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The best Apple MacBook for every type of user in 2024
Apple
If you’re a fan of all things Apple and looking to add a laptop to your gear, you’ll need to choose a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. These range in price from $999 for an entry-level MacBook Air, up to $7,199 for a MacBook Pro configured with every available upgrade.
Keep in mind, all current MacBook laptops run the same version of the MacOS Sonoma operating system and come with the same collection of more than 30 preinstalled apps. These apps are designed to handle the most common computing tasks right out of the box. All MacBook laptops also work seamlessly with Apple iCloud and all of Apple’s other services.
For most students or average computer users, a MacBook Air is a more affordable option that’ll easily meet your needs.
If you’re a graphic designer, content creator, programmer, photo editing, video editor, musician, producer, serious gamer, a MacBook Pro is definitely the better choice.
Which MacBook is the best?
This 2024 MacBook buyer’s guide, compiled by our in-house team of tech experts, will help you figure out which MacBook model and hardware configuration best meets your needs, without exceeding your budget.
Best MacBook for everyday use: 2023 14″ MacBook Pro (M3 Pro processor)
Apple
Plenty of computer users can easily get away with a 2024 13″ MacBook Air. But anyone who wants a bit more processing power and a better display should really consider the mid-priced 2023 Apple MacBook Pro with a M3 Pro processor.
The laptop’s 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display is absolutely gorgeous. This means that anytime you’re streaming video, gaming, editing video, working with photos, what you’ll see will be extremely detailed — with plenty of contrast and vibrancy. The display offers a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits.
We’re big fans of this laptop’s up-to-18-hour battery life. You also get plenty of connectivity options and ports, plus faster processing power than what a MacBook Air can do. Choose between 512GB or 1TB of internal storage and a space gray or silver housing.
While all of the MacBook Pro laptops are more powerful than any of the MacBook Air models, this particular 14-inch MacBook Pro falls in the middle when it comes to hardware configuration and cost. It’ll easily handle just about any task and could potentially replace your desktop computer, too.
Best budget MacBook: 2024 13″ MacBook Air (M3 processor)
Apple
This 13-inch MacBook Air, with its M3 processor, is an entry-level MacBook. It has a $999 starting price and is configured with 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD for storage. You can choose between four housing colors.
We like this MacBook because it gives you all of the core benefits of a Mac, bundled into a laptop that’s lightweight, portable and relatively affordable. The 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display can showcase more than one billion colors, while the integrated speaker system supports spatial audio with Dolby Atmos sound.
Battery life is up to 18 hours. This MacBook Air will easily handle all of your everyday computing needs; preinstalled apps handle common tasks like web surfing, email, contacts, scheduling, photo editing and more. Plus, you can use the free Apple iWork apps (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) to handle word processing, spreadsheets and slide presentations.
The MacBook Air is versatile, customizable and the perfect starter MacBook for someone who’s switching from a Windows laptop, or anyone who needs a reliable computer on the move.
Best MacBook for students: 2024 15″ MacBook Air (M3 processor)
Apple
One of the core needs of any middle school or high school student is multitasking — surfing the web and word processing at the same time; taking an online class while managing a spreadsheet; or researching a project while taking a video call.
The 15-inch MacBook Air gives students a bit of extra on-screen real estate, which is great for multitasking. For a college student, we’d recommend one of the MacBook Pro laptops, but for younger students, the MacBook Air is a more affordable option that’ll easily fit in a backpack and continue running throughout the school day and into an evening’s homework session.
The MacBook Air is also a wonderful entertainment and communications tool — whether the user is streaming music or video, gaming, reading an e-book or participating in a group chat with family or friends. This is a laptop that’ll adapt to a student’s needs and provide an intuitive and reliable experience.
Best MacBook for creatives: 2023 16″ MacBook Pro (M3 Max Processor)
Apple
If you’re a programmer, graphic artist, musician/music producer, video editor, content creator, or anyone who regularly works with massive files and need the most powerful and fastest processing power Apple has to offer, this is the MacBook you want at your disposal.
