A lot of what makes the best laptops for Adobe Photoshop also makes the best laptops for video editing: a well-balanced combination of performance, battery life, and a bright and vivid display. Whether you're just learning the ins and outs of editing photos or can wield the lasso tool like a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon, there's no shortage of great options, whatever your skill level.

Laptops with Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs are now available for creators with demanding Photoshop needs, as well as all Intel's Core Ultra 200-series and AMD's Max Pro series of processors. Professional editors can benefit from the added performance of a discrete graphics card by enabling Photoshop's hardware acceleration features, which helps power through demanding tasks faster.

A high-resolution OLED display is also something to consider. You'll not only get to enjoy the rich hues and deep contrasts OLEDs are famous for, but some of them also have wide color gamut coverage — wide enough to find colors in between colors.

For beginners or anyone looking to save money, any laptop with last-gen hardware will still provide more than performance to move Photoshop edits along quickly. Even ones without a discrete graphics card. Check out our best laptop deals for the best discounts at various price points.

This page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update Log

6/6/25: Updated intro, benchmark comparisons, recently reviewed, and FAQs; added the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a as the best workstation and the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition as the best 2-in-1.

The Quick List

Best Overall

There's little not to love about the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9. It features a gorgeous display, powerful processor, solid discrete graphics, and enough memory and storage for creators of all skill levels. It even comes with decent battery life and a comfortable, bouncy keyboard.

Rami Tabari said in our review, "I love a display with a little kick. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i’s 16-inch, 3200 x 2000, 165Hz panel is gorgeous. It’s reasonably bright and offers a vivid wave of color."

The Yoga Pro 9i covers 105.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is well above the premium laptop average (91.2%). Its display is far better than similar laptops like the HP Spectre x360 16 (87.1%), Dell XPS 14 OLED (79.9%), and Apple MacBook Air (77.8%).

The Yoga Pro's powerful combination of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card provide enough power for even the most demanding projects. The Yoga Pro 9i also lasted a respectable 9 hours and 51 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which is far more than many similarly packaged laptops.

The Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 base model costs just $1,482 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The fully specced $2,043 version provides an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with an RTX 4060 GPU and a 16-inch, 3.2K, Mini-LED display. Our preferred middle-of-the-road spec costs just $1,784.

See our full Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 review.

Best under $1,000

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is a laptop that can do just about anything. It continuously amazes us how budget-friendly this absolute powerhouse is. With its power performance, solid graphics, and almost 16 hours of battery life, we have good reason to love the Zenbook 14 OLED as much as we do.

In my review, I note that "the display panel on the Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) looks incredible. The new trailer for Chris Pine's The Poolman showed crisp, vibrant colors, particularly in the scenes shot outdoors in LA during what appears to be a Lunar New Year celebration."

Starting at just $799, this laptop has a powerful Intel Core Ultra 5 135H processor with 8GB of DDR5 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch FHD OLED panel. But if you can flex your budget just a bit more to the higher-end spec, at just $1,049, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB of SSD storage.

The Zenbook 14 OLED's display could be brighter and more vibrant, but with a DCI-P3 rating of 79.8%, it is comparable to most other laptops in its category, such as the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 (77.8%) and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405M (81.7%).

But the Zenbook 14 OLED is more than its display panel. Surviving a shocking 15 hours and 52 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, it is one of the longest-lasting Intel laptops we've seen this year. Considering how budget-friendly this laptop is and how well it handles Photoshop, you can't go wrong with it.

See our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) review.

Best under $1,500

The Acer Swift X 14 is a powerful, budget-friendly option for Photoshop users who need more 3D rendering capacity. The base model starts at just $1,099. The mid-range model combines a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with a workhorse Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, plus 16 GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It retails for just $1,299. This mid-range model offers similar performance at a lower cost without sacrificing the display.

In my review, I observe that "the glossy CineCrystal OLED display on the Acer Swift X 14 looks fantastic to the human eye. The colors are bright and vivid, though the display panel does suffer from glare, especially with overhead office lighting."

However, if you'd like more memory, storage, and a more powerful GPU, our preferred Swift X 14 configuration is available for just $1,699. It includes an Nvidia RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

Acer rates the CineCrystal display on the Swift X 14 to 100% coverage on the DCI-P3 format. Our lab display test measures OLED panels a bit differently, so our testing indicated that the Swift X 14 covered 79.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro (81.4%) and HP Spectre x360 14 (85.8%) outperformed the Swift X 14 in our lab testing, but the Swift X 14's display looked incredible to the eye. In addition, the Swift X 14 offers a powerful Nvidia RTX 4050 to 4070 GPU, making it a better fit for more in-depth Photoshop work.

Based on the Laptop Mag battery test, the Swift X 14 with an RTX 4070 GPU can last for 7 hours and 33 minutes while surfing the web at 150 nits of brightness. While that isn't the best battery life for a laptop on this list, it's not bad for a laptop packing a discrete GPU and OLED display panel.

See our full Acer Swift X 14 review.

Best 2-in-1

Like some of the other Laptop Mag writers, I'm picky when it comes to convertible laptops — so it's a great day when a highly-rated review of one comes across my desk, and I get to give it a buying guide superlative. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is without a doubt a laptop that deserves to be on this list.

This laptop's headlining feature is the display, a 14-inch OLED that's "far superior and even more colorful than most premium laptops overall," as Laptop Mag reviews editor Rami Tabari notes in his review. Covering 149.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, it produces vivid and richly saturated, drool-worthy colors. The display averages a maximum of 421 nits of brightness, higher than you'd see on many competing OLED laptops —all major reasons why this Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is also our current pick for the best touchscreen laptop with an OLED display.

When it comes to performance, this laptop takes a leisurely approach to finishing demanding tasks. Compared to the other laptops on this list, it was the slowest to convert a 4K video file to 1080p. Photoshop users may experience some lag when batch-processing dozens of images with numerous layers or working with filters and brush tools.

But if you're not a graphic designer or photographer who uses a lot of advanced features in Photoshop, the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has a lot of other things going for it: a stellar and responsive keyboard; speakers that can actually handle a baseline; nearly 13 hours of battery life; and it weighs just under 3 pounds. (Other 2-in-1s are much more brick-like.) Also, I would feel comfortable putting it on my bare lap. At its hottest point, this laptop didn't reach 88.3 degrees, well below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

See our full Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition review.

Best MacBook

For Apple users and design enthusiasts, the 2024 MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Pro CPU reigns supreme for photo editing. While pricey (starting at $2,499), it offers powerful performance and a seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem. Opting for a 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM configuration delivers ample storage and smooth Photoshop performance, making it a compelling choice for creative professionals though upgrading the memory and storage capacity can get pricey.

Reviewer Sean Riley observes, "The 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro is more laptop than most people need, but that likely won't stop you from wanting one, and after a week with it, I can't blame you."

With any configuration of the M4 chip, you’ll get a brilliant 14-core Apple M4 Pro CPU, a 20-core Apple GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, and a gorgeous 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. Our lab benchmarking rated the 16-inch Liquid Retina panel as covering 81.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is high for laptops on this list. The MacBook Pro also scored well on the brightness test, with an average of 565 nits, much brighter than the category average of 391.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro (2024) is a smart choice for Photoshop because of its beautiful, bright display and powerfully smooth internal specs. However, there’s another crucial spec to consider: battery life. MacBooks are known for having excellent battery life, which is a fantastic feature for those wanting to use Photoshop on the go. The 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted an amazing 20 hours and 46 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, significantly longer than its workstation laptop competitors.

See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Best Workstation

At CES 2025, we were so blown away by the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a that we gave it our best laptop award — and after reviewing it, we're still blown away by it. At 0.71-inches thick and weighing 3.4 pounds, it could easily be mistaken for a productivity laptop. However, with the driving force of an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 chip, it's anything but.

The great news for Windows users is that it comes "very close to eclipsing the MacBook Pro" in terms of portability and raw CPU power, as Laptop Mag staff writer Madeline Ricchiuto candidly mentions in her review. In some of our real-world testing, it's evenly matched; the ZBook converted a 4K video to 1080p 4 seconds faster than the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro in our Handbrake transcoding test.

It's OLED display comes in an extremely close second to the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, covering 139% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. (Many OLED laptop displays don't break 100%!) Its max brightness in on par with other competitors, maxing out at an average 368 nits — but if you're searching for the perfect shade of Pantone-like purple, this could be the workstation you've been looking for.

Being as powerful as they are, Windows workstations usually come with a battery life caveat, and with a run time of 6 hours and 46 minutes, this ZBook is no exception. To be fair, that's typical for a workstation, but it's a key area where this laptop doesn't eclipse the MacBook Pro, as well as other creator-focused laptops like the Asus ProArt PX13.

Ultimately, the ZBook's price tag is where most potential buyers could draw the line. The model we reviewed costs an enormous $4,049, but the base configuration starts at a substantial $2,599. If you're not loyal to a specific operating system, that amount of money can get you a MacBook Pro M4 Pro with better battery life — but it's hard to ignore that the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a marvelous laptop for any creative work.

See our full HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a review.

Benchmark Comparisons

Recent reviews

We review more than 100 laptops annually, and while some simply don't have what it takes to make our buying guides, others are still strong options that came up short for one reason or another. Here are some of our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make the cut for "Best laptops for Photoshop" but could still be solid machines for your photo editing needs.

How to choose a laptop for Photoshop

CPU: You want a high-performance processor like an Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9, an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9, or an Apple M4 chipset to handle complex filters, large photo files, and multiple project layers.

GPU: For heavy-duty tasks like intricate filters, 3D effects, or AI generation, you may want to consider a laptop with a discrete graphics card like an Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon RX card.

RAM: You need at least 16GB of memory, but depending on your budget, Photoshop users will certainly benefit from 32 or 64GB of RAM. I'd stress the latter in particular isn't something you need to consider unless money is no object or you are doing this professionally and every second counts.

Storage: 512 GB is the minimum I'd consider if I'm doing a lot of photo work, though splurging for 1TB or more is a good idea. Unlike the CPU, GPU, and RAM, you can always turn to external storage, so if your budget requires you to save somewhere, this is the place to do it. However, I'd still stress that you want 512GB at a minimum to handle at least one project at a time without turning to an external drive.

Display: You want to be picky about the display since photo editing is a visual medium. You'll want a crisp, high-resolution panel in the QHD to 4K range with accurate color reproduction. For the best combination of brightness and vibrancy, we recommend opting for an IPS, OLED, or Apple Liquid Retina XDR display to ensure a high level of color fidelity.

If you're looking to set up a full photo studio workstation and didn't select a laptop with the best display, you could also upgrade with one of our picks for the best monitors or best portable monitors for on-the-go editing.

FAQs

Q: What minimum specs do I need for Photoshop?

A: Lower than you might think! As of October 2024, the minimum system requirements for Adobe Photoshop running on Windows 11 are: an Intel or AMD processor with AVX2 and SSE 4.2 or higher support, or a WinARM processor; 8GB of RAM; 256GB total SSD storage space; and a graphics card that's newer than 7 years with at least 1.5GB of video RAM, and supports DirectX 12; and a 1080p monitor.

All that applies if you have a Mac, except the graphics card, but you'll want to make sure you have macOS v12 or higher.

If you a faster laptop to run Photoshop, we recommend at least: an Intel 13th-gen Core i7 processor or newer, an AMD Ryzen 7 7000 series or newer, or Apple Silicon M2 or newer; at least 16GB of RAM; 512GB or more of total SSD storage space (PCIe Gen 4 or newer); an Nvidia RTX 2050 or newer graphics card with at least 4GB of VRAM; and a 1080p display or higher.

Mac users should be running macOS Sonoma or newer.

Q: Is a laptop that's good for Photoshop also good for video editing?

A: Most laptops that are good for Photoshop will also work for video editing, but you'll also want to be aware of the audio quality of a laptop when choosing a video editing machine. So not all the laptops on this list will be ideal for editing video or audio files.

Video editing can often demand more RAM and GPU resources than photo editing, so you may want to opt for a laptop with a discrete GPU if video editing is going to be a large part of your workflow.

Q: Why don't we recommend a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptop for Photoshop?

A: On the hardware-side, a Snapdragon X Elite laptop is an excellent machine for running editing programs like Photoshop — but few native Windows on Arm versions of Adobe programs exist overall.

Currently, only Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can run natively on Snapdragon X Elite laptops. This might not be an issue if you only use Photoshop, but if you also use Adobe Premiere Pro, InDesign, or Illustrator, those can only run via emulation.

It's a similar concept to running a virtual version of Windows 95 on a Windows 11 PC, but the computer will use more resources running both the emulator and program at the same time, which could slow down various editing tasks. If you don't have enough available RAM or video RAM, the entire program could crash.

How We Test Laptops for Photoshop

Every laptop we test undergoes countless lab tests before a review goes live. We look at how a laptop performs in terms of CPU and GPU-intensive tasks, battery life, speakers, heat management, and display. While each laptop on this list has gone through every test we could run on it; there are a few specific test results we paid close attention to when choosing the best laptops for Photoshop.

When you work with Photoshop, it’s important that the colors you’re working with will translate to other screens when your file is shared. To detect a laptop’s display brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut, we use a Klein K-10A colorimeter, Klein ChromaSurf, and DisplayCal to calculate a laptop's average brightness and color gamut volume. We also pay attention to each laptop’s Delta-E score, showing how accurate a display’s colors are.

Additionally, performance is important in a laptop running Adobe Photoshop. The Geekbench CPU benchmark tests a laptop’s overall performance. To test a laptop’s GPU, the 3DMark benchmarks determine how well a laptop can run graphic-intensive applications. Discrete graphics are ideal when selecting a laptop for Photoshop, but not essential, so you might forgo a discrete GPU for a more budget-friendly laptop.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

The best video editing laptops have at least two of the three must-have features: performance, battery life, and a bright and vivid display. These are important for any of the best laptops, but even more so for visual creatives. These are also often some of the best laptops for college, especially for majors working in media.

The better your laptop's performance, the less time you'll have to wait for it to finish transcoding a video file or render a 3D animation. Video editing laptops without discrete graphics cards are usually cheaper than those with them, which means they rely on their processor to do all those things.

Having enough RAM is especially important in this case. 16GB sounds like it could be enough until you try pre-rendering footage in the background while you're editing and cause the whole program to freeze. (I learned this the hard way.)

Display color and accuracy are also important for video editing. This is why Laptop Mag measures the DCI-P3 gamut coverage of every laptop we test. DCI-P3 is the color space used in professional digital cinema, capturing about 25% more color variations than the standard SRGB. As a general guideline, the best laptops for video editing should cover at least 85% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

This page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update log

Quick Menu

Best overall

If you're a professional video editor in need of a new laptop that can breeze through heavy video and 3D rendering workloads, we recommend the newest 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro processor.

Laptop Mag's managing editor, Sean Riley, describes it best in his review: "It's almost simultaneously the most powerful premium laptop we've reviewed while also offering the second-longest battery of any laptop we've tested." Our benchmark numbers mostly speak for themselves.

With 20 hours and 46 minutes of battery life, it lasts 7 hours longer than the average premium laptop and its main competitors, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 and Asus ProArt PX16 (2024), between 10 and 11 hours, respectively. It also outlasts the MacBook Pro M3 Max by nearly 3 hours.

It outshines them all in the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark, scoring 22,822. That's 47% faster than the Yoga Pro (12,141), 32% faster than the ProArt PX16 (15,286), and over 100% more than the average premium laptop (10,492). Compared to the M3 Max (21,182), that's an 8% speed increase; remember that the 16-inch Max configurations start at $3,499.

If you happen to be upgrading from an M2 Max, you might need help picking your jaw up off the floor: the M4 Pro was 45% faster in Laptop Mag's tests by comparison. My fiancé recently traded in his M2 Max for an M4 Pro, and while he didn't convey his excitement in words he did make happy grunting noises.

Everything else about this MacBook Pro is just as good or better than previous generations. It's still expensive, but it's our best overall pick for a reason.

See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Best budget

15-inch laptops are increasingly rare these days, but as Laptop Mag managing editor Sean Riley writes in his review, the new Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 "deserves to be in the conversation." He gave it 4.5 stars for a good reason! It offers many of the same benefits for video editors as the pricier Pro M4, and its performance and battery life are still unparalleled compared to many of its budget competitors.

Its CPU multicore performance is nearly 38% faster than the 15-inch Air M3, according to our testing. In our real-world video transcoding test, the Air M4 converted a 4K video to 1080p in just under 5 minutes — 2 minutes faster than the Air M3.

The Air M4's display isn't the most vibrant or color-accurate screen you can get, but it covers a larger portion of the DCI-P3 color gamut compared to last year's Air M3 (83.5% versus 77.8%). For video editors on a budget who want the largest laptop display possible, that's less of a compromise between the Air M4 and 14-inch M4 Pro — and you still get Apple's True Tone technology, which adjusts how colors are displayed depending on the lighting.

It's max brightness is 476 nits, just like last year's model, and it's battery still lasts 15 hours, too. The Air M4's other features have mostly stayed the same or improved, which is especially great considering Apple dropped the 15-inch Air M4's starting price by $100.

If you currently have an Air M2, you're in the best position to get the most out of your money by upgrading.

See our full Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 review.

Best touchscreen

For a touchscreen laptop, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x has all the makings of a great video editing machine. Laptop Mag's reviewer, Stevie Bonifield, writes that it "balances price and performance with a stylish design and strong battery life," on top of a sharp OLED display that produces vivid colors and inky blacks.

This laptop's DCI-P3 color gamut coverage is one of the widest Laptop Mag has seen in the last year: 155%. The display also gets bright, hitting a max of 464 nits in SDR and 785 nits in HDR. 431 nits is also the average SDR brightness for a premium laptop, so the Yoga Slim 7x is right on the money here.

It's essential for any creativity laptop to have fast multicore performance, as many creativity programs make full use of all the CPU's cores simultaneously. The Yoga Slim 7x has speed in spades. With a Snapdragon X Elite processor, it cranked out a benchmark score of 13,750 in Geekbench 6, making it faster than many similar-priced laptops.

That doesn't directly translate to some real-world video workloads, however, the Yoga Slim 7x was still able to transcode a 4K video to 1080p in just over 5 minutes. That's still faster than what Laptop Mag has seen from some competing laptops with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H.

The Yoga Slim 7x has two potential downsides as a video editing laptop: app compatibility and its reflective OLED display. You might need to max out the display brightness to get rid of any lighting glare (which, of course, will shorten the battery life; the brighter the display, the more power it needs).

Also, make sure your favorite editing app has a native ARM64 version since this laptop runs Windows on ARM. For most people, this shouldn't be an issue as popular programs like Premiere Pro, After Effects, Blender, and DaVinci Resolve are compatible. But it's always good to double-check!

See our full Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x review.

Best gaming

Strong all-round performance, a splashy OLED display, and keys that are responsive and satisfying to press can make most gaming laptops enticing options for video editors. The HP Omen Max 16 has a tantalizing combination of all three, and it handles heat way better than many of the best gaming laptops.

Most gaming laptops crank up the frame rates at the expense of pushing surface temps past our 95-degree comfort threshold, but the Omen Max 16 stays 10-20 degrees cooler by comparison whether its being used for gaming or streaming videos.

It's not the fastest gaming laptop by frame rates alone, but it generated almost or just as many frames as its competitors. As our tests showed, the Omen Max 16 handles games like Far Cry 6 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider better than some rival gaming laptops, but performed worse with games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong.

That give-and-take performance showed up in our Handbrake test, too. This laptop took 2 minutes and 54 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p, which is fast compared to a lot of other gaming laptops we've tested — but still about 20-35 seconds slower than its fiercest rivals.

But when it comes to many video editors' need for color, contrast, and clarity, we have yet to test another gaming laptop that can hold a diode to the Omen's OLED display.

Laptop Mag editor, Rami Tabari, said he couldn't remember the last time he's seen a display this "drop-dead gorgeous" after reviewing the Omen Max 16. It's a "fever dream of colors and infinite contrast," decimating its competition with a DCI-P3 color gamut coverage of 141.4%. Compared to the other laptops on this list, it only falls behind the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x — and that's not even a gaming laptop! Though with a max brightness of 363 nits, dimly lit scenes can be easily washed out by strong ambient lighting (a common issue for OLED displays).

See our full HP Omen Max 16 review.

Best Windows laptop

For the video editor loyal to Windows, "The Asus ProArt P16 is a stellar example of what a creator laptop should be: powerful, reliable, and stylish," as our reviewer Stevie Bonifield writes. You don't have to pay MacBook Pro prices to get superb performance in a thin and light chassis with a beautiful design that's just as easy on your eyes as it is on your wallet.

While I'd normally recommend a laptop with a wider color gamut for video editors, the ProArt P16 covers a high enough percentage of the DCI-P3 (85.5%). But if you're looking at this laptop for graphic design, that should be less of a concern since you're likely working with the AdobeRGB or sRGB color gamut.

Just as important as color accuracy is performance; this laptop's AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, 32GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card powers it to a Geekbench 6 multicore score of 15,286, way beyond the average premium laptop. Commonly used graphic design programs like Adobe Illustrator load in a snap, and the ProArt P16 has the right amount of RAM and CPU cores to prevent the system from getting too bogged down with all the processes Photoshop runs in the background.

