The 3 Best MacBooks of 2025

Top pick

The M4 MacBook Air is a slim, powerful Apple laptop that has a notably upgraded 12-megapixel webcam.

The Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) is the best MacBook for most people. The days of the MacBook Air being too underpowered for everyday use are over, and now the opposite is true: MacBook Pros have become too heavy to carry around, and they offer no increase in speed for normal tasks like web browsing or working on documents. With an updated processor, a 12-megapixel webcam, 14.3-hour battery life, and the option of an aesthetically pleasing light blue color, this version of the MacBook Air is an easy recommendation for a great laptop.

The M4 processor is perfect for everyday tasks like browsing the web and using apps. The M4 chip is powerful and energy-efficient, and it easily handles about 50 tabs in the Chrome web browser, plus apps like Discord, Slack, Spotify, and more, simultaneously. You’re likely to notice a slight slowdown once 40 to 50 tabs are open, but the Air stabilizes once the websites are loaded. The included 16 GB of memory is enough for almost any school or work task, outside of serious media editing or heavy coding. In our testing, the difference between the M4 and M4 Pro was apparent only when the processor was under a heavy workload; the M4 Pro worked faster and was still able to multitask, whereas the M4 slowed down the whole computer. The M4 chip has proven to be such a capable processor that we recommend every Mac or iPad that it powers.

It has a terrific display. Details look sharp, colors are vibrant and accurate, and the screen gets bright enough for use on a sunny day. In our color-accuracy tests, the M4 Air met Apple’s claims of 500 nits of brightness, and it reproduced colors across the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces well enough for professional creative work. The display also has access to Apple’s features like True Tone, which changes the color temperature of your screen based on the time of day.

The upgraded 12-megapixel webcam makes a big difference. At the top of the display, you’ll find a notch for the webcam, much like the notch in iPhones and larger MacBook Pro models. Apple has upgraded the M4 Air’s webcam to 12 megapixels and added new camera features accessible in the laptop’s top menu bar. These features include Center Stage, in which the laptop automatically centers your face in frame, as well as Desk View, which gives you a top-down view of the space just under your trackpad. The 12-megapixel webcam is far sharper than those of previous MacBooks and shows detail that was previously just a blur. For example, when first turning on the webcam, I noticed details in my irises that I’d not noticed previously. We also think Center Stage works better on MacBooks, rather than on an iMac, since you’re typically closer and facing the laptop directly.

It has an especially thin, slab-like design. When closed, the M4 MacBook Air is a thin metal slab with four rubberized feet measuring less than half an inch tall, an update from the previous wedge design of older MacBooks. This uniformly slim design makes the M4 MacBook Air feel great to carry around while it’s closed, because its flat top rests against your palm, while your fingers rest around its curved edge. It’s also an easy shape to slip into a backpack or bag.

And the sky blue color is nice. Apple is making the M4 MacBook Air models in four colors: silver, starlight (gold), midnight (blue-black), and a new metallic color called sky blue. The new color shifts from subtly blue while in shadow to a lighter, more silver tone when in direct light. It’s a very adaptable shade of blue.

It has just enough ports. The M4 MacBook Air has a MagSafe charging port, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a headphone jack. The MagSafe cable attaches magnetically to the charging port, so if it gets snagged on something as you’re moving your laptop, or if someone walks by and catches it on their foot, the cable safely detaches instead of pulling on your laptop. Like the last MacBook Air, the M4 version has fast charging, so it will charge to 50% battery in just 30 minutes on a charger with at least 67 W of power. The USB-C ports are capable of Thunderbolt 4 speeds, up to 40 gigabits per second, and can also serve to charge the laptop.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Its battery life isn’t as long as that of older MacBook Airs. During our standardized battery test, the M4 MacBook Air lasted about an hour less than our previous pick, the M2 MacBook Air. However, it’s also significantly faster, so that’s not the worst trade-off in the history of technology.