Best MacBook For Students in 2021: Top Rated Apple Laptops

Best MacBook For College Students in 2021

Macbooks are the best kind of laptops available in the market. They do have huge popularity among working professionals and college students. However, picking up the right MacBook always seems like a challenging task, especially when you are a student. As there are too many models and configurations to choose from. So the question is, what is the best MacBook for students?

Well, in case if you have a similar question in your mind, then I am here to help you out. In this article, I will be talking about the best MacBooks that suit students’ needs.

best macbook for students

Best MacBook For Students in 2021


1. MacBook Air M1

macbook air m1

MacBook Air is one of the most affordable yet the best MacBook for students available out there. This one is one of the thinnest, lightest notebooks that you can check out.

Also, the laptop comes with Apple’s all-new Apple M1 chip. Plus, the MacBook’s CPU speeds up to 3.5x faster, and GPU speeds up to 5x faster.

Plus, it features Apple’s most advanced Neural engine for up to 9x faster Machine learning. What’s more? This MacBook also comes with the longest battery life.

Talking about specifications, it comes with a 13-3 inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology. Also, it has 2560 by 1600 native resolution at 227 pixels. Under the hood, the laptop features a 8 core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores.

Also, it comes with a 777 core GPU and features 16 core neural engines. Along with that, you are getting 8GB of RAM. Also, the MacBook Air is configurable to 16 GB. Also, it comes with 256GB of SSD, which is configurable up to 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB.

Talking about the battery life, it offers you 15 hours of wireless web, 18 hours of Apple TV app, and movie playback.

Specifications:
  • 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display.
  • 8-core CPU with 4 perform­ance cores and 4 efficiency cores.
  • 7-core GPU.
  • 16-core Neural Engine.
  • 8 GB of RAM.

Pros

  • Has the thinnest and lightest design.
  • Offers you 3.5x faster CPU speed.
  • Comes with 8GB of RAM.
  • 15 hours of battery life.

Cons

  • Some third-party apps might not run initially.
  • No touch bar.

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2. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 1.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5

MacBook Air 13 Inch Intel i5

You can also check out the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 1.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5. This one is also of the thinnest and powerful MacBook that you can purchase. It comes with a brilliant retina display, a magic keyboard, faster graphics, and so on.

The MacBook features a 1.1GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz. Along with that, you are getting a Retina Display with True Tone and supports a resolution of 2560-by-1600 for over 4 million pixels.

For the storage part, it comes with 512 GB OF SSD storage. However, there is no option to upgrade the storage while buying the MacBook. Plus, it features a 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory with no configurable options.

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Specifications:
  • Stunning 13.3-inch Retina display with True Tone technology.
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard and Touch ID.
  • Tenth-generation Intel Core i5 processor.
  • 8GB of memory.

Pros

  • Comes with a 1.1GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor.
  • Offers you 512 GB SSD storage.

Cons

  • It is an old model.
  • There is no option to upgrade the configurations.

3. MacBook Pro 13” M1

MacBook Pro M1 13 Inch

If you want speed and power, then the MacBook Pro 13” would be an ideal choice for you. This MacBook is also powered by the latest Apple M1 Chip, and it gives the MacBook an amazing speed and power.

Also, with the MacBook Pro 13” you will be able to enjoy CPU performance up to 2.8x. As far as the technical specifications are concerned, it features a 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina display with IPS technology. Plus, it comes with a 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch.

Moreover, it also comes with an 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, an 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.

Talking about the battery life, it gives you 17 hours of battery backup for wireless web and 20 hours of battery backup for Apple TV app and movie playback.

The base variant comes with 8GB of RAM, and it is configurable up to 16 GB. For storage, you are getting a 256GB SSD as the base. But you can upgrade storage to 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB.

Specifications:
  • Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine.
  • 8GB unified memory.
  • 512GB SSD storage.
  • 13-inch Retina display with True Tone.
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard.
  • Touch Bar and Touch ID.
  • Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports. 

Pros

  • Comes with a touch bar.
  • Offers you 2.8x CPU performance.
  • Comes with 20 hours of battery life.

Cons

  • No Thermal Throttling.
  • Only 16 GB Max RAM option.

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4. MacBook Pro 13” Intel

MacBook Pro 13 Inch

The MacBook Pro 13” is also available with an Intel CPU, and it is also one of the best MacBooks for students available out there.

It sports the same 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina display and comes with IPS technology. Plus, you are getting 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors.

Under the hood, you are getting a 2.0GHz quad-core processor. Also, it is a 10th‑generation Intel Core i5 CPU that comes with Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz, with a 6MB shared L3 cache. Also, the CPU is configurable up to 2.3GHz quad‑core( 10th‑generation Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz, with 8MB shared L3 cache).

For storage, it is offering 512GB SSD storage as the base, which is also configurable up to 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB of SSD storage. Also, for memory, you are getting 16 GB Of RAM or 16GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory. Plus, the memory is configurable up to 32 GB.

However, the battery life of the MacBook Pro 13” Intel is not so impressive. It offers you battery backup up to 10 hours for wireless web and Apple TV and move playback and comes with 30 days of standby time.

Specifications:
  • Tenth-generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processor.
  • Brilliant Retina display with True Tone technology.
  • Backlit Magic Keyboard.
  • Touch Bar and Touch ID.

Pros

  • Offers you 80% faster graphics performance.
  • Supports 6k, one 5K and up to two 4k displays.
  • Comes with a touch bar.

Cons

  • Only 10 hours of battery life.

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5. MacBook Pro 16 Inch

MacBook Pro 16 Inch Intel

MacBook Pro 16” is the most powerful MacBook that you can buy. It comes with an immersive Retina display packed with a superfast processor and comes with advanced graphics. Also, it offers you the largest battery capacity.

It comes with a 16‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display with IPS technology. Plus, it supports 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors. You get to see features like 500 nits brightness, True Tone technology, and others. Also, it has a refresh rate of 47.95Hz, 48.00Hz, 50.00Hz, 59.94Hz, 60.00Hz.

Talking about the processor, it packs a 2.6GHz 6‑core Intel Core i7 CPU and comes with Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, with 12MB shared L3 cache. Also, the processor is configurable to 2.4GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, with 16MB shared L3 cache.

For storage, you are getting 512GB SSD capacity as the base. Also, it is configurable up to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD. Plus, it comes with 16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory which is configurable to 32GB or 64GB of memory.

Moreover, you are also getting AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory and automatic graphics switching.

Also, the MacBook is available in two different variants. And you can choose a Macbook as per your needs.

Specifications:
  • 16.0‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display.
  • 2.6GHz 6‑core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, with 12MB shared L3 cache.
  • 512GB SSD.
  • 16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory.

Pros

  • Made for power users.
  • RAM is configurable to 32GB or 64GB of memory.
  • Comes with a touch bar.

Cons

  • Only 11 hours of battery life.

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Final Words:

So those were some of the best MacBook for students in 2021 that you can check out. While the MacBook Pro 16 inch model is made for professionals. It can be useful to the power users who want to do programming, run high-end apps. But if you don’t have a lot of work to do, A MacBook Air or Pro would work the best for you.