Looking for the best MacBooks for programmers, coders and developers? We’ve got you covered. There’s a good reason why Apple’s laptops are so popular with developers – they are fast, dependable and look great as well. With the launch of Apple’s very own silicon, the M1, back in 2020, the company put a lot of effort into making sure compiling and running code was incredibly quick – and this has continued with the M2, M3 and now M4 chips that followed.
In fact, since the M3 generation, gaming on MacBooks is now better than ever, with support for advanced graphic effects like ray-traced lighting – and this means programmers working on games are now able to test out their creations without having to change machines.
For those really intensive workloads, you’re going to want a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro armed with an M3 Pro or M3 Max chip. But what about coders who don’t need quite that much firepower?
The good news is that even Apple’s most affordable MacBook — the MacBook Air (M2) — does a brilliant job when it comes to coding, and with the launch of the M3 MacBook Airs (which are great coding machines themselves), the M2 model has had an official price cut, making it a brilliant choice for people on a budget – or for students who are keen to learn how to code.
Apple’s current MacBook lineup is one of the most varied and exciting in the company’s history, and that means there’s going to be a MacBook for any of your coding needs. Want a big display and ultra-powerful performance? The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max is the one to go for. Want to code on a MacBook but are on a budget? Check out the MacBook Air (M2). Fancy the best of both worlds? The 15-inch MacBook Air (M3) is a great choice.
To help you find the best MacBook for your coding needs, we’ve put together this guide, which gathers together all the different models and generations of MacBooks that are currently on sale – and we’ve tested every single one, so you can be sure that our recommendations for the best MacBook for programmers, coders and developers come backed with years of experience.
Quick list
1. 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro is our pick for the best MacBook for programming due to the sheer power on offer. It means you can compile and test your code extremely quickly, speeding up your entire workflow. Plus, with a gorgeous 14-inch screen, it means it’s impressively portable as well.
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2. 13-inch MacBook Air M2
The MacBook Air M2 is no longer the most recent MacBook Air, but although the M3 series has launched, the 13-inch M2 model is our pick as the best affordable MacBook for programming and coding on. This is because Apple continues to sell the M2 model, but with a new, lower price, making it the ideal entry level MacBook. The M2 chip is still a very good performer, especially for coding, and the design still looks sleek and modern.
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3. 15-inch MacBook Air M3
If you want a MacBook for coding on that offers a good balance of productivity and affordability, then the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is ideal. The new M3 chip is excellent for writing and testing code on, and the large 15-inch screen means it’s comfortable to work on – especially if you’re scrolling though hundreds of lines of code. It’s also cheaper than a MacBook Pro, and while it doesn’t compare when it comes to raw power, it also means you’re not paying extra for performance you may not need.
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4. 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max
If you want the most powerful MacBook for programming that money can buy, then the MacBook Pro 16-inch with M3 Max is the one to choose. It has the largest screen available on a MacBook, with the highest amount of configurable RAM, and the best processor. It’s extremely expensive, but it can transform your workflow thanks to its super-fast compile times, and it can even run modern games, allowing developers to test their creations without swapping machines.
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5. 13-inch MacBook Air M3
If you’re looking for the best MacBook for coding on that you can take pretty much anywhere, then the 13-inch model of the MacBook Air with M3 chip is the one to get. It comes with the powerful M3 chip and offers the same level of performance that the larger 15-inch model offers, but with a smaller screen and overall more portable design. This makes it perfect for people who travel a lot, or anyone who just likes to change the scenery while they’re working.
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6. 13-inch MacBook Air M1
While Apple has officially stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air from 2020, there are many retailers that are still selling the laptop, and the price is now lower than ever thanks to the M2 and M3 models coming out. Even though it’s now four years old, this model is still a very good performer, so if you don’t need a MacBook that offers huge amounts of firepower, the M1 MacBook Air is a great choice with an impressively low price tag.
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Best overall
If you’re after the absolute best MacBook for programming on in 2024, then we recommend the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro chip. Released towards the end of 2023, this is an incredibly powerful laptop – especially if you go for the model with the M3 Pro, which features 11 CPU cores, divided up into 5 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores to start. This can be upgraded, and you can also go for the more powerful M3 Max chip – but that also ups the price considerably. The 14-inch MacBook Pro also comes with a (slightly) more affordable model with the M3 chip and this is a good choice if the M3 Pro or M3 Max models are too pricey for you.
