The MacBook that Windows laptops still can’t beat

Windows laptops have had a great year so far. Not only did we get the launch of Snapdragon X chips as part of the Copilot+ PC line to compete with the MacBook Air, but the recent AMD Ryzen 300 AI chips are also impressive, with powerful laptops like the Zenbook S 16 taking on the MacBook Pro.

More and more, Windows laptops aren’t just looking like sufficient alternatives to MacBooks — they have some serious staying power as some of the best laptops you can buy.

But there’s one MacBook that’s still evading the purview of this new breed of Windows laptops. It’s not actually anything new — it’s the M2 MacBook Air.

This two-year-old laptop, which Apple still sells, remains an extremely attractive little device. The 13-inch model officially starts at a price of $999, and considering it only comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, that might not sound too impressive. In fact, the Surface Laptop 7th Edition starts at $999, but comes with twice the memory.

But here’s the thing — you can currently buy that same configuration of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air for as low as $799. Best Buy currently sells it for this price, for example — and so does Amazon. That $200 off is significant, and it’s actually equivalent to what Apple charges to double your RAM. But all laptops in the Copilot+ PC line require 16GB of RAM, meaning there’s nothing under $999 to choose from.

That $200 difference might not sound like a huge deal, but margins are very tight at this price point.

Of course, you’re getting an older laptop with the M2 MacBook Air, but it’s identical in terms of chassis and features to the M3 model that was released earlier this year. You get better GPU performance with the M3, but so long as you’re not trying to play games, you likely won’t notice the difference too much.

You can take things even further if you want and opt for the M1 MacBook Air, which now sells for $649. If you’re shopping for a MacBook, I’d recommend the M2 model though, as you get a better display, webcam, speakers, and port selection. It’s more than worth an extra $150.

The affordability of the M2 MacBook Air even makes Chromebooks harder to recommend these days.

I’d love to see Copilot+ PCs drop in price over time, and Qualcomm has hinted at cheaper Snapdragon X PCs coming next year. But for now, Apple owns a little part of the laptop market that Windows laptops have a hard time keeping up with, even if they’ve made some serious progress when you look over $1,000.

But for now, you won’t find a better laptop for under $1,000 than the M2 MacBook Air.