The best MacBooks to buy in 2026: Apple has a new budget laptop (and it rocks)

Which MacBook should you buy?

As of March 2026, I think the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air is the best choice for most people. It's a sleek, future-proofed ultraportable with the right amount of premium features and more than enough muscle for everyday multitasking, including occasional content creation. It's the ideal daily driver.

The new MacBook Neo is my top budget pick for students and casual users. It's not nearly as fast or as fancy as a new MacBook Air, but it's a good performer for its price point, and it's just as well-made as any other MacBook. If your typical workload involves bopping between some Chrome tabs and an app or two, look no further.

If you want the nicest features and enough sustained power for photo editing, video rendering, or AI work, the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro is my upgrade pick. It one-ups the Air with better thermal management, more ports, more base storage, a smoother display, and a longer battery life. Just come prepared to spend at least $500 more.

What's new

I overhauled this guide in March 2026 following a slew of new MacBook announcements. The 15-inch M5 MacBook Air replaces its M4 predecessor as the best MacBook for most people, and the MacBook Neo is now the top budget pick. The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air used to be my top pick for students, but the MacBook Neo is cheaper and well-suited for most students' needs.

I've also removed the 16-inch, M4 Pro-powered MacBook Pro as a pick. I used to recommend it for creative professionals with the most strenuous workloads, but there's a newer M5 Pro version out now. We haven't tested it just yet.

What's on deck

Apple is reportedly working on a redesigned MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen, but it probably won't launch until late 2026 at the earliest, per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.