The best MacBooks for 2024 Buying Guide

If you’ve been thinking about getting a new MacBook in the new year, you might find yourself wondering what the differences are in Apple’s laptop lineup. Our current recommendation for most people is the MacBook Air with the M2 chip. That advice comes after testing configurations of every model to come out of Cupertino over the years — including the five models the company came out with in 2023 alone. The current slate of machines include a 13- and a 15-inch MacBook Air that each house the M2 chip. The high-end 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 chips came out in October. But the older MacBook Air with the M1 chip remains part of Apple’s official offerings too (and happens to make a great budget option).
In short, there’s a MacBook out there for every use case, but sifting through the specs and configurations can be daunting. We expect new models with M3 chips to come out this year, and we’ll update this guide once we’ve tried them out. As it stands today, these are the best MacBooks you can buy, depending on your needs and based on our testing and reviews.

Factors to consider when buying a MacBook

Compared to PCs, Apple computers tend to have more streamlined specifications. The company has long been known for this simplicity, and the M-series “system-on-a-chip” condenses things even further. The M1, M2 and M3 chipscombine, among other technologies, the CPU, graphics card and unified memory (RAM). Apple’s Neural Engine is included too, which is a specialized group of processor cores that handles machine learning tasks such as image analysis and voice recognition. While a unified chip means you have fewer decisions to make when picking a MacBook, there are still a few factors to consider, including the number of CPU cores, amount of RAM, storage capacity, screen size, and, obviously, price.

CPU cores

The M1 chip is offered with a single configuration: an 8-core CPU and a 7-core GPU. At the other end of the spectrum, the M3 Max chip is built with up to a 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU. Cores are, in essence, smaller processing units that can handle different tasks simultaneously. Having more of them translates to the computer being able to run multiple programs and applications at once, while also smoothly processing demanding tasks like video editing and high-level gaming. In short, more cores allow for more advanced computing and better performance. But if your needs fall below professional-level gaming and cinematic video and audio editing, getting the highest number of cores is likely overkill — and after all, more cores equals higher cost and more power usage.

RAM

Your options for memory, RAM or, in Apple’s terminology, Unified memory, varies depending on the chip you choose. The MacBook Air with the M1 chip comes with either 8 or 16GB of RAM. With the M3 chip, you can opt for 8, 16 or 24GB. The M3 Pro chip includes 18 or 36GB of memory, while the most powerful M3 Max chip gives you the option of 48, 64, or, in a first for an Apple laptop, a whopping 128GB.

You’ve likely heard the analogy comparing memory to the amount of workspace available on a literal desktop surface, whereas storage is the amount of drawers you have to store projects to work on later. The larger the worktop surface, the more projects you can work on at once. The bigger the drawers, the more you can save for later.

More RAM is ideal for people who plan to work in multiple programs at once. And the more demanding each program is, the more RAM will be required. Extra memory can also come in handy if you’re the type who likes to have infinite numbers of tabs open on your browser. If your daily workflow doesn’t involve simultaneously using a vast number of memory-intensive programs, you can save yourself money and buy the RAM configuration that you’re most likely to actually use.

For casual users, 8GB may be enough, however, if you can afford an upgrade to 16GB of RAM, we recommend going doing so, as modern browsers tend to be pretty memory-hungry. Investing in more RAM now will give your new MacBook a longer lifespan of reliable use. It’s also important to keep in mind that, unlike most PCs, the RAM in current-model MacBooks is not user-upgradable, so you’ll want to get what you plan on needing at the outset.