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The Apple Pencil is a stylus that was designed specifically to work with the iPad Pro, giving artists and creative a tool that can offer a level of precision far beyond that of a finger. Designed to mimic the feel and sensation of using a pen or a pencil, the Apple Pencil has built in sensors to determine orientation and angle and to detect a range of forces for pressure-sensitive drawing and writing. Apple's iPad Pro scans the signal coming from the Apple Pencil 240 times per second for a lag-free writing experience and 'almost imperceptible' latency. The Apple Pencil was initially specific to the iPad Pro and did not work with other devices, but in early 2018 the sixth-generation iPad was launched with Apple Pencil support.

'Apple Pencil' Reviews. If you own an Apple Pencil, you've probably already misplaced its cap once or twice when charging it. The cap, which hides the Lightning connector, is fully removable and easily lost, a flaw the PencilCozy, from Cozy Industries, aims to fix.Made of a soft, pliable silicone, the PencilCozy has a top portion that fits snugly over the cap of the Apple Pencil and a ring that fits over the Apple Pencil itself. Between the top of the cozy and the ring, there's a strip of silicone to connect the two pieces to ensure the cap of the Apple Pencil doesn't become separated from the body when it's removed for charging.The PencilCozy comes in three colors: an opaque white that closely matches the white shade of the Apple Pencil, a minty teal green shade, and a glow-in-the dark color that's a translucent white in the light and a bright green in the dark. The glow-in-the-dark shade may be useful for locating the Apple Pencil in the dark, but because the glow doesn't last very long it's more of a novelty than a truly functional feature.Both the design and the colors are muted enough that they don't stand out or significantly interfere with the aesthetic of the Apple Pencil, but people who like the unadulterated look of the accessory may not want to sully it with an $8 piece of rubber. I didn't mind the appearance of the PencilCozy, taking into account its utility.

Alongside the new 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, Apple introduced a second-generation Apple Pencil, which is designed to work exclusively with its latest tablets.In our latest YouTube video, we took a look at the new Apple Pencil 2 and compared it to the original Apple Pencil to highlight all of the improvements that Apple made with the second iteration of its iPad stylus. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Design wise, the Apple Pencil 2 is sleeker and smaller than the original Apple Pencil because of the elimination of the Lightning connector at the top of the device.The original Apple Pencil's Lightning connector was always a questionable design choice. It was meant to plug into the bottom of the iPad Pro, but it stuck straight out and was inconvenient at best and dangerous at worst, as an ill-timed drop could cause damage when charging.Apple's new Apple Pencil does away with the Lightning connector all together because the device is now able to charge via a magnetic connection to the new iPad Pro models.

The Apple Pencil 2 snaps right onto the new iPad Pro, which allows for pairing, charging, and storage when it's not in use.With no Lightning connector, the new Apple Pencil is lighter and easier to hold for longer periods of time, and it has a cleaner look with no metal cap at the top.While the first Apple Pencil was round and prone to rolling off of flat surfaces, the new Apple Pencil has a flat side for connecting to the iPad, and that flat bit also prevents it from rolling as much.In addition to these design. Following teardowns of the new MacBook Air and Mac mini, the repair experts at iFixit have today published their teardown of the 11-inch iPad Pro.Images via iFixit To start, iFixit removed the display from the tablet and the first thing they noticed were the audio components of the new iPad Pro, made up of four woofers and four tweeters.The speakers and logic board cover impeded access to the iPad Pro's A12X Bionic chip, but eventually iFixit accessed the full logic board. On it, they found the A12X Bionic SoC, 64GB Toshiba flash storage, two Micron RAM totaling 4GB, the NFC controller, Apple's Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, two Broadcom touch screen controllers, and a Texas Instruments power controller.With its sights set on the iPad Pro's battery, iFixit discovered that the 2018 tablet's battery is slightly more repairable than the previous generation. This is because Apple is again using stretch-release battery tabs again with the 11-inch iPad Pro, with six U-shaped strips in total. IFixit explained that each of these strips include two tabs, so fixers have a second chance at repairability should one of them break.After this smooth opening with the adhesive strips, iFixit still faced a large amount of adhesive running down the left side of the battery. Eventually, the repair experts got the battery free and found a 7,812 mAh battery running at 3.77 V for 29.45 Wh, which is a slight downgrade in comparison to the 30.8 Wh pack of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.Looking at the Face ID components, iFixit pointed out that this is the same basic hardware previously.