That stellar performance played out in Laptop Mag's Handbrake benchmark, transcoding a 4K video to 1080p in 3 minutes and 15 seconds, much faster than the average premium laptop (7:58).

Its battery life is a letdown, though. Expect up to 9 hours and 32 minutes if you use this laptop for web browsing, with the display brightness set to 150 nits. If you're manipulating images with dozens of vector masks at full brightness (356 nits), the battery will drain much faster. Just something to be mindful of if your workspace doesn't have a nearby outlet.

See our full Asus ProArt P16 review.

Best workstation

For the video editor who is extra cautious about maintaining the integrity of their files' data, the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is aimed directly at that kind of professional use. "While it may not be the most powerful workstation we’ve ever seen here at Laptop Mag," our staff writer Madeline Ricchiuto writes, it has enough "performance to handle photo and video editing, 3D rendering, or heavy data analysis you’d want out of a workstation machine." It isn't impractically expensive, either (at least when it's on sale).

With a Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark average of 12,974, it's outpaced by the Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro — and even some less expensive competitors like the Asus ProArt P16 (15,286, or 16%).

However, it did transcode a 4K video 1080p in a swift 4 minutes and 21 seconds in our Handbrake benchmark test, faster than some of its competitors. Keep in mind this laptop is designed for stable and reliable workloads — slower performance is the norm when you compare this kind of workstation to any laptop with a discrete gaming graphics card, like the ProArt P16.

I don't know about you, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a little performance for this ThinkPad's battery life: an outstanding 17 hours and 23 minutes. That's as long or longer than some productivity laptops and definitely much longer than the average workstation's 5 or 6 hours!

We do wish this laptop had a better display for its price. The $4,584 configuration we reviewed is outfitted with only a 1920 X 1200 IPS panel, covering just 78.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Its max brightness is 386 nits — bright enough for an IPS display to ward off glare, though not the brightest out of all the laptops on this list.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 review.

Benchmark comparisons

Recently reviewed

Not every laptop can make the best video editing laptops page. (We wouldn't be doing you that much good if that were the case!) We review new laptops every week and over 100 laptops yearly, so here's a look at our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make this page either due to a fault, battery life, performance, or something else.

How to choose the best video editing laptop

The best video editing laptop for one person probably won't be the same as the next. Everyone has different budgets and different projects; editing short, ASMR videos in 1080p isn't the same as editing a full-length feature film in 4K. If you know what you want to do with a video editing laptop, that will help narrow down your choices.

Price

If you're a hobbyist, you can most likely get away with any laptop released in the last year or two for under $1,500. If you're a professional editor who needs a top-of-the-line laptop, it's even more important to have a budget in mind as these laptops can easily exceed $3,000. (We've seen them go as high as $8,000!)

Performance

In general, video editing leans heavily on the processor, so look for something with an Apple M3 Max or M4 (Pro or Max), AMD Ryzen AI 9, Intel Core Ultra, or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. If you need to step back a generation for the sake of affordability, that's fine too, though it may increase how long it takes to render or transcode your videos.

Graphics

If you need speed, look for a video editing laptop with a discrete graphics card (usually an Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series, RTX A-series, or RTX Ada Generation). A lot of intensive video-editing tasks can be processed by the GPU instead of the CPU, which can save you a lot of time.

RAM and Storage

But whether a hobbyist or professional, do not skimp on RAM! 16GB is the absolute floor for hobbyists and 24GB for professionals, though we recommend at least 32GB for the latter.

You'll also want enough storage space for all your videos and editing programs, at least 1TB to 2TB. Not all of the best video editing laptops are configurable with more than 2TB of storage space, though, and if they are their price usually goes up drastically; an external SSD is a great, cost-saving option to get around that. (Or if you're feeling spicy, build your own cloud storage.)

FAQs

Q: Are gaming laptops good for video editing?

A: Yes! Any laptop with a discrete graphics card lets you take advantage of Hardware Acceleration, a common feature in popular image and video editing programs. Instead of relying on the CPU and RAM to do all the work, Hardware Acceleration uses the GPU to perform the same tasks much faster.

Gaming laptops' GPUs also work with Nvidia Studio Drivers, which provide more stability and reliability for content creation. Workstations usually come with Nvidia's RTX A-series or Ada Generation graphics cards, which are designed specfically for professional workstations and have better data integrity and stability. (They're more expensive, too!)

Q: Do I need a GPU for video editing?

A: Not necessarily! You can do encoding, transcoding, and other common video editing tasks with just the processor and its integrated graphics. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips are particularly great at this; they're built on ARM architecture, like Apple's M-series, which generally process tasks more efficiently.

Most of today's integrated graphics (Intel Arc, AMD Radeon, and Apple's M-series) are powerful enough to cut down on the time it takes to run all sorts of video editing-related tasks — not as much as a discrete GPU, but usually a couple of minutes. MacBooks' integrated graphics are especially great for video editing, which is a big part of why there are two of 'em on our list.

Q: What GPU should I get?

A: It depends! If you want high frame rates and stunning graphics, then an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 are your best bet. Those graphics cards make the most out of high refresh rates and OLED displays. If you are willing to compromise on one or the other, look for gaming laptops with an RTX 5070, or RTX 4090 or lower.

Nvidia's DLSS Multi Frame Generation is only supported on 50-series cards, but all other DLSS technologies are accessible on both the RTX 50-and 40-series.

Q: How much RAM do I need for video editing?

A: It depends! With a discrete GPU (which has its own on-board video RAM) and Hardware Acceleration, you can get away with at least 16GB if you're not working on anything resource-intensive. But if you edit videos for a living, we recommend a minimum of 24GB — though if you have the budget for 32GB or more, that would be ideal.

If the video editing laptop you have your eye on has unified memory (RAM that is built into the CPU itself), you probably want to configure it with at least 32GB of RAM. The RAM in these laptops is shared between the CPU and integrated graphics; if you don't have enough total RAM, then the integrated graphics might not have enough resources to render large video or 3D files.

Q: Does Windows have video editing software?

A: You can download Clipchamp from the Microsoft store for free. It's designed for basic video editing, so it lacks many features of 3rd-party, professional software like Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve.

Access to Clipchamp's more "advanced" features, like 4K resolution video exports and content backup costs $11.99 per month.

How we test video editing laptops

The best laptops for video editing are the ultimate high-performance laptops. We put each one through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 6, PugetBench for Adobe applications, and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

To determine real-world performance, we convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicate a 25GB file. Our real-world graphics test is Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gathering Storm benchmark at 1080p resolution and Medium graphics. We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop.

For our battery test, we continuously web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, anything over 10 hours is a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than 5 hours deserve praise.

Beyond the lab, our expert reviewers put laptops through their paces in real-world scenarios. By using the devices for their daily work, they gain a deep understanding of their performance and usability. This practical, hands-on approach, combined with lab testing, is how Laptop Mag delivers thorough and insightful reviews.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

A lot of what makes the best laptops for graphic design is similar to the best laptops for Photoshop, but the two most important are blazing performance and and a display that can produce a seemingly endless expanse of colors. These features are crucial when you are, say, designing marketing materials for Academy Award-nominated films like my fiancé used to do — sometimes as the awards aired on live TV.

If one of them won, he'd have to open the correct Photoshop file, edit and arrange the text, convert the file, and send it to the marketing firm so they could post it to social media before the award winner finished their 45-second speech. A slow processor would have been disastrous to that entire process.

But so would have a dull, lifeless display. The colors of those marketing materials often matched the overall color pallet used in the films themselves, so his job also relied on having a display with great color coverage and overall brightness.

Depending on where you spend the most time designing, a laptop with a shorter than average battery life might not be a dealbreaker; some of the best workstations and the best laptops for video editing also make fabulous graphic design machines. But unless you're desk-bound, ideally look for something that lasts at least 11 hours.

This page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update Log

6/10/25: Added Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 as best budget option, Asus ProArt PX13 as best 2-in-1; updated the following sections: recently reviewed, FAQs, intro, and how to choose a graphic design laptop.

The Quick List

Best overall

If you're a professional graphic designer who needs a new laptop that won't bottleneck the second you add one too many layers to your latest Photoshop project, we recommend the newest 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro processor.

Laptop Mag's managing editor, Sean Riley, describes it best in his review: "It's almost simultaneously the most powerful premium laptop we've reviewed while also offering the second-longest battery of any laptop we've tested." Our benchmark numbers mostly speak for themselves.

With 20 hours and 46 minutes of battery life, it lasts 7 hours longer than the average premium laptop. It also outshines them all in the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark with a score of 22,822 — over a 100% speed increase compared to the average premium laptop (10,492).

I realize numbers alone might not be convincing enough, so I asked a professional graphic designer (my fiancé) with over a decade of experience creating company logos, website wireframes, and user interfaces for video games how he felt about his new MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro. He didn't convey his excitement in words at first. He made happy grunting noises and told me it's the best laptop he's owned during his career. (If you are also upgrading from an M2 Max, you might need help picking your jaw up off the floor like he did.)

Everything else about this MacBook Pro is just as good or better than previous generations. It's still expensive, but it's our best overall pick for a reason.

See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Best budget

15-inch laptops are increasingly rare these days, but as Laptop Mag managing editor Sean Riley writes in his review, the new Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 "deserves to be in the conversation." He gave it 4.5 stars for a good reason! It offers many of the same benefits for graphic designers as the pricier Pro M4, and its performance and battery life remain unparalleled among many of its budget competitors.

Its CPU multicore performance is nearly 38% faster than the 15-inch Air M3, according to our testing. In our real-world video transcoding test, the Air M4 converted a 4K video to 1080p in just under 5 minutes — 2 minutes faster than the Air M3.

The Air M4's display isn't the most vibrant or color-accurate screen you can get, but it covers a larger portion of the DCI-P3 color gamut compared to last year's Air M3 (83.5% versus 77.8%). For graphic designers on a budget who want the largest laptop display possible, that's less of a compromise between the Air M4 and 14-inch M4 Pro — and you still get Apple's True Tone technology, which adjusts how colors are displayed depending on the lighting.

Its max brightness is 476 nits, just like last year's model, and its battery still lasts 15 hours, too. The Air M4's other features have remained mostly the same or improved, which is especially notable considering Apple dropped the 15-inch Air M4's starting price by $100.

If you currently have an Air M2 or earlier, you're in the best position to get the most out of your money by upgrading.

See our full Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 review.

Best Windows

If you're more comfortable using Windows, the Asus ProArt P16 is a "stellar example of what a creator laptop should be: powerful, reliable, and stylish," as our reviewer, Stevie Bonifield, said. You don't have to pay MacBook Pro prices to get suburb performance in a thin and light chassis with a beautiful design that's just as easy on your eyes as it is on your wallet.

While I'd normally recommend a laptop with a wider color gamut for graphic designers, the ProArt P16 covers a high enough percentage of the DCI-P3 (85.5%). If you want this laptop for professional video editing that could be more of a concern, where the AdobeRGB color gamut is more useful for graphic designers.

Just as important as color accuracy is performance; this laptop's AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, 32GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card powers it to a Geekbench 6 multicore score of 15,286, way beyond the average premium laptop. Commonly used graphic design programs like Adobe Illustrator load in a snap, and the ProArt P16 has the right amount of RAM and CPU cores to prevent the system from getting too bogged down with all the processes Photoshop runs in the background.

That stellar performance played out in Laptop Mag's Handbrake benchmark, transcoding a 4K video to 1080p in 3 minutes and 15 seconds, much faster than the average premium laptop (7:58). (Yes, the ProArt P16 also makes a fantastic video editing laptop.)

Its battery life is a letdown, though. Expect up to 9 hours and 32 minutes if you use this laptop for web browsing, with the display brightness set to 150 nits. If you're manipulating images with dozens of vector masks at full brightness (356 nits), the battery will drain much faster. Just something to be mindful of if your workspace doesn't have a nearby outlet.

See our full Asus ProArt P16 review.

Best 2-in-1

If you start your design process with hand-drawn sketches on a tablet but are tired of importing them to a separate device, the Asus ProArt PX13 is "a top choice for creators looking for a compact laptop," as Laptop Mag contributing writer Stevie Bonifield, sums up nicely.

This laptop's 13.3-inch display offers almost the same amount of space as a standard-sized piece of paper, so it keeps a good balance between portability and having enough room to draw. It weighs 3 pounds, which is heavier than the average 100-page sketchbook, of course, but that's incredibly lightweight for a laptop — especially a 2-in-1.

If you draw directly inside a graphic design program, you won't have to worry about your lines lagging behind your stylus. The ProArt Px13 performed exceptionally well in our PugetBench Photoshop and HandBreak video transcoding tests, meeting or exceeding what its competitors are capable of achieving. Coupled with a discrete RTX 4050 graphics card and 32GB of RAM, you likely won't have to manually adjust the memory allocation to your graphic design program.

Graphic designers who work with the DCI-P3 color gamut might find the display's coverage on the low side with 80% of that color space in our testing. While this is below the recommended 85% minimum, it's important to note that OLED displays typically underperform on this test, so the true number is almost certainly above 85%.

What might be a concern for anyone considering this laptop is its battery life: 9 hours and 49 minutes. That's not terrible for a creator laptop, but it's less than the 11-hour minimum we recommend.

See our full Asus ProArt PX13 review.

Best gaming

If your graphic design work takes you into the realm of video game UI (like my fiancé's did for a period of time), you most likely will need a gaming laptop — one with "powerful performance, smooth graphics," and a "stunning display," as our staff writer, Madeline Ricchiuto said in her review of the Legion Pro 7i Gen 9.

Those are its stand-out features, especially at a price compared to some competing gaming laptops that are less powerful. For under $2,500 (on sale), you get an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU with 12GB of VRAM. Combined with 32GB of system memory, this laptop spiked into the high-90s and low-100s in our gaming benchmarks.

Its display is also suitable for UI design work, averaging 108.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut — way beyond what most graphic designers probably would need. It also gets super bright, averaging 456 max nits in Laptop Mag's testing. It does only have a 1600p native resolution, but that may or may not be a deal breaker based on the kind of work you primarily do on your laptop.

Just keep in mind that if you go with this laptop, it's chunky, 1.01 inches thick, and weighs 5.7 pounds — definitely a desktop replacement. You can technically carry it around if you want to, but after a week (at most) of doing that, I can imagine the process becoming a hassle.

See our full Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 review.

Benchmark comparisons

Recently reviewed

Not every laptop can make our best laptops for graphic design page. (We wouldn't be doing you that much good if that were the case!) We review new laptops every week and over 100 laptops yearly, so here's a look at our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make this page either due to a fault, battery life, performance, or something else.

How to choose a laptop for graphic design

CPU: The faster your processor, the faster certain features will work in programs like Illustrator and Photoshop. (Not to mention opening the program itself!) Look for a laptop with either an Intel Core Ultra 200 series, AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, or Apple M4 CPU if you want your workflow to move as efficiently as possible.

GPU: If you work primarily work with static graphics, you might be able to do your work just fine on a laptop with integrated graphics. But if you work with motion graphics or UI, you might use a lot of intricate filters, 3D effects, generative AI, or similar resource-heavy tools.

For those of you in the latter camp, we recommend a laptop with either an RTX 40- or 50-series discrete graphics card — especially if you want to take advantage of any hardware acceleration features that your graphic design program offers.

RAM: If you're looking at a laptop with a discrete GPU, it should also have a bare minimum of 16GB. Though in our experience, 32GB (or more) is the ideal for professionals. It ensures the program won't lag if certain features like drawing and editing in real-time or animated zoom are active.

Storage: Our recommended minimum is 512GB, though if you regularly work with massive vector or other types of files, definitely go for at least 1TB.

Display: Most laptops span 95% or higher of the sRGB or AdobeRGB color gamut, but if DCI-P3 is more important to you, look for a display with at least 85% coverage. Color accuracy is also important; a laptop with a display Delta E (dE) level of 2 or less produces the most true-to-life colors.

Portability: Not all great graphic design laptops are thin and light. If you're constantly working between your home, the office, planes, or trains, look for a laptop that weighs 3 pounds or less and is around half an inch in height. Those will be less of a hassle to put in and remove from your bag several times a day.

FAQs

Q: Are gaming laptops good for graphic design?

A: Yes! Any laptop with a discrete graphics card lets you take advantage of Hardware Acceleration, a common feature in popular image and video editing programs. Instead of relying on the CPU and RAM to do all the work, Hardware Acceleration uses the GPU to perform the same tasks much faster.

Gaming laptops' GPUs also work with Nvidia Studio Drivers, which provide more stability and reliability for content creation. Workstations usually come with Nvidia's RTX A-series or Ada Generation graphics cards, which are designed specfically for professional workstations and have better data integrity and stability. (They're more expensive, too!)

Q: What GPU should I get for graphic design?

A: It depends! If you want high frame rates and stunning graphics, then an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 are your best bet. Those graphics cards make the most out of high refresh rates and OLED displays. If you are willing to compromise on one or the other, look for gaming laptops with an RTX 5070, or RTX 4090 or lower.

Nvidia's DLSS Multi Frame Generation is only supported on 50-series cards, but all other DLSS technologies are accessible on both the RTX 50-and 40-series.

Q: Do I need a discrete GPU for graphic design?

A. Not necessarily! In general, graphic design leans heavily on the processor, so regardless if you get a MacBook, Windows, or Windows on ARM laptop, you'll be in fine shape.

MacBooks have been the de-facto graphic design machine for a long time. (My fiancé, who is a professional graphic designer, won't use any thing else.) But Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips can process the same, common design tasks just as efficiently.

Q: How much RAM do I need for graphic design?

A: It depends! With a discrete GPU (which has its own on-board video RAM) and Hardware Acceleration, you can get away with at least 16GB if you're not working on anything resource-intensive. But if you're a professional graphic designer, we recommend a minimum of 24GB — though if you have the budget for 32GB or more, that would be ideal.

If the graphic design laptop you have your eye on has unified memory (RAM that is built into the CPU itself), you probably want to configure it with at least 32GB of RAM. The RAM in these laptops is shared between the CPU and integrated graphics; if you don't have enough total RAM, then the integrated graphics might not have enough resources to load or convert large design files.

Q: Is a laptop that's good for graphic design also good for video editing?

A: Most laptops that are good for graphic design will also work for video editing, but you'll also want to be aware of the audio quality of a laptop when choosing a video editing machine. So not all the laptops on this list will be ideal for editing video or audio files.

Video editing can often demand more RAM and GPU resources than photo editing, so you may want to opt for a laptop with a discrete GPU if video editing is going to be a large part of your workflow.

Q: Why don't we recommend a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptop for graphic design?

A: On the hardware-side, a Snapdragon X Elite laptop is an excellent machine for running editing programs like Photoshop — but few native Windows on Arm versions of Adobe programs exist overall.

Currently, only Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can run natively on Snapdragon X Elite laptops. This might not be an issue if you only use Photoshop, but if you also use Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, those can only run via emulation.

It's a similar concept to running a virtual version of Windows 95 on a Windows 11 PC, but the computer will use more resources running both the emulator and program at the same time, which could slow down various editing tasks. If you don't have enough available RAM or video RAM, the entire program could crash.

How we test graphic design laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate every aspect of the laptop, but to find the best laptops for graphic design, we pay extra close attention to performance, graphics, and the display.

Performance testing includes Geekbench 6, which evaluates the laptop’s ability to handle a variety of different tasks and continue running smoothly. For laptops with discrete graphics cards, we use the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, and for integrated graphics we use 3DMark Night Raid.

To determine real-world performance, we convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicate a 25GB file. For gaming performance on integrated graphics, we use Cid Meier's Civilization V: Gathering Storm benchmark at 1080p resolution and Medium graphics.

For discrete graphics, we run benchmarks in Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6 (and more) in full-screen mode with vertical sync disabled at 1080p and the laptop's native resolution.

We use a Klein K10 colorimeter in our display testing to measure overall brightness, as determine the DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB color gamut color accuracy.

For our battery test, we continuously web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 10 hours is considered a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than 5 hours deserve praise.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video (or playing a video game) and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop.

We complement these tests with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers, who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

Great news students and teachers! If you've been researching the best Apple back-to-school deals in 2025, the Apple Education Store special offers are now live through September 30.

Whether you are in the market for a new MacBook, iPad, or iMac, you can select a free pair of AirPods or select accessories with the MacBook or iPad. If you just need the MacBook or iPad, you can find a deeper discount amoung our best MacBook deals or best iPad deals, but the free AirPods or accessory changes that math during the back-to-school season.

Prices start from $899 for the MacBook Air M4 — the best-value MacBook you can get and a rare 5-star Editor's Choice laptop. Eligible free items are:

• AirPods 4 with ANC
• AirPods Pro 2
• Magic Mouse
• Magic Trackpad
• Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.

Apple offers a similar back-to-school deal on the iPad Air and iPad Pro, but free options only include the Apple Pencil Pro or AirPods 4. The following AirPods and accessories are available at a discount of $119-$129, so you just pay the listed shown here:

• AirPods 4 with ANC ($50)
• AirPods Pro 2 ($120)
• Magic Keyboard for iPad Air 11-inch ($130)
• Magic Keyboard for iPad Air 13-inch ($180)
• Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro 11-inch ($160)
• Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro 13-inch ($210)

Of course other retailers also have great Apple deals for back-to-school season, so if you're looking for the best Apple back-to-school deals, there are plenty of ways to save.

