If you buy one of these, you won't be disappointed. The 2021 model is now on its way out, replaced by the even more powerful (and expensive) M2 Pro/Max-powered version for 2023.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro offers a huge number of positives for students looking for a MacBook: it's packed with power, it has a superb display, the battery will run and run, and then there's the stylish and compact design. However, everything considered it's a phenomenal product that will be a great daily driver if you don't need the utmost power for, say, engineering modelling projects. The M2 MacBook Air is cheaper than the Pro models, hence it still making great sense for students, but you do miss out on some features: there's no HDMI slot and no SDXC card reader, for example. If you don't do much beyond everyday computing tasks, we'd wholeheartedly recommend it, but even if you do then 4K video editing is no problem – just not to the same level as the fan-assisted cooling of the MacBook Pro options (the Air is fanless and therefore silent, but also hotter and Apple throttles it somewhat too). We're pleased to see that the webcam has been given an upgrade to 1080p, which is important to more people than you might think, and it's clear that macOS absolutely flies along on this Mac. However, it's a fair bit pricier than the 2020 Air model, which is why we consider this a more premium purchase option right now. However, for a lot of people those won't be major issues on balance to the price.įor a large chunk of people this is going to be the best Apple MacBook for their student life: it's lightweight, it's relatively affordable, and it looks fantastic. The downsides to the MacBook Air are that the screen isn't as good as the MacBook Pro for creative work, it only has two USB-C ports (and a 3.5mm audio jack) as its total connectivity, and there's now a more powerful M2 version of this laptop available.

And, like all Apple laptops, it has huge battery life – around 15 hours in typical web browsing use. It packs all this power into a very thin, fanless design, which means it's perfect for using in the library. It can handle 4K video editing, complex music production, raw photo editing and so on, with 8GB of RAM as standard (creative students should opt for 16GB). If you don't believe us, ask anyone who already owns one of these machines. The M1 chipset that Apple launched with this laptop was such a step forward in terms of power and efficiency that it'll still comfortably cope with everyday computing tasks for years to come. It's now the older of the two MacBook Air models, but we still think the M1 MacBook Air that launched in 2020 remains the best choice for the vast majority of students, which is down to one key factor – price.

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