Last week, Apple introduced a second-generation Apple Pencil that magnetically attaches to the new iPad Pro. It also features automatic pairing, wireless charging, tap to wake, double-tap to switch drawing tools, a more seamless design with no Lightning connector or cap, and a matte rather than glossy finish.As the new Apple Pencil begins to arrive to customers around the world, we've learned some additional details about the drawing tool:Unlike the original, the second-generation Apple Pencil does not include an extra tip in the box. Apple sells a four-pack of extra tips online and at many of its retail stores for $19 in the United States.The new Apple Pencil wirelessly charges when attached to the new iPad Pro, but it is not compatible with Qi-based wireless chargers. Not too much of a surprise there, but good to know.In a memo shared with its retail stores on Wednesday, seen by MacRumors, Apple said customers 'may experience the new Apple Pencil as unresponsive after initial setup' and outlined steps to resolve this.First, pair the Apple Pencil to the iPad Pro. Once the iPad Pro has an internet connection, it will download an Apple Pencil firmware update and send it to the Apple Pencil via Bluetooth. The Apple Pencil will continue to work normally during the 10-minute transfer.The pairing update will begin the next time the Apple Pencil goes idle for 60 seconds, and will take roughly two minutes.

The Apple Pencil will be non-responsive during this time. Once it resets, and the update is complete, it will start working normally again.The new Apple Pencil is. Alongside the new iPad Pro, Apple also announced a new Apple Pencil available for $129 (preorders today, shipping November 7). The second-generation pencil magnetically attaches to the new iPad Pro for both pairing and wireless charging.The biggest addition to the Pencil, aside from the new magnetic charging feature, is a double-tap gesture — a finger tap on the pencil itself while you hold it — that can do different things depending on the app.

In Notes, for example, a double-tap changes the tool. In Photoshop for iPad, a double-tap zooms in or out of the image. Taps are customizable, though, for better personalization. Tap a locked iPad with the pencil, and it wakes up the device and opens right up into the Notes app.There are no connectors or moving parts now, just the simple pencil itself.

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Apple also offers engraving through the Apple Store, to personalize it further (helpful for telling Pencils apart in a design studio).Like the previous pencil, it works with no perceptible lag, is pressure sensitive for drawing and sketching, and is aware of tilt for shading.The second-generation pencil is available for $129 with free engraving, and is compatible with the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. The first-generation pencil sticks around for $99, for owners of older, compatible iPads. (iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st and 2nd generations, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and the 6th generation. A new version of the Apple Pencil with an AirPods-like pairing process will be released for the rumored iPad Pro with Face ID, expected to be announced later this month, according to 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo:The new Apple Pencil will be paired with iPad Pro by proximity, much like AirPods or HomePod. Switching between devices will be possible without connecting the Apple Pencil to the charging port. Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates traveled across Asia last week to meet with companies within Apple's supply chain. Today, they shared new predictions based on the information they gathered.Highlights from their research note to investors, obtained by MacRumors:Barclays says it's 'widely understood' that 3D Touch will be removed from iPhones with OLED displays in 2019—aka the third-generation iPhone X and second-generation 'iPhone X Plus.'

However, they caution that the plans aren't finalized yet, so they could change.Earlier this year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said 3D Touch won't be a feature on the rumored 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD, part of the upcoming 2018 lineup. So, by the sound of it, 3D Touch won't be a feature on any 2019 iPhones, assuming Apple sticks with the same three models expected in 2018.While the lack of 3D Touch on the 6.1-inch iPhone would make sense, given expectations that it will essentially be a budget iPhone X, it's not entirely clear why it may be removed from the more expensive OLED models next year. As a somewhat hidden feature, perhaps Apple no longer finds it essential.' AirPod 2' will launch in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, an optional wireless charging case for the original AirPods, and Apple's new AirPower charging mat, will be available this September.This prediction is rather confusing, as back in February, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will release new AirPods with a new wireless chip and 'Hey Siri' support as early as this year. Gurman also said a subsequent pair of AirPods with water. Apple's second-generation iPhone X, and a widely expected 6.5-inch model dubbed the iPhone X Plus, will both be compatible with the Apple Pencil, according to Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News.Image: EverythingApplePro on YouTube The report, citing 'industry insiders,' claims that Apple Pencil support will be limited to those OLED models, meaning that Apple's upcoming lower-cost 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD will not work with the drawing tool. Taiwanese research firm TrendForce shared the same prediction earlier this week.Apple Pencil launched in November 2015 alongside the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and it works with all other iPad Pro models released since. Last March, Apple expanded the tool's compatibility to the new sixth-generation iPad, a lower-cost, 9.7-inch model targeted at students and the classroom.If these rumors prove to be true, this would be the first time Apple releases its own stylus for the iPhone in the device's 11-year history.When introducing the original iPhone in 2007, Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs quipped that 'nobody wants a stylus' with a smartphone, but Apple has played the semantics game in insisting that the Apple Pencil is a drawing tool. It's also been over a decade since Jobs made that comment—things change.

