 now $499
• Apple iMac 24-inch All-in-One (M4): Was $1699 now $1549
• Apple 10.9-Inch iPad (10th Gen): Was $499 now $429
• Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS) 46mm: Was $429 now $349
• Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS + Cellular) 46mm: Was $529 now $459
• Apple 13-inch iPad Pro (M4): Was $1499 now $1399
• iPhone 14 Plus (Unlocked): Was $729 now $679
• Apple Magic Mouse: Was $99 now $84
• Apple AirTag (4-Pack): Was $99 now $67

The upcoming US Silicon Tariffs are expected to cause price increases on tech hardware, with price hikes of up to 40%.

We've seen a few responses now from hardware manufacturers like Acer and Lenovo. Acer is raising prices by 10% and moving manufacturing outside of China to assist in insulation from the Chinese manufacturing and silicon tariffs. Lenovo believes its multi-national manufacturing footprint makes the company flexible enough to have some insulation from the tariffs.

Apple has a different plan for how to handle the tariffs, which comes as a surprise. Apple was immune to many of the silicon hardware tariffs that impacted the tech industry under the first Trump administration due to an investment in moving operations to the US, but that promised Austin, TX campus is still under construction.

Apple's new tariff mitigation plan is very similar but involves a steeper investment from Apple. This could indicate that the Cupertino tech giant doesn't expect a similar sweetheart deal in the second Trump term.

“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Apple’s CEO Tim Cook stated for the announcement.

“From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation.”

More servers, more staff, and a $500 Billion investment

Apple is launching a massive server factory in Houston, TX, and hiring 20,000 new US employees over the next four years.

The Houston server factory will create servers to support Apple Intelligence, as the AI system does include various Private Cloud Compute AI features.

Apple's manufacturing investment announcement reads, "As part of its new U.S. investments, Apple will work with manufacturing partners to begin production of servers in Houston later this year. A 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility, slated to open in 2026, will create thousands of jobs."

Apple's server manufacturing arm is currently sourced abroad.

Apple is also doubling its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which was created in 2017. Apple originally invested $5 Billion in the Manufacturing Fund, making a total $10 Billion in funds with today's announcement.

"The fund’s expansion includes a multibillion-dollar commitment from Apple to produce advanced silicon in TSMC’s Fab 21 facility in Arizona."

Apple is the largest customer for TSMC's Fab 21 facility where "mass production of Apple chips began last month."

Apple is also growing US-based R&D and creating a Manufacturing Academy in Detroit, MI.

What you need to know about the tech tariffs

The 25% Silicon tariffs are not yet confirmed. However, a recent report from Reuters indicates the chip tariffs would start at "25% or higher" and increase over the course of the year.

This 25% tariff, combined with a 10% tariff on goods manufactured in China, is the driving force behind the 40% price increase predictions for consumer tech.

If you're considering updating any of your tech devices, it may be worth it to upgrade now rather than wait to see how the tariffs shake out. However, nothing is currently set in stone.

More from Laptop Mag

• Apple's iPhone 17 may feature one unexpected change — and you won't be happy about it
• The MacBook Air M4 could deliver MacBook Pro-level performance, leaks suggest
• Apple's new MacBook Air might arrive sooner than expected

Apple is in the midst of announcing new devices and updates.

Last week, the company unveiled its budget phone with the iPhone 16e although it has a higher price tag than previous SE versions, but comes with more features than the low-cost phones have in the past. That new phone will hit stores on Friday, Feb. 28.

Then on Friday, Apple revealed the next big update to the Vision Pro OS will add Apple Intelligence and give the VR headset an iPhone app providing some much-needed new features to attract more attention for the pricey VR headset.

Apple will continue with its announcements in March as the company will reportedly release its M4 MacBook Air, as reported by Bloomberg Sunday. The Mac maker is currently getting teams ready for the release of the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air using the latest Apple Silicon while older models are being phased out.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the news of the MacBook Air M4.

A powerful chip in a lighter case.

Benchmarks for the MacBook Air M4 showed up online, and if these numbers prove to be true, it could mean these new MacBooks could offer impressive performance at a budget price while remaining lighter than the MacBook Pro.

A Geekbench Metal benchmark for the upcoming MacBook came back with a score of 54,806. That puts it way ahead of the MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024) and its 41,045 score and slightly ahead of the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) with its score of 57,479. The MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) was still far ahead of the pack with a score of 112,261.

The MacBook Air M4 tested in benchmarks was noted to have 24GB of RAM. This would make the tested unit an upgrade over the base model that should come with 16GB of RAM.

Both of the MacBook Pro M4 laptops came out in May 2024, while the MacBook Air M3 was released in March 2024, aligning with Apple's release timing of the earlier MacBook Airs.

Apple still has a potential announcement or two before it has its Worldwide Developer Conference in June. There is still an expectation of a new iPad Air release during the spring, but Apple could also reveal its M5 chip before the company's big event.

Apple's MacBook Air M4 refresh is expected to come in the next few months, and we've already got a few early looks at how the M4 MacBook Air will fare.

The M4 Air surfaced on the Geekbench archives earlier this week (spotted by Wccftech) and indicated performance that rivals the M4 MacBook Pro 14. If this benchmark holds, you could get MacBook Pro performance at a budget price with the upcoming MacBook Air.

M4 MacBook Air: What are the leaked benchmarks

The leaked MacBook Air M4 benchmark was a Geekbench Metal run, testing the GPU of the M4's integrated graphics tile. The MacBook Air M4 scored 54,806 points on the Geekbench Metal benchmark.

The MacBook Air M4 used in the leaked benchmarks features 10 GPU cores, which is the same number of GPU cores as the M4 base chip on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024).

If Apple follows the same pattern with the M4 MacBook Air as the MacBook Air M3 models, then this would be a benchmark for an upgraded chip, since the base M3 in the MacBook Air features 8 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores.

Also noteworthy is that the MacBook Air M4 in the leaked benchmark features upgraded RAM, with 24GB of memory onboard. So, base models of the Air with 16GB RAM won't benchmark quite as high as the laptop in this Geekbench run.

M4 MacBook Air: How does it stack up?

A Geekbench Metal score of 54,806 sounds pretty impressive. But how does it stack up?

We don't run the Geekbench Metal and Geekbench Vulkan benchmarks in our standard suite of lab tests, so we've got to rely on the official Geekbench archives for comparison scores to see how the MacBook Air M4 fares in comparison to the MacBook Air 13 (M3, 2024), MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024), and the MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024).

We don't expect the M4 in the MacBook Air to compete with the M4 Pro, but it serves as a good reference point since the M4 Pro is easily capable of taking on the M3 Max.

The MacBook Air M4 scored 33.5% higher on the Geekbench Metal test than the MacBook Air 13 M3, and it's just 4.8% lower the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024).

