

Apple claimed this new M1 chip would be so amazing that we’d want to ditch our old Intel Macs. The only changes are the switch from Intel to the Apple-made M1 processors and the total lack of fans. With nearly 13 hours of battery life, a crazy-powerful M1 processor, and an incredibly smooth trackpad and keyboard, it should be no surprise that the MacBook Air M1 shoved our previous top laptop out of its spot.Ĭompared to the mid-2020 MacBook Air, the M1 version is almost identical. We tested a mix of Windows laptops, MacBooks, and Chromebooks to find the best laptops for every given price point. While many of the budget laptops we tested weren’t very fast, most were more than capable of handling everyday tasks like web browsing and text editing with ease. (It holds the top spot in most of our other laptop guides, too.)

, which we love for its near-thirteen hours of battery life, speedy processor, and thin and lightweight chassis. You won’t be able to use them to run the latest graphics-heavy computer games, but for giving your kids access to the web, sending a teen off to college with a computer for their studies or for you to stay up to date with Facebook, a budget laptop could be an ideal purchase.īut everyone has a different budget, so we’ve selected some of the best laptops you can get Our top pick is the MacBook Air M1 Budget laptops often come with barebone specs: minimal drive space, memory, and slow processors. In most cases though, you get what you pay for. For simple tasks, such as running web-based apps such as Google docs, browsing the Internet, or sending an email, a low-powered, low-priced laptop fits the bill. Not everyone needs or can afford the latest, most powerful laptop out there.

In both instances, the machines are $200 cheaper than Apple's price and the best deals you can currently find for these ultraporables, which - despite having dated tech and no Retina display - are still solid picks for students and other cash-strapped Mac fans who value portability and battery life over raw power.Written by Adrien Ramirez and Joanna Nelius If $1,799.99 still seems like a lot - or if you don't need that much horsepower - Amazon also has the current-gen 13.3-inch MacBook Air with 128GB SSD (opens in new tab) for $799.99 and the 13.3-inch MacBook Air with 256GB SSD (opens in new tab) for $999.99.

Unlike the 2016 MacBook Pros with Touch Bar, the 2015 MacBook Pro has all the essential connectivity you need including two Thunderbolt 2 ports, two USB ports, HDMI, and an SD card reader. This media powerhouse packs a 2.2-GHz Haswell Core i7 quad-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. That's $200 under the Apple Store's direct price and the cheapest price we've seen for this laptop since it launched in May of 2015. Currently, the online giant offers the 2015 15.4-inch MacBook Pro (opens in new tab) for $1,799.99.