Browse our favorite Apple back-to-school deals below.

Apple back-to-school deals — Quick links

• Apple Edu Store: up to $100 off MacBooks, iPads, + free AirPods or accessory
• Amazon: up to $400 off MacBook, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, more
• B&H: up to $300 off MacBook Air, up to $400 off MacBook Pro
• Best Buy: up to $200 off MacBook Air, up to $700 off MacBook Pro
• Walmart: Save on MacBooks, iPads, and Apple accessories

Apple back-to-school Apple deals

MacBooks

iPads

Apple Watch

AirPods

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.

More from Laptop Mag

• MacOS 26 Tahoe: The big reasons to update — or to not update
• WWDC 2025 recap: Liquid Glass, iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, Apple Intelligence, and all the highlights from Apple
• How to turn any laptop into an RTX gaming rig for only $2.39

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.

More from Laptop Mag

• Why Apple's scrapped smart glasses are a bad omen for the Vision Pro\
• One crucial feature could give Samsung an early victory over Apple in the headset wars
• This hidden macOS Sequoia trick fixes one of your MacBook's most persistent quirks

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.

More from Laptop Mag

• MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which Mac should you buy in 2025?
• MacBook Air M4 vs. MacBook Air M3: Should you wait for the M4 Air?
• Dear Apple, it's 2025, where’s my MacBook SE?

I think most of us can agree that Apple makes some nice laptops.

I'm not just saying that as a proverbial "Mac guy," either; we've got the benchmarks and side-by-side tests to prove Apple's laptops excel in a lot of the categories you want/need a laptop to excel in.

And as a MacBook Pro user (I'm currently using a machine with Apple's M2 chip), there's not much I can say I dislike about Apple's laptops. Though, after testing Lenovo's ThinkPad T14 Gen 5, there might be one thing...

Webcam woes

A webcam might not be the most important thing on your laptop, but if you're in more remote work meetings than you'd prefer, and I'm sure lots of you are, having a solid webcam is very nice to have.

That's what I learned while testing Lenovo's ThinkPad T14 Gen 5. Sure, Lenovo's iconic business laptop didn't have the best battery life or performance, but if you want to come in crisp on a video call, the T14 Gen 5 has you covered — and then some.

What makes the T14 Gen 5's webcam quality even more stark for me is the fact that every MacBook Pro webcam I've used extensively (the M1 and the M2, for reference) is, frankly, surprisingly lackluster, especially for Apple.

Compared to the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5, even my M2 MacBook Pro's webcam looks dull and washed out. And sure, it still works, but there is something that's just concretely more professional about having a webcam that doesn't make you look like you're dialing in from a flip phone in 2005.

For the uninitiated, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5’s webcam is a 1440p QHD camera that renders my face crystal clear — much clearer than most laptops I’ve used, including the MacBook Pro M2 which comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera.

I can say for certain that you’ll be among the most high-fi talking heads in your Zoom meeting if you use this as your work machine. And yeah, you probably won’t ever buy a laptop for its webcam, but at the same time, it’s easy to appreciate the inclusion of an above-average one when it finds its way into your machine.

And if you're marketing a laptop to professionals, it just makes sense to go the extra mile. Sure, you could buy an external webcam to mount onto your MacBook, but once you've paid the Apple premium for a machine, it might sting a little having to shell out extra money just to get your webcam fidelity up to snuff.

Bad but getting better

To be fair, Apple has identified its webcam woes and has been making strides to improve the MacBook Pros cam quality. The newest M4 spate of MacBook Pros comes with a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that definitely brings the laptops' quality to the next level.

In our own M4 MacBook Pro review, we outlined just how much of an upgrade Apple's new Center Stage camera really is:

"The 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro's 12MP Center Stage camera is one of, if not the best, laptop webcams I've tested. The crisp and color-accurate image won't embarrass you on a Zoom call, and it also deals with shifting lighting conditions better than any laptop webcam I've used."

So, if you're still clacking away on a laptop like mine, then I can say for certain that Lenovo's ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 will definitely impress — at least in the webcam department.

My MacBook might still excel in all of the categories that matter, but if you want to do yourself and your coworkers a major favor you might want to think about your webcam for once.

As we suspected, new MacBooks will soon be upon us, but not without some surprises.

In a tweet on Thursday, Apple's SVP of marketing, Greg Joswiak, said news on Macs will be coming Monday next week.

That's not shocking, really, considering Apple tends to announce MacBooks around this time pretty much every year (last year, it was close to Halloween in an event dubbed "Scary Fast").

What is somewhat surprising, however, is that Joswiak said it will be an "exciting week" of announcements ahead. Not a one-off, a whole week.

That may mean a few things:

For one, there may not be a major keynote like last year — we could instead just get a steady dribble of updates as the week goes on.

Secondarily, it may also imply that no major new Pro products are being announced, and instead, more incremental news on upgrades to its Mac lineup is being announced.

Obviously, both are bits of informed speculation right now, but needless to say, this will look a bit different than last year's event.

M4 upgrades and Apple Intelligence

Two things we can pretty much count on are the introduction of the M4 chips to the MacBook lineup and more updates on Apple Intelligence.

On the former, Apple Intelligence arrives via an iOS 18.1 update that's set to drop on Monday, October 28, so there's a chance that the event that Joswiak teased might mainly deal with that.

That would leave more Mac announcements for later in the week. Among the rumored additions could be a new, redesigned Mac mini that is about as small as an Apple TV streaming box.

Also, if rumors are to be believed, Apple's M4 silicon will be coming to MacBooks, hopefully bumping performance and battery life for this year's laptops.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see, but either way, Laptop Mag will have more coverage on Monday when we finally get some answers on what to expect from the Mac world in 2024.

A claimed early review of Apple's as-of-yet unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 has appeared online, gaining the attention of many with its new configuration and M4 Apple silicon benchmarks.

The review has potentially been given further credibility after Bloomberg's Mark Gurman linked to it from his personal X account, claiming it to be unconfirmed but that it looks "fairly legitimate." The video is posted by a Russian YouTuber who shares the unboxing and full review of Apple's upcoming MacBook — weeks ahead of its official unveiling, which Gurman also suggests may now take place on November 1.

So what does this video reveal to us about the new M4-equipped Apple MacBook Pro 14, and is this video legitimate? Let's find out.

Early MacBook Pro M4 review: What does it tell us?

The claimed hands-on video of Apple's new MacBook Pro M4, which has amassed over 150K views since premiering yesterday, starts with a tongue-in-cheek greeting that highlights the clickbait nature of other content creators: "Hello my dear friends, today we're unpacking a MacBook that has not yet been announced." 

However, YouTuber Wylsacon quickly snaps back into his own personality (and native Russian language), informing viewers that he won't be handling it as such — instead, dealing with it as any regular laptop review.

Wylsacon, whose real name is Valentin Valerievich Petukhov, then casually plays off how he came into possession of the new MacBook Pro M4 ahead of its announcement, simply claiming "I was just walking down the street here, [and] some gigantic/geeky looking dude jumped out of the bushes" (translated) before handing it to him.

True to his word (at least in that instance), Petukhov runs through the remainder of the video in a typical fashion — revealing a base configuration of 16GB of unified RAM and 512GB of storage powered by the M4 Apple silicon chipset. Beyond this, there are no apparent changes, with the supposed MacBook Pro M4 featuring the same Liquid Retina XDR 3024 x 1964 pixels display, HDMI, SDXC card, 3,5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 charging, and a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Early MacBook Pro M4 review: Is it real?

With all that said, how likely is this video to be legitimate? Well, there are plenty of signs that we're looking at a video that isn't telling us the whole story.

While the video itself seems convincing at first glance, Apple's lack of any expected radical redesign this year doesn't help when attempting to identify whether or not this is a new model of MacBook.

Petukhov's initial reveal of the M4 MacBook Pro product box also looks identical to the M3 MacBook Pro's, something that Apple are shown to change from generation to generation. In fact, taking the video at face value, Petukhov's unboxing looks identical to several other M3 MacBook Pro unboxings, down to the black MagSafe charging cable and white charging block.

In Petukhov's defense, it's possible that this box is not the final version of the retail packaging, and it does look similar to a box reportedly shown in a private Facebook group in September that featured a similar configuration shared by trusted Apple leaker ShrimpApplePro on X.

Not helping matters, at no point in the video does Petukhov show the "About This Mac" page of macOS to confirm its chipset or specs.

While Petukhov does share the results of a Geekbench benchmark test he claims to have performed himself, the numbers (3,864 single-core and 15,288 multi-core) line up exactly with Geekbench scores (found here and here) posted before his video was published (according to information found with the YouTube Data Viewer) and relate to the apparent testing of a 16-inch MacBook Pro M4, not the 14-inch model that Petukhov claims to show in his video.

Outlook

Can we say for certain that the video shared to YouTube is fake or real? Not with 100% certainty. However, there are enough clues here to suspect that, without further evidence, there's no guarantee that the MacBook Pro on show is Apple's upcoming model.

Much of the claimed information revealed within the review was previously leaked by other sources, making it highly possible that the laptop in question is simply a 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 masquerading as the upcoming model.

To know for sure, we'll need to see Apple reveal the new MacBook Pro models itself. While we originally presumed that this MacBook Pro event would take place in October, it's now suggested by some that Apple's M4 MacBook Pro reveal could be pushed back into November.

More from Laptop Mag

• Amazon October Prime Day MacBook deals 2024: Early discounts take up to $500 off
• Apple October Event: What to expect from Mac M4 and iPad
• Asus Zenbook S 14 vs. Apple MacBook Air 13 M3: Which thin-and-light laptop wins?

Best Buy's back-to-school sale offers plenty of deals for students, teachers, and parents. The big box retailer continues to roll out back-to-school deals on laptops, tablets, phones, headphones, college essentials, and more.

This week, save up to $500 on select Intel Core Ultra laptops from today's top brands. Prices start at just $599 with the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1. Laptops on the higher end of the price spectrum get the larger price cuts. For example, the  Dell XPS 16 with Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU is on sale for $2,599 ($550 off) with My Best Buy Plus. 

Scholar or not, if you're budget-conscious, you'll want to take advantage of today's back-to-school deals from Best Buy. Shop Best Buy's entire back-to-school sale and see our favorite discounts below. 

Best Buy back-to-school sale deals — Quick links

• Laptops: save up to $500 on select Intel Core Ultra laptops
• PC gaming: save up to $800 on gaming laptops
• Tablets: up to $230 off iPad, Galaxy Tab, Pixel Tablet, more
• Headphones: up to 50% off earbuds and headphones
• Wearables: up to $100 off Amazfit, Galaxy Watch, Garmin, Pixel Watch
• Video games: save up to 71% on PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox games
• Smart TVs & projectors: save up to $1,300 

Best Buy back-to-school sale deals

If you’re thinking about buying a new Mac this year, you might want to wait a little longer because M4 Macs are coming soon. 

In May, Apple launched its new M4 chip in the iPad Pro, but we haven’t seen it in a Mac yet. That won’t be the case much longer, though. It looks like Apple is getting ready to launch the first M4 Macs by the end of this year, but some models will have to wait until 2025. 

Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming M4 Mac launch, including which models are coming in 2024, their potential configurations and prices, and the possible release dates. 

MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac getting M4 refresh this year

This weekend, trusted Apple analyst Mark Gurman reported in Bloomberg's Power On newsletter that Apple is planning to reveal the first M4 Macs by the end of the year. We won’t be getting the entire M4 line-up at once, but the full Mac line-up is getting the M4 chip. According to Gurman, three Macs will get an M4 refresh this year: the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac. 

Rumors have been brewing for months now about a potential M4 Mac launch in 2024 and Gurman’s claims all but confirm it. Gurman previously hinted about a potential 2024 launch back in April, but this more recent claim clarifies which M4 Macs we’ll be getting this year rather than in 2025. 

So, what about the specific release date? All three of Apple’s M-series MacBook Pros were announced in October and November, including last year’s M3 MacBook Pro which launched on October 30. Additionally, so far Apple has always announced new M-series MacBook Pros on Tuesdays. Based on this release date history, the most likely dates for the M4 MacBook Pro reveal are October 29 and November 5, 12, and 19. 

Based on last year’s Mac releases, we can expect to see at least five MacBook Pro models including:

• 14-inch, M4
• 14-inch, M4 Pro
• 14-inch, M4 Max
• 16-inch, M4 Pro
• 16-inch, M4 Max

Assuming Apple maintains a similar pricing model from this year’s line-up, the M4 MacBooks will start at $1,599 for the base 14-inch MacBook Pro M4. 

This will be a big update for the Mac Mini since there currently isn’t an M3 version of it. Right now, the Mac Mini maxes out with the M2 Pro chip. If Gurman’s claims about a full M4 Mac line-up refresh are accurate, it looks like Apple is going to completely skip the M3 Mac Mini and jump straight to the M4 chips. 

So, based on the current Mac Mini and iMac line-up, there will be at least three M4 models:

• iMac M4
• Mac Mini M4
• Mac Mini M4 Pro

Assuming Apple maintains its current pricing model, the iMac M4 will start at $1,299 and the Mac Mini M4 will start at $599.  

What about the M4 MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio? 

Fans of the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer for M4 upgrades. According to Gurman, these three Mac models aren’t getting the M4 chips until 2025. Based on the last few release dates, we can expect this trio of Macs to launch in either March or June 2025. 

If you’re wondering why Apple is holding back some of its M4 Macs until 2025, there are a few possible reasons. For the M4 MacBook Air, the delay is most likely just due to the timing of the M3 MacBook Air announcement, which was on March 4, 2024. Apple probably wants to give the M3 MacBook Air a full year on the market before rolling out the M4 MacBook Air. 

The Mac Pro and Mac Studio are probably part of the 2025 group of M4 Mac launches because of the M4 Ultra chip. Apple is still behind on its Ultra CPU line-up. As of August 2024, the M3 Ultra has yet to be released. If Gurman’s claims that the entire Mac line-up is getting the M4 chip are indeed true, Apple may simply skip the M3 Ultra and go straight to the M4 Ultra. 

It’s also possible Apple could have M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max versions of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio alongside an M3 Ultra configuration. Either way, the new Mac Pro and Mac Studio should have an updated Ultra version. The research and development time required for the M4 Ultra chip could very well be the reason these two Mac models aren’t getting an M4 update until 2025.

Outlook

The anticipation for the M4 Mac line-up has been building all year, especially since Apple unveiled the M4 chip in the new iPad Pro back in May. Apple consistently reveals a new Mac every year, so it’s no surprise we’re getting M4 Macs in 2024. The big takeaways from Mark Gurman’s claims this weekend are that we now know what specific M4 Macs are coming this year and which ones will have to wait until early 2025. 

We can expect to get more concrete details about the M4 Mac launches as we near the end of the year since the first M4 Macs will most likely launch in late October or November. Laptop Mag is closely following all the latest news and rumors surrounding the M4 Mac line-up, so make sure to stay tuned for more details.  

More from Laptop Mag

• Apple is gearing up for M4 Mac launch — here’s a look at the release window and all the new chips
• MacBook Air M4: Everything we know so far
• I tried the macOS Sequoia public beta — I’ve never been more productive on my Mac

Back-to-school deals for teachers are in abundance right now as educators prepare for the new semester. Teachers use mobile tech for everything from creating lesson plans to giving lectures for online courses. Finding everything on your teacher's wish list on a budget doesn't have to be overwhelming.  

Retailers are making it easy to find the right tech to fit your needs and your budget. Back-to-school discounts and sitewide sales are at every corner this week as students prepare for college. 

Just like students and parents, teachers are also eligible for direct manufacturer education discounts on laptops, tablets, and PC accessories. 

If you want to beat the back-to-school rush, it's not too early to save. Here are the best back-to-school deals teachers can take advantage of now. 

Back-to-school deals for teachers 

Laptops

Tablets

PC accessories

Teacher discounts

If you've been waiting for a great deal on an upgrade for your M1 or M2 MacBook, now is the perfect time. 

After Apple launched the M4 iPad Pro, we've been seeing some fantastic deals on M3 MacBooks. Right now, you can snag three amazing M3 MacBook models at their lowest prices ever. 

If you're looking for a lightweight, budget-friendly option, check out the 15.3-inch MacBook Air M3 on Amazon for only $1,150 (with a $49 coupon). Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is also discounted by $150 on Amazon, but there's no coupon for extra savings. 

Or, if you're after the best of the best, consider the MacBook Pro models with Apple's M3 Pro silicon. The 14.2-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro is slashed to $1,400 on Amazon (with a $49 coupon), matching its all-time lowest price. Then, Apple's 16.2-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro is $2,250 with a coupon on Amazon, but it's actually priced even lower at $2,199 on Best Buy's website right now.

Shopping for more than just a MacBook? Our deals editor compiled a roundup of her 45 favorite deals from the Best Buy weekend sale. 

Best MacBook deals — Quick links

• 15.3" MacBook Air M3: $1,299 $1,150 @ Amazon (with coupon)
• 14.2" MacBook Pro M3: $1,599 $1,400 @ Amazon (with coupon)
• 16.2" MacBook Pro M3: $2,499 $2,199 @ Best Buy 

Amazon MacBook Deals — M3 MacBook Air

Amazon MacBook Deals — M3 MacBook Pros

Other MacBook retailers

• Best Buy: MacBook deals from $699
• Walmart: MacBook deals from $699
• B&H: MacBook deals from $849

On Tuesday, Apple announced the long-awaited OLED iPad Pro featuring the new M4 chip at its "Let Loose" virtual event. This iPad Pro is groundbreaking in a few ways, making it a serious rival to laptops like no tablet before. But can it fully replace your MacBook?

Apple has long been marketing the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement, particularly with the help of the Magic Keyboard accessory, which also got a stunning refresh today. However, the iPad has struggled to find its way in the shadow of the MacBook. That might finally be changing now. 

"This is the biggest day for iPad since its introduction," said Apple CEO Tim Cook at the outset of the event.

I have switched between using my iPad and my laptop as my primary mobile computing device, and I can confidently say that the new iPad Pro and the updated accessories Apple unveiled on Tuesday will genuinely transform the iPad experience. The question is, are these updates transformative enough for the iPad to truly replace your laptop? Who is the new iPad line-up for? 

Here's how the M4 OLED iPad Pro and Apple's redesigned accessories compare to a traditional laptop or MacBook. 

M4 OLED iPad Pro price and specs

Apple outdid itself with the iPad Pro M4. It's the thinnest Apple product ever made, even thinner than the iPod Nano. Thanks to the new M4 chip, which features a new display engine, a neural engine for AI tasks, four times faster rendering than the M2 chip, and a 10-core GPU with support for ray tracing, it's also currently more powerful than the MacBook Pro. 

The real star of the show on the M4 iPad Pro is the cutting-edge Tandem OLED display. Not only did Apple finally bring OLED to the iPad Pro, they created a new type of OLED display that uses two OLED panels on top of one another. It boasts 1,000 nits of brightness and 1,600 nits of peak brightness in HDR. Plus, a nano-texture glass display is now an option to minimize glare even more (although this option is only available on models with 1TB or 2TB of storage). 

There's a lot of room for customization on the iPad Pro now, especially when accessories are added. 

So, for comparison, let's say you're trying to decide between the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro and the M3 MacBook Pro, which is Laptop Mag's best overall laptop as of this writing.

The 13-inch M4 iPad Pro starts at $1,299, while the M3 MacBook Pro starts at $1,599. If you want the iPad Pro to be a proper laptop replacement, you'll need the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, which adds $349 to your M4 iPad Pro setup, bringing the total to $1,648. That's $49 more than the M3 MacBook Pro.

However, the M3 MacBook Pro comes with 512GB of storage for that price, while the M4 iPad Pro only includes 256GB of storage. Upgrading to 512GB increases the cost by an additional $200, bringing the total for the M4 iPad Pro to a whopping $1,848, $249 more than the base 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro.

The bottom line on the price is that the new 13-inch iPad Pro revealed today is still more expensive than the MacBook Pro. Is it worth the higher price? That depends in part on use cases, but value is also essential.

Flexibility: The iPad Pro's greatest strength

Flexibility is the iPad's most significant advantage over the MacBook or any other laptop, even the best 2-in-1 laptops. A typical laptop has one form factor: A screen with a keyboard deck and touchpad. You might be able to flip the screen around to use it like a tablet or even detach it, but that main form factor is the most functional way to use a laptop and often the only way. 

In contrast, the iPad is modular. You can attach it to the Magic Keyboard like a laptop, use it as a tablet, or pick up the newly redesigned Apple Pencil to write notes or draw. The new squeeze controls on the Apple Pencil even allow it to function like a mouse. Even though you can do some of those things on some laptops, the iPad's performance across different modes is more seamless and balanced. 

The M4 chip in the new iPad Pro also means you don't have to sacrifice computing power to get that additional flexibility. The iPad is capable of effectively everything a laptop can now (although it's still somewhat limited by software compatibility like any other Apple device). 

The bottom line on flexibility: The iPad Pro handily wins the flexibility category thanks to its modular design. 