Considering the MacBook Air is a fanless laptop design, the fact that it can put out GPU performance that's less than 5% under MacBook Pro 14 is beyond impressive.

Bottom line

The leaked MacBook Air is almost certainly an upgraded configuration, so the base MacBook Air M4 won't be getting MacBook Pro-like performance for $1,099. If Apple keeps the pricing for the M4 refresh the same as the M3, then a similarly configured MacBook Air M4 would cost about $1,499. This is still a more wallet-friendly price compared the MacBook Pro 14 which starts at $1,599 and would cost about $1,999 with upgraded RAM to 24GB.

So this particular MacBook Air M4 punches well above its weight-class on the Geekbench: Metal archives, but we'd expect the base configuration of the MacBook Air M4 to be a little less powerful. Not that it's a bad thing.

This means that the base MacBook Air M4 won't be quite as powerful as the MacBook Pro 14, but it will definitely be a powerhouse.

The MacBook Air M4 refresh is expected as early as March 2025.

More from Laptop Mag

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Shortly after hearing about an M4 MacBook Air in the works, we have another rumor for the mill — the M5 MacBook Pro may be coming before the M5 iPad Pro, which contrasts with last year’s release lineup.

So what does that mean exactly? Well, the M4 iPad Pro launched in May 2024, followed by the M4 MacBook Pro in October 2024. However, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, we’ll see the M5 chip launch with the new MacBook Pro models in the fall, followed by the new iPad Pro models in the first half of 2026.

This particular refresh for the MacBook Pro is pretty important, and not just because of the potential increase in power. And while it’s coming sooner than we thought, it’s not coming soon enough. Let me explain.

How the M5 MacBook Pro will signal change (for better or worse)

Everything is changing this year for a multitude of reasons, but before I start rambling, let’s just talk briefly about what Apple is doing differently with the M5 MacBook Pro.

Reportedly, Apple’s M5 chip will feature TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer process technology, which is a step down from the M4’s 2nm process. The measurement refers to the size of a transistor, which amplifies and regulates power. The smaller the transistor, the more transistors you can fit in a chip. So in theory, a 2nm chip has an advantage over a 3nm chip, but that isn’t the deciding factor in performance.

Despite that, the M5 chip will feature TSMC’s new System on Integrated Chip (SoIC) technology, which is designed to deliver more power and energy efficiency. That may make up for the jump to 3nm. But we won’t know until we get it in our lab.

Supposedly, the downgrade is due to “cost considerations.” That’s a little worrisome, considering our current political climate.

Last week, President Donald Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. And threatened a “25, 50, or even a 100% tax" on chip production, via semiconductors imported by TSMC. Considering Apple’s factories are global, housed especially in Taiwan and China, this is unfortunate, to say the least.

We don’t know what effect tariffs will have on consumer products, but I’m not looking forward to finding out. It may be that Apple saw this coming, and preemptively jumped to 3nm in order to keep prices down, but that’s just speculation.

Regardless, the M5 MacBook Pro isn’t coming soon enough. By the time fall hits, we may see the impact these tariffs have on consumer products. So, if you’re left wanting for a MacBook Pro, I recommend considering the current M4 model. We can’t predict the future, so if you want to play it safe, see our best MacBook deals. You’ll spend less even if the M5 MacBook Pro launched at a normal MSRP.

The Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024) is one of the few laptops we’ve reviewed that received a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. That’s because it not only offered quality performance but also excellent battery life, a bright display, and incredible audio packed into a sturdy chassis. Sean Riley wrote, “This is the best 14-inch MacBook Pro has ever been, and it is a lock for our best laptops page among others.”

While the distance of the M5 MacBook Pro’s release is concerning, don’t feel like you need to wait. But if you do wait, take comfort in knowing that you’re not sweating alone.

More from Laptop Mag

• A long-awaited Apple refresh is in the works, report says
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Apple always has different hardware being worked on at any time. Some are going to be several years away from ever seeing the light of day like the reported robots it's working on while others are just a few days from launch like the iPhone SE 4.

It's been three years since Apple released its Studio Display monitor, and it appears a new one is coming although not for another two years.

Apple is currently working on a prototype for a new external monitor code-named J427, according to a report from Bloomberg Sunday. It's reportedly expected to be released in 2026 and will have the same screen size and similar design to 2022's Studio Display monitor. The company wants to pair this new monitor with the release of its M5 MacBook Pro line, the report says.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for confirmation on the monitor.

The 27-inch Studio Display with its 5K Retina display, 5120-by-2880 resolution, and 600 nits brightness still retails at Apple's site for $1,599. This places the Apple monitor at a slightly higher price range than some of the best gaming monitors.

What about the Pro Display XDR?

The Studio Display isn't the only monitor Apple has made in recent years. The company also has the Pro Display XDR, which was released in 2019.

The Pro Display XDR gained attention when it came out with a shocking price tag of $5,000, especially for a 32-inch monitor. It also didn't help that the stand was sold separately at the shocker of a price of $999.

According to the report, Apple has no play to replace the 32-inch 6K Retina LCD. The company appears to be happy that its high-priced monitor is attractive to those looking for a professional setup rather than everyday consumers.

If you've been waiting for some good deals to upgrade your MacBook (or buy your first one!), now's your chance. Amazon has some fantastic deals on MacBooks right now for President's Day weekend, from budget-friendly bargains to powerhouse M4 Max models.

By far the best deal of the bunch is the M2 MacBook Air for just $749. That is an incredible price that makes the M2 Air a no-brainer for anyone looking for a great laptop under $800. MacBooks don't get that affordable often, so this isn't a deal you want to miss out on.

If you're looking to upgrade to a more powerful MacBook, you can also save hundreds on the MacBook Pro M4 and M4 Max right now, including the 14-inch M4 Max MacBook Pro with 36GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. This model is a great pick if you need a mix of top-tier processing power and portability. We gave the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro a glowing five star review and an Editor's Choice award, so you can rest assured you'll be getting one of the best laptops on the market right now.

See also: Best Presidents' Day laptop deals of February 2025: MacBook, Windows, Chromebook

Best President's Day MacBook deals

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Most laptops come with one or two compromises, but every trade-off is important to consider, especially with a business laptop you’re going to rely on to get work done daily. The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ exemplifies this with an impressive array of features held back by just a couple of concerns.

While the Prestige boasts strong overall performance from its AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU and a quality 16-inch display, it trailed behind some of the latest competition in battery life and features a bulkier design than similar business laptops. If your laptop rarely leaves your desk, these aren't a problem for you, but if you commute or travel for business, weight and battery life are critical.

