With plenty of MacBook models to choose from, which should you buy? Our guide examines performance, battery life, design, and more to find your answer.
With Apple's introduction of the latest M2 MacBook models, it's time to take another look at which is the best MacBook to buy in 2023. That's not always easy, though, as buying the newest MacBook isn't always the right decision. Apple has several tiers of performance, as well as various sizes, which can complicate the matter.
MacBook Air M2 13-inch The MacBook Air M2 is the best budget choice Jump to details MacBook Pro 14-inch The MacBook Pro 14-inch is still a great laptop Jump to details MacBook Air M2 15-inch A larger MacBook Air takes the laptop up a notch Jump to details MacBook Pro 16-inch The 2023 MacBook Pro is good, but not perfect Jump to details More Apple MacBook Air M1 The lowest-price option and a great MacBook Jump to details Apple MacBook Pro M2 The MacBook Pro M2 is the only Touch Bar model Jump to...
The new MacBook Air M2 can be configured with up to 24GB of memory, 50% more than the older model supported, and memory is one of the best upgrades to invest in since it makes multitasking faster and more efficient. In our review, we tested the M2 Max model of the MacBook Pro 14-inch and found it offered modest improvements over the M1 Max. That chip was already extremely performant, so while we would have liked to see greater generational improvements, you're still getting an excellent chip in the M2 Max. When it comes to the M2 Pro, it's a similar story -- better performance, but not a quantum leap.
The starting price remains at $1,999, the same as the previous-generation MacBook Pro. That's expensive for sure, but you definitely get what you pay for. Apple's laptops are solidly build, offer great performance, and last for ages. However, we'd recommend looking out for discounts on the M1 version of the MacBook Pro 14-inch before you splurge for the 2023 model. Since performance in the latest model is not massively better, the previous model is still a great purchase.
On the inside is Apple's M2 chip, with all of its improvements over the M1 series found in the previous generation of MacBook Air. It's not going to break any records, but it's a solid performer for the money. Where the M2 chip stands out even more is efficiency, where it helped the 15-inch MacBook Air last almost 19 hours in our testing. That's even more than the 18 hours Apple says you'll get.
That improvement in GPU cores means the MacBook Pro 16-inch excels in graphically intensive tasks. It's not a gaming laptop . Instead, its key strengths lie in tasks like video rendering, where the large graphics core count will make a big difference. Another drawback is the price. Starting at $2,499, this is not a cheap laptop by any means. But you definitely get what you pay for, and the MacBook Pro 16-inch's combination of performance, battery life and display tech is hard to beat. Just make sure your wallet is ready before you pull the trigger.
What is even more remarkable is that the MacBook Air does all this without a fan. The M1 chip is so power-efficient that Apple has been able to cool this Mac entirely passively, while still enabling it to post some truly beefy performance numbers. If you love your laptops to be absolutely silent, this is a major draw. All that extra power efficiency means the Air lasted 18.5 hours in our video-playback test and 15.5 hours with light web usage. That is incredible longevity.
With M2 Pro and M2 Max chips available, the MacBook Air can't hope to top the Mac performance charts. But its M1 chip is still brilliant for all but the most heavy-duty work, and for most people, it's more than enough. Once a distinguishing feature of the MacBook Pro, Apple removed the touch-sensitive function keys from the 2021 MacBook Pro. This was a controversial feature from the beginning, but for fans of the Touch Bar, this might be a deciding factor in favor of the MacBook Pro M2.