Connectivity: Still a struggle for the iPad

Unfortunately, connectivity continues to be an issue on the iPad. On a MacBook, you get at least two USB-C Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI slot, and an SDXC card slot. The new iPad Pro M4 is incredibly thin, which is fantastic for portability. 

However, one of the slim chassis's few drawbacks is that it is simply not large enough for the same ports as the MacBook. 

For instance, there's just no way to squeeze an HDMI port into the iPad. It has one main USB-C Thunderbolt port, and the Magic Keyboard adds one more, although that port is specifically for charging. 

Of course, you can always buy one of the best USB Type-C hubs to give your iPad more ports, so it's not a deal breaker for most people. 

The bottom line on connectivity: If you don't have a hub for your iPad Pro, the MacBook wins on connectivity. 

Practicality: A narrow gap between iPads and laptops

The M4 iPad Pro is undoubtedly an incredibly powerful tablet, but is it practical for replacing your MacBook or laptop for everyday tasks? That depends. 

When people ask me how I get by using my iPad instead of a laptop, I often tell them the iPad is better at what I want to do than a laptop. 

In college, that meant taking notes and web browsing. In my everyday life now, I use the Notes app on my iPad as a whiteboard for brainstorming. I edit photos I take on my iPhone on the iPad's larger screen. I use the iPad to watch movies and even play games when I'm on the move. The iPad is particularly convenient when traveling because of its flexibility and light weight. 

An iPad is more practical than a laptop for my personal use cases. That might not be the case for everyone. Of course, practicality depends partly on software, particularly the pro-level apps MacBook Pro and iPad Pro users need. 

The M4 chip allows developers to improve their iPad apps significantly. Final Cut Pro is already getting some serious upgrades on the iPad, including live multi-cam, enabling you to connect up to 4 other cameras through the new Final Cut Camera app to view footage live in Final Cut Pro on the iPad. You can now also edit directly from an external drive, dramatically improving the convenience of editing on an iPad compared to a Mac. 

More changes and new features like this will hopefully improve iPad apps to make them as intuitive and capable as Mac apps. Plus, it's important to remember that the iPad will receive a significant software update in June during WWDC 2024. 

iPadOS 18 is expected to bring new AI features to the iPad and hopefully improve navigation, file management, and other everyday tasks. 

The gap between the iPad Pro and the MacBook regarding ergonomics is also closing. We predicted Apple would cut down the size of the gap along the top edge of the Magic Keyboard to add more room for a larger touchpad, and the company did just that. The Magic Keyboard also has a function row and an aluminum palm rest, so it's like a MacBook keyboard. 

All those factors mean that whether or not an iPad Pro is a practical laptop replacement comes down to personal use. You can effectively do all of the same things on an iPad now that you can on a MacBook. There may still be exceptions, like specific apps only available on MacOS. However, the M4 iPad Pro is just as capable as the M3 MacBook Pro. 

The bottom line on practicality: It's a draw. It could be the iPad Pro or the M3 MacBook Pro, depending on your use cases.

Value for your money: Is modularity worth it?

When considering trading out your MacBook for an iPad, the pros and cons probably fall into two categories: Features and price. The iPad Pro is more expensive for a complete laptop replacement package than the M3 MacBook Pro. However, it also has many features that the MacBook doesn't, raising the question: Is the M4 iPad Pro better value than the M3 MacBook Pro?

I would argue the answer is "yes" — for some people. The M4 iPad Pro has a faster processor, a superior display, a modular design, rear cameras, and support for the Apple Pencil, which unlocks use cases out of reach for the MacBook. 

Of course, the Apple Pencil Pro ($129) and the Magic Keyboard ($299 and $349, depending on size) are pricey accessories. But each offers flexibility you won't get on a laptop. At the same time, the M4 chip allows the iPad Pro to deliver performance similar to that of the MacBook Pro. 

So, the M4 iPad Pro can be excellent value for the money for specific users. For example, if you currently use an iPad and a MacBook, you can trade in both and do everything on one device with the M4 iPad Pro. Likewise, if you currently have a MacBook or another laptop and often wish to use a touchscreen or write something out by hand, the flexibility of the M4 iPad Pro could be a worthwhile upgrade. 

On the other hand, there are still plenty of apps that aren't available for the iPad. For instance, gaming is still better on the Macbook Pro unless you mainly play mobile games. So, look at the apps you use most often on your Macbook or laptop and check the App Store for each one to see if there's an iPad version of that app or a similar app you could replace it with. If most of your top apps aren't available on the iPad, then a MacBook will still be a better value for you. 

The bottom line on value: A MacBook is better for people who need to use various apps.

Bottom line: Can the M4 iPad Pro replace your laptop?

Can the M4 iPad Pro replace your M3 MacBook Pro or laptop? Yes, but it depends. The addition of the M4 chip is a game changer for the iPad since it now has the processing power to compete with the capabilities of the MacBook. The new Apple Pencil Pro and redesigned Magic Keyboard also improve the ergonomics, practicality, and capabilities of the iPad Pro. 

Unfortunately, the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard is still at least $249 more than the 14-inch M3 Macbook Pro for similar specs. The iPad Pro includes a more powerful processor and the flexibility of a modular design, though, so that extra $249 could be worth it for specific users. 

The iPad Pro isn't a laptop but isn't designed to be one. It's intended to be a completely different type of mobile computing device, one that's just as powerful as a laptop but offers a level of flexibility laptops don't have. 

That flexibility can be a game changer for people who use a tablet and a laptop, as well as artists, graphic designers, students, and professionals in various fields. If the flexibility of a modular mobile computing device sounds enticing, then the M4 iPad Pro is the device for you. 

The bottom line on the iPad Pro replacing your M3 MacBook: Yes, but not for everybody — not yet, anyway.

More from Laptop Mag

• The new Apple Magic Keyboard: Everything you need to know
• iPad Pro M4 vs. iPad Air 6: Which new iPad will be right for you?
• iPadOS 18 rumors: Siri and AI, rumored features, release date speculation, and more

Apple just launched its M3 family of chips six months ago, but apparently M4 chips are already "nearing production" and could be available in the Mac lineup later this year. This news comes from a recent Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman (via 9to5Mac), who's been a very reliable source for all things Apple.

Gurman says that the first M4 chips will be available "in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model" and "release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year." And these M4 chips will supposedly have a strong AI focus, perfect for competing against AI chips from Qualcomm and Intel.

There's no official word yet from Apple on its plans for M4 chips, but info shared by Gurman is typically strong, and he has a lot to say on which devices will get the M4 chips and when they'll launch.

The list of rumored M4 Macs is lengthy

Gurman says we can expect "new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips." So if you've been wanting to upgrade one of these devices, it might be worth waiting until late 2024 or early 2025 for a more powerful M4 chip that's "designed to highlight artificial intelligence."

It's worth noting that Gurman follows up this info with the disclaimer that "the company's plans could change." That said, this statement has more to do with the potential release timeline for these devices, rather than their existence.

He goes on to say that after Apple launches the above devices, the company will "follow up with more M4 Macs throughout 2025," including "updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air by the spring, the Mac Studio around the middle of the year, and the Mac Pro later in 2025."

The Mac Pro — Apple's highest-end desktop and lower-selling model — will be getting an upgraded chip, codenamed Hidra, and potentially support for up to 500GB of RAM (the max right now is 192GB). There's also a chance Apple could launch a new Mac Studio with a "still-unreleased M3-era chip." 

In the M4 family of chips, Apple supposedly plans to include an entry-level variant and at least two higher-performing variants, and all of them will "highlight the AI processing capabilities of the components and how they'll integrate with the next version of macOS," which we could see announced at WWDC 2024.

Apple's release schedule for new Mac devices isn't as locked in as it is for new iPhones. Since 2022, we've seen new Macs announced in January, March, June, and October. The focus of Apple's September event is typically on its new iPhone, so an October announcement for these new M4 devices seems most likely, but as always, we'll have to wait and see.

MORE FROM LAPTOP MAG

• I used DaVinci Resolve on a Snapdragon X Elite laptop — I'm ready to ditch my MacBook
• Best laptop 2024: 10 best laptops tested and rated
• Best laptop deals in April 2024

Following the 13 and 16-inch MacBook Air M3 launch, it's a great time to snag deep discounts on older MacBooks. Sold out at just about every retailer, B&H is pricing discontinued M1 MacBooks to move.

Right now, you can get the 2TB model Max MacBook Pro 14 with M1 Max for $2,699 from B&H. Formerly $3.899, that's a staggering $1.200 in savings and the lowest price we could find for this MacBook Pro. If you're looking for a price break on a premium Apple laptop, this is one of the MacBook deals available. There's no telling when this deal ends, so don't hesitate too long. If you don't want to spend a small fortune on the latest MacBook Pro M3 Max, the MacBook Pro M1 Max is worth considering. 

Alternatively, B&H offers the 1TB model MacBook Pro 16 with M1 Pro for $1,999 ($700 off). 

Today's best MacBook Pro 14 M1 Max deal

Black Friday deals are spilling over into the weekend as we head towards Cyber Monday. When it comes to Apple's MacBook lineup, there are a ton of deals to be found to secure yourself a long-lasting, high-performing, quality laptop. However, if you're buying on a budget, or just want to make every cent count this Black Friday period, we've found four Black Friday deals on MacBooks for less than $1,000!

Whether you're looking to catch an M1 classic or a mighty M2 MacBook Air, we've got the deals for you! Like the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air now only $749 at Amazon! And, for just a little more, you can also snag the very same M1 MacBook Air with Apple Care+ for just $888!

However, why settle for Apple's M1 chip when you can take a leap to the next generation of Apple Silicon for just $11 more? That's right, Best Buy Plus or Total members can grab the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 for just $899! If you're no fan of Apple's small-scale offerings then don't worry, Best Buy also have an offer to suit those with a thirst for a more spacious screen size and a Plus or Total membership with the 15-inch MacBook Air M2 now available for $999.

Check out the deals below and snag yourself a bargain on some of the most highly rated laptops from our review vault, and give yourself another reason to be thankful during this holiday period!

Black Friday MacBook deals under $1,000

I got my first MacBook in 2006, it was the 13-inch white polycarbonate model, and it was by far my favorite laptop that I had ever owned at the time. Over the years it was first replaced by the black polycarbonate MacBook (the current Space Black wishes it could achieve that level of cool) and then with a string of MacBook Pros starting around 2011 when I started my career as a freelance journalist that ultimately landed me at Laptop Mag.

I’m not so narcissistic as to think you care about the timeline of my laptop ownership; I’m merely telling you all of this to say that I was an unwaveringly loyal MacBook owner for a decade. Then in 2016, Apple introduced the MacBook Pros with the TouchBar and over the next two years, my faith in Apple laptops was so badly eroded that I haven’t owned another MacBook in the proceeding 5 years.

It should come as no surprise then that while some are mourning the loss of the MacBook Pro 13, I am celebrating the demise of the worst era of MacBook design.

• More: Black Friday MacBook deals 2023

The Butterfly effect  

I’ll make this quick, as the Butterfly keyboard thankfully left us in 2020, but it’s part of the tale of Apple’s questionable design decisions during this period. Introduced in 2015, the Butterfly keyboard was terrible from day one, and yet Apple just kept stubbornly trying to make it work. The Butterfly keyboard broke from the traditional scissor-style laptop keyboard and just broke with a regularity that suggested it was by design. Apple had to create a keyboard repair and replacement program for every laptop it released during this period guaranteeing they would be fixed for free for four years.

Two of my MacBook Pros were completely replaced as a result of that program due to keyboard issues alone. Let it never be said that Apple didn’t have excellent customer service, it was the engineering and design that let them down. 

The frequent failures should have been enough to kill it, but what made matters worse was that a large percentage of users didn’t like the feel of the Butterfly keyboard compared to the old scissor style. At the end of 2019, Apple finally waved the white flag and moved back to a scissor-style design on the MacBook Pro 16, so Laptop Mag did a MacBook scissor-style vs. butterfly keyboard face-off among the staff and the scissor-style took home a unanimous 5-0 victory.

However, while the Butterfly keyboard died in 2020, the other failed and flawed MacBook design of the time lived on to haunt prospective MacBook Pro owners until last week.

The trouble with TouchBars 

Now unlike the Butterfly keyboard, I will concede that the concept behind the TouchBar had promise, Apple just failed to deliver on it. The Butterfly keyboard opened the door to my questioning Apple’s design choices and then the TouchBar ran up and pushed me through that doorway with both hands. 

The pitch for the TouchBar was great. You know those function row keys that you may not use or aren’t entirely sure what they do? Well, now you have a little touchscreen replacing them that can change contextually as individual buttons or can be grouped together for handy features like scrubbing through your timeline in Final Cut. Even writing that now I think it sounds like a good idea, so where did it go wrong?

The first problem, and the one that ultimately was the kiss of death for my MacBook ownership, was that the TouchBar was incredibly unreliable. I already covered the two MacBook Pros I had replaced due to Butterfly keyboard issues, but I had two more replaced due to TouchBar problems. Across all four of those MacBooks, I consistently had issues with the TouchBar.

The most basic of these problems was that the TouchBar would simply crash and disappear, which isn’t great when it was responsible for several system settings and, of course, the escape key. Other times it would be present, but simply wouldn’t respond to any touch input. There was no solution to either problem beyond restarting the MacBook and hoping that this time your TouchBar would light up and respond again.

That probably would have been enough by itself, but what compounded the problem with the TouchBar was the fact that almost no software made use of it. We’ve seen this play out again somewhat with the Dyanamic Island on the iPhone, although there are signs of life following the release of iOS 17. There were never any signs of life for the TouchBar after the initial excitement very quickly wore off. Beyond those that immediately adopted it, like Adobe, there was almost no enthusiasm or adoption for the TouchBar by software developers.

Despite all that, the TouchBar outlasted the Butterfly keyboard by another year, the 2021 MacBook Pros finally ditched the TouchBar in favor of a traditional function row, with one lone exception: the MacBook Pro 13. For two more generations, it carried on the now basically vestigial TouchBar, because Apple didn’t want to have to redesign that laptop. 

Bottom line 

After receiving my 4th replacement (so 5th MacBook Pro 15 with TouchBar), I sold it without ever opening it as I decided I’d had enough. I’ve been using Windows laptops for the last 5 years, with only occasional forays into MacBook land when I needed to test something specific on macOS. Just this month I have finally dipped my toe back in with a MacBook Air 15 joining the Windows laptop on my desk.

While I have had the occasional quibble with MacBook design in recent years, the reintroduction of MagSafe, HDMI, and an SD card slot on the MacBook Pros was a great sign that the company was once again listening to its customers. Coupled with the absolutely game-changing move to Apple Silicon, it was time for me to let my frustration with those past MacBooks go and give Apple another shot.

However, I’m petty enough to still happily celebrate the demise of the TouchBar MacBook and bid farewell to Apple’s terrible design instincts of the previous decade.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one (especially from me), but Apple has crowned the new king of MacBooks. Yeah, I know. But it’s true. Apple once again lived up to its hype and created a system that outpaces everything else on the market. It didn’t mess with what’s a near flawless equation –– the Magic keyboard is still a delight to type on, the Liquid Retina XDR display is still one of the brightest around, the audio quality is still excellent. 

In fact, the only thing you’ll find different about the MacBook Pro 16 is the new Space Black colorway and the addition of Apple’s newest silicon, the M3 Max. And while one of these changes is cool in a quaint sort of way, the other is a radical game changer that pushes the MacBook further from the clutches of its Windows PC competitors in most aspects. I say most because while Apple Silicon has come a long way in terms of gaming performance, it still has a ways to go before it can go toe-to-toe with some of its biggest rivals in the space. 

But for now, I’ll take that Dynamic Caching, ray tracing and mesh shading thank you very much. 

Together with its M3 Max chip, the MacBook Pro 16 is the new king of the castle for professionals be they content creators, AI innovators, data scientists, architects and even gamers (to a certain degree). It can handle any and everything you can throw at it with aplomb. 

But the real question is can consumers handle the $3,999 ($3,499 starting) price that Apple is throwing at consumers?

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max pricing and configurations

Max isn’t just a callout for the new M3 chip. It’s also a hint to the hit your budget will be taking. I’m reviewing the $3,999.99 configuration which has a 16-core M3 Max processor (4 efficiency cores, 12 performance cores) with 48GB of unified memory, a 16-core Neural Engine, 1TB SSD, a 40-core graphics chip and a 16.2-inch, 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. 

The $3,499.99 base model drops the specs down to a 14-core M3 Max (4 efficiency cores, 10 performance cores) CPU, 36GB unified memory, 16-core Neural Engine, 1TB SSD, a 30-core graphics chip and a 16.2-inch, 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display.

Still too pricey? Might be time to check out the M3 Pro base model which costs $2,499.99 and 12-core M3 Pro (6 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores) processor, 18GB of unified memory, a 16-core Neural Engine, 512GB SSD, an 18-core GPU and a 16.2-inch, 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max design

I wish you could have seen my face light up when I heard the phrase new color and how quickly it fell when it was Space Black. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that Space Black is an ugly color, far from it. The recycled aluminum enclosure is just as pretty as its Space Gray and Silver counterparts. It’s just when I see the bright colorways of the iMac and I’m stuck playing with safe, “office-friendly” hues, I get jealous. 

But a new color is a new color, and as I stated, the MacBook Pro 16 is pretty, gorgeous even. The shiny apple logo will never fail to catch your eye, especially in the center of that lovely recycled metal lid. The aluminum has a slight texture when you rub your fingers over it. That’s most likely due to what Apple calls a breakthrough chemistry used to create the color. The process forms an anodization seal, which greatly reduces fingerprints.

Opening the laptop, the only thing darker than the palm rest is the keyboard which rests in a inky black anodized aluminum housing. Directly beneath you’ll find the gigantic Force Touch TrackPad just waiting to be caressed.

The 14 x 9.7 x 0.7-inch weighs a solid 4.8 pounds. That’s lighter than the Dell XPS 17 (5.4 pounds, 14.7 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches) and the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (4.9 pounds, 14.3 x 9.6 x 0.7 inches). At 4 pounds, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra (14 x 9.9 x 0.7 inches) feels like feather light. 

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 security

One day, you’ll have the ability to unlock your MacBook Pro via Face ID. Today, unfortunately, is not that day. That doesn’t mean your MacBook is totally defenseless. Outside of some new security via macOS Sonoma (more on that later), you have TouchID by way of the fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 ports

It’s not port-heavy, nor is it port-light. With its trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports, SDXC card reader, headphone jack, HDMI and proprietary MagSafe 3 port, you have enough to hook up a couple of monitors. Everything else, you’ll need a dongle adapter or one of the devices found on our best USB-C docks page. 

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 display

The MacBook Pro 16’s 16.2-inch, 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display isn’t the most vivid panel out there, but it’s definitely one of the brightest. Despite what some might label as lackluster, personally, I found myself transfixed by the Pro 16’s screen whether I was fighting my way through dank interior of the mind flayer ship in Baldur's Gate or watching the alluring shimmy of the titular garment in the trailer for “Pretty Red Dress.”

I saw every ruby colored bead and sequin on the dress in a close up shot. And despite the cooler tones, none of the actors’ skin looked ashy or washed out.

Our lab testers learned the MacBook’s screen only reproduces 81.8% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which falls below the 97.2% premium laptop average. The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra was only slightly better at 86.2% while the Slim Pro 9i reached 111.2%. The XPS 17 was the brightest of the bunch at 133.7%.

Averaging 560 nits, the MacBook Pro 16’s screen is plenty bright, making the 434-nit average as well as Galaxy Book 3 (509 nits) and XPS 17 (523 nits) look dim by comparison. But the Lenovo was the clear winner with an average of 637 nits.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 audio

Six speakers, four force-cancelling woofers and two tweeters equals clear, loud audio from the MacBook Pro 16. No matter what I listened to, I got a spacious soundstage with clean highs, mids and lows even on distorted background vocals on the intro of Lucky Daye’s “Over.” That didn’t take away from the crisp twang of the guitar that eventually gave way to some punchy 808s paired with the now airy background vocals. All of which made way for the vocalist’s plaintive tenor asking for the final closure to the relationship.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 keyboard and trackpad

Apple was right to call it magic. The MacBook Pro 16’s Magic keyboard offers large bouncy keys with firm feedback. I hit 84 words per minute on the 10fastfingers typing test, a much better result than my typical 70 wpm. And as I look down on my work-issued MacBook’s Touch Bar that I can count on one hand the times I’ve used it, I wish I could swap it out for the infinitely more useful full Function row. It’s here that you’ll find buttons for Spotlight, Dictation and Do Not Disturb along with media and display brightness keys. 

In an attempt to multitask, I brought the Pro 16 downstairs while my boyfriend and I watched the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie. The keyboard’s backlighting was bright enough that I could read the keys in the dark. 

The 6.3 x 3.9-inch Force Touch trackpad is undeniably huge, but doesn’t hinder my typing in the least. Multitouch gestures such as pinch-zoom, two-finger scroll and three-finger flick worked quickly and seamlessly.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 performance

Targeting professional content creators, data scientists, architects or any with a hunger for ridiculous amounts of power, the M3 Max is for you. According to Apple, the heavy hitter of its new M3-series chips will bring an 80% CPU speed increase compared to the M1 Max and about 44% faster than the M2 Max. 