Is the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ impressive enough in other key areas to justify overlooking those flaws? That’s the question I kept asking myself. While it has some stiff competition from the best business laptops, its strengths could still make it the right fit for some.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Specs and benchmarks

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Price and configurations

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ costs $1,399 and includes an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, AMD Radeon 880M integrated graphics, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 16-inch 2560x1600 QHD display. At the time of writing, this is the only configuration available.

Those specs offer good value for your money, although it's worth noting that this is the standard consumer-grade Ryzen chip, not one of the AMD Pro chips, which are geared specifically toward enterprise customers. AMD Pro offers enhanced security along with easier deployment and management by the IT department, but if you are in a small to mid-size business, these may not be crucial features.

If your business insists on an Intel vPro or AMD Pro chip, take a look at our best business laptops. Most Lenovo ThinkPads include a configuration option with one of these enterprise-grade chips.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Design

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is a business laptop that certainly looks the part. It features a sleek silver aluminum chassis with a glossy MSI logo on the lid. Inside it boasts a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad and a full row of function keys. There is also a dedicated Copilot key for activating the Microsoft Copilot AI assistant.

Unfortunately, MSI placed the power button on the keyboard. It’s located in the top right corner and has the same shape, size, and texture as the rest of the function row, which means it’s easy to press by accident while reaching for a different key. I would have preferred the power button to be separate from the main keyboard to avoid that issue.

It’s important to note that the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is not a 2-in-1 and does not have a touchscreen. If those are must-have features, you would be better served with one of the best 2-in-1 laptops.

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is on the bulkier side for a business laptop. While you get a large 16-inch display as a result, this laptop’s size is still important to consider if you plan on commuting or traveling with it. It measures 14.09 x 10.17 x 0.66 inches and weighs 4.44 pounds, which is heavy even for a 16-inch laptop. To put that into perspective, here’s how a few of its rivals compare:

• Acer Swift Go 16: 14 x 9.6 x 0.6 inches, 3.5 pounds
• Asus Zenbook S16 UM5606: 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.47, 3.3 pounds
• Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i 16 (Gen 9): 14.02 x 9.88 x 0.69 inches, 4.3 pounds

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Ports

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ offers most of the ports an average business user would need, including:

• 2x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4
• 1x USB Type-A
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 1x MicroSD card

That was enough for me, but I would have appreciated a second USB Type-A port. If you need more ports, you can always pair the MSI Prestige with one of the best USB Type-C hubs or best laptop docking stations.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Battery life

Great battery life is crucial for many business laptop buyers, especially if you’re a commuter. The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ lasted 11 hours and 15 minutes in our battery test, which could have been better. Considering how important battery life is for a business laptop, I would have liked to see this laptop score closer to 13 or 14 hours.

Even so, the Prestige lasted about 45 minutes longer than the Acer Swift Go 16 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i 16, although the Asus Zenbook S16 outscored it with a time of 11 hours and 35 minutes. It's worth noting that you can get a number of laptops at this price point that offer much stronger battery life, often upwards of 14 hours, especially if you opt for a Snapdragon-powered laptop. You can visit our guide to the laptops with the best battery life for some top-rated options.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Display

The 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 165Hz display on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is one of its main strengths. It’s spacious, sharp, and scored well overall on our display tests. The text is clear with good contrast, and colors are vivid. The display gets plenty bright, too, at 454 nits.

I appreciated that high brightness while watching Game of Thrones on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+. The show’s dark, saturated visuals were sharp and perfectly visible, even at only 50% brightness. Scenes of Winterfell and Dragonstone brought out the MSI Prestige’s great contrast and color accuracy. Plus, the 16-inch display makes for an immersive viewing experience.

The MSI Prestige’s test scores match that viewing experience. It outscored most of its rivals across the board and featured the highest display brightness:

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Keyboard and touchpad

While the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is a bit bulky, the full-size keyboard might be worth it for many users. I don’t personally use a numberpad much, but there are plenty of scenarios where it comes in handy, such as data entry or even gaming.

Aside from the numberpad, the MSI Prestige features a solid, snappy keyboard that was comfortable to type on during my testing. On the Monkeytype typing test I scored 102 words per minute with 99% accuracy. That’s not far behind my current top score of 105 words per minute with 100% accuracy, which I scored on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X.

At 5.1 x 3.2 inches, the Prestige boasts a roomy touchpad. It matches the silver of the chassis but with a slightly smoother texture. It was quick and responsive during my testing. If that’s not enough, you can always pair it with one of the best wireless mice.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Audio

With bottom-firing speakers, the audio setup on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is already less than ideal. I would have liked to see top-firing speakers, especially considering how roomy the keyboard deck is.

That said, the audio quality on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ isn’t bad, although the speakers could be louder. I had to turn up the volume to around 70 or 80 to hear the dialogue in Game of Thrones clearly. When it was clearly audible, it was crisp and detailed with rich background ambiance.

I didn’t need to crank up the volume quite as much for music, which also sounded fairly good. Halsey’s “Roman Holiday” sounded slick and sharp with solid bass and clear highs. Likewise, the soundtrack in Game of Thrones was epic as always and the MSI Prestige captured its rich, textured melodies well.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Performance and heat

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU, one of AMD’s latest AI processors. It delivered solid overall performance during my hands-on testing and in our benchmark tests.

The MSI Prestige had no trouble keeping up with basic work-related tasks like word processing and web browsing. It handled multi-tasking smoothly and launched apps quickly. Overall, the MSI Prestige offers plenty of power for the everyday tasks most business users need.

However, I did run into a couple of hiccups that are worth mentioning. In one instance during my testing, the Prestige experienced a seemingly random heat spike while sitting idle and plugged in. In another instance, it crashed while running a Windows update. We reached out to MSI about these issues (and a graphic issue, more on that below) and were able to get them resolved, but the solution involved a BIOS update and graphics update, which some users might find complicated to run themselves.

MSI does have a guide for updating the BIOS on its laptops, but if you’re unfamiliar with navigating a BIOS or creating and using a BIOS flash drive, this process could be intimidating. Of course, the issues I ran into that made that update necessary may have just been fluke incidents, but it’s still worth noting since this could potentially happen to anyone.

The Prestige handily outscored similar laptops in the Geekbench 6 performance benchmark, although it fell behind on SSD speed. It could have performed a bit better on our thermal tests with a peak temperature of 96 degrees, but that just barely exceeds our 95-degree comfort threshold.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Gaming and graphics

While the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ isn’t a gaming laptop, it does deliver a solid gaming experience with most casual titles. I ran into a peculiar graphics issue while testing it, though.

Since this is a business laptop, I went with a couple of lightweight titles for my test, Death’s Door and Wildfrost. Both have been playable on nearly every laptop I’ve run them on, so I was shocked that neither was playable the first time I ran them on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+.