However, we think the M3 Pro version offers the best balance between value and performance – for the vast majority of programming tasks the M3 Pro is more than enough, so the M3 Max model is likely overkill.
We also think the 14-inch MacBook Pro is the best choice thanks to the fact that it packs all of this power into an impressively portable package, and the 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel is an absolute joy to work on with sharp and clear image quality and smooth 120Hz refresh rates. If you’d like a larger display to work on, then you can go for the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro, which offers the same level of performance, but with a larger screen.
Best affordable MacBook
When Apple launched the M3 version of the MacBook Air, it continued to sell the older M2 model, but with a new lower price – and because the M2 chip remains a formidable bit of silicon despite its age, we now recommend the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 as the best affordable MacBook for programming.
The M2 chip that powers this model of MacBook Air offers plenty of power for coding, and compile times for even complex projects are impressively short, which means there’s less waiting around when you’re waiting to test out your code. Sure, it doesn’t have the raw power that chips like the M3 Max or M3 Pro have, but to be honest, most people simply don’t need that kind of performance for most coding tasks – you just want something that is quick, dependable and good value for money; and the M2 MacBook Air offers all of that in spades.
Running things in the background is the 8 CPU-core M2 processor, which also features 8 GPU cores to handle the graphics processing. It offers plenty of power for browsing with loads of tabs open, and its battery life is excellent, so you can work on this MacBook pretty much anywhere you want without worrying about where you’re going to plug it in. The 13-inch model is thin and light with a stunning design which Apple was so pleased with that it kept it for the newer M3 model, but if you want something with a larger screen, then you’ll be pleased to know that there’s also a 15-inch version which can make programming on a lot more comfortable.
Best of both worlds
While the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro offers incredible performance, and the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 is a great affordable choice, if you want something that offers a great balance between power and price, then the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 is our pick.
Thanks to the base M3 chip, this MacBook Air is the most powerful version of Apple’s thin and light laptop, and offers a decent jump in performance compared to the M2 chip. For most programmers, the M3 offers more than enough power, and it means you’re not paying for performance you won’t make use of, like you might with an M3 Pro or M3 Max-powered MacBook Pro.
The M3 MacBook Air doesn’t come with a new design – but that doesn’t matter as the redesign ushered in by its predecessor, the M2 MacBook Air, remains superb, with a gorgeous 15-inch Liquid Retina display and with 500 nits peak brightness, you can comfortably work on the M3 MacBook Air no matter what the lighting conditions you’re working in are.
You can fit this model with up to 24GB of memory, and with the M3 chip offering 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, you’ll have plenty of power to program, test, run and even emulate the apps you make, all without the high price tag of the MacBook Pro series of laptops. The 15-inch MacBook Air also features two extra cores in the base model compared to the 13-inch version, which means that you get a nice extra boost in performance if you pick the larger version, especially for graphic-intensive tasks. If you don’t need that power and would like a smaller, more portable laptop, then the 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 is a great alternative.
Most powerful
If you’re after some serious firepower to help you compile and test your code, then the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max is the one to get. This is the most powerful laptop Apple has ever made, and while the base models offer huge amounts of performance, if you fully max out its specifications, you get a desktop-replacement laptop that will last you for years to come.
Featuring the most powerful iteration of the M3 chip – the M3 Max – you get 16 CPU cores and a huge 40-core GPU, and you can configure it with up to 128GB of memory and 8TB of SSD storage, this is a seriously future-proof MacBook. The price is incredibly high (it costs $7199 for the maxed-out model), but you won’t need to buy another laptop for a long time.
The power that the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max offers, along with the price tag it comes with, means this is a MacBook that won’t be for everyone. However, if you’re a programmer who needs to quickly compile and test code, then it can seriously speed up your workflow. There’s enough power to emulate other platforms as well — so you can see how your app runs on various iPhone models, and if you’re a game developer you can play your games while you work on them.
This means that while the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max is a huge investment, it could end up being a very wise one, especially if you end up using it for many years to come.
If you’re not going to need that kind of performance, however, then we recommend you go for a more modest MacBook – either a MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro or base M3 chip, or even the M3-equipped MacBook Air models.
There’s more than just the power on offer with this machine — the ProMotion 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display is one of the best screens you can get on a laptop in 2024, and the large screen size means that working on pages of code is comfortable (while also ensuring that games, movies and TV shows look fantastic when you’re not busy coding).
The larger screen means that the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max is also a very large (and heavy) laptop, which makes it a lot less portable than many of the other MacBooks on this page. If you’re looking for a MacBook to carry around with you no matter where you go, then this won’t be the best choice for you. Read on for our best portable pick instead.
