137 reviews

81 reviews

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The Apple Pick

Consumer Reports · Best Laptops for College Students

Best MacBook

RTINGS · The 7 Best Laptops

#28 most mentioned

Reddit · r/laptops

Great portability

Strong performance with M1 processor

Up to 12.5 hours of battery life on a single charge

High quality case and good panel

Good optimization for macOS

Great portability and battery life

Powerful 4-core i7-1065G7 processor

GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics

16 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD

3K 13.5" IPS touch display

Not suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space

Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point

No significant design updates since 2018

Not suitable for heavy gaming

Occasional issues with tablet not reconnecting to the base

Stylus feels like a twig or Nintendo DS stylus

Verdict

The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a great choice for those looking for a highly portable laptop with strong performance. It features an M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid state storage. The battery life is also impressive, lasting up to 12.5 hours on a single charge. However, the base model may not be suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space. Additionally, some Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point.

Verdict

The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is a powerful detachable 2-in-1 laptop that offers great portability and battery life. It comes with a 4-core i7-1065G7 processor, GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics, 16 GB RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and a 3K 13.5" IPS touch display. The device is suitable for general use tasks, light gaming, and CAD work. However, some users have experienced issues with the tablet not reconnecting to the base and the stylus feeling like a twig or Nintendo DS stylus.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Battery Life

All it needed was a totally new keyboard and faster processors

2GHz to get something done and then ramp it back down to 1.1GHz to preserve heat and battery life. This is a pretty normal strategy now.

Negative

2 years ago

theverge.com

Too Many Flaws, Extremely Buggy and Overpriced

The 15.5 hours of battery life advertised is a complete lie. --Sometimes when the laptop needs a system update, it will refuse to launch any programs until all updates are finished. --Microsoft's support has not been too helpful, either

1/5

3 years ago

amazon.com

Performance

Verdict – The Core i3 is the better choice for everyday tasks

There are also noticeable advantages in terms of the emissions, and especially the fan is much quieter with a slower maximum speed. This means the i3 MacBook Air is quieter for longer periods of time, even when you stress it.The MacBook Air with the dual-core i3 processor is the better device for basic workloads. The subjective performance impression is very good in these scenarios, the fan is quieter, and you can still enjoy the good display as well as the improved keyboard

Neutral

2 years ago

notebookcheck.net

Great Quality, Poor Performance

However, the performance downgrade and struggles makes me question if just getting a Laptop 4 w/ double the RAM + iPad Mini or regular iPad would be a more efficient use of money. We're talking about the Book 3 struggling with 1080p video on YouTube without frame drops, yet a cheap iPad wouldn't question that for a second. It seems like the best of both worlds, while the Book 3 seems to offer the mediocre of both. Much of the negatives didn't truly sink in until after the return period, so I may recommend purchasing through Microsoft directly, as they offer 60 days to make up your mind rather than 30

4/5

2 years ago

amazon.com

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More Alternatives

Apple MacBook Air (2020)