All articles tagged with #macbook
Apple’s MacBook Air with the M5 chip (13-inch, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is down to $949 at Amazon as of April 8—a $150 (14%) discount and the lowest price yet, featuring WiFi 7 via the N1 chip, a 60Hz Liquid Retina display, a 12MP Center Stage webcam, Thunderbolt 4, and up to 18 hours of battery life.
macOS Tahoe 26.4 adds a Charge Limit for MacBooks, allowing you to cap charging at 80–100% to reduce battery wear; set it via System Settings > Battery > Charging, and note Optimized Battery Charging still runs in the background unless you turn it off—lower caps suit desk-bound laptops, while higher caps preserve portable runtime.
NotebookCheck reports aMacs networking bug affecting MacBook, iMac and Mac mini where, after roughly 49 days, a 32‑bit timer overflows and prevents new TCP connections from being established, causing apps and websites to fail; a restart resets the countdown and buys another ~49 days of normal operation.
With only hours left in Amazon's Big Spring Sale, PCMag highlights remaining discounts on laptops and desktops from Apple, Dell, Lenovo and more—including MacBook Pro M5 and MacBook Air M4, ThinkPad and EliteBook business laptops, gaming rigs, and compact desktops—offering hundreds in savings before prices revert at midnight.
macOS Tahoe 26.4 adds an orange 'Slow Charger' indicator in the Battery status menu and Battery settings to alert when the charging setup isn't delivering full power, and introduces a Charge Limit feature to cap maximum charge at 80–100% to preserve battery health; update is available now via System Settings → General → Software Update.
Apple launches the MacBook Neo at $599 ($499 for education), aiming at new, budget-conscious customers by offering the familiar macOS experience and bundled software in a sleek chassis, even with some hardware compromises; it’s positioned against Chromebooks on software/ecosystem, though the $699 upgrade isn’t as compelling.
Apple doesn’t publish exact MacBook software-support timelines, but the general pattern is five to seven years of major macOS updates plus about two years of security patches. In practice, a MacBook Pro can edge out an Air in software longevity, but the difference isn’t dramatic; most users can expect five to seven years of usable life from either, with the Pro offering only modest gains that may not justify the higher price if longevity is the sole factor.
Gizmodo’s take on the M5 MacBook Air highlights a strong, portable performer with a bright 15-inch display, 16GB of unified memory, and a 512GB base SSD, making it capable for creative work and day‑to‑day tasks while offering excellent battery life. It sits between the budget MacBook Neo and the pro‑level MacBook Pro, delivering solid performance but limited sustained headroom and ports, which keeps it from being the best choice for heavy workloads or expansion. Prices start at $1,100 for the 13-inch and $1,300 for the 15-inch, with higher GPU core options and upsell paths; overall, it’s a compelling middle ground for portability minded buyers who don’t want to sacrifice too much power.
Ars Technica reports that Apple’s MacBook Neo uses a more modular internal design, including a separately replaceable keyboard and easier-to-access battery, making repairs cheaper and simpler than on previous MacBooks and helping the sub-$1,000 Neo compete with midrange Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo introduces a lightweight, iPhone-friendly MacBook with trimmed hardware that targets students and casual users, potentially eroding Windows’ grip on the budget laptop market. The move could spur PC makers to innovate, while Microsoft faces talk of a shift toward a subscription Windows model. Neo’s strong ecosystem and design may lure new buyers, though concerns about durability and repairability remain as the market watches how Windows and Chromebooks respond.
Apple’s latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Neo now label the tab, caps lock, shift, return, and delete keys with glyphs on US English keyboards, aligning with European layouts and extending to regions where US English is the default; the change accompanies the upcoming launch this week.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is pursuing a high-end 'Ultra' line that could include the iPhone Fold, Ultra-branded AirPods with computer-vision cameras, and a touchscreen MacBook priced above current MacBook Pro models; other Ultra-branded devices such as a potential foldable iPad and an Ultra iMac are also under consideration as Apple uses multiple pricing tiers to cover the market.
Neo (2026) uses the A18 Pro from the iPhone 16 Pro, with 8GB RAM and 256/512GB storage, starting at $599; it delivers roughly similar single-core performance to the M1 MacBook Air but weaker multi-core/GPU, a 1080p webcam, 36.5Wh battery, and two USB-C ports (one USB 3, one USB 2) with brighter 500-nit display. The M1 Air (2020) offers up to 16GB RAM and up to 2TB storage, two Thunderbolt/USB4 ports, a larger 49.9Wh battery, and a 720p webcam, originally priced at $999. Verdict: Neo is a cheaper option that sacrifices memory, ports, and longevity for a lower price; if you need more storage and battery life, consider the Air or a refurbished model.
MacBooks already throttle charging to about 80% when they predict a long plug-in period to protect battery health, a setting you can toggle in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. For more control, you can use the free open-source Battery app to force an 80% cap (or temporarily allow full charging when needed), though you’ll need to plan ahead for times you’ll require a full battery.
Apple wrapped up a seven‑product week by unveiling the budget MacBook Neo at $599 powered by the A18 Pro, the iPhone 17e with A19 and 256GB base storage, an updated iPad Air with an M4 chip, refreshed MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines powered by M5 Pro/Max, and Studio Display updates including XDR and Thunderbolt 5. Pre‑orders are live ahead of a March 11 launch, with trade‑in value changes and other accessories rolling out.