There was no stopping the M3 Max with its 48GB of unified memory as I gleefully launched 100 tabs in Google Chrome with a mix of spreadsheets, slideshows and documents from work along with several news sites, videos and some social media for good measure. I even played Baldur’s Gate 3 looking for some type of slowdown, but no dice.

The MacBook Pro 16 kept up the pressure during Geekbench 6 where it put up 20,863, crushing the 8,241 premium laptop average. The XPS 17 (Intel Core i7-13700H CPU) came in at a distant second with 13,214, followed by the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra (12,405, Intel Core i7-13700H CPU) and the Slim Pro 9i (8,351, Intel Core i9-13905H CPU).

During the Handbrake test, the MacBook Pro took 2 minutes and 36 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p obliterating the 7:51 category average. The competition didn’t stand a chance. The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra completed the task in 5:26 with the XPS 17 finishing in 5:10 with the Slim Pro 9i finishing second in 4:35.

Running the Adobe Photoshop test, the MacBook Pro 16 pulled a score of 1,357 topping the 1,110 average and the MacBook Pro M2 Max 1,218. 

On the File Transfer test, the MacBook Pro 16’s 1TB SSD put up some blistering read and write speeds, nailing down a 5,039.7 megabytes per second read score and a 6,272.5MBps write speed. Both results are better than the 4,751.6/4,497.6MBps.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 gaming and graphics

And now for gaming. And trust me, I know that Mac is not a gamer’s paradise, but Apple is working to change that. The company claims that the new GPUs is 50% faster than the M1 Max which is impressive of course, but I wish they gave some direct answers for the M2 Max. But don’t worry, I’ll try to add some of those numbers here. 

But first, some gaming. I made my way through my new addiction Baldur’s Gate, exploring and fighting my way through the mind flayers’ ship. After a few successful die roles, I built a party of four and narrowly escaped the clutches of death. My human ranger’s pink and purple locs looked great as did my silver-and-green armor. And the reddish-pink mind flayers looked appropriately wet and viscous. I did notice some weird banding issues with my character’s skin. Despite that, I noted that the frame rates never fell below 60 fps and often rose above 119 fps. 

When we ran the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI benchmark, the MacBook Pro 16 obtained 56 fps at 1200p, eking past the 53-fps premium laptop average, but not the M2 Max’s 58 fps. With their discrete graphics, all of the Windows PCs beat the MacBooks hand over fist. The Samsung and Lenovo with their Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPUs scored 95 and 124 fps, respectively. While the Dell’s RTX 4070 GPU got 122 fps. 

The MacBook’s frame rate stayed pretty consistent after switching to native resolution, turning in 57 fps, skipping past the 47-fps category average. However, it couldn’t keep pace with any of the PCs as the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, Slim Pro 9i and XPS 17 delivered 92, 95 and 79 fps, respectively. The M2 Max MacBook Pro 16 produced 59 fps.

On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider test, the MacBook reached 119 fps (1200p) stomping through the 81-fps average as well as the scores put up by the Dell (87 fps) and Samsung (54 fps). At native resolution, the MacBook Pro 16 dropped to 47 fps keeping the XPS 17 and Galaxy Book 3 Ultra (both 24 fps) and the 34-fps category average. 

During the Borderlands benchmark the MacBook produced 57 fps (1200p) which is above our 30-fps playability threshold, but still below the 68-fps average. The XPS 17 blew this test away with 77 fps. 

We saw the MacBook Pro 16 post an impressive 13,359 on 3DMark Time Spy Extreme, topping the 6,422 and the XPS 17 (4,473).

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 battery life

The MacBook Pro 16’s battery life sits right in the sweet spot of Apple’s claim (22 hours of video playback or 15 hours of web browsing). It lasted 18 hours and 5 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness). That’s great, but it’s 51 minutes behind the M2 Max (18:56). But that’s still better than any of the Windows laptops (XPS 17: 9:06, Galaxy Book 3 Ultra: 9:03, Slim Pro 9i: 6:12) and even the premium laptop average (10:37). 

The 140W USB-C Power Adapter that ships with the MacBook Pro 16 enables the laptop to achieve 50% charge in 30 minutes.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 heat

Despite all the heavy-duty work and play you’ll throw the MacBook Pro 16’s way, it will stay relatively cool. During our testing, the touchpad measured 76 degrees Fahrenheit, while the center of the keyboard hit 81 degrees. The notebook’s undercarriage was only a degree hotter at 82 degrees. 

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 webcam

Between the MacBook Pro 16 and 14 these are some of the best webcams I’ve seen to date. Both shooters brilliantly captured my orange hoodie as well as the pink, green, and blue in my locs. The shadow outline left by my braid looked crisp as did the wispy hairs in my eyebrows. And I definitely appreciated the bokeh effect for when it’s time to hop on a conference call. 

If you’re looking for an even better webcam, take a look at our best webcams page. 

Apple MacBook Pro 16 M3 software

So long Ventura, it was fun while it lasted. And while the sun sets on one operating system, it rises on another. Say hello to macOS Sonoma and with it a host of new features, some more useful than others such as the ability to add websites as apps to your dock from Safari. Not necessarily useful, but definitely eye-catching are the beautiful new screensavers made up of slow-motion videos of stunning locations from around the world. 

Widgets are a lot more functional and Sonoma really leans into it allowing for greater interaction letting you work directly in widgets such as creating reminders or to-do lists. And while there are specific use case widgets (music, podcasts, stocks, etc.), you can also bring over your iPhone widgets. And best of all, when you’re not using them, they’ll go translucent, allowing you to better interact with whatever it is that you are actually using. 

As many of us are doing some form of remote or hybrid work, Apple has baked a lot of video conferencing features right into Sonoma. For instance, video feed controls are no longer located inside the Control Centre. You can instead find them in a dropdown on the menu bar for much easier access. I like the Studio Lighting filters as they help you put your best face forward across a host of video conferencing apps.  If you use your Mac’s built-in webcam or Continuity Camera, you can have some fun with new 3D effects. It’s a little cheesy, but something about forming a heart with my hands to generate red heart emojis appear in the camera feed makes me smile. 

I’m a big security fan, so I’m glad to see that Sonoma has some enhanced features such as Private Browsing locks for Safari which keeps your tabs protected when you’re not in front of your device, locking them down via Face ID, Touch ID, or device password. Want to share a pic without giving an app access to your entire gallery? An embedded photo picker lets you pick photos to share within the app’s experience, without sharing your entire library. And if an app does want more access, you’ll see details of how many and which photos will be shared. 

This just a small taste of what you can expect from Sonoma, but it’s definitely got a little something for everyone.

The MacBook Pro 14 ships with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of complementary tech support. See how Apple fared during our annual Tech Support Showdown. 

Bottom Line

How is it that the MacBook Pro 16 gets better every year? It didn’t make any changes to the design outside of a funky, more fingerprint resistant new color, which is a cool trick in itself. The display, keyboard and speakers and hell even the port offering remains the same. But let’s be real, this is really an Apple silicon party and the M3 Max is deserving of all the praise. In terms of overall performance, it has no peers, not even from its fellow MacBooks. Although, the battery life could have been a bit longer for this to be an unequivocal win. 

The other place Apple needs to focus is gaming. Don’t get me wrong, Apple is making leaps and bounds in the space, because if you had told me I’d be playing Baldur’s Gate 3 or Lies of P on a Mac, I would have laughed in your face and told you to put down the drugs. But here I am, playing and having a blast. But I want those frame rates that I see on Windows PC with their discrete GPUs and Mac fans need them. How long must they tolerate being trolled because ApPlE dOeSn’T gAme? I want the M4 chips to fully put that narrative to bed. But for now, I’m happy to try most of the dialogue options in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Overall, the MacBook Pro 16 is the laptop for Mac fans that need every bit of power they can squeeze from its svelte factor. But be warned, Apple is going to squeeze every single cent it can get from your wallet. But for a laptop this awesome, it’s a relatively fair exchange. 

Apple’s shift to OLED displays is less of a matter of will they, won’t they, and much more a matter of when will they, and how much more will it cost me? It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in tech. with the switch, plain as day, appearing so far out on the horizon it has me doubting the curvature of the Earth.

Thanks to a recent leak, purportedly outlining Apple’s OLED plans up until the distant future of 2029, we may now have our best look yet at what’s in store and what to expect — along with a few exciting surprises along the way.

Leaked Apple roadmap 2024-2029: Oléd, Oléd, Oléd!

The leaked roadmap, supplied by reputable tech tipster @Tech_Reve on Twitter/X, showcases Apple’s plans for the remainder of the 2020s — at least in regards to OLED display tech across its catalog of products.

Take this leak with a side order of salt lick, as not only can the information not be verified, but Apple is well known for changing its plans at a moment’s notice. However, similar roadmaps have leaked in the past and held up fairly well (though, admittedly, they don’t typically leave a company’s five-year plan more exposed than a Playboy centerfold).

Starting midway through 2024, the roadmap indicates the first devices beyond Apple’s iPhone to make the leap to the new display tech: an 11-inch and 13” OLED iPad Pro. It marks a subtle shift in size from the usual plus-sized 12.9-inch model, but nothing as drastic as the rumored 14-inch iPad Pro model recently canned by Apple at the last minute.

It’s then ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ for the next 12 months, likely to make room in the spotlight for Apple’s other upcoming display tech: Micro-LED. Expected to arrive at some point in 2025, Apple’s in-house manufactured Micro-LED panels are reported to feature in a refreshed Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra.

However, Apple’s ultimate goal is to eventually outfit the iPhone with Micro-LED displays too — though no word on when this switch might take place is currently available.

Back to our roadmap, the next wave of display upgrades could arrive in 2026 via Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch OLED MacBook Pro laptops. A year later, in 2027, the MacBook Air looks set to follow suit — adopting OLED displays for both of the Air’s 13-inch and 15-inch models.

Flash forward another 12 months and the OLED rollout is completed with 21.5-inch, 27-inch, and 32-inch iMacs receiving the same refreshed display. 

But wait, there’s more

While we’ve covered the typical Apple stomping grounds of MacBooks, iPads, and iMacs, the leaked roadmap does indicate two additional products that are worth singling out: a 20.3-inch foldable iPad Pro reportedly arriving in mid-2026 and an enormous 42-inch iMac arriving late in 2028.

Foldables are quickly growing in popularity thanks to some undeniably great devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, OnePlus Open, and Google Pixel Fold. And, as we all know, now that much of the heavy lifting has been done in this market, it’s at this particular moment in time that Apple enjoys swooping in and gentrifying the space with a classy, pricey, and premium offering.

Apple has had plans for a foldable iPad readied in the chamber since as far back as 2019, with recent rumors spearheaded by the likes of Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young also pointing to a 20.5-inch display being likely and the inclusion of a carbon fiber kickstand. While some have pointed to a 2024 release for Apple’s foldable slate, this is often disputed, and a 2026 arrival would be more generous for Apple to develop and release.

Finally, the absolute behemoth that would be a 42-inch iMac. It’s not the first time we’ve heard rumors of a gargantuan iMac on the horizon. Interestingly, this desk-dominating device is frequently linked to a future OLED display rollout too — further adding some credibility to its inclusion on this roadmap.

However, with its arrival reportedly happening toward the end of the decade, there’s no guarantee that this giant iMac will come to fruition. Still, that’s not to say it wouldn’t be an impressive feat for Apple to achieve. 

Outlook

Are we looking at Apple's official roadmap for it's OLED switchover? Unlikely. But that doesn't mean it's entirely wild speculation either. A lot of the dates included line up with industry insider and analyst insights.

If this isn't a leaked roadmap, it's at the very least a compilation of some of the more substantial leaks surrounding the inclusion of OLED displays across a wider range of Apple devices. These leaks are often backed by information obtained through manufacturers or sources close to the product's development.

That being said, rumors and leaks are rumors and leaks. And, if we believed them all blindly, the cubicle walls of a public bathroom would be the modern day equivalent of the library of Alexandria.

By no means take this information for fact. But you can take it as an loose outline of Apple's plans in regards to its OLED switchup, as it summarizes what's already been said by some of the industries most reliable sources.

Apple's "Scary Fast" event was packed with surprises including new MacBooks and an iMac, all powered by new M3 Apple Silicon processors. And while we get to welcome Space Black back to the Mac, Apple also announced that the 13-inch MacBook Pro will be no more.

Apple's 13-inch notebook had its time to shine, offering portability and performance in equal measure. However, ever since Apple's ARM-based Silicon M-Series chips took center stage, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has become an awkward middle child – unable to outshine its MacBook Air counterpart, and incapable of measuring up to its bigger brothers in the 14, and 16-inch MacBook Pro lineup.

That being said, Apple simply wouldn't call "Uncle!" on this particular model, even offering it an M2 refresh just last year. So, why the sudden shift?

New MacBook Pro lineup gets some early Spring cleaning

Apple's catalog of MacBooks is impressive, but it was getting a little confusing, especially where its two product lines overlap. The 13-inch space for MacBooks was kind of a mess, with both the Air and Pro models taking up exactly the same space with near identical specs, and a $100 difference between the two.

The 13-inch MacBook Air has been the better buy for almost the entirety of the Apple Silicon era thanks to its lower price point and solid specifications. Leaving its MacBook Pro counterpart feeling like a legacy inclusion. So it makes all the sense in the world for Apple to finally cut the cord and lay its littlest Pro model to rest.

The resulting lineup is a much clearer and neater one, with the 13-inch MacBook Air assuming the role of a 'lite' 14-inch MacBook Pro – and the 15-inch MacBook Air similarly complimenting the 16-inch flagship MacBook Pro. It's simple, without overlap, and just makes sense.

But what if there's another reason for the cut? What if Apple are simply freeing up resources for something else entirely?

Room for something new?

Time are hard, and throwing $1,000+ dollars down on a new MacBook isn't something everyone is capable of. But you don't have to take my word for that, Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states the same in a recent post to social media site X.

In the post, Kuo explains how a slump in sales is causing Apple to consider a more affordable option in order to boost its waning shipments. It's not the first time this idea has been floated either.

Reports from earlier in the year back this notion further, claiming that Apple is hard at work on a new MacBook model focusing on the education market — potentially as a way to conquer the Chromebook's budget-friendly dominance.

Or room for something old?

A MacBook with an ultra-low price point would be alluring to many, though Apple would find themselves in a similar position if they once against brought out an entirely new 13-inch MacBook model and re-cluttered their catalog.

But for Apple to target such a low price point and to offer a unique product that won't step on the toes of the rest of its catalog, could it be time to lay the 13-inch MacBook Pro to rest, and revive the 11-inch MacBook Air?

Outlook

We can't say for sure what Apple's future plans are, but word of a low-cost MacBook being on the horizon is one of the least audacious rumors currently making its rounds. A smaller 11-12-inch MacBook model would help keep the price of the device down while at the same time help differentiate it from the rest of the MacBook lineup.

Interestingly, Apple may also opt to simply convert their similarly sized iPad Pro models for a more laptop-like experience. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the iPad's Magic Keyboard is due for a refresh, likely to be revealed alongside M3 iPad models at some stage next year. The new Magic Keyboard has an aluminum frame, and larger trackpad — more closely mimicking the deck of a traditional MacBook model.

How these purported rumors play out remains to be seen. Though, if they're to be believed, Apple may have closed the book on the 13-inch MacBook Pro to start a new chapter elsewhere.

Apple finally unveiled its most recent hardware at its “Scary Fast” event. With it came the simultaneous reveals of the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chipsets, alongside the MacBook Pro laptops and new iMac that would be powered by them.

Specifically, the company unveiled a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3, 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro, and a 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max. It’s quite a sizable list of laptops, but if you're trying to decide which M3 MacBook Pro you should buy, that cheaper new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 is sure to be a primary target.

That answer depends on several factors involving your budget, the power of your current laptop, what exactly you need it for, and the features you want. So let's get right into it and explore whether or not an M3 MacBook Pro is right for you.

Should you buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3? 

If you already own an M2 or M1 MacBook Pro, the announcement of that shiny looking M3 MacBook Pro probably has you checking your wallet to see if you can spare the cash. After all, you do already have one of the latest Apple Silicon MacBooks, so do you really need another one? Well, that depends on your use. The M3 boasts 25 million transistors, which is 5 billion more than the M2. It also supports 24GB of unified memory and has an 8-core CPU with four cores for performance and another four for efficiency. 

I’m sure that sounds amazing for the seven people on Earth who understand what any of that means, but in practical terms, Apple claims the MacBook Pro M3 is significantly faster than the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1, as it can render up to 60% faster in Final Cut Pro 60%, compile code in Xcode 40% faster, and spreadsheet performance was up to 40% faster. 

But comparative speed is far from the whole picture. Unless you feel your current MacBook is chugging along to perform the tasks you need it to, you should be fine with your current hardware. If you do find yourself editing or rendering and the laptop just isn’t handling it as swiftly as you need it to, perhaps it is time to level up.

Unfortunately, until we get our hands on the MacBook Pro M3 ourselves, we won't be able to accurately share whether or not Apple’s speed comparisons hold true, but we can look at the performance of older models to make some predictions. On the Geekbench 5.0 overall performance test, the MacBook Pro M1 achieved a multi-core score of 5,882, while the M2 model came away with a multi-core score of 8,911. If we follow this trend, we’re expecting the M3 to at least go beyond five digits, and maybe even as high as 12,000. 

The M1 MacBook Pro also converted a 4K video to 1080p using the HandBrake app in 7 minutes and 44 seconds, while the M2 model did the same in 6 minutes and 51 seconds. Perhaps the M3 can get this number below 6 minutes.

But beyond just performance metrics, what new things can we expect out of it? Well, it features an upgraded Neural Engine that is also reportedly 60% faster than the M1, with powerful image processing, noise reduction, super resolution, scene edit detection, and more.

The M3 will also yield the first MacBooks capable of ray tracing. If, for some reason, you’re a gamer who prefers to play on a MacBook, you’ll at least have the benefit of enjoying dynamic caching, mesh shadowing, and more. We aren’t aware of which games will have ray tracing compatibility just yet, but we did recently see Resident Evil 4 Remake is coming to the App Store. Since that game has ray tracing on PC and console, we hope Mac won’t miss out on it 

Apple also goes as far as to say that the M3 MacBook hits the company’s “high standards” for power efficiency, as the laptop has the “longest battery life ever in a Mac” and claims it can hit 22 hours. It’s hard to say whether or not this is true, but the M2 MacBook Pro lasted 18 hours and 20 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery life test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. Frankly, we’ll be impressed if it even goes above 20 hours.

Apple also claims its screen can reach up to 600 nits, which would be a huge upgrade considering we tested the M2 MacBook Pro as hitting 475 nits. But beyond higher nits, power increases, better battery life, and the benefits that come with a more powerful focus on gaming, there’s not much else to be excited about when it comes to the MacBook Pro M3. Sure, it comes with a new Space Black color scheme, but unless you’re frothing at the mouth for a new hue, you won’t find much here if you already own an Apple Silicon MacBook.

But it’s hard to deny that things change a bit if we shift over to those who are still using an Intel MacBook. Starting at $1,599, Apple claims the MacBook Pro M3 is up to 7.4x faster than the 13-Inch MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i7 processor. Particularly in Final Cut Pro rendering performance. If you still haven’t upgraded to a MacBook with Apple Silicon, this could be a great time to do so.

Bottom line 

There’s no escaping how powerful Apple’s latest series of M3 MacBooks are, but if you are already sporting an Apple Silicon MacBook, unless you feel you are pushing your laptop to its limits, you can probably hold off one more generation. However, if you haven’t made the upgrade to an M1 or M2 just yet, this would be an ideal time to make the plunge.

Featuring far greater performance, AI upgrades, longer battery life, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and a brighter screen, this is an upgrade that will be felt by anyone still using an Intel MacBook. If that's your situation then you can pre-order M3 MacBook Pro today or keep an eye out for our full reviews soon.

The 13-inch laptop is a wonder of modern design.

It's often so light you'll barely notice it in your bag while still delivering plenty of performance. Students breeze through campus with these lightweight wonders, while pros tuck them into briefcases for on-the-go productivity (or just conquering emails from the couch). You'll love the convenience and portability they bring, making them the perfect companion for busy, on-the-move individuals.

But just because they're small doesn't mean you should underestimate their bite. These aren't the underpowered thin and light laptops of yesteryear; 13-inch laptops are available to handle almost any workload. They make for the best travel-friendly laptops available, with a sturdy chassis, enchanting display, and long battery life. So ditch the bulk and embrace the possibilities — 13-inch laptops are where extreme portability meets powerhouse.

If you want the thinnest and lightest laptop possible while still offering enough power to handle most tasks easily, a 13-inch laptop is the answer.

If you need a laptop today, these are the best 13-inch laptops based on our extensive testing and reviews.

The Quick List

Best 13-inch laptops in 2024

Best 13-inch overall laptop

Apple's MacBook Air M3 is staggering, asserting itself as one of the best overall laptops. If you need a 13-inch, most people would not go wrong with it, as its excellent performance and miraculously long battery life are impossible to deny.

