We all have that one friend who’s tech-savvy that everyone turns to for advice, especially ahead of big sale events like Amazon Prime Day. Well, that’s me. I’m that guy.
When people find out what I do for a living, everything gets turned up to 11. I review laptops for my job, and almost everyone needs one. If people don’t know where to begin, here’s how I guide them through the process of picking the right Apple MacBook—where I recommend you start.
Start With the MacBook Air
You might think narrowing your choice of laptop down to a MacBook would help, but these days, choosing an Apple laptop isn’t as simple as it ought to be. You’ve got two sizes of MacBook Airs, two sizes of MacBook Pros, and all the chip configurations, ranging from the M4 to the M4 Max. That doesn’t even include the plethora of older models that flood the search results of online retailers.
That’s why I like to keep it simple. When someone comes to me, asking which MacBook to buy, I start them with the 13-inch MacBook Air M4. It’s the laptop most people should buy, which is why it’s at the top of our Best Laptops and Best MacBooks guides. The retail price is $999, but it’s almost always on sale for at least $899, and at the time of writing, it’s down to $849. While it doesn’t come with much storage (only 256 GB), it does start with 16 GB of RAM (or unified memory, as Apple calls it).
From there, I make them give me reasons they should get something bigger or more powerful. I don’t want my actual friends and family spending a dime more than they should, and I know some will think they need to upgrade to the MacBook Pro, even if it’s just the M4 model.
Let’s be real. You likely don’t need the extra performance of the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips. Unless you edit video, produce music, or shoot photos for a living, it’s not worth spending hundreds (or thousands) more to speed up video renders. The M4 MacBook Air is capable of far more than people realize. Upgrading to the M4 Pro and M4 Max is primarily about improving graphics and multicore CPU performance, but it’s only something creative professionals will get much out of.
Reasons to Upgrade
A part of the problem is that we’re still operating as if it’s 2015. A decade ago, it wasn’t just that certain tasks were faster on a 16-inch MacBook Pro; it was that the old MacBook Airs couldn’t perform these at all. If you were an amateur musician, artist, or programmer, you were forced into saving up for a MacBook Pro or forgoing those hobbies for the time being. Apple Silicon changed that equation entirely, and generation after generation, its M-series chips get more capable. Now, we’re at the point where the M4 is quite capable, even in the fanless body of the MacBook Air.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar