MacBook Air and MacBook Pro
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Apple's late 2024 refresh for its Mac and MacBook lines has added the M4 to the product lineup. Here's how to choose the best portable Mac for your budget for the 2024 holiday season.
Apple’s fall product updates covered a lot of ground, but for the Mac product category, it meant the M4 update. After introducing the chip to the iPad Pro line earlier this year, the MacBook Pro now uses the fast chip.
Even better, Apple didn’t stop with just the M4, as it also released the M4 Pro and M4 Max variants. These additions offer a lot more performance options, and in the case of the M4 Max, better performance than the M2 Ultra in some tests.
Because Apple covers a wide range of prices in both its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines, consumers still have plenty of choice, no matter their budget. The addition of the M4 makes things a little easier, but it’s still hard to make the right choice.
This guide was created on November 12, 2024.
Best MacBook – Overall Pricing
Apple's overall product catalog for portable Mac models starts at $999 for the cheapest model and goes up to $3,499 for the most expensive base model.
If you want the most expensive model based on the basic configuration options, it's the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max. At the highest case, you can pay up to $7,349, which is more than seven times the price of the cheapest model.
Overall price range of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models as of November 2024
The fall influx of M4 MacBooks doesn't impact prices much compared to previous models. However, it does raise the price range a bit thanks to the configuration changes to the MacBook Pro.
We'll split the table into three big groups: the busy $2,000-$3,000 price range, and the spaces below and above.
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M3 MacBook Air 13-inch
Shop the lowest prices on all configurations of the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air.
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M3 MacBook Air 15-inch
Apple's M3 MacBook Air 15-inch can be configured with up to 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
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M2 MacBook Air 13-inch
The M2 MacBook Air now starts at $999, but exclusive deals offer reduced prices on all models.
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M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch
Get deals on the M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch from Apple right now.
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M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro 14-inch
Save on every configuration of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with Apple's M4 Pro or M4 Max chip.
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M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro 16-inch
Get a discount on the entire M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro 16-inch.
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Best MacBook – Storage and Configuration
It's no secret that Apple's configuration options can quickly tie up prices. Adding items to a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro may seem like a good idea until you see how much it actually costs.
There are several configuration options to consider for Apple's MacBook lines: Apple Silicon itself, memory, storage, and now Nano-texture.
The first option is obvious, as it determines how powerful the MacBook will be. Later generations will tend to be faster, as will higher tiers like the Max compared to the Pro and non-Pro versions.
You can also get variants of the same chip level with more cores.
Memory is also an important element, especially with a unified memory structure. Since all the memory can be used across all components of the chip, including the CPU and GPU, adding more memory means you’re adding more to all components at once.
Storage pricing tiers for the MacBook lineup as of November 2024
Storage is an important element when it comes to upgrades, with more cost applied to higher capacities. For example, going from a 256GB SSD to a 512GB might cost $200 for one model, while another might charge you $1,200 to go from 4TB to 8TB.
Finally, there’s nanotexture, an etched layer of the display that’s used to eliminate glare from ambient lighting.
AppleInsider recommends considering storage as an upgrade to narrow your potential order first. It’s the only upgrade that can be configured with external drives, so it’s best to save other upgrades for now.
In short, save money by using external drives instead of paying for Apple’s more expensive storage upgrades.
The best MacBook under $2,000
The under-$2,000 range is perhaps the easiest of the three to consider, as it’s largely driven by price. To start, you have the base 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 as your only option for $999, with an 8-core processor, 8-core GPU, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.
Your first decision is $1,099, as you can get the M2 with a 10-core GPU or the M3 version. The latter is probably the best deal at this point.
Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro prices are in the sub-$2,000 range
The best option for the M2 MacBook Air is the 512GB SSD upgrade, as you also get the M2 chip with a 10-core GPU. You can also get the M3 with a chip upgrade to a 10-core GPU, but at this level, the M2 upgrade may be more useful due to the double whammy.
For $1,299, you get the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of memory, an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, and 256GB of storage. However, the storage and chip upgrade for the 13-inch M3 is also available here, or a 24GB memory upgrade.
M3 MacBook Air
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For $1,499, you get your first upgrade option for the 15-inch machine, with a choice of memory or storage. For the same price, you get the M3 13-inch with an upgraded chip, 24GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, or the same on the M2 for a $100 savings.
When $1,599 comes into play, we have another option in the form of the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro. Equipped with 16GB of memory, 512GB of storage, and the M4’s improved performance, it’s an attractive package.
You’re still stuck with a single upgrade on the 15-inch, as well as the updated 13-inch forms, though the M2 can be configured with 1TB of memory and 24GB of storage.
At this point, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro is probably the best option. It’s also arguably the best option if you move up the scale to $1,999.