Death’s Door managed a pitiful 2 frames per second (yes, two), even after I lowered the resolution to 1280 x 1080, rather than full resolution (2560 x 1600). The lag was atrocious, rendering the game completely unplayable on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+.

Even Wildfrost, with its cartoony 2D graphics, was laggy the first time I ran it, averaging just 22 fps. That was especially disappointing considering Wildfrost otherwise looked great on the MSI Prestige’s bright, vivid display, which brought out its colorful graphics (at least there was something nice to look at when my game froze).

Neither of these games are what one would call “demanding,” even for a laptop with integrated graphics like the MSI Prestige. We reached out to MSI about those unusually low frame rates and they were able to offer a fix that resolved the issue. It required removing and updating the laptop’s graphics drivers, which is more straightforward than updating the BIOS, but could still be complicated for some users.

Both of my games ran far better after updating my graphics driver, with Death’s Door averaging 65 fps and Wildfrost hitting 140 fps. However, it is frustrating that a complicated driver update was necessary to get normal graphics performance. Again, this could be a fluke with our review system but it’s possible for this type of issue to happen to anyone, so it’s worth noting, especially if graphics is a top priority for you.

Plus, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 16 Gen 9, which only costs about $200 more than the MSI Prestige A16 AI+, delivered significantly stronger gaming performance in our lab tests. So, if graphics performance is crucial for you, it might be worth considering the IdeaPad instead.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: AI features

As its name suggests, the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ is an AI PC. It features a dedicated key for activating the Microsoft Copilot app, along with all the features standard in Copilot+ PCs, such as Microsoft Studio Effects and the Image Creator AI image generator in the Paint app. The Copilot app ran smoothly in my testing, quickly answering questions and generating text and images.

The MSI Prestige also features the MSI AI Engine, which uses AI to detect user scenarios, such as watching a movie or playing a game, and automatically adjust performance settings accordingly. While it’s a background feature that might go unnoticed, it can help optimize and streamline performance for everyday tasks.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Webcam

The webcam on the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ isn’t any pro-grade camera, but it’s definitely better than average. It’s an IR 1080p camera with support for Windows Hello facial recognition and a built-in webcam shutter. My test video was relatively sharp, with good exposure and accurate colors. It’s definitely adequate for daily video calls and Zoom meetings. The mic is similarly decent – not the best I’ve ever heard, but plenty clear and sharp for most users.

Of course, if the built-in webcam is not to your liking, you can always choose one of the best webcams to use instead.

MSI Prestige A16 AI+: Software and warranty

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ includes MSI’s standard one-year limited warranty, although you can extend it for an additional one or two years for an extra fee ($80 and $140, respectively). The Prestige runs on Windows 11 Home with all the standard Microsoft apps pre-installed, such as Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Edge, the Microsoft Store, and the Xbox app.

Bottom line

The MSI Prestige A16 AI+ boasts strong overall performance, a great display, and a solid keyboard, but it falls short of perfection due to a relatively bulky design and mediocre battery life. Those flaws won't be deal breakers for every business user, but there's tough competition in this price range.

However, when it comes to basic work-related tasks, the MSI Prestige A16 AI+ has a few things going for it. The built-in webcam is surprisingly good, perfect for anyone who frequently attends video meetings. The full-size keyboard is also a major plus, great for anyone who does data entry. Lastly, the sharp, vivid 16-inch display not only looks pretty but offers space for multiple windows and gets bright enough for viewing in brightly lit office spaces.

Unfortunately, we did run into some issues in testing that everyday users could run into, as well, which required complicated updates to resolve. While those issues could be fluke incidents, they’re still worth keeping in mind.

So, depending on what you’re looking for, it’s still worth considering alternatives like the Acer Swift Go 16, which features similar performance and specs at a lower price. Similarly, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 16 Gen 9 is also similarly priced but offers much stronger graphics performance. You can also visit our guide to the best business laptops for even more alternatives.

It’s only a matter of time before we see the M4 MacBook Air.

As pointed out by MacRumors, a private account on X claims that both a 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air will be outfitted with the “T8132” chip, aka the Apple M4. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also speculated that, since the stock of M3 MacBook Air models is diminishing, Apple is gearing up for a launch.

Rumors aside, I think the M4 MacBook Air may be one of the most impactful launches we’ve seen in a while. There are plenty of factors at play here, which I’ll dive into, but the most important aspect to make the M4 MacBook Air stand out is exactly what you might think.

How much is the M4 MacBook Air going to cost?

The MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) launched at $1,099 and you can currently find it for $999 or less, if you’re lucky. That’s not exactly cheap, but that’s as close to the budget category a MacBook has gotten in recent memory. One of my favorite budget laptops is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, and at $800, that’s not too far off from the MacBook Air.

Even at $200 more, the MacBook Air has a lot to offer. The M3 MacBook Air featured incredible performance, outstanding battery life, and a bright display. Not many laptops hit those same notes close to $1K.

If Apple wants to compete in the budget space, that price needs to remain the same. Or, if we’re lucky, get even lower. I don’t see that happening, unfortunately. In fact, I’m worried that we may see a major increase in price, considering our political climate.

Recently, President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. And has threatened a “25, 50, or even a 100% tax" on chip production, via semiconductors imported by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.). To top it off, Apple’s factories are all across the world, including Taiwan and China.

Of course, we don’t know how tariffs will affect the price of consumer products yet, but it’s just another thing weighing against the M4 MacBook Air being a leader in the budget space. Apple products are already on the pricey end and that’s not going to change, but being more expensive will absolutely reduce consumption.

However, if the M4 MacBook Air maintains its price, or close to it, we could see an incredible new notebook. The jump from the M3 MacBook Pro to the M4 MacBook Pro was sweet. We saw a 26.3% increase in overall performance (via Geekbench) and an additional hour of battery life. (It would’ve been nice to see a bigger increase in graphics performance, but that’s just me.)

Right now, the M3 MacBook Air sits at the top of our best laptops list. We recommend it as the best laptop for most people, and that’s because of its strong price-to-performance ratio. The M4 MacBook Air may just be a refresh with little-to-no changes, but I don’t see it climbing to the top without an alluring price point.

If you do find yourself worried about the price, now may be the best time to get an M3 MacBook Air. After all, according to Gurman, the inventory is “dwindling” at Apple stores, so it’ll likely be officially discontinued sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 gets a “meh” for anticipation from me — especially if it’s going to cost $1,299 again.

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Apple is reportedly on the verge of launching a slew of new devices over the next week, including the M4 MacBook Air and one long-awaited iPhone update.

If you've been waiting to upgrade your MacBook, iPhone, or iPad, you'll probably want to keep your eye out for these upcoming announcements from Apple. Here's a look at what to expect and what we know so far about each rumored device.