Best portable MacBook
These days many of us are used to a more hybrid way of working, which means we don’t always need to be sat in an office – or even by a desk – when we’re coding, and that means having a laptop that is both portable and powerful enough to handle complex workloads is now more important than ever.
So, if you’re in the market for a MacBook to code on that is thin and light enough to take with you almost anywhere, the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is the one to get. As you’d expect, this is an incredibly thin and light MacBook that’s easy to carry around. With the 13-inch model, you get a smaller screen, but it also reduces the overall size, making it a better choice than the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 if you want the best portable MacBook for programming on. The smaller size doesn’t mean you’re having to make sacrifices to the performance, however, as it offers the same powerful M3 chip as the larger model.
And, while the M3 chip isn’t as powerful as the M3 Pro or M3 Max, it is still a fantastic performer, easily competing with Windows 11 laptops of around the same price – if not beating them. For most programming tasks, this offers plenty of firepower.
Another great thing about the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 when it comes to portability is its impressively long battery life – you should get around 15 to 18 hours of life out of a single charge, depending on the kind of tasks you’re performing with the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (more intensive tasks will make the battery deplete faster). This long life means you can take the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 pretty much anywhere, including outdoors, and you don’t have to worry about finding a power outlet to plug it into. This gives you the freedom to program on the MacBook Air M3 anywhere you want.
Best on a budget
The MacBook Air M1 is certainly getting on a bit – it launched in 2020, and Apple no longer stocks it – but it remains a brilliant budget MacBook for programming on. This is for two reasons. The first is that while Apple no longer stocks the MacBook Air M1, other retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy, still do.
The second reason is that with each new MacBook Air that launches, the price of the M1 model drops further, and this makes it exceptional value for money, especially around big sales events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day.
The M1 chip was the first ever ARM-based chip for Macs made by Apple, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it revitalized Macs and MacBooks. It was so successful that we’re now on the M4 chip, and that success is down to just how well the M1 performed – and continues to perform.
Sure, the MacBook Air M1 won’t be able to compete with an M3 MacBook, but for the price you’re getting an excellent thin and light laptop that is still more than capable of most coding tasks. It’s the perfect choice for someone looking to get a MacBook to code on, but can’t afford the high price tags that newer devices come with.
The M1 chip features 8 CPU cores and a 7-core GPU that handles graphics, and thanks to its power efficiency, its battery life can last well over a workday – and there’s no annoying fans either to distract you when it’s working hard.
The M1 MacBook Air does miss out on the new redesign that was brought in with the M2 model, but this is still a great-looking super slim laptop with Apple’s unmistakable design flair. You get a 2560×1600 native resolution screen with P3 wide color support as well, and the 400 nits peak brightness means you can comfortably use it in bright daylight.
If you don’t need the most powerful MacBook out there, then you can save yourself a huge amount of money by getting the M1 MacBook Air. As long as you keep your expectations in check, you’ll be very pleased with your purchase.
Q&A
Why are MacBooks the best laptops for programming?
There are many reasons why MacBooks make brilliant laptops for programming on – even if you’re creating software for other platforms. For a start, the build quality and design of MacBooks continue to be a lot better than rival Windows laptops of the same price. Also, thanks to the M-series of chips, modern MacBooks offer excellent performance, as well as impressively long battery lives that puts other laptops to shame.
Is the MacBook Air M1 still good for coding in 2024?
It is indeed – that’s why it’s on this page. The M1 chip is still plenty powerful for most day-to-day tasks, including coding, and because the MacBook Air M1 is now four years old, the price has dropped significantly, so it’s an excellent budget option. However, do bear in mind that it is not the most powerful MacBook out there, and Apple itself has stopped selling it (though third-party retailers continue to).
What’s the difference between a MacBook Air and Pro?
The clue’s in the name, really. While both Air and Pros can use the same chips, the MacBook Air is designed to be as thin and light as possible. Because powerful components need cool air to keep temperatures down, you won’t get high-end chips like the M3 Pro or M3 Max in the thin MacBook Air. Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro is designed with professionals in mind. This means the emphasis is on performance, so you get industry-leading components, including the M3 Pro or M3 Max, more memory, and higher-end screens. Productivity is of the utmost importance, so MacBook Pros are larger than MacBook Airs, allowing for their fans to keep everything cool when working hard, and also providing far more ports to plug in your peripherals.
