Laptop Mag started in 1991 as the Laptop Buyers’ Guide and Handbook to review and recommend the best laptops. Thirty-four years later, helping readers find the best laptop remains our top priority. As managing editor of Laptop, I’m involved in every one of the 100+ laptop reviews we publish each year.
I spend thousands of hours annually researching and reviewing laptops. Whatever type of laptop you need, I have a recommendation ready.
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This page is constantly updated to reflect Laptop Mag’s latest reviews and selections for the best laptops of 2025.
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Update log
June 9, 2025: Updated introduction, replaced best gaming laptop, updated recently reviewed laptops, and new FAQ updates.
Curated byCurated by
Sean Riley
Managing Editor
Sean Riley has covered a wide variety of tech during his 15 years as a journalist and product reviewer, including five years reviewing over 75 laptops, phones, and tablets at Laptop Mag. As the managing editor, he also has a role in every review and buying guide published on Laptop Mag, so you can trust his guidance in finding the best laptop for you.
The best laptop for most people:
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(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)
Thin, light, powerful, long-lasting, and cheaper than last year
Specifications
CPU: Apple M4
GPU: Apple M4 GPU
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: 13.6-inch, 1664p
Size: 12 x 8.5 x 0.44 inches
Weight: 2.7 pounds
Reasons to buy+
Affordably priced
+
Excellent performance
+
Almost 16 hours of battery life
+
Bright Liquid Retina display
+
Fast and comfortable typing experience
+
Unmatched webcam
Reasons to avoid-
Limited ports
–
Upgrades can get expensive
Apple’s smallest laptop still weighs just 2.7 pounds while packing the more powerful M4 chip in 2025, bringing another leap in performance and better battery life. Did I mention it also got a $100 price cut? This is the best laptop for most people in 2025.
The MacBook Air’s 13.6-inch display remains one of the brightest in a consumer laptop in 2025, and True Tone ensures color accuracy. The only knocks against the Air’s display are its 60Hz refresh rate and the fact that it isn’t as vibrant as OLED competitors. These aren’t problems, but they are things you would notice if looking at it side-by-side with another laptop.
Apple didn’t touch the design this year, which is a good thing for the Air M4, which remains one of the thinnest laptops at 0.44 inches. That level of portability is great, but it’s the fact that it delivers nearly class-leading performance at that size that’s even more impressive.
Looking at the benchmarks, the MacBook Air M4 scored 14,849 on Geekbench 6, well above the category average. Our Handbrake video transcoding test took 5 minutes and 40 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. This area seemed vulnerable for the Air M3 last year, but this leap puts it near the top again.
Apple’s SSD performance is again outstanding, with a BlackMagic Write speed of 3,456.2 MBps and a Read speed of 3,018.4 MBps.
Thin, light, and powerful sounds like a recipe for battery woes, but the MacBook Air M4 lasted an average of 15 hours and 42 minutes in our Laptop Mag battery test.
Apple’s new Center Stage 12MP webcam is another significant hardware upgrade this year, which now matches the MacBook Pro models. It’s one of the best webcams in any laptop that I’ve tested.
The lack of ports may remain a concern for some people, with just a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, but at least MagSafe 3 keeps both ports free while charging.
Returning to the pricing, the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 now starts at $999, returning to that price point for the first time since the MacBook Air M1 in 2020. That’s all the more notable since Apple upgraded the base RAM to 16GB on all MacBooks on October 30, 2024, which used to be a $200 add-on that we recommended to most people.
Need more screen real estate? Look no further than the 15-inch MacBook Air M4. It mirrors all of the strengths of its smaller sibling but with a larger 15.3-inch display.
One other important change this year, Apple didn’t keep the previous MacBook Air around as it had since the introduction of the M2 Air in 2022, so if you are wondering about the MacBook Air M4 vs. M3, it’s not a decision you will likely need to make as supplies of the latter should dry up soon.
See our full 13-inch MacBook Air M4 review
See our full 15-inch MacBook Air M4 review
More like this: Best Macbook
Click to view chart data in table format
Swipe to scroll horizontallyHeader Cell – Column 0
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x
MacBook Air 13-inch M3
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425)
Geekbench 6 (Higher is better)
14,849
13,750
12,087
12,908
Handbrake conversion (Lower is better)
5.40
5.16
7.40
6.17
Battery life (Higher is better)
15.42
14.14
15.13
12.21
DCI-P3 color gamut (Higher is better)
79.6%
155.4%
77.8%
81.7%
Display brightness (Higher is better)
463
464
476
354
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