The MacBook Air M3 towers above the premium laptop's average performance with its Geekbench 6 overall multi-core score of 12,087. Its SSD speeds are also hyper-fast, hitting an average of 3,031 megabytes per second in our file transfer test. Plain and simple, there are very few scenarios in which you can go wrong with the MacBook Air M3.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits, The MacBook Air M3 lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes. No, you didn't misread that. Its battery life goes above and beyond reason, and it is one of the longest-lasting laptops you can buy today.

It's also impressive that this is a whole hour longer in longevity when compared to the M2 MacBook, meaning there's no better time to invest in the latest model. MacBooks are also famous for their great-feeling keyboards, and if you want a springy and quiet one to keep your fingers happy while typing the day away, look no further.

Otherwise, its 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664 Liquid Retina display is crisp enough to perform in-depth work. Its 77.8 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut is solid, but what sets it apart is an average brightness of 476 nits. The brightness is enough to handle even the sunniest days, as there's nothing worse than intense glare, making it impossible to see what's happening on-screen.

See our full MacBook Air M3 review.

Back to the top ⤴

Best 13-inch business laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is the perfect business laptop for those who need a quality ultraportable. Its total weight of 2.2 pounds is as light as a feather, and if you need something truly capable with solid performance and a bright display, look no further.

Our configuration costs $1,599, and Lenovo built it with an Intel Core i7-1360P processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage space, and a 13.3-inch 2K IPS touchscreen. While it's important to remember that it's using a last-generation processor, its Geekbench 5.5 multi-core performance of 9,268 is good enough to handle a heavy workload.

We were pretty disappointed by its longevity, though. In the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits, its subpar 8 hours and 28 minutes of battery life is enough to sustain an entire workday. Still, depending on how demanding your workflow is, you might need an outlet nearby. This is also worse than the original's 12 hours of battery life and is significantly below the 9-hour and 45-minute ultraportable average.

The laptop can also get bright enough to survive blinding sunlight, with an average brightness of 483 nits. That's even higher than the MacBook Air M3, which hits 476 nits. However, its color depth leaves much to be desired, coming in at a 70.9 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

We also wish it had more ports, but considering it's a thin and lightweight laptop, it's typical for these products to have a small selection. At the very least, its two Thunderbolt 4 ports will allow for the best laptop docking stations to be attached. You also get an audio jack, so there's that.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 review

Back to the top ⤴

Best 13-inch 2-in-1 Laptop

Counting the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i as a 13-inch laptop might be cheating, as it features two 13.3-inch 2,800 x 1,800-pixel displays, but this adds to the diversity of its use cases. How does it work, you ask? Pop the lid open and use it as a standard laptop, but detach its Bluetooth keyboard and get to work when you want to use two screens at once. You can even use an included external mouse and Lenovo Digital Pen.

It is absolutely worth considering its price, though, as you'll be paying $1,999 for this beast. Beyond just its incredible foundation, its 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U is solid, with a Geekbench 5.5 score of 7,765. While this is slightly below our 7,767 premium laptop average, it's not drastic enough of a drop for us to avoid recommending the product.

The dual OLED displays are also a glorious sight, covering 136.5 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut on the top display and 136.7 percent on the bottom display. This isn't a surprise, as they're identical panels, and it pulls ahead of competitors like the MacBook Air M3 (77.8 percent) without issue.

It also sports battery life within our recommended range, lasting 9 hours and 18 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits. While that's not quite as impressive as the MacBook Air M3's 15 hours, it's still great for a 2-in-1 laptop.

The brightness could be better, though. It is 335 nits on the top display and 344 nits on the bottom display, which is lower than the 392 nits average for this category.

See our full Lenovo Yoga Book 9i review.

Back to the top ⤴

How to choose the best 13-inch laptop

Do your intensive daily workloads require more RAM than the average Joe? Are you a video editor who needs extra storage? Are you a gamer who wants a powerful GPU? Sorting through the best laptops to fit your lifestyle is a tricky business.

Budget: What you get for your money

You can find decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500. However, better mainstream laptops usually cost more than $700 and premium Ultrabooks can run over $1,000. The best gaming laptops can cost $2.000 and up, but you can play the latest titles at decent frame rates on gaming laptops under $1,000.

Design: 2-in-1 or clamshell?

More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like the idea of using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption, or just standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. However, you can often get better features or a lower price by going with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.

Battery Life: 9+ hours for portability

Battery life matters unless you plan to use your laptop only on your desk. Even in the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table without being chained to the nearest outlet. We recommend getting a laptop that lasted over 9 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test for the best portability. The longest-lasting laptops endure anywhere between 10 and 15 hours.

Back to the top ⤴

How we test the best 13-inch laptops

Over the course of a year, we review over 150 laptops covering every price point and use case. Whether you’re looking for a productivity workhorse, a badass gaming system, or a multimedia machine to kick back and watch a movie or two, we can help you find your ideal match.

In order to make our list, the system needs to score at least 4 out of 5 stars on our reviews and deliver on the things shoppers care about most. In our evaluations, we focus on design and comfort, display quality, the keyboard and touchpad, performance, battery life, and especially value.

Our expert reviewers also use each product to see how it looks, feels, and performs in everyday situations. Because we see so many different notebooks, we can compare each to its direct competitors and give you an idea of how it stacks up to the average laptop in its price band.

When we bring a laptop into our laboratory, our goal is to see how it would work if you brought it into your home or office. While we use a number of industry standard benchmarks such as Geekbench and 3DMark, we focus heavily on real-world tests that we have developed in-house.

To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until the system runs out of juice. To judge pure processing power, we use a giant spreadsheet macro that matches 65,000 names with their addresses, a video transcoder that converts a 4K video to 1080p, and the Geekbench 5 synthetic test. We measure graphics prowess with both 3DMark Ice Storm / Fire Strike and a series of games including Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Metro: Exodus, Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption just to name a few.

We use a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut while other instruments help us determine a laptop's key travel and ambient heat. See this page on how we test laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Back to the top ⤴

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100 percent independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

One of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

Back to the top ⤴

Apple abruptly unveiled its plans to host an end-of-October event titled "Scary Fast," with us expecting to feast our eyes on new MacBook and iMac models in the coming week. And, while we were initially surprised by the lack of rumors revolving around this coming showcase, it seems Apple is simply incapable of escaping leaks.

MacRumors has received information suggesting that the new Mac models will launch on Wednesday, November 8. This means it will come a little over a week after the company's "Scary Fast" event on October 30.

Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is launching soon

While MacRumors can seemingly confirm the release date of the latest Mac models, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted a couple of days ago that he believes the focus of the event will be the M3 series MacBook Pro. Alongside this, we previously wrote about an alternative leak that suggested we'll be seeing an Apple M3 iMac this Monday.

Effectively, the "Scary Fast" event is focusing on the company's all-new M3 models, which explains the emphasis on speed within its title. Whether or not the event is to include additional hardware beyond an iMac and MacBook Pro is yet to be seen, as a majority of the leaks revolve around only those two. We could see a 13-inch, 14-inch, or 16-inch MacBook Pro, but we're not entirely sure.

MacRumors also makes a claim suggesting that the M3 will feature graphical capabilities that can perform hardware ray tracing. Since the iPhone 15 Pro introduced such a feature with the A17 Pro chip, we expect MacBooks will likely follow suit also. After all, it'd be amusing if the iPhone had ray tracing but a new MacBook didn't.

Otherwise, we're excited to watch the Mac event on Oct. 30 and to get our first look at these "Scary Fast" machines, Be sure to check out our how to watch page to learn all you need to know about catching the event!

If you wanted a new MacBook Pro 14-inch or 16-inch model by the end of the year, you just might be in luck—if the most recent rumor turns out to be true. According to a DigiTimes report (via MacRumors and TechRadar), MacBook Pros could arrive within just a few months with more power-efficient screens. 

That said, past reports from DigiTimes haven't always been the most reliable, and plenty of other rumors suggest the complete opposite, that we won't see new MacBook Pro models until 2024. The delayed timeline for MacBook Pros seems more likely, but DigiTimes insists otherwise.

When will we get new MacBook Pro models?

Although it'd be wonderful to get our hands on new MacBook Pro models this year, that's not the most believed rumor out there right now. With more realistic estimates of 2024 from two of the most reliable Apple sources—Mark Gurman and Ming-Chi Kuo—this DigiTimes report seems like it's grasping.

In the report, DigiTimes mentions Apple is sticking with mini-LED displays for its new MacBook Pros, and that these mini-LED panels will be 10% brighter, but more power-efficient. The site goes on to say that Apple has plans to continue working with mini-LED screens until 2026, ruling out potential plans to bring OLED technology into the mix.

Despite going into detail about the new battery-saving mini-LED display, DigiTimes doesn't mention whether Apple's new MacBook Pros would feature an improved M3 chip or a current-gen M2 chip. If the chip wasn't mentioned, we could assume new MacBook Pros won't be getting a chip upgrade, as TechRadar suggests, or we might assume that DigiTimes doesn't know too much about the new MacBook Pros.

The biggest MacBook Pro rumors we've had in the past have mentioned a MacBook with an M3 chip arriving in 2024. Both Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have been wrong before, they're generally more reliable sources than DigiTimes. 

Earlier this year, Mark Gurman suggested an M3-powered MacBook Pro could debut at an Apple event in October, but he has since updated his estimates to summer 2024 after gaining new information. 

We're more inclined to believe the 2024 estimate, but we won't know anything for sure until the Apple October event, if it happens. If there is an Apple event in October, it seems more likely that we'll see the iMac 24-inch with an M3 chip debut rather than an M3 MacBook Pro. 

macOS Sonoma’s huge reveal at Apple’s WWDC earlier this year was big news for Apple fans the world over. Since then, Apple’s latest macOS update has been impressing users during its beta release with a host of new features and improvements that sharpen and refine the Mac experience like never before.

However, today marks the day that macOS Sonoma steps out of beta and into full release – meaning we can all finally get to grips with macOS 14 and start to see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Apple’s upgraded operating system.

To help you on your way we’ve put together a short guide on how best to prepare for and how to install the latest version of macOS on your Mac device. But before we dive into the install there are a few things we should keep in mind: compatibility and preparation.

macOS 14 Sonoma: Compatibility and system requirements 

If you want to upgrade to macOS 14 Sonoma you’ll have to be working from a supported device and model compatible with today’s update. The following is the official list of Macs capable of playing host to Sonoma when it launches later today: 

• MacBook Pro (2018 and later)
• MacBook Air (2018 and later)
• Mac Pro (2019 and later)
• Mac Mini (2018 and later)
• Mac Studio (2022 and later)
• iMac (2019 and later)
• iMac Pro (2017)

macOS 14 Sonoma: How to prepare for the update 

We may not know the exact time of day when Apple makes the macOS 14 Sonoma update available to all, but we do know that you can prepare in advance while you wait to make sure everything goes smoothly and you’re good to go the moment it drops. 

Step 1: Back up your Mac

Today’s Sonoma release will be a stable build, meaning it’s highly unlikely to cause any large-scale issues on install. That being said, it’s always wise to perform a backup in advance just in case something doesn’t go to plan. If you need help performing this task, fear not. Check out our guides to backing up your Mac below and we can move onto our next step. 

• How to Back Up Your Mac With Time Machine
• How to Backup Your Mac: Why I Use 3 Different Solutions

Step 2: Clear some space

Avoid the hassle of last minute decluttering and make sure your Mac has enough space to download and install macOS 14 Sonoma in advance. Keeping the Sonoma beta release in mind, today’s update could be up to 12GB in size. However, you’ll also need additional space in order to perform the install which means a minimum of 24-25GB of space could be required.

Once again, if you need some direction on how to quickly and easily clear up some space on your Mac you can follow our how-to guide below:

• How to free up space on a MacBook

macOS 14 Sonoma: How to install macOS 14 Sonoma 

If you’re backed up and have space free to receive the update, we’re now finally good to go. Once the macOS 14 Sonoma update becomes available you’ll be able to initiate the upgrade through Software Update. Let’s go through the process of doing so now: 

• Step 1: Click on the Apple menu.
• Step 2: Choose System Settings.
• Step 3: On the left-hand side of the System Settings window, click General.
• Step 4: On the right-hand side of the window, select Software Update.

From here you will be able to see the latest update currently available for your Mac. Keep an eye out for macOS Sonoma 14.0 appearing in this section. Once the update is released you’ll be able to click the button that says “Upgrade Now” to kick-start the process.

Follow all on screen instructions from here and enjoy macOS 14 Sonoma once the upgrade is complete!

Note: Can’t see Software Update? Use the Spotlight search in the top right corner of the screen to search for “Software Update,” and select it from the results.

If you still can’t find the app, you may be on an older version of macOS without this feature. In this instance, you’ll need to use the App Store instead. Simply open the App Store and click Updates or search for Sonoma to access the update directly.

Microsoft just announced the Surface Laptop Studio 2, and the company made it clear there is one competitor in its sights: the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

With its choice of 13th Gen Intel Core i7 CPUs (paired with a VPU for AI acceleration), and a choice of integrated or dedicated graphics, this versatile touchscreen machine has more versatility for creators than Apple’s powerhouse.

But is that enough in the face of the fearsome Apple Silicon, its tight macOS integration, a suite of creative apps, and impressive stamina? Let’s find out.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: Specs

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: Price

The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 and can go all the way up to a whopping $6,299. 

• Surface Laptop Studio 2 (base model): $1,999
• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Pro base model): $1,999
• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Max base model): $3,099

Given the starting price disparity with that M2 Max model, we’ll focus on that $2,000 machine in our comparison.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: Design

• Both laptop designs remain identical to their previous generations
• MacBook Pro sports a flat, utilitarian aesthetic with no touch screen/hinge-based construction
• Surface Laptop Studio 2 brings more versatility with its display that can be laid practically flat like a portable easel

As much as we want Apple to push the boat out and be a little more ambitious with redesigns (or at least a new color), Apple’s streamlined minimalism is drop-dead gorgeous. It is a flat, utilitarian design that is built to give you confidence in its aluminum unibody.

Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 also doesn’t change a thing about the design compared to the previous model, and that’s a good thing. The Dynamic Woven Hinge lets you pull the bottom of that display towards you, which unlocks three modes: Laptop, Stage, and Studio.

It’s a premium construction with far more versatility in use cases than you find on the MacBook Pro, but I was hoping that the awkward slab stuck under the bottom for cooling would be gone.

In fact, it’s not even the additional mechanism of the Surface Laptop Studio 2’s display that adds the extra heft, though. Instead, it’s that vented underside. We weren’t expecting dramatic changes across both these machines in terms of the design or the display (more on that in a second), but the choice here comes down to what’s important for you.

If your workload is dependent on versatility of working styles, then you already know the answer is Surface Laptop Studio 2. However, the MacBook Pro is a true workhorse in its hardware look and feel too.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: Display

• Surface Laptop Studio 2: 14.4-inch, 2400x1600-pixel resolution HDR Touchscreen PixelSense Flow Display with 120Hz refresh rate
• 14-inch MacBook Pro: 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, 3024x1964-pixel resolution with 120Hz refresh rate

Apple is cocky about its MacBook Pro display, but the company absolutely earns it with its gorgeous miniLED display — super sharp with a buttery smooth refresh rate, and stellar color reproduction. Plus, it gets real bright too with a 1,000 nits sustained brightness with XDR content. For SDR, you're looking at 500 nits.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 matches this brightness with its 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow panel, which also supports Dolby Vision IQ visuals and DisplayHDR 400. It also sports 10-point capacitive touch and Surface Pen support for a far wider array of use cases beyond anything you could possibly do with the MacBook Pro.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: Ports

• The Surface Laptop Studio 2 may benefit from the versatility of a USB-A port…
• …but it seems weird to say the MacBook Pro has a wider array for your creative needs!

Why is it weird? Well, it comes down to the typical assumption that Apple limits the amount of connectivity to its laptops. But the MacBook Pro is the exception to the rule with HDMI 2.1, an SD card slot, and three Thunderbolt 4 sockets.

As for the Surface Laptop Studio 2, there is no HDMI port, and in its place, you get USB-A. Elsewhere on the machine, there are two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, a microSD card reader, and that proprietary Surface Connector.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs 14-inch MacBook Pro: CPU and GPU

• The base model Surface Laptop Studio 2 gets a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU with integrated Iris Xe graphics
• Pay more and you can get a dedicated Nvidia GPU
• As for the MacBook Pro, you get a choice of M2 Pro or M2 max

Apple’s custom silicon is capable of some great things in the M2 Pro and M2 Max – providing impressive performance under intense pressure, and power efficiency unlike any laptop in its class.

In fact, these laptops continue to rank highly in terms of Geekbench scores and video transcoding, which guarantees peak power when it comes to video rendering and complicated edits of high-capacity files.

On the other side of the ring, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 comes packed with either an Intel Core i7-13700H or 13800H CPU, alongside Intel’s new Gen 3 Movidius 3700VC VPU AI Accelerator to turbo boost Windows’ new Copilot-oriented OS. However, one downside is that the base model Studio 2 comes simply with Iris Xe integrated graphics.

There was a specific test on stage at the Surface event, where the Laptop Studio 2 rendered a large file faster than the MacBook Pro. But at the base model price, I’d be skeptical of seeing this as a possibility on Iris Xe integrated graphics. But that remains to be seen in our own testing of course.

Outlook

It was odd to see the Surface Laptop Studio 2 treated almost like an afterthought to Microsoft’s AI efforts because this is shaping up to be a pretty good laptop! But is it enough to compete with the MacBook Pro? That’s for us to find out when we get one in for review.

If Microsoft is coming for the king of prosumer laptops, it best not miss. It has the improved versatility of that gorgeous touchscreen on a hinge to enable far more forms of artistic expression.

But will its combination of 13th Gen Intel, RTX 40-series power, and an AI VPU match up to the pure horsepower of Apple’s pro laptop? I’m not so sure, but we’ll see.

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED is a lightweight content-creating beast in an ultraportable form factor that will make it popular with on-the-go creators. Unassuming in appearance with svelte dimensions that combine the potency of an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, a gorgeous 2.8K OLED Pantone-certified touch display is tossed in for good measure.

Very few ultraportable content creation laptops pack the kind of power the Zenbook Pro 14 does at this price point. I edited several 6K videos without any hiccups, and I experienced solid Windows laptop battery life while going about my day pushing documents. Obviously aimed directly at the MacBook Pro 14, this ZenBook Pro 14 is a serious contender for our best laptops for video editing and should make the fruit monikered tech titan from Cupertino nervous. Let’s dive a little deeper into this sly content creator from Asus.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED  pricing and configurations

Our Zenbook Pro 14 OLED model costs $2,099.99 and comes with an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, and a 2.8K (2800 x 1800) 14-inch OLED touch display, with a 16:10 aspect ratio, running at 120Hz of refresh rate.

A base model Zenbook Pro 14 OLED, is available at Amazon for $1,799.99. This model has the same Core i9-13900H processor, RTX 4070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED design

The tech black all-metal Zenbook Pro 14 OLED has this reserved outer appearance that's utilitarian and unassuming, perfectly hiding the raging internals craving to be tested. In the hand, the Zenbook feels like a slim cold slab of finely chiseled slate. A refined Asus logo in black chrome on the lid teases that something special lies hidden beneath. Also, knowing that the ZenBook Pro 14 is MIL-SPEC 810 certified is comforting, as it can handle some drops, bumps, and bruises.

When opening the lid, your eyes are introduced to the super bouncy Chiclet-style keyboard with white font letters and symbols. Centered beneath is the touchpad with an inset programmable wheel that lights up when you tap and slide your finger toward the center of the touchpad. It’s a very attractive feature, and the touch wheel works very well when editing audio.

Above the deck, the ample 14-inch, 2.8K (2800 x 1800) touch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio sits within nearly nonexistent bezels. Gazing up a bit, we find the FHD (1920 x 1080) webcam centered in the thickest part of the bezel.  

The overall styling for a high-powered laptop is understated, and you would never know you were about to create your magnum opus on it. Flip the unit over and we find the Harmon Kardon speaker vents on the bottom of either side of the chassis, followed by an area of cooling vents.

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 measures 12.67 x 8.79 x 0.70 inches and weighs 3.5 pounds. This Zenbook Pro 14 feels tiny, and I slid it into my backpack next to my MacBook Pro 16 without giving it much thought or adding much noticeable weight. 

The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i weighs 4.9 pounds (14.3 x 9.6 x 0.75 inches), followed by the MSI Stealth 14 Studio (12.4 x 9.69 x .75 inches) at 3.75 pounds. Our final group member is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402Y (AMD), which measures 12.35 x 8.69 x 0.67 and weighs 3.06 pounds. Who doesn’t love a little sibling rivalry?

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED ports

On the left, we find the 3.5mm combo audio jack, one USB Type-A port, an HDMI port, and an AC power port.

We find an SD card reader and 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports on the right side.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED display

The 16-inch, Pantone-certified OLED display boasts a 2.8K (2800 x 1800) resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio with a 120Hz refresh rate. Whether you care about Pantone certification or not,  you will notice it immediately as it is an incredibly saturated display. 

The Pantone certification gave me confidence while color grading footage in DaVinci Resolve, and knowing that it's rated for color accuracy is incredibly important to content creators.