M4 MacBook Air

The M4 MacBook Pro launched back in May 2024, so it's been over 6 months since Apple's latest processor came to its laptops. However, we're still missing the M4 MacBook Air. That might not be the case for much longer, though.

Apple's MacBook Air release dates have been pretty scattered over the past few years with the M3 releasing in March 2024, the M2 in July 2022, and the M1 in November 2020. So, it's difficult to predict precisely when the M4 Air could arrive, but rumors hint that Apple could launch it as soon as this month.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, stock of the M3 MacBook Air has been on the decline at Apple Stores, hinting that Apple may be gearing up for the M4 Air launch, which is expected in the first half of this year.

Apple appeared to accidentally confirm this back in December when users noticed mentions of "MacBook Air‌ (13-inch, M4, 2025)" and "MacBook Air‌ (15-inch, M4, 2025)" in software files for MacOS Sequoia 15.2. So, we know we're getting 13-inch and 15-inch models again. We can also safely say the base configurations for the M4 MacBook Air will include 16GB of RAM. Last year Apple increased the base RAM on all of its MacBooks to support Apple Intelligence, although it's a welcome upgrade even if you have no interest in using Apple's new AI features.

iPhone SE 4

I've been waiting years to see Apple finally upgrade the ancient design on the iPhone SE and it looks like my long wait is finally coming to an end. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, an iPhone SE 4 announcement is imminent, possibly even by the end of this week.

It's about time.

The current iPhone SE still sports the antiquated design from the iPhone 8, complete with a home button. That's especially egregious considering it costs over $400, making it a generally lackluster deal for a "budget" phone. While rumors hint that the iPhone SE 4 could get a price bump up to $499, it is also expected to feature a complete redesign.

Leaked images appear to show the iPhone SE 4 with a design borrowed from the iPhone 14. Apple is finally ditching the home button and giving its entry-level iPhone a larger display with a notch. While it's no dynamic island, it blends in far better with the rest of the iPhone family. Plus, the SE 4 is getting a chip upgrade, most likely the A18 chip, and 8GB of RAM, meaning it will likely support Apple Intelligence.

iPad 11

Apple could be planning a sweeping update to all of its base devices with a potential iPad 11 launch. While this announcement is less likely for this month, we are expecting to see it in the first half of this year. The current 10th-generation base iPad launched in October 2022, so it's definitely due for an update, especially considering the current model lacks support for Apple Intelligence.

So, we will likely see Apple launch a refreshed base iPad by spring. While design changes probably won't happen this year, the base iPad will get a new processor at the very least. Since it's the base model, Apple might just give it the A16 chip, but it's also possible it could get the A17 or even A17 Pro to match the iPad Mini 7. Any of these would be a major upgrade over the aging A14 chip in the current model.

One thing that remains up in the air about the iPad 11th-generation is Apple Pencil support. Apple's current Pencil compatibility chart is a headache to understand, so it would be nice to see Apple streamline things so all iPads are compatible with both the Apple Pencil USB-C and the newer Apple Pencil Pro. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the base iPad doesn't get support for the more premium Pencil Pro (although I would still be disappointed).

M5 Apple Vision Pro

The final big device announcement we could see from Apple soon is also the least likely: an M5 upgrade for the Apple Vision Pro. We just passed the original Vision Pro's one-year anniversary, although it has yet to gain much traction with users. Apple also recently shuttered development of a pair of AR glasses, making the company's XR future ever more uncertain.

Even so, it's possible Apple could give the Vision Pro a refresh with a new processor and hopefully a lighter design sometime early this year. An M5 Vision Pro was initially rumored in November 2024 by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, pointing to a 2025 launch, which is getting increasingly likely now that the current Vision Pro is over a year old.

A less expensive "Apple Vision SE" has also been rumored for months now, but it seems unlikely Apple would put the M5 chip in its more affordable headset before its premium headset. So, an M5 upgrade to the Vision Pro could be a prelude to a Vision SE launch, potentially later this year or in 2026.

What's next from Apple?

The MacBook Air M4 and iPhone SE 4 are expected to launch very soon, with the iPhone SE 4 potentially launching as soon as this week. Looking toward spring, we can expect to see the base iPad get a refresh and possibly also the iPad Air. An M5 Vision Pro announcement could come any time this year, although many Apple fans may be more excited about a lighter, less expensive "Apple Vision SE" rumored to launch at the end of this year or early 2026.

This summer Apple will also hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) which is usually in June. This is when we can expect to see a slew of software upgrades and potentially some hardware announcements like a new Apple Watch. Keep an eye out for surprise "one more thing" announcements, though.

Finally, Apple could launch its M5 chip anytime between May and November depending on which device it plans to introduce the chip on. The iPad Pro got the M4 chip first in May 2024, but iPad release dates don't follow a consistent pattern and new chips usually launch on the MacBook Pro first, so it's hard to say when and how Apple will unveil the M5 chip.

We're keeping a close eye on the latest news and rumors from Apple, though, so check back for more updates.

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I love Apple tech, but I have to admit it can be pretty pricey. That's why I always look for good deals, so I can snag new Apple devices without paying the premium price at the Apple Store.

This weekend is a great time to pick up new Apple gear, thanks to fantastic discounts on everything from MacBooks to AirPods. I hand-picked the seven best Apple deals on Amazon right now, so you don't miss out on the best deals.

For example, the MacBook Air M2 is down to just $799 when you combine a 21% discount with a $149 coupon from Amazon! It's a fantastic bargain at that price, especially if you're looking for a budget laptop. While the M2 chip is a few years old, it still holds up well,, and you can expect several more years of updates from Apple.

If you're not in the market for a MacBook, you can still take advantage of some great deals on other products, including the AirPods Pro 2, iPad Air M2, and Apple Watch Series 10.

Best Apple deals on Amazon this weekend

Apple's next-gen M5 chip could launch sooner than you might think, but probably not in the device you'd expect.

It's been over six months since Apple launched the M4 chip in the iPad Pro on May 7, 2024. Since then, the M4 chip has also made its way into the MacBook Pro, but has yet to arrive on the MacBook Air. Despite that, Apple is already getting the M5 chip ready for launch.

Here's a look at the latest update on Apple's M5 chip, when it could launch, and what devices we'll see it in first.

Apple M5 chip enters mass production

On Wednesday, South Korean technology news outlet ET News reported that Apple's M5 chip has entered mass production in Taiwan. The report also indicates that mass production will be taking place sequentially with "USA Amco and China JCET."

This appears to be a reference to Amkor, which struck a deal with Apple in 2023 to produce its chips at a new facility in Arizona. Apple is already producing some of its mobile chips, including the A16 processor, in the U.S., but this is an apt time for Apple to move even more of its production stateside given the looming threat of import tariffs.