At the top of the range, you have an additional option in the form of a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro as the base configuration. This means an M4 Pro with more cores, 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage.
The M4 Pro is very attractive, but so is the M2 MacBook Air. It’s at the higher end of the scale with 24GB of memory and 2TB of storage, and the better of the two M2 chips.
The M4 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro is probably the better option.
The best MacBook is $2,000 to $3,000
The $2,000 to $3,000 range is where the most change happens in what’s available. It’s also a good ballpark figure for buying a portable Mac with decent performance.
The $1,999 from the previous range is where we start, and the next change is $2,099, where the M3 MacBook Air reaches its highest configuration. If you don't need all that storage and memory, the M4 models are still a choice if you want performance.
Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro prices range from $2,000 to $3,000
For just $200 more, at $2,299, the 15-inch MacBook Air maxes out at 24GB of memory and 2TB of storage. For $100 less, there’s the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 with 16GB of memory and 2TB of storage, or $100 more with 24GB of memory, which is the best option.
Until we reach $2,499, the choice is whether you want the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 and one more upgrade, or the M4 Pro version with more performance. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro comes in at that price, offering all the benefits of the 14-inch with M4 Pro, but with effectively one less upgrade than you’d get with the smaller-screen model.
The full 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 comes with 2TB of memory, 32GB of storage, and a Nano Texture for $2,749. For $50 more, there's the 14-inch M4 Pro with a 14-core processor, 48GB of memory, and 1TB of storage, or the 16-inch version with 24GB of storage for $50 less. Either M4 Pro is a good deal here.
For the rest of the range, you'll be choosing between the 14-inch and 16-inch M4 Pro models, with the latter being about an upgrade behind. That upgrade could easily be a Nano texture, making it quite flexible for price manipulation.
14-inch MacBook Pro M4
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The Best MacBook – Over $3,000
While the over-$3,000 price period starts with the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the M4 Pro, it doesn't last long. The 14-inch M4 Max MacBook Pro slips in with its superior performance, 14-core processor, 32-core GPU, 36GB of memory, and 1TB of storage for $3,199.
If you don’t need the extra memory or storage on the 14-inch M4 Pro or the larger screen on the 16-inch model, go for the 14-inch M4 Max.
Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are priced at over $3,000
When the price hits $3,499, the final major configuration option appears in the form of the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Max. At that point, you can get the 14-inch Pro with 4TB of storage, 24GB of memory, and a top-tier chip for $100 less, or the 16-inch M4 Pro with 2TB of storage and 48GB of memory.
16-inch MacBook Pro M4
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Since all M4 Max models start with 36GB of memory and 1TB of storage, the configurations are manageable at the low end. That makes them the best option from here on out, aside from the top specs for the M4 Pro models.
As you move up in price, each price point will give you a choice of fairly similar 14-inch M4 Max and 16-inch M4 Max configurations as the best possible options.
With that in mind, the only real difference to consider is whether you prefer the 16-inch model or the 14-inch with another upgrade.
Early on, these upgrades will be for the important bits while they’re still fairly cheap. Consider lower memory and storage tiers, and even a chip upgrade.
Later, as memory capacity increases, so do the upgrade costs. At this point, it could easily be the M4 Max models with the same configuration, except you're choosing between the 14-inch model with Nano texture and the 16-inch without.
As we’ve said before, storage is something you should also upgrade to a reasonable level. At the top end of the scale, we’re mostly looking at MacBooks, which have maxed out configurations for everything but storage.
That last $1,200 jump from 4TB to 8TB of storage is significant. But so is the $800 jump between 64GB and 128GB of storage.
At this level, seriously consider whether you need any of these upgrades. You may have a compelling reason for either, but at least for storage, saving money with an external drive is always an option.
Where to Buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro at a Discount
AppleInsider's Mac Price Guide features hundreds of deals across the entire MacBook lineup, and you can even save up to $300 on the M4 MacBook Pro.
You can skip straight to the individual price guides below:
MacBook Air
- 13-inch MacBook Air M3 Prices
- 15-inch MacBook Air M3 Prices
- 13-inch MacBook Air M2 Prices
MacBook Pro
- 14-inch MacBook Air M4 Prices
- 14-inch MacBook Air M4 Pro/M4 Max Prices
- 16-inch MacBook Air M4 Pro/M4 Max Prices
In particular, Adorama is offering aggressive deals on M4 MacBook Pro models using an exclusive promo code APINSIDER Shoppers can save up to $300 on each configuration, in addition to bonus savings on three years of AppleCare.
These sale models can save up to $500 on the M3 MacBook Pro lineup at Best Buy while supplies last. And at the time of publication, Amazon is offering great deals on the M2 and M3 MacBook Air models, starting at just $749.99.
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