The Best Laptop
The MacBook Air is the best laptop for almost everyone — silent, long-lasting, and it stays fast for years. · Updated June 25, 2026
MacBook Air M5
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M5, 2026)
$949Buy on Amazon
★star.shop pickWirecutter pickReddit favoriter/BuyItForLife favorite
Pros
- Apple silicon stays fast for years — owners routinely report 6-8 years of useful life
- Completely silent and fanless, with no thermal throttling for everyday work
- Best-in-class battery life that comfortably lasts a full workday
- Excellent aluminum build quality and a sharp Retina display
- M5 chip and a lower starting price now make it genuinely good value
- Strong resale value, so upgrading later costs less than it looks
Cons
- Base RAM and storage are stingy, and Apple charges a lot to upgrade them — buy the right config up front since you can't add later
- macOS has a learning curve if you're coming from Windows
- Some Windows-only and ARM-incompatible software may not run natively
Minor nitpicks
- RAM and SSD are soldered, so nothing inside is user-upgradeable or replaceable (a real knock for the buy-it-for-life crowd)
- Out-of-warranty repairs from Apple can be expensive
The other picks
- r/BuyItForLifeLenovo ThinkPad T-Series (business line) — Repairable, user-serviceable RAM/battery and famously tanky 10+ year lifespans — but get the business line, not consumer
- r/BuyItForLifeFramework Laptop 13 — The most repairable and upgradeable laptop, embracing right-to-repair — though dinged for inconsistent QC, fan noise and pricey upgrade modules