While Watching “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse,” the computer-animated world was brilliantly saturated, with immersive imagery as it popped off the Pro 14’s display. The ZenBook Pro 14’s OLED display produces excellent black and contrast, and the black web lines of Peter Parker’s red spider suit were crisp and popped. Everything is lushly reproduced in the scene where Miles gets bitten, with excellent detail and inspiring color.

During our testing, the Pro 14 reproduced 78.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is below the mainstream average of 91.2%, which was surprising. Meanwhile, the Stealth 14 Studio led our group with 114.4%, followed by the Slim Pro 9i which tallied 111.2% with the Zenbook 14 OLED shutting the door averaging 79.1%.

Our Zenbook Pro produced 346.6 nits of brightness, just a hair below the mainstream laptop average of 357 nits. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i had a blinding 637 nits of brightness, producing brightness to spare, followed by the Stealth’s 370 nits, and the Zenbook 14, which averaged 346 nits. 

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED keyboard and touchpad

The Zenbook Pro 14’s backlit keyboard is well appointed, with excellent travel between keys, allowing my massive hands to type comfortably.  During the 10FastFingers.com typing test, I typed 89 words per minute with 87% accuracy.

Usually, I am in the 85 to 90 words per minute range with 85% accuracy, so I surpassed my averages and enjoyed the bouncy, responsive keys.

The 5.3 x 3.4-inch touchpad is responsive and accurate when navigating websites or documents. It nicely performed all Windows 11 gestures, such as two-finger swipes and three-finger taps. The bottom corners give firm and clicky feedback when using right or left clicks.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED audio

The audio experience on the Zenbook Pro 14 features Harmon Kardon tuned speakers, which performed very well during my time with it. The speaker system created precise tonal separation, allowing for the easy detection of high, mid, and low tones. The speakers are not overly thumpy, but the bass has depth and is loud enough for me to enjoy music in my studio apartment, which is about the size of a college dorm room. 

I fired up The Bass Police's “Shake That,” and the Pro 14’s speakers remained clear without distortion, even with the too-heavy bassline pushing its drivers. It held up well, delivering very discerning, clear audio with depth. In honor of Hip-Hop’s 50th birthday, I listened to the classic “I’m Bad” by LL Cool J. The Harmon Kardon speakers did a good job of delivering all the flashback-inducing bass, and Uncle L’s lyrics were reproduced crisply. 

While watching the news on the Spectrum TV app, the reporter's voices were clear and clean as I learned about the day's weather and political craziness happening worldwide. The ANC of the built-in mic array worked very well without being choppy during video conference calls. I held a brief chat via Google Meet with my daughter to hear about her evening before she went to bed, and she reported I sounded clear, with minimal background noise leaking through. 

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED graphics

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED has an Nvidia RTX GeForce 4070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM. The 4070 efficiently handled editing 6 and 4K videos in DaVinci Resolve, as I spent a grueling workday producing videos without worry as the Zenbook performed smoothly. 

On the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, the Pro 14 scored 19,010, which crushes the average mainstream laptop (6,856). However, the MSI Stealth (Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060) crushed this benchmark with a score of 22,675, followed by the Lenovo (Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050) 20,193, with our sibling Zenbook 14 OLED (integrated AMD Radeon graphics)) closing things out at 3,657, way below the benchmark average. 

During the TimeSpy benchmark, our Zenbook destroyed the mainstream average score of 3,229, tallying 8,651. The MSI Stealth 14 Studio led our group scoring 9,906, followed by the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i at 9,000, with the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED closing this benchmark with 1,481.

The Zenbook blew away the 45 frames per second mainstream gaming laptop average during our Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p) benchmark, averaging 115.33 frames per second. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i blew this benchmark away, averaging 124 fps, with the Zenbook non-Pro 14, averaging 28 frames per second. Our Stealth 14 was not tested using this benchmark; however, on GTA V in 1080p, it averaged 83 frames per second. It’s safe to assume it would score extremely well during the Sid Meier benchmark.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED performance

With an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, the Pro 14 delivered a solid performance throughout my time. I never experienced any lag while using different applications.  

When I got the Zenbook Pro 14 in hand, I plugged it in, powered it up, and immediately opened up 60 tabs in Google Chrome. Several were playing YouTube videos, one running "Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse.” There was no lagging performance, and the fan noise was minimal, but I could feel them pushing out warm air. The cooling system on the Pro 14 helps with performance, although occasionally, the fans revved up a bit loudly.

Our Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED review unit surpassed the category average during our synthetic tests, starting with Geekbench 6, an overall performance benchmark. The Pro 14 scored 13,249, leapfrogging the average mainstream laptop score of 8,508 and leading our group.

The MSI Stealth 14 Studio (Intel Core i7-13700H) was second with a score of 12,841, followed by the Non-Pro 14 7,785 (AMD Rvzen 7 7730U). The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (Intel Core i9-13905H) tallied 8.351.

During the Handbrake video-editing test, which requires the laptop to transcode a 4K video to 1080p, the Zenbook Pro 14 scored above the mainstream laptop average of 7 minutes and 39 seconds, taking 5:42 to transcode the media. 

The Slim Pro 9i dominated this benchmark taking just 3:59 seconds to finish the task, with the Stealth 14 Studio following coming with an acceptable 4:41 seconds. The other Zenbook 14 handled the job in 8 :5. 

During our file transfer test, the Pro 14 OLED (1TB SSD) averaged a transfer rate of 1,239.69 megabytes per second, shooting past the 929.39 mainstream laptop average when duplicating 25GB of mixed-media files. The 9i (1TB SSD) delivered a group-leading transfer rate of 1,964.94 megabytes per second, blasting past the rest of the group. The third spot belongs to the M 310.05 MBps.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED battery life

When you combine a potent CPU and GPU, as we find on the Pro 14, battery life is going to take a hit. During our in-house battery test (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits), the Omen lasted 6 hours and 51 minutes, so you can get through most of your day without plugging it in. However, I would toss the charger into my backpack, just in case. 

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (AMD) led our group, averaging 11:32, with the Lenovo coming in at 6:12. The MSI Stealth took 3:17 minutes as it treated its battery like a bag of dark chocolate almonds, devouring it in no time.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED heat 

The Zenbook’s cooling system is adequate, and I never felt like it was too hot for my lap. However, our test results tell a slightly different story. During our heat tests, which consisted of a series of temperature scans after running a fullscreen HD video for 15 minutes. The touchpad measured an acceptable 81.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and the space between the G and H keys measured a comfortable 91.6 degrees. The laptop’s underside barely exceeded our 95-degree comfort threshold at 95.7 degrees.

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED webcam

The FHD (1920 x 1080) webcam on the Zenbook Pro 14 OLED is an excellent webcam that produces nicely saturated still images and video. You experience crisp, clear videos and images even with inadequate lighting.

I also found the camera did an excellent job adjusting to changes in my surroundings and never became pixelated. The Windows camera software has accurate autofocus and tracking. There is also a push-button security shutter to keep peeping eyes out. 

Although the Pro 14’s webcam offers solid imaging, if you need more resolution, I would check out our best webcams page for some extra guidance if you need more. 

Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED software and warranty

The Zenbook Pro 14 OLED comes with Windows 11 Home but doesn’t come with an obnoxious amount of software or bloatware. Although, like every Windows 11 computer, there are apps for Skype, Office 365, Microsoft Solitaire suite, and Xbox console. Other than that, you can get into gaming or pushing documents without dealing with deleting extraneous software. 

The My Asus app allows users more intimate control of the laptop performance and grants the user access to battery performance, adjust the ANC levels, MUX switch, and cooling.

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how Asus performed on our Tech Support Showdown special report.

Bottom line

If you need a lightweight, super potent content-creator laptop, the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED is hard to beat. It has a better display and can go toe to toe with the MacBook Pro 14 performance-wise. The only place where the MBP 14 dominates the Zenbook is in battery life, where Apple laptops are own the market. 

The Zenbook Pro 14’s 2.8K OLED touch display is stunning, and Apple doesn’t do touch. Also, to get a MacBook Pro 14 with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage will run you $2,899. If you want to save some money and get equal performance, the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 is a great option you need to take seriously. You may lose a battery life battle, but you can afford a good external battery pack with what you save and still have money for other gear. 

The iPhone 15 Pro introduced us to A17 Pro, but I’m a lot more excited about what that means for M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. Why do I say that? Well, it comes down to looking at what this smartphone chip is capable of, and pondering what this same technology could be capable of in the more powerful realms of a laptop.

Because we already know M3 is going to share the same 3 nanometer process as A17 Pro, and Apple silicon is consistent in its architecture (a CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and a Media Engine). But all of these will be beefed up with more space to fill, and the possibilities this affords Apple could be, quite frankly, staggering.

1. 3 nanometer dreams

This is the first ever chip built using a 3 nanometer process. In its simplest definition, that means every node is the smallest it's ever been, which means the number of transistors you can put on a chip can be increased — bringing performance and efficiency leaps.

While Apple was quick to describe these gains in the vague fashion that the Cupertino chums are known for, we are getting a clearer picture of what these leaps look like. In fact, keen-eyed Geekbench observers have found leaked A17 Pro test results that show single core performance comparable to the M1 chip. Not only that, but our sister site Tom’s Hardware has spotted that it comes within 10% of Intel’s i9-13900 K and AMD’s 7950X in the same category.

I thought Apple’s speech about it challenging desktop-class CPUs was bluster, and it is when you talk about multi-core performance (put simply, the TDP is going to be far less for a phone than it is for a desktop CPU). But for this metric alone, I’m starting to think the company may be onto something.

So, now I want you to imagine something. Given what the smartphone 3nm chipset is capable of power wise, imagine what this same tech could do with a higher wattage in a laptop… The possibilities are very exciting.

2. Wait… Is Apple caring about gaming?

My frustration at Apple’s relationship with gaming is well documented, from me asking the company to let my expensive MacBook Pro play games (so I didn’t have to carry around an additional device) to 12 months passing and nothing being changed.

But if the Game Porting Toolkit in macOS Sonoma was an omen for better things, the A17 Pro opens the door to a ton of possibilities. Looking at the tech inside, this 6-core GPU is up to 20% faster than A16 Bionic, has an improved shader architecture, and bumps up the rendering efficiency.

One key thing it does unlock is hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is huge for smartphone gaming. In fact, Apple has doubled down and announced that Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 remake, and Death Stranding are all coming to iPhone 15 Pro over the next few months.

Sure, there will be workarounds and compromises to make these work, such as downgrading the resolution for a smaller display, and Apple’s DLSS-esque MetalFX Upscaling. But these tricks are common in all forms of gaming, and are sure to put Apple on the right path to gaming prowess.

We can assume that graphics performance will take another leap with M3, as the number of cores and TGP will of course vastly increase. We’re even hearing of a 40-core GPU coming to the M3 Max. Pair these big graphical boosts with Apple’s renewed commitment to gaming (provided developers jump on board), and there are some incredibly tempting possibilities on the horizon.

3. The neural engine gets more… Neurally?

The neural engine is a set of specialized cores on the chipset that serve the sole purpose of running machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tasks. This is to accelerate them far beyond anything the CPU or GPU is capable of doing, while doing so in a more power efficient way.

The 16-core Neural Engine in the A17 Pro is capable of 35 trillion operations per second. For context, that is a huge increase over the 17 trillion operations that the A16 Bionic could pull off.

In fact, that is nearly double the 15.8 trillion operations per second that the M2 Pro and M2 Max are capable of. Yes, this is a bit of a mismatch, given the operations will be more power-intensive on a laptop compared to a smartphone, but it just gives you a glimpse of how much more performance Apple is seemingly able to squeeze out of its Neural Engine in the 3nm era.

This potential whets the appetite for sure, as we see more ML and AI-driven functionality in creative pro apps that the M3 could eat for breakfast without breaking a sweat.

Outlook

So, let’s be real here. The A17 Pro makes for an impressive step forward for iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but I feel the real benefits of 3nm chipsets are set to be revealed with M3. 

With the gains being big around CPU performance, GPU speeds, and the Neural Engine bringing some serious heat, just imagine what that would look like out of the power-limited constraints of a smartphone, and with more free reign in a MacBook.

That’s what gets me excited. Not just because of the place I work, but for the fact that we are going to see some true generational leaps in the Air and Pro models.

A recent report at MacRumors quotes a Tweet from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in which he states that Apple will not be launching new MacBooks with the M3 series processors before the end of this year. However, there have been rumors to the contrary, with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman stating earlier this year that an M3-powered MacBook could be launched at an Apple event in October. 

Gurman hypothesized that we could see a MacBook Air 13-inch, MacBook Pro 13-inch, and possibly a 24-inch iMac powered by the 3nm M3 chipset. Although Kuo kills the MacBook rumors, he didn't say there wouldn't be an M3-powered iMac, so that could still happen. 

2024 the year of the M3 Macbook

Yesterday at Apple's Wonderlust event, they launched the iPhone 15 Pro Max, powered by the A17 Bionic chipset, made using TSMC's 3nm fabrication process. This same 3nm process is expected to appear in the next generation of MacBooks, which were predicted to come out before the end of the year but, according to Kuo, will most likely debut sometime in 2024. 

The M3 chipset is rumored to improve performance in every way, especially GPU performance for gaming, and like the iPhone 15, it should be capable of Ray Tracing. The other area we should see improvement in is battery life, as tighter chip density yields superior efficiency. Apple is already the industry leader in laptop battery life, so it's going to be breaking its own records. 

Apple has cornered the 3nm process chip market, purchasing most of the chips TSMC has produced and will produce in the foreseeable future. 

When will the new M3-powered MacBooks arrive? If Kuo is to be believed, we could see them sometime in February. However, typically Apple holds a spring event in March or April, and if M3 is as big of an upgrade as it seems to be then Apple is going to want a full event and not just a press release.

Apple just unveiled its latest September showcase, giving us our first looks at iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Alongside this, we saw the latest features coming with the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9. We learned some shocking news as well, like how the iPhone 15 Pro Max is $100 more.

But not everything happening with Apple this month was fully disclosed during the event, as the company just unveiled the release dates for each of its operating system updates. Not only has iOS 17's date been unveiled, but iPadOS 17 and watchOS as well. Most importantly, however, is that MacOS Sonoma will be available starting on September 26.

What to expect from MacOS Sonoma

MacOS Sonoma is bringing several changes to the Mac experience that could make it worth upgrading, we've even covered 5 macOS Sonoma features that may convince you to update. But if you want the really quick version, widgets are arguably the biggest addition coming to desktop, allowing users to lock little windows on their desktop that could show the weather, to-do lists, special photo albums, notes, calendars, and the time in different parts of the world.

Beyond just having access to these widgets on MacOS, they can be freely swapped between your iPhone and Mac device through something called Continuity. Widgets will also fade partially in the background while another window is in focus, allowing the user to not get too distracted. We covered a full list of features to look forward to previously if you want to dig deeper.

It's also important to keep in mind that MacOS Sonoma will not be available on the three laptops from 2017: MacBook Pro, iMac and the 12-inch MacBook. Apple commonly phases out older hardware when implementing new operating system updates, and if you're holding onto a 2018 laptop, be prepared to potentially lose support in 2024.

Dell's sitewide sale currently slashes up to 50% off select business laptops. Now is a great time to save big on pricier configuration Dell Latitude notebooks. 

One standout deal is the Dell Latitude 7430 Intel vPro i7 Laptop for $1,279. Previously priced at $2,553, that's a massive $1,274 in savings. This is the lowest price we've seen for this 2-in-1 business laptop and one of the best Dell deals of the season.

If you're on a smaller budget, consider the Intel i5 Dell Latitude 5430 Intel i5 Laptop for $921 ($910 off). 

Today's best Dell Latitude 7430 deal

Released in 2022, the Latitude 7430 caters to business pros and college students. It does so by perfectly balancing power, security, and reliable performance. The laptop on discount packs a 14-inch (1920 x 1080) 300-nit display, Intel Core i7-1265U vPro Enterprise 10-core CPU, 16GB of RAM, Iris Xe Graphics and 512GB SSD. For Zoom meetings and secure logins, it has a built-in 1080p IR camera with privacy shutter. 

We didn't get to test this exact model, however, its previous-gen sibling, the Dell Latitude 7320 2-in-1 review, earned a 4.5 out of 5-star rating from us. It won us over with its lightweight, sturdy build, colorful display, solid performance and battery life. Latitude 7430 reviews from Dell customers average 4.3 out of 5-stars. The overall consensus among owners it's that it's a fast, competent, lightweight, quality-built laptop with sturdy hinges. Others praise the laptop's travel-friendly size, crisp display, and comfortable keyboard. Overall, it's a solid personal computer for traveling professionals, remote workers, and scholars.

With a weight of 3 pounds and measuring 12.7 x 8.2 x 0.7-inches, the Dell Latitude is fairly portable for a 14-inch laptop. It's lighter than the 2023 Apple MacBook Pro 14 (3.5 pounds, 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches) and slightly heavier than the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 Gen 11 (2.4 pounds, 12.42 x 8.76 x 0.6 inches).

Now 50% off, the Dell Latitude is a no brainer if you're looking for a powerful, rugged and secure Windows 11 Pro laptop.

UPDATE: Since the publishing of this article, more details have come to light about iPad Air 5 and iPad mini 7 availability. For the latest details, catch our coverage of how new iPads aren't expected until 2024. Boo! Hiss!

With all the talk of the iPhone 15, it’s easy to forget that Apple has a lot of cards left to play before the end of the year. While there’s an outside chance that we will see an upgraded iPad Mini 7 at the Apple September event (dubbed ‘Wonderlust’), it’s now looking increasingly likely that we can expect a new iPad Air release in 2023. 

iPad Air 6 release date could be right around the corner

The last iPad Air release was in March 2022, seeing the device pack the M1 Apple Silicon processor, an improved USB-C port, 5G support, and a 12MP front camera featuring Center Stage — allowing it to track and frame users during video calls.

The new iPad Air refresh could arrive as soon as October 2023 if Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is to be believed. Speaking on a recent episode of The MacRumors Show podcast, Gurman revealed that a new generation of iPad Air is in the works and could be “coming soonish.” He would later speculate on the iPad refresh’s likely date being October — though not to expect a large-scale announcement.

Gurman continued, “I’m not sure they have enough to drag people down to Cupertino to watch the video like they do for this launch,” when speaking of the upcoming iPhone 15 reveal. Instead, it looks like the sixth generation of iPad Air could be unveiled with a quick press release and video — similar to Apple’s announcement of the MacBook Pros featuring M2 and M2 Max processors.

Outlook

While we don’t know what the iPad Air 6’s refresh entails, there’s a chance we could see an M2 chip outfitting alongside Thunderbolt support for even faster USB-C data transfer rates and improved charging much similar to what we expect of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models.

Apple launching the iPad Air 6 would make it the only iPad set for a release in 2023, with the rumored iPad Mini 7 reportedly being pushed into early 2024. However, never count out a surprise or two as Apple still has a busy few months to go with iPhone and MacBook reveals.

We love the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro for their peak performance, impressive battery life, and the return of several useful ports. But it appears that Apple is ready to swap them out a bit earlier than previously expected with its "Scary Fast" event today.

We aren't expecting any wild updates to the design, but the new M3 Pro and M3 Max chips inside could make a bigger impact than you think — thanks to that new 3-nanometer process. We’ve been closely following all the breadcrumbs about these upcoming, superpowered MacBooks, so we can provide some clarity on these machines with just hours to go before the launch.

M3 Pro MacBook Pro release date and pricing

The anticipated contents of Apple's "Scary fast" event unfolded quickly after months of hearing that the M3 MacBooks were pushed into 2024, but all major sources are now indicating that we are getting an M3 iMac alongside the M3 Pro and M3 Max MacBook Pros. 

With the online-only event tonight (Oct. 30) starting at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT), we know that everything announced should be arriving soon. According to a leak to MacRumors, the M3 MacBook Pros should be available on November 8. That follows the typical timeline for Apple launches with hardware arriving the next Friday after the event.

So hopefully you've been saving up as we expect pre-orders to open up later this week and regrettably, there are no rumors about a big price drop for the new MacBook Pros, so expect them to start at the typical $2,000 and up.

M3 Pro MacBook Pro design

There hasn’t been much said about the design of the new MacBook Pro. In fact, I would be surprised if you see the aesthetic change at all. And why should they? This streamlined utilitarian frame is gorgeous — an all aluminum beauty that catches the eye from every angle. Plus, we’re in the third generation. It normally takes a couple more years than that to see any overt changes to the design.

The only real difference that could come is what Apple plans to do with that notch atop the display. No, it’s not going to turn into a Dynamic Island. Instead, given the patent application was approved a few months ago, we could finally see Face ID come to the MacBook Pro.

It’s frustrating that it’s taken this long, since Windows Hello has been present for years. But better late than never, I guess.

M3 Pro MacBook Pro performance

Let’s get into the real meat of this upgrade — that M3 Pro or M3 Max chipset. We already know that this new generation of silicon is moving to a 3nm process, which means smaller transistors. Translation: you can stuff more performance and efficiency cores on one of the chips.

That is an enormous increase in core count, which will contribute to significantly improved performance across both chips. Just think about what that 40-core GPU is going to do to tear through your Final Cut Pro exports.