Battery life is up to 22 hours. The Liquid Retina XDR display’s maximum brightness is 1,000 nits and the computer comes bundled with the widest selection of ports that a MacBook can offer. This gives users the ability to add multiple monitors, along with an external keyboard and mouse, so the computer can be used as a primary desktop — offering all of the power of an advanced workstation or production studio.
This MacBook Pro is equipped with a six speaker sound system, an advanced microphone array, a 1080p resolution (full HD) webcam, a backlit keyboard and a TouchID sensor that’s used to unlock the computer and approve online purchases. It’s the most powerful laptop that Apple currently has to offer.
Best MacBook for families: 2023 14″ MacBook Pro (M3 processor)
Apple
This computer is fast, plenty powerful, versatile, customizabler and portable. Choose between a space gray or silver housing color.
One of the biggest reasons for a family to choose this MacBook Pro: It has a longer battery life (up to 22 hours) and a more advanced Liquid Retina XDR display. This allows it to showcase sharper and more vibrant graphics. You also get more built-in ports.
And when you’re streaming music or a movie without using wireless headphones or earbuds, you’ll appreciate the six-speaker sound system that offers spatial audio with Dolby Atmos support.
Whether a parent is working from home, a student is doing homework, or a child is playing online games, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 processor will provide the computing power needed to handle a wide range of tasks. This computer easily handles multitasking, too. It includes a wide range of security, privacy and parental control tools.
Who should get a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro laptop?
Apple
If you’re already an Apple fan, the answer is a no-brainer. But there are other big reasons to make an Apple laptop your next computer buy — including battery life, safety and more.
All MacBook laptops integrate seamlessly with Apple iCloud, as do other Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and iMac desktop computers. As a result, your data, documents, files, photos and content can be set up to automatically backup to the cloud and sync with your other Apple gear. So, if you snap a photo using your iPhone, within seconds, it will be accessible from your MacBook laptop, as long as both are connected to the internet. The entire Apple ecosystem — including hardware and software (apps) work extremely well together.
All of the MacBook models are also extremely portable, versatile and have a long battery life (compared with most Windows laptops or Chromebooks). Each comes preinstalled with more than 30 apps, so you can handle contact management, scheduling, email, web surfing, photo editing, video calling and other popular tasks as soon as you unbox the laptop and initially set it up.
We also love that MacBooks are far less susceptible to viruses and malware than Windows laptops. And we’re huge fans of the design of both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. They’re thin, light and have gorgeous displays. Plus, the MacOS operating system is highly intuitive, making these laptops easy to operate. You also get a wide range of privacy and security tools integrated into the hardware and MacOS operating system.
If you experience a problem with your MacBook laptop, AppleCare is readily available by phone, or you can visit any Apple Store to receive personalized support. To fully benefit from the support Apple offers, we highly recommend purchasing Apple Care+ for your MacBook at the time of purchase. This is sold either as annual coverage which auto-renews each year until it’s cancelled (the option we recommend), or you can pre-purchase a three year coverage plan that’s not renewable.
For more help choosing a laptop, be sure to check out our coverage of the five best laptops for 2024, the best laptops for high school grads in 2024, the six best gaming laptops for 2024, the five best laptops for college in 2024, the six best laptops under $500, and the five best budget laptops for 2024. Whether you need to know about the very best laptop computers or any other types of tech, we’re constantly expanding and updating our coverage to offer the most informative, timely and accurate information.
CBS News
Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, responded Sunday to Eric Trump’s implication that his father’s Democratic opponents were responsible for the attempts on former President Trump’s life, saying the innuendo was “of course” inaccurate but political candidates on both sides of the aisle “need to deescalate” their rhetoric.
“No, of course not,” Turner said in his latest appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” after being asked whether he believes there was truth to claims made by the former president, his son Eric, and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, at a rally where each either implied or suggested Democrats tried to kill him.