Of course, at the time of writing, the Amkor facility is only completing the packaging part of the chip production process, meaning Apple still relies on components from manufacturing partners overseas.

The ET News report doesn't shed much light on the exact details or specs of any of the M5 chips, but it does highlight an increased emphasis on AI.

That's to be expected considering Apple launched its on-device AI platform, Apple Intelligence, at WWDC 2024 back in June. Apple Intelligence is still rolling out, but Apple is clearly working to keep up with its competitors' AI offerings, such as Microsoft's Copilot+ PC line-up.

Apple M5 release date: Which devices will get the M5 chip first?

If these rumors are true and the M5 chip has entered mass production, the next question is when will it launch? Perhaps even more important, what device will get the M5 chip first?

The answer may leave some Apple fans disappointed, unfortunately.

Current rumors indicate that the iPad Pro will most likely be the first device to get the M5 chip. This was also the case with the M4 chip, which launched with the new iPad Pro in May 2024. One might expect Apple to launch its new chips with the MacBook Pro instead, which was the case for the M1, M2, and M3 chips, but apparently the iPad Pro will be leading the charge for now.

According to reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPad Pro M5 will be entering mass production in the second half of 2025, so we could see the M5 chip launch by the end of the year. That's later than last year's May M4 launch, but it's always possible this rumor is off and Apple is still eyeing another May launch window for the M5 chip.

After the iPad Pro, we should see the M5 chip in the MacBook Pro next, probably in late 2025, followed by the MacBook Air in 2026. An M5-powered Vision Pro successor is also possible, although Apple's headset strategy is a bit up in the air right now following the cancellation of its AR smart glasses project.

We're keeping a close eye on all things Apple, so stay tuned for more updates on the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro, and the M5 MacBooks.

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In 2027, MacBook Airs will boast improved displays, but not the top-of-the-line OLED displays, according to a new report.

The Elec on Monday reported that "Apple has begun development of [a] MacBook Air that sports [an] oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD)" in lieu of an OLED display.

This will be the first time Apple graces MacBook Air models with oxide TFT LCD displays, which will allow for better display performance than the existing amorphous silicon (a-Si) TFT LCD display.
In practice, this improved performance could show up as higher resolution, higher response time, and more efficient power usage.

As great as it is that MacBook Airs will get a higher-quality display in 2027, I can't shake the disappointment that it won't be an OLED display. My daily driver laptop has an OLED display, and the vibrant, true colors and deep, rich blacks are unmatched compared to my desktop LCD displays.

This isn't the first time reports have popped up regarding a delay for OLED MacBook Airs. In an earlier report, parts industry officials and industry insiders told The Elec the OLED MacBook Air had been delayed due to high prices and the supply chain, with one source specifically commenting that the launch of the OLED iPad Pro "revealed that applying OLED increases the product price, but changing the display (LCD → OLED) alone does not appeal to consumers."

In its newest report, The Elec doubles down on this idea that Apple doesn't seem to be rushing into adorning MacBooks with OLED displays because OLED iPads didn't sell as well as expected.

Display Supply Chain Consultants further backs up this theory with data that panel shipments dropped by 40% in the third quarter for Apple's 11-inch iPad Pro M4 and another predicted 30% drop in the fourth quarter. Then, the company outlined expectations for 13-inch model's panel shipments to drop by a whopping 90% in the fourth quarter.

Despite having the best displays ever produced for a tablet, demand for the iPad Pro slowed, and Apple doesn't want history to repeat itself with the MacBook Airs.

Nevertheless, the OLED MacBook Air rumors will continue, and we'll continue to hang on every word until we have one in-hand to test.

There's good news and bad news for MacBook Air fans.

The good news is, the M4 MacBook Air could launch soon. The bad news is, that Apple may be shaking up the MacBook Air lineup by retiring an unexpected model.

The M4 MacBook Air could launch soon... but there's a trade-off

Apple has several products in the pipeline for 2025, but we're expecting the M4 MacBook Air to be among the first new devices launched this year, possibly as early as March.

In that launch Apple might make a surprising lineup tweak. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple could be retiring the M3 MacBook Air and keeping the M2 MacBook Air as the budget alternative to the new M4 Air.

That's a surprising departure from Apple's normal rotation. When the M3 MacBook Air launched last year, Apple retired the M1 Air. Keeping the oldest MacBook Air in the lineup instead of retiring it (and retiring the M3 in its place) is unusual, especially if the M2 model doesn't get another price cut.

Gurman theorized that Apple could be using this tactic to avoid manufacturing challenges the M3 chip has faced. That might not be the only reason for keeping the M2 MacBook Air around, though.

The M2 chip is a much more significant step down from the M4 chip than the M3 chip is. So, Apple may be hoping to nudge more customers to buy the newer, more expensive MacBook Air rather than go with the previous year's model to save some money.

While we won't know for sure whether or not Apple is going to retire the M3 MacBook Air before the M2 Air, there are hints that this could be the direction Apple is heading. For instance, in late 2024, Apple upgraded the base RAM in all of its MacBooks, including the M2 MacBook Air, which could be a signal that Apple plans on keeping the M2 Air around a bit longer.

The question is, should anyone even bother buying a new M2 MacBook Air in 2025?

Will the M2 MacBook Air still be worth it in 2025?

If Apple does decide to keep the M2 MacBook Air around instead of the M3 Air when it launches the M4 MacBook Air, I'd advise caution before buying an M2 model. The M2 MacBook Air is a few years old at this point and you can get a newer laptop with better specs for a similar price.

Right now, the M2 Air starts at $999. That's a hefty price tag for a laptop from 2022, especially considering that the base configuration includes a measly 256GB of storage. You shouldn't settle for less than 512GB of storage, period. Apple would have to give the M2 MacBook Air a serious price cut to make it a reasonable buy in 2025.

It's also important to keep in mind that just because Apple isn't selling a certain MacBook model anymore, that doesn't mean you won't be able to find it elsewhere.

Major retailers like Best Buy and Amazon will likely continue to carry the M3 MacBook Air for a while even after it's no longer available directly from Apple. Plus, those retailers are also more likely to offer the best deals on MacBooks, so you could potentially get an M3 MacBook Air for less than Apple is selling the M2 MacBook Air for.

Of course, this MacBook Air roadmap isn't set in stone yet. We'll have to wait and see what Apple ultimately decides to do, but we'll also be keeping a close eye on M4 MacBook Air rumors and news until then, so stay tuned for more updates.

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With 2025 already gathering pace, it's time to turn our attention away from last year's hottest tech and look forward to a coming year of innovation.

While 2024 had plenty to showcase for Apple, including the excellent performance and efficiency of the M4 chip powering iPad Pro and MacBook Pro devices, this year promises to take things up a notch once again, delivering a swathe of upgrades throughout the Apple catalog and introduce the new M5 chip to select hardware.