We can expect a new RAM configuration too: 48GB. On the current M2 Max options, you can choose from 32GB, 64GB, and 96GB. We’re not entirely sure whether this will be the new base option for M3 Max, or an interesting middle ground spec, but it’s certainly exciting for those who rely on heavy multitasking.

Outlook

Safe to say you should hold off on any MacBook Pro purchases until these new laptops are in the wild. Even if you decide this is your chance to pick up the M2 Pro or M2 Max, we're already seeing strong Black Friday Apple deals, and this is sure to drop those prices even further.

Follow along with our coverage of the launch tonight and full reviews of whatever is announced in the coming days and weeks. While the current MacBook Pros are going to remain excellent options for many, it's hard not to be tempted by the latest and greatest, so we'll endeavor to let you know if they are worth the upgrade. 

The MacBook Pro 14 with M2 Pro just dropped $300 in a surprise limited time flash deal. If you act fast, you can snag this best in class laptop for a rock-bottom price. 

Today only, you can get the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro for $1,699 at B&H. It typically costs $1,999, so you're saving $300 with this deal. This marks a new all-time low price for this particular MacBook Pro making it one of the best MacBook deals of 2023.

Today's best MacBook Pro deal

Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro is its best pro-grade MacBook release to date. This particular model on sale has a 14.2-inch (3024 x 1964) Liquid Retina XDR display, M2 Pro 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD.

In our MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip review, we were floored by its impressive performance, 14+ hour battery life, and generous amount of ports. We also praise its vibrant, crisp display and outstanding speakers. We give the MacBook Pro with M2 Pro Chip an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5-stars and our esteemed Editor's Choice award.

In Geekbench 5.4 overall performance tests, the 2023 MacBook with M2 Pro scored a high with 14,965. This beats the premium laptop average of 6,173 and scrapes competitors like the Asus ZenBook 14X (12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H CPU, 11,142), Dell XPS 13 Plus (Intel Core i7-1280P CPU, 10,621) and the Acer Swift 5 (Core i7-1260P CPU, 9,859). 

Weighing in at 3.5 pounds, and  0.6-inches thin, the MacBook Pro M2 Pro is heavyweight, yet fairly portable. It's slightly heavier but just as thin as the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition (3.1 pounds, 0.6 inches), Dell XPS 13 Plus (2.7 pounds, 0.6 inches) and Acer Swift 5 (2.7 pounds, 0.6 inches). Connectivity-wise, the 2023 MacBook Pro 14 is outfitted with 3 x Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, headphone jack, and SDXC card reader. 

B&H's MacBook Pro with M2 Pro deal ends Sept. 8, so act fast!

You can use your iPad as a laptop, they say. Just connect your Magic Keyboard for the authentic laptop experience, they claim. No, say I — tippy tapping my fingertips across its thin polyurethane frame. It just doesn’t feel right. Though it could, and it may.

According to Bloomberg’s Apple auteur, Mark Gurman, there’s a Magic Keyboard revamp on the horizon, and it’ll bring the iPad-as-a-laptop experience one step closer to reality. 

That's more like it

The revamped Magic Keyboard seeks to better simulate the MacBook’s iconic deck with a larger trackpad, and even an aluminum façade. The leap to an aluminum body makes for a sturdier frame, avoiding many of the issues of wear and tear that the softer polymer that adorns the current model.

Fans of the folio look that the Magic Keyboard offers won’t be disappointed, as sources have revealed to Gurman that the external shell of Apple’s accessory won’t be switching to Space Grey aluminum any time soon — otherwise retaining the same chic look and style of the current model, potentially the same cantilever support, and including the Magic Keyboard’s familiar hinge-based USB-C port. 

Why it's exciting

Apple revamping the Magic Keyboard isn’t exactly stealing fire from the gods. But it could be a further indication of Apple’s plan to one day modularize the MacBook experience. We’ve previously covered news about patents relating to modular MacBook components, and this new iPad deck could be the Cupertino brand’s first step in that direction.

The patent in question gave us a glimpse at a MacBook composed of hot-swappable pieces to configure your laptop as you please. Including touchscreen displays, touchscreen input panels, and keyboard.

The switch to an aluminum frame for the Magic Keyboard’s deck might seem small, but it does play into the desire shown by Apple to give its powerful slate a more MacBook-like feel. Is the new Magic Keyboard going to be a part of this future modular MacBook experience? That’s unlikely.

The patent in question showcases a “base” component to which everything else connects. But this shift to a more accurate laptop feel could be paving the way for a more natural introduction of this modular design further down the line.

Outlook

The revamped Magic Keyboard is expected to release alongside new M3-powered iPad Pros, though there's no word on when to expect the announcement of these super-charged slates.

However, we don't expect them to be making an appearance during Apple's September event later this month. Nor would we expect them to make an appearance before Apple have announced its new line-up of M3 MacBook Pro models expected to launch at some point in October.

For news, rumors, and updates on all things iPad and Apple related, follow Laptop Mag on Twitter, Facebook, and Flipboard for the latest word as it arrives.

Sometimes, it’s easier to just stick with a formula that works. That’s what Huawei has done with the new Matebook 16s — same machine, but with more power under the hood.

That means you’re getting that same gorgeous 3:2 aspect ratio 16-inch display, impressive thermal management, a gigantic touchpad and tactile keyboard, but with an upgrade to 13th Gen Intel performance.

Since it’s virtually the same as last year, we do run into some similar issues with heft and webcam quality here. With all of this taken into account, along with the CPU upgrade, is the Matebook 16s worth it? And moreover, if you already have the 2022 Matebook 16s, is this worth the upgrade?

Huawei Matebook 16s (2023) price and availability

You know the drill by now, America. Unless you get the Matebook 16s imported, you’re out of luck in terms of buying one.

Different to before, however, is the fact there is only one model available — packing an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU for £1,499. However it has been discounted to £1,299 at the moment.

To put this in context, that’s £1,100 less than the lowest specced 16-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro, and £400 less than a similarly specced Asus Vivobook Pro 16 (only difference being the presence of a dedicated GPU in Asus’ machine).

Huawei Matebook 16s design

Nothing has changed in the aesthetics department — it’s large and in charge with an unmistakably premium, CNC milled and sandblasted metallic body. This produces a smooth finish that is quite the looker in its Space Grey colorway, and makes for a surface that you can’t help but gently caress with your fingers.

Same as before, portability is a bit of a challenge. Not just because of the 16-inch laptop form factor, but more broadly about the fact this is quite the chonky boi.

The main reason for this heft is not to do with the length or the weight, as you can see it comes in lighter than the MacBook Pro and slightly slimmer on the horizontal, too. It is that slight increase in the vertical dimension that does make this feel a little beefier to hold under your arm.

But looking past the numbers, this all adds up to a decently sleek system to carry around in one of the best laptop backpacks, which you’ll be proud to whip out at meetings.

Huawei Matebook 16s ports

Port array remains identical from before, and while there’s enough for most of your needs, I feel it’s lacking.

On the left, you will find two USB-C ports (one of them with Thunderbolt 4 support), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a full-size HDMI 2.0. On the right, there are two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports.

Snap up a docking station to expand on this, but I was really hoping Huawei would have taken the opportunity to slap on an SD card slot and maybe Gigabit Ethernet.

Huawei Matebook 16s display

While we don’t have lab tested results for the display’s brightness and color, I will just say that just like last year, the Matebook 16s’ 16-inch IPS display is a stunner. Details are super crisp thanks to that 2520 x 1680-pixel resolution, the 3:2 aspect ratio is great for getting to work done, and the ten-point multitouch screen moves swiftly with zero latency.

Huawei claims a slightly improved brightness of a 400-nit maximum, alongside the same 1500:1 contrast ratio and a 100% sRGB color gamut. The glossy glass surface does sometimes overwhelm the brightness when it comes to being in challengingly bright lighting conditions, but in most situations, the display is bright enough to be seen. 

On top of that, the contrast and color quality leads to an impressive vividness that pops off the screen, and a solid depth to the darker tones. It really makes shows like Apple TV +’s Swagger really shine with an impressive HDR quality.

Plus, with TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker Free certification, you can work late into the night with confidence that your eyes are being looked after. Is it better than the mini-LED display technology on offer in the MacBook Pro? No. But for the price you pay, this is a superb screen.

Huawei Matebook 16s keyboard and touchpad

Once again, exactly the same as last year, which means you’re going to have a lovely time clicking and typing away on this thing. The Chiclet-style keyboard with even backlighting gives you 1.5mm of travel with a soft landing design, which is designed to drastically reduce the fatigue of pushing your fingers down against a hard surface.

When put through the 10FastFingers.com test, I’ve clearly gotten used to this keyboard from last year, and managed to hit a 88 words-per-minute average with a 100% accuracy (for context, I normally hit 85 wpm) — all complete with a low-volume typing experience for whenever you’re working in the quiet area of a library.

Head south and you’ll spot the gigantic trackpad, which measures in at 5.7 x 3.6 inches. Granted, it’s a little smaller than the MacBook Pro’s (6.3 x 3.9 inches), but it feels like an ocean compared to the Vivobook Pro 16 (5 x 3.2 inches), and the surface is gorgeously slick for your fingers to glide over.

Again, I’m a little disappointed that Huawei hasn’t taken the opportunity to make the most of the Matebook X Pro’s trackpad greatness. This is not a solid state construction, and none of the edge swipe interactions make it over here. But for all intents and purposes, it’s smooth, supports all your multi-touch gestures, and has a nice, tactile click.

Huawei Matebook 16s audio

The dual front-facing speakers are beastly in size, and equally so in their ability to fill a room with impressively detailed noise. Don’t get me wrong; the MacBook Pro continues to be the unmitigated champ of speaker audio quality, but Huawei does come close.

The highs and mids are given nice levels of clarity, while the lows are given a respectable amount of oomph for a wide and warm audio production that is delicious to the ears. The soaring vocals in Set Your Goals’ album “This will be the death of us” shine nicely above the detailed crunch of the distorted guitars, the deep ferocity of the drum kit, and the satisfying bass kick.

Huawei Matebook 16s performance

Now for the biggest change to the system we’ve got here. Under the hood, you’re getting a jump up to the Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, alongside 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD. You’re also getting integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, which given the sheer heft of this system, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of a dedicated GPU option.

As you can tell, while the chip has improved performance by quite a margin over last year’s model, it isn’t enough to hang with its more expensive competition. The same can be said in the graphics department, too.

However, numbers tell half the story. It’s easy to look at these and think this isn’t worth it, but hang on with me here. The 13th Gen Intel Core i9 chip is still a scream. Putting it through the usual high pressure rigmarole — Two Point Campus running in the background as I edited a massive RAW picture in Photoshop, played multiple 1080p YouTube videos, streamed on Twitch with OBS, all while running a benchmark — there was zero hint of a slowdown.

Plus, while gaming is not its primary purpose, so long as you tweak with the settings, you can get the likes of Forza Horizon 5 to run at a respectable framerate on lower graphics options.

All in all, it’s a fast machine for the price you pay for it!

Huawei Matebook 16s battery life

Same as before, the Matebook 16s gets into a phone booth, and awkwardly undresses to reveal its greatest super power — the surprisingly strong battery life.

At this point, I’m confident in saying that nothing will come close to touching the MacBook Pro in terms of pure stamina right now (not at least until Intel figures out its efficiency cores). But as far as Windows laptops go, this is a long-lasting machine.  Since we haven’t put this through the scientific rigmarole of our Battery Informant testing, I’ll just give you a diary of my day and when it finally gave up.

My day involved many Chrome tabs, Apple Music and Slack running constantly, the occasional use of Photoshop, and tons of 4K YouTube viewing during my lunch break and in the evening. Starting at 9 a.m, I went all the way through the day to 7 p.m. before needing to charge. 

Honestly, you could make it last longer with a little more economical care to the apps you use and the power consumed, but the 84Wh battery is going to keep you going for a long time without a care in the world.

Huawei Matebook 16s webcam

Everybody has caught up. A 1080p webcam is now a norm across laptops, so the Huawei Matebook 16s has competition, which makes its fuzzy picture all the more apparent.

Detail is a lot better here, especially in well-lit conditions where the contrast starts to shine. But the aperture is still far too narrow for low light situations, where photos will still look pretty fuzzy.

And still, there is no Windows Hello support, as there is no IR camera. But the fingerprint reader softens that blow somewhat. If you do need better picture quality, you will always need to pick up an external webcam for the best possible capture.

Huawei Matebook 16s heat

I can’t give you exact temperatures, but it’s been clear from using this machine that the higher power Intel Core i9-13900H CPU does generate a little more heat.

Don’t get me wrong; the 75mm dual Shark Fin Fans work hard to draw cool air in while the massive dual heatpipes dissipate high temperatures with ease. They work well to keep the surfaces you touch nice and cool, but make sure you keep the underside clear, and don’t rest this thing on your thighs. If you do so, your kneecaps may end up being cooked medium rare.

Huawei Matebook 16s software and warranty

Huawei packs only one vital piece of software in the Matebook 16s and it’s aptly called PC Manager. This lets you update any missing drivers on your PC or run checkups to ensure your hardware components are healthy. Surprisingly, there’s no Windows 10 bloatware installed on this device.

Since this product isn’t available in the U.S. yet, the warranty hasn’t been stated, but Huawei PC devices typically come with one-year limited warranties in the States.

Bottom line

The Huawei Matebook 16s continues to be the no frills big boy of the 16-inch laptop mountain — simply offering powerful internals, a gorgeous display, a fantastic keyboard, and an ocean of a touchpad, which is all crammed into this stylish utilitarian frame.

We’re still lacking a dedicated GPU option, which given the sheer size of this machine, feels like a missed opportunity. The webcam isn’t so great, and the thermal management is struggling with the 13th Gen Intel power.

But these minor concerns pale in comparison to what is an overwhelmingly strong, big-screen system with plenty of premium goodness with good value for money.

Update Aug. 28 at 10:11 a.m. ET: Best Buy now takes up to $250 off select MacBook Pro and MacBook Air configurations

Apple's M2 MacBook Pro is one the best laptops to for power users. Among it early Labor Day deals, Best Buy is slashing up to $300 off select MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops for its loyal customers. 

One standout Best Buy's exclusive member deal drops the M2 MacBook Pro to $1,049. It typically costs $1,299, so that's $250 in savings and the lowest price ever for this Apple laptop. By comparison, it's $50 cheaper than B&H's current price. This is the best MacBook Pro deal you can get if you don't qualify for Apple's Education Store discount. 

In our Apple MacBook Pro M2 review, we praise its stellar overall and gaming performance, super-fast SSD, and great webcam. It's battery endured an impressive 18 hours and 20 minutes of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. We gave the M2 MacBook Pro an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5-stars, backed by our Editor's Choice award. 

As an alternative, My Best Buy paid membership holders can also get the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip for $2,299 ($300 off). My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total costs $49 and $179, respectively. Membership perks include exclusive discounts, early access to big sales, extended return windows, and more. The benefits and savings are worth considering if you shop at Best Buy frequently. 

Apple's MacBook Pro M2 Series laptops are ideal for creators, business pros and college students. 

Today's best MacBook deals

The Acer Swift Edge 16 is a Windows alternative to the wildly popular 15-inch MacBook Air, especially if you don't have an allegiance to particular OS. It's got a gorgeous, 3.2K OLED display, a lightweight from factor that surprises you every time you pick it up, and impressive scores on most benchmarks.

But when we stack it up against the 15-inch MacBook Air, do these incredible qualities still hold water? The answer is a resounding yes. Still, while the Swift Edge 16 slaps the M2-based 15-inch MacBook Air silly on several tests, it fails in several other aspects, too.

The question is, which laptop has a set of pros that are more appealing to you?

Which laptops are we comparing?

Check the chart below to see which laptops we're comparing in this head-to-head competition.

The Acer laptop gives you more storage for less. However, for some, the extra $400 for the MacBook Air 15 may be worth it. I'll let you decide which laptop is best for you with a slew of facts and figures.

Where to buy the Acer Swift Edge 16? At Best Buy for $1,300

Where to buy the MacBook Air 15? At Apple for $1,700

3 ways the Acer Swift Edge 16 is better than the MacBook Air 15

Yes, the 15-inch MacBook Air launched this year, but it's rocking a passé chip (i.e., M2) that was hip when it debuted with the 2022 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Rumor has it that the 15-inch MacBook Air was supposed to feature the next-generation M3 chip, but due to "yield issues," TSMC (Apple's supplier) couldn't supply the Cupertino-based tech giant with enough processors to meet their demand.

So it's no surprise that the Acer Swift Edge 16 had no issues crushing a 2022-born processor. 

1. The Acer Swift Edge 16 has better performance

On the Geekbench 6 overall performance benchmark, which tests for how well a laptop can handle tasks such as file compression, rendering PDFs, processing text, machine learning, editing images, and 3D geometry, the Swift delivered a multi-core score of 10,168.

The M2 chip inside the MacBook Air 15, on the other hand, trailed behind with a score of 9,993.

We also tested casual gaming on both laptops (i.e., Sid Meier's Civilization VI on 1080p). The Swift Edge 16 (AMD Radeon graphics), staying true to its name, edged out the MacBook Air 15 (M2 10-core GPU) by a hair with an average of 44 frames per second while its Apple rival notched 43 fps.

2. The Acer Swift Edge 16 can transcode videos faster

If you're a casual content creator, transcoding video from one resolution to another may be a part of your workflow. If this is the case, you may want to lean toward the Swift Edge 16.

According to our Handbrake benchmark, which tasked the Swift Edge 16 with transcoding a 4K video to 1080p, the Acer laptop took 6 minutes and 4 seconds to complete the test. Meanwhile, it took the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air 7 minutes and 46 seconds to do the same.

3. The Acer Swift Edge 16's display is more colorful and has a better webcam

The Acer Swift Edge 16 sports a striking, 16-inch, 3,200 x 2,000 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The MacBook Air 15, on the other hand, has a smaller 15.3-inch display with a lesser resolution of 2,800 x 1,864 pixels.

According to our colorimeter, the Swift Edge 16's display covers 139% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The MacBook Air 15 only covers 111%.

Speaking of the display, the Swift Edge 16 sports a QHD 1440p webcam on the top bezel that is quite refreshing from the sea of 720p and 1080p shooters on most laptops at the moment. I found that the webcam rendered colors quite accurately, and while there was some negligible noise, the picture was clear and sharp. The M2 MacBook Air's webcam is decent; it has a 1080p webcam. But thankfully, thanks to the Continuity Camera feature Apple introduced last year, you can always attach an iPhone to your MacBook with a Belkin mount, allowing you to use your iPhone as a webcam.

3 ways the Acer Swift Edge 16 is NOT better than the MacBook Air 15

While the Acer Swift Edge 16 has its pros, it has its cons, too. Its most glaring flaw is that it's an energy-guzzling laptop. The MacBook Air 15, on the other hand, is a power-efficient queen. In other words, the battery life on the Acer laptop sucks.

1. MacBook Air 15 has better battery life

We tested the runtimes of both laptops by surfing the web over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness until they tapped out. The Swift Edge 16 powered down after just 7 hours and 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Air lasted a whopping 14 hours and 59 minutes. I don't know about you, but that 15-hour runtime is awfully difficult to pass up. You're gaining an extra 8 hours of battery life!

2. MacBook Air 15 has better speakers

I am not a fan of the Acer Swift Edge 16's dual, bottom-firing speakers. If you're not one to wear headphones or earbuds for whatever reason (perhaps you like to cuddle up and watch shows with a loved one), you'll be disappointed with the quiet sound system on the Acer Swift Edge 16. Even at max volume, the laptop's speakers failed to climb to a proper amplification level. This means you may find yourself straining to hear shows, films, and YouTube videos, particularly if you're in a noisy environment.

The MacBook Air 15, on the other hand, features an upgrade over its predecessor: a sweet six-speaker setup, including a pair of force-cancelling woofers. It supports spatial audio, too. Plus, its sound will fill the entirety of your room (unlike the Acer Swift Edge 16).

3. The MacBook Air 15 has a brighter screen

If you sit next to bright window or you like to sit outside during sunny days, you'll find that the Swift Edge 16's display may be too dim for your tastes. According to our display testing, the Swift Edge 16 has a brightness score of 387 nits.

The MacBook Air 15 is much brighter with a luminosity of 473 nits. (If brightness is important to you, check out my recommendations for the brightest laptops.)

Bottom line

Another interesting differentiator to point out between these two laptops is weight and thickness. Although the Acer Swift Edge 16 is thicker (0.57 inches) than the MacBook Air 15 (0.5 inches), it somehow manages to be lighter. It weighs 2.7 pounds while the MacBook Air 15 weighs 3.3 pounds.

Like I said at the outset, the Swift Edge 16's heft (or lack thereof) will surprise you. You'll pick it up expecting it to be heavy, but you'll be pleasantly surprised by its lightweight chassis.

Overall, determining which laptop is best depends on your needs. If you are seduced by the Swift Edge 16's bang-for-your-buck value (more storage for less), M2 chip-beating performance, and its colorful display, you should snag the Acer laptop. However, if that 15-hour battery life is too alluring, you should definitely opt for the MacBook Air 15.