Trump returned Saturday to Butler, Pennsylvania, to speak to supporters gathered at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, the site of the July 13 assassination attempt against him. A gunman facing Trump on the podium at that rally opened fire into the crowd, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring two others, according to authorities. The gunman was killed by a Secret Service sniper, officials said.
Another apparent assassination attempt happened in September when a suspect pointed a gun in Trump’s direction on the Florida course where he was playing golf. The FBI has opened probes into both incidents.
CBS News
Trump, his son and Vance all acknowledged the assassination attempt in Butler at Saturday’s campaign event.
“Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me impeached me indicted me tried to throw me off the ballot and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” said the former president, while Eric Trump claimed his father’s political opponents “tried to kill him, and it’s because the Democratic party, they can’t do anything right.”
Vance, in his remarks, addressed Trump’s Democratic challenger in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, and suggested that the Republican nominee “took a bullet for democracy.”
Brennan asked Turner: “You don’t mean to imply here anything that would suggest Eric Trump’s allegations that Democrats are trying to kill him?”
“No, of course not,” Turner responded. “But I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war, is actively trying to kill her opponent.”
The attempts on Trump’s life came after a citizen of Pakistan with ties to Iran was arrested and charged with allegedly planning a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Trump, among others. Although the timing of the charges coincided with the first attempt, there was no indication that the two incidents were related.
Turner criticized Harris for what he viewed as a failure to openly condemn the alleged plot.
“I think there’s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this, in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to, to deter,” he said. “I think all the candidates need to de-escalate, certainly in their language.”
But the congressman did acknowledge that a Biden-Harris Justice Department official, Matthew Olsen, the head of the national security division, said the U.S. government has been “intensely tracking Iranian lethal plotting efforts targeting former and current U.S. government officials — and that includes the former president.”
“I would say that we are very concerned — gravely concerned — about Iranian plotting,” Olsen told CBS News in a recent interview.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday, and it has set its path on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Forecasters predict Milton will make landfall around the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, bringing with it upwards of 120 mph winds and drenching an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
As of 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Milton was centered about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was inching north-northeast at 6 mph.
Path of Hurricane Milton
A map from the National Hurricane Center shows Milton continuing to strengthen into a major hurricane as it approaches Florida’s western coast.
“Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday,” forecasters said.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The storm is expected to remain north of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, with heavy rainfall expected as Milton makes its way northeast toward Florida. Tropical storm watches are currently in effect from Celestun to Cancún, Mexico.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The hurricane center said hurricane and storm surge watches could be issued for parts of Florida later Sunday.
Florida officials prepare for more impact
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida is going to be hit hard. “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
NOAA via AP
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruptions, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Biden Sunday on how it has staged lifesaving resources.
“I highly encourage you to evacuate” if you’re in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma. “
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said.
“All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.”
An American climber was rescued after she and another alpinist from the U.K. were stranded for two days at more than 20,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Michelle Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37, went missing on Thursday after their equipment and food tumbled down a ravine while trekking up India’s Chaukhamba mountain, CBS News partner BBC reported.
The pair sent an emergency message but search and rescue teams were unable to find them.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
Manners told the BBC they were “terrified” as they tried to make part of the descent down the treacherous mountains without supplies.
“I watched the bag tumble down the mountain and I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,” she said. “We had none of our safety equipment left. No tent. No stove to melt snow for water. No warm clothes for the evening.”
The terrifying ordeal intensified when it started to snow. They took cover on a ledge while waiting for rescuers.
“I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm,” Manners said.
The rescue was made difficult because of the conditions, including bad weather, fog and high altitude.
“The helicopter flew passed again, couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,” Manners told the BBC.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
On the second day, the pair began to cautiously abseil down the mountain. They spotted a team of French climbers coming toward them. Manners said they shared their equipment and food and contacted the helicopter company with an exact location.
“I cried with relief knowing we might survive,” she said.
The Indian Air Force said in a post on the X social media platform that their helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet after “battling two days of bad weather.”
Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