So, what can we expect to see from Apple in the coming year? Let's find out.

Apple's product roadmap for 2025: The year ahead for MacBook, iPhone, iPad, and more

Between Apple's more "fixed" annual events, historically repeated release windows, and unofficial claims from reputable sources, we can paint a pretty detailed image of what's to come for the Cupertino-based company in 2025.

Of course, there's no guarantee that everything listed here will be released according to our estimates. Last year's iPad mini 7 was a prime example of how even the most in-the-know sources can be left guessing when it comes to the arrival of a new product.

However, as of the time of writing, these are our more informed predictions regarding Apple's itinerary of releases, starting in spring, 2025.

March - May, 2025

Putting aside last year's showcase of the Vision Pro in February, Apple typically waits a few calendar months before dropping any major reveals. If the company follows suit in 2025, then we can probably expect the majority of its next products to arrive in the spring.

• iPhone SE 4: One of the more anticipated iPhone releases in years comes by way of Apple's budget offering, the iPhone SE 4 — or, as rumors suggest, the newly named iPhone 16E.
  
  The new iPhone SE is expected to receive a full redesign, bringing it more in line with the look of post-iPhone 14 handsets, while adopting an OLED display with Face ID, the iPhone 15's Action Button, and an Apple Intelligence-ready processor (likely an A17 Pro or A18 Bionic chip paired with 8GB of RAM).
  
• MacBook Air M4: According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models featuring the M4 chip will launch early this year, closing the gap in performance between its MacBook Pro models, which are also set for a silicon refresh later this year.
  
• iPad 11: Similarly, Gurman reports that the 11th generation of iPad will also be released in the spring, offering several design changes and an Apple Intelligence-compatible chip, potentially the A17 Pro.
  
• iPad Air M4: Similar to its laptop counterpart, the iPad Air is also claimed to be due for an M4 upgrade, bringing more Pro-level performance to the ultra-thin slate in the near future.

June, 2025

Since 2007, Apple's annual WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) has historically fallen in the month of June, giving us a pretty solid expectation of when we'll get our first look at the latest milestone operating system updates for MacBook, iPhone, iPad, and more.

• macOS 16
• iOS 19
• iPadOS 19
• watchOS 12
• visionOS 3
• tvOS 19

September, 2025

Apple's star-studded line-up of mobile tech typically takes center stage in September, meaning it's here we can expect to see the unveiling of the 11th-Gen Apple Watch (including the third-generation Ultra and SE models), new third-generation AirPods Pro, and the iPhone 17 family of smartphones — including the rumored new "Air" model, alongside familiar Pro and Pro Max options.

• iPhone 17: This year's iPhone 17 line-up will reportedly ditch the "Plus" model for a thinner and lighter "Air" alternative featuring a new single-lens 48-megapixel rear camera — a bold design change that according to The Information will extend to the iPhone 17 Pro models also, switching things up to a horizontal camera array and potentially stepping away from the titanium chassis of the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro.
  
• Apple Watch 11: The Apple Watch Series 11 is expected to include new blood pressure monitoring and blood-glucose tracking features, along with the potential adoption of Apple Intelligence. The next generation of Apple Watch will likely be powered by the S12 chipset, potentially offering better efficiency and a longer-lasting battery life.
  
• Apple Watch Ultra 3: The much anticipated Apple Watch Ultra 3 is rumored to include satellite connectivity and 5G access, but won't be adopting the micro-LED display tech after Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the company will be sidelining this adoption for the "foreseeable future."
  
• Apple Watch SE 3: The third-generation Apple Watch SE was expected to arrive sometime in 2024. However, clearly, we've been left wanting.
  
  Apple's smartwatch is expected to pull back on price by offering a plastic chassis and an S9 chip, and it is rumored that it will feature a "new look" redesign by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. While we could see this device appear far earlier in the year, it may make the most sense for it to launch alongside other Apple Watch models in September.
  
• AirPods Pro 3: The third generation of Apple's AirPods Pro are reported to receive a new design (including its charging case) in 2025 alongside an improved H3 chip affording better noise-cancellation and potentially more health-based features.

Beyond hardware releases, September is also the month that Apple's new operating systems leave beta testing and receive public releases. We'd expect further Apple Intelligence integration across the board here, along with the usual supply of handy, platform-specific features.

• macOS 16, iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and more to release

October - November, 2025

• MacBook Pro M5: Apple's crowning achievement in hardware could come by way of a new M5-powered 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro released later this year. Currently tipped for an October 2025 release, the M5 MacBook Pro would pave the way for Pro, Max, and Ultra models to follow.
  
• iPad Pro M5: With the iPad Air expected to receive an M4 upgrade earlier this year, it stands to reason that the Pro model of iPad may face a similar boost in performance, also adopting Apple's latest M5 chip late into 2025. Last year's iPad Pro was the first device to feature the company's M4 chip, and Apple may choose to award its high-performance slate with a similar refresh once again.
  
• HomePod mini: There are several rumors suggesting that work is well underway at Apple in the development of a new smart home hub with a display. However, the jury is still out on whether we can expect this product to arrive in 2025. In the meantime, Apple is expected to refresh the HomePod mini with a faster chip, improved WiFi and Bluetooth, and more colorways.

Outlook

Taking into account everything we've heard or know so far, 2025 is set to be a pretty stacked card for Apple. All of these anticipated announcements have the potential to satisfy a great many macOS, iOS, and even iPadOS users.

That's without mentioning some of the more exciting rumors surrounding a new Apple Vision Pro headset, a foldable iPhone, and a super-sized 17-inch to 20-inch foldable iPad — all rumored wildcards that may or may not feature in some way this year.

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Best Buy is bringing back Black Friday-worthy savings with this epic deal on Apple's M2 MacBook Air, the perfect lightweight laptop for remote workers or students.

Right now, you can grab a new M2 MacBook Air for just $749 at Best Buy. Regularly $899, that's $150 in savings and the lowest we've seen this Apple laptop dip since Black Friday. When you consider the laptop first launched at $1,099, it really feels like $350 in savings for a fantastic laptop.

In our M2 MacBook Air review, we highlighted the laptop's elegant redesign, strong overall performance, comfortably springy keyboard, and bright, colorful display. One of the laptop's top features, in my opinion, is its 14+ hour battery life. While newer MacBooks boast 15-18 hours of battery life, they don't even come close to this laptop's $749 deal price.

This configuration features the M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine, ideal for basic AI tasks. Then, it's also equipped with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a sharp 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664-pixel Liquid Retina display.

Overall, the M2 MacBook Air is aging well. If you need a laptop capable of handling basic productivity tasks, like managing your emails, researching new products or ideas, working in document processors, and so on, the M2 MacBook Air is more than capable.

