MacBook finder
Tell us your budget and the heaviest job your MacBook will do. We'll show you the configurations that handle it, from the cheapest that's enough to the most powerful your budget buys.
Budget
How much do you want to spend on your MacBook?
What will you use this MacBook for?
Pick the most demanding of your tasks. It decides how much memory and storage we require, and whether the MacBook needs a fan.
For gaming we only suggest Windows laptops. Find a gaming laptop
How many monitors will you connect?
Pick how many monitors you'll connect at once. The chip sets the limit: one on the MacBook Neo, four on the most powerful MacBook Pros.
How big a screen?
The MacBook Air comes in 13 and 15 inches, the MacBook Pro in 14 and 16. The MacBook Neo has a 13-inch screen.
How much space for your files?
Pick the smallest capacity that's enough for you. A MacBook's storage can't be upgraded after purchase; at the start of the slider, we'll match it to the task.
Summary
How we choose a MacBook
A MacBook is bought as a fixed configuration: its chip, memory and storage can't be changed after purchase. So rather than ask what it's for in general, we ask for the most demanding task it will do.
That task sets the minimum memory and storage. For video editing and local AI models we only suggest a MacBook Pro, and for AI models a Pro-class chip or better as well.
Among the configurations that meet your requirements and fit your budget, a more powerful chip ranks higher, and with the same chip, more memory does. Storage is only ever a requirement. We show the cheapest configuration, the best your budget buys, and the one above which paying more buys little.
MacBook Neo, Air or Pro
The MacBook Neo has a 13-inch screen and the A18 Pro chip with 8 GB of memory. It has no fan and drives one external monitor.
The MacBook Air has a 13- or 15-inch screen and an M-series chip. It has no fan either, which is why for video editing, a long sustained load on the chip, we suggest a MacBook Pro.
The MacBook Pro has a 14- or 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, a fan, HDMI and an SD card slot. It's the only MacBook with Pro and Max chips.
You choose memory and storage once
A MacBook's memory is shared by the processor and the graphics. Like the storage, it can't be upgraded, so we settle both before you buy, from the task you name.
If you know how much memory or storage you need, set it in the Extended mode. Your figure takes priority over the one we assign to the task, even when it's lower.
How many monitors a MacBook drives
The chip, not the model, sets how many external monitors a MacBook drives: one on the MacBook Neo and the M3, two on the M4, M4 Pro and M5, three on the M5 Pro, and four on the M4 Max and M5 Max. We count them with the lid open and the MacBook's own screen on.
If you give a number of monitors, we leave out the configurations that can't drive them.
Why MacBooks have their own questionnaire
We don't rank Apple chips on the same scale as Intel and AMD processors. A MacBook is also chosen differently: its configuration can't be changed after purchase, so the questions are about memory, storage and monitors.
For gaming we only suggest Windows laptops with an Intel or AMD processor.
Prices and stores
For each laptop we show the lowest price among the stores that have it in stock, along with each store's listing. A laptop you can't buy right now doesn't make the shortlist.
When you buy through our link, the store may pay us a commission, and your price doesn't change because of it. Commission doesn't affect which laptops we pick or the order we show them in.