Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air continues to be one of the best laptops for most users. This latest model sports the M4 chip alongside excellent build quality, long battery life, and now 16GB of memory as standard – addressing one of the biggest criticisms of previous base models.
The exemptions cover $390 billion in yearly US imports
Why it matters: The Trump administration has granted a reprieve to global technology manufacturers by exempting smartphones, laptops, CPUs, memory chips, and electronics to make semiconductors from its sweeping tariffs on imports – a move that could ease pressure on companies like Apple and Nvidia while offering relief to consumers.
In brief: In the gaming laptop space, AMD has focused most of its recent efforts on Zen 5-based APU lineups like the Ryzen AI 300 and Ryzen AI Max. However, new variants of the high-end Dragon Range processors show that the company hasn't abandoned notebooks with dedicated CPU and GPU combos.
Amazon is currently offering the Apple MacBook Pro M4 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 14.2" ProMotion 120Hz display, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD for $1,399 with free shipping. This is $200 below Apple's retail price and includes the same warranty. It's a solidly built and well-spec'ed laptop for a good price.
Around 11% faster than the RTX 4090, but up to 40% ahead of the 3080 Ti
Highly anticipated: Nvidia's RTX 50 series laptops go on sale in a few days, and the first reviews of the company's new flagship mobile GPU are now online. Although the laptop RTX 5090 closely resembles its predecessor in some tests, a more complete picture will likely emerge once a wider range of notebook models featuring the graphics card become available.
In a nutshell: As Microsoft prepares to end free security updates for Windows 10 in October, a significant challenge looms for charities that refurbish and distribute older computers to those in need. With an estimated 240 million PCs unable to meet the stringent hardware requirements for Windows 11, these organizations face a difficult decision: provide potentially insecure Windows 10 systems, send them to e-waste recyclers, or explore alternative operating systems like Linux.
The new M4 MacBook Air adds more RAM to the base model, which is also cheaper and improves performance. It's a solid laptop for most however it still offers limited ports and battery life is slightly lower than the previous model.