However, if you're searching for a laptop capable of more graphics-intensive tasks, like AAA gaming or video editing, you might want to consider the best MacBook Pro deals or best gaming laptop deals we've found instead.

Today's best M2 MacBook Air deal

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Pro MacBook and MacBook Air price drops are impressive at laptop retailers today. If you're finally ready to buy a MacBook to keep up with the productivity goals you've set for the new year, you can score a significant amount of savings.

For example, the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro is down to $1,449 ($150 off) at Amazon. That's $50 cheaper than Best Buy's current price (for non-Plus members).

The M4 MacBook Pro is one of the few laptops to earn a perfect 5 out of 5-star rating from our expert reviewers here at Laptop Mag. It's the Editor's Choice pro-level MacBook for its outstanding performance, brilliant display, and astonishing 18+ hour battery life.

Our beloved M4 MacBook Pro is the best laptop for creative professionals and power users. Prerequisites like a top-notch display, powerful hardware, and premium build quality make it ideal for video editing, touching up RAW photo files, graphic design, 3D editioning, and music production.

If you have room in your budget to splurge on a fully loaded pro MacBook, the M4 Max MacBook Pro 16 has dipped to $3,599 ($400 off) at Amazon — its biggest discount yet!

Meanwhile on the cheaper end of the price spectrum lives the M3 MacBook Air which Amazon now offers for $999 ($100 off). We called it the best overall laptop for most people when it launched in 2024 and that title still reigns in 2025.

Yet another Laptop Mag Editor's Choice laptop, the M3 MacBook Air earned a 4.5 out of 5-star review rating for its capable performance, bright, colorful display, and comfortable keyboard.

At just under $900, the M3 MacBook Air 13 is a sensible buy if portability and everyday multitasking are priorities to you.

From the latest and greatest pro MacBook to the cheapest MacBook worth your while, scroll on to see my favorite MacBook deals from Amazon.

Pro MacBook and MacBook Air laptop deals at Amazon

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This year's CES tech showcase is taking over this week laptop makers are revealing the next generation of MacBook rivals. After the M3-powered MacBook Air launched in March 2024, we quickly declared it the best overall laptop for most people. Today, it still holds that top spot on our list — and fortunately, it's on sale right now.

Currently, you can pick up the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air for just $999 at Amazon. That's $100 off its typical price, and a pretty great deal for a newly released MacBook Air. For that price, you'll get strong performance with Apple's M3 chip (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine), along with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage.

Browse: Amazon's entire sale

Our M3 MacBook Air 13 review praises the laptop for its lightweight yet sturdy design (a fantastic perk for frequent travelers), excellent performance, and over 15 hours of battery life. We also positively noted its sharp, bright 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664-pixel Liquid Retina display for both streaming media and light gaming.

Suppose you're looking for a laptop capable of efficiently handling everyday tasks, lasting an entire workday without needing a charge, running less graphics-intensive games, or all of the above. In that case, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is a smart pick.

The M3 MacBook Air is an especially great choice for students, those who travel a lot, and remote workers who frequently commute to coffee shops, libraries, or co-working spaces. That said, it's a laptop I'd recommend to almost anyone.

Check out the other best laptop deals we've gathered if you want to weigh all your options before making a final decision.

Today's best M3 MacBook Air 13 deal

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Maybe I've been influenced by a little too much Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but with a new year ahead I'm awakening my inner archeologist to dust off one of the most interesting MacBook rumors of the last few years to ask: Where's my MacBook SE?

The knee-jerk reaction to this concept is outright dismissal. After all, we're mentally programmed to understand that MacBooks and "budget-friendly" go together about as well as a back massage from an elephant—with starting prices often a mirage that masks the increased costs of required upgrades that better suit modern computing.

However, Apple does offer some of its most popular devices at affordable prices through its SE (Special Edition) lines, even if its inconsistent releases feel like a begrudging act at times.

Apple's standard iPad feels like an unbranded iPad SE when compared to the iPad Air and iPad Pro, but the company also provides some excellent value with devices like the third-generation Apple Watch SE and the upcoming iPhone SE 4 (or iPhone 16E, if rumors prove accurate).

This begs the question: Where's the ultra-affordable MacBook SE equivalent rumored to appear in 2024, and can we expect it to arrive in 2025?

M1 more time around the block?

Many would say that Apple already provides low-cost MacBooks through the continued availability of older models—refurbished, discounted, or otherwise—and that's not something I particularly disagree with. However, even when buying older hardware, consumers can end up paying extra for a device they won't make full use of.

Apple's MacBooks are often marketed as excellent options for creatives, with the latest powerful M-series processor capable of some staggering levels of performance, but how many of us know MacBook owners who barely scratch the surface of that power, while still paying a premium to have access to it.

I understand that having that performance to hand is a very welcome thing, but it's a bit like buying your gran a specced-out gaming laptop on the off-chance that she wants to join FaZe clan. It's also the reason I struggle to recommend a MacBook to many everyday users when a cheaper, entry-level Windows laptop would cost less and suit their needs better.

That said, the rumor regarding a potential "MacBook SE" in 2024 surprisingly saw Apple not taking on premium Windows laptops, but entry-level notebooks and Chromebooks instead.

To that end, Apple could dust off its plans for even the original M1 chip, pairing it with less premium materials and components, to offer ample performance and an Apple Intelligence-ready MacBook at a price that could potentially stay competitive with some of the best Chromebooks.

Perhaps even the M1 is a little too dated by Apple's standards. However, the door is still open to using the M2 chip, a feature of the recent sixth-generation iPad Air. Either way, Apple has the means to cut down costs, but does it have the motivation?

SE'ing is believing

Not only would a low-cost MacBook open up the doors of macOS to more casual users, but it could also give the company a key foothold in the education space and, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggested, "help build the company's brand in the developing world."

Improving the MacBook's accessibility in this way could also introduce more users to macOS at earlier ages, potentially eliminating a familiarity barrier to further buying into Apple's ecosystem. Not to mention helping to shift the needle regarding macOS' estimated 15.4% share of the desktop OS market (compared to Windows' ~72% dominance).

Still, 2024 came and went, and we didn't see or hear much else about a potential MacBook SE. That said, while the original rumor suggested that the device could make a 2H24 appearance, devices like the iPad mini 7 took longer than expected to materialize, and there's the outside possibility that (if this rumor has any weight to it) we could see Apple showcase an ultra-affordable MacBook at some point this year.

Is it likely? It's not an impossibility. However, we'd probably have heard more about such a device by now if it was in the advanced stages of planning or heading toward production. That said, even if the MacBook SE has found a home on the cutting-room floor of Apple Park, I'm still saving a spot for it on my wider tech wish list.

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