Black Friday is almost here, so it's important to know what MacBook to buy, for not just Black Friday but also the holidays and beyond. So, here's my Winter 2025 MacBook Buyer's Guide! First, we need to answer a few questions before we start.
What type of user are you?
Budget (note that the only budget screen size is 13")
Regular
What screen size do you prefer?
13"
15"
Mild professional (note that the only mild professional screen size is 14")
Professional
What screen size do you prefer?
14"
16"
Serious professional
What screen size do you prefer?
14"
16"
If you chose...
Budget
If this is what you chose, the 13" M2 MacBook Air is right for you. At "only" $999, it is the cheapest model in the lineup (though still a bit expensive and more than 2 years old). Plus, you don't have to configure it in any way unless needed: the RAM has finally been upgraded from 8GB to 16GB on all MacBook Airs (although the storage is much slower than the M3 Air)! However, as already mentioned, you can't have a 15" M2 MacBook Air: only the 13" is available now that the M2 is the old model. Also, keep in mind that if you don't have a need to upgrade right now, there's a new M4 MacBook Air coming in March, which will bring the price of the more powerful and newer (in comparison to the M2) M3 MacBook Air down to where the M2 Air is today, and unless you have a strict budget the 13" M3 Air is better (see next entry for why).
Regular, 13"
Chose these? The $1,099 13" M3 MacBook Air is right for you. Plus, it has Wi-Fi 6E, a Midnight color without all the fingerprints, and support for two external displays, and it doesn't have the much slower storage speeds of the M2 Air. All for just $100 more than the M2 Air. However, waiting for the M4 Air in March might be a better idea if you don't have to upgrade immediately.
Regular, 15"
For $200 more than the 13" M3 Air (the 15" Air is $1,299), you can get a 15" screen size, which also means better audio (in the means of a "six-speaker sound system" instead of a "four-speaker sound system) and a 10-core GPU standard.
Mild professional
The 14" M4 MacBook Pro's proposition is: for $300 more than the 15" Air and $500 more than the 13" Air, you can get 1 hour more battery life for "wireless web", for 16 hours in all (Apple generally claims 6 more for a total of 22 hours, but that's when you're only watching movies on Apple TV+ for the whole time), a fan (it's not as necessary of a feature as on PCs, because of Apple silicon, but still, for hard tasks, the lack of a fan might slow things down), a 10-core CPU (as well as a 10-core GPU) standard. However, on the bad side, it's only in a 14" size.
Professional, 14"
Chose these? You have to be ready to pay at least $1,999 for the 14" M4 Pro MacBook Pro! For that money, you're getting the M4 Pro chip (starting at a 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU) and 50% more RAM (at 24GB), compared to the M4 MacBook Pro (you're also losing 2 hours of battery life).
Professional, 16"
Want a bigger screen and bigger battery (for 3 more hours of wireless web than the 14")? You have to pay an extra $500 (the 16" M4 Pro MacBook Pro is $2,499).
Serious professional, 14"
Chose these? You're ready to step up to the 14" M4 Max MacBook Pro, starting at a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU and 36GB RAM (which makes the 1-hour battery life difference understandable)! Good and all? The price is $3,199.
Serious professional, 16"
Want a bigger screen and 1 hour more battery than the 14" M4 Max? Sorry, it's $3,499. Also, if you configure this thing to the max, you get almost double that price ($7,848.98, to be exact).
Outro
I hope that with this guide you will find the perfect MacBook to buy or to give to a friend with lots of Christmas wishes, whether it's $999 or $7,848.98. Happy holidays!
By Leo
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