It's unclear if Apple will release a smaller Pencil for the iPhone, as the current version could be rather unwieldy for use with an iPhone. Apple has yet to update the Pencil's design since it first launched three years ago.A stylus on a mobile device is nothing new, but only a handful of modern. Apple's new low-cost 9.7-inch iPad may include support for the Apple Pencil, according to a new note to investors shared this morning by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.Kuo says that he expects Apple Pencil shipments will rise to 9 to 10 million units in 2018 'given that the new low-cost iPad may support Apple Pencil.' Kuo says Apple may add Apple Pencil support in order to differentiate the low-cost iPad from competing low-cost Android tablets.

Strong demand for low-price 9.7-inch iPad in 2017. IPad shipments hit 43.8mn units in 2017, well above the 35mn units forecast by the market at the beginning of the year. The primary driver was the low-price 9.7-inch model, whose selling points are competitive pricing and a significantly larger panel than those of six- to seven-inch smartphones (iPad mini was a flop because it was replaced by large-screen smartphones). In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.Friday, March 16Highlights1. Apple Pencil 2 wishlist: iMore's Serenity Caldwell offers some good suggestions for a next-generation Apple Pencil, including integration of Apple's W1 or W2 chips for improved pairing, haptic feedback, wireless charging, and multiple nib options both for improved friction and design.Commentary: Apple today invited the media to an education-focused event on March 27 at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. The artwork for the invite suggests the Apple Pencil could be one focus of the event, with the possibility of both a new version and support added for the 9.7-inch iPad.2. An Apple R&D bonanza: Above Avalon's Neil Cybart notes that Apple is on track to spend $14 billion on research and development in its 2018 fiscal year, nearly double the amount it spent on R&D just four years ago.

$14 billion would also be more than the amount Apple spent on R&D from 1998 to 2011 combined.My theory on the dramatic rise in Apple R&D expenditures is that management is becoming more ambitious. Apple's future is found in new industries. Just as Apple moved from desktops/laptops to personal music players, smartphones, and watches, the company will need to enter new industries to remain relevant.

This is not a company that is holding onto the iPhone as tight as possible for fear of change. Apple management is investigating new. Apple is reportedly 'mulling' the idea of launching a stylus compatible with iPhone, believed to be a new iteration of the Apple Pencil, which is currently only supported by the iPad Pro.

The rumor comes from industry sources speaking to The Korea Herald (via The Investor), which claimed that Apple engineers 'have recently been working' on a new iPhone device that 'comes with a digital pen,' aiming for a potential launch in 2019.The sources said that the iPhone stylus is likely to adopt a 'supercapacitor stylus type' for price benefits, contrasting with Samsung's Galaxy Note pen which is based on electromagnetic resonance technology that needs additional panel components to be installed underneath the smartphone display. 'A supercapacitor type is cheaper to make compared to the EMR stylus. It also offers a more pen-like feel,' according to the industry sources.Notably, Apple's current A-series chip would see a 'drastic upgrade' as well in order to fuel a better handwriting experience for the stylus on iPhone.Apple is mulling something that its late founder Steve Jobs had outright rejected - adding a stylus to its iPhone, according to industry sources on Oct. 13.“Apple is preparing to launch the phone as early as 2019,” an industry source told The Investor on condition of anonymity.

“It is also in talks with a couple of stylus makers for a partnership.” The Apple Pencil launched nearly two years ago in November 2015 alongside the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Apple's first stylus was designed specifically to work with the iPad Pro, and gives users the feel of using a. Apple today began selling a certified refurbished Apple Pencil for $85 on its online store in the United States only.A brand new Apple Pencil costs $99 in the United States, so taking the refurbished route yields a savings of $14.A refurbished Apple Pencil isn't brand new, but Apple says it undergoes a thorough cleaning process and inspection to ensure it meets Apple's quality standards, including full functionality testing. It's then repackaged in a new box with a Lightning adapter, an extra tip, and the appropriate documentation.Apple Pencil is a stylus designed specifically to work with iPad Pro, giving artists a tool with a level of precision far beyond that of a finger.Designed to mimic the feel and sensation of using a pen or a pencil, the Apple Pencil has built-in sensors to determine orientation and angle, and to detect a range of forces for pressure-sensitive drawing and writing. Apple has optimized the iPad Pro and iOS to ensure the Apple Pencil has minimal latency.With iOS 11, iPad Pro users are able to add handwriting and drawings alongside text, and search handwritten notes using Spotlight.A refurbished Apple Pencil comes with Apple's standard one-year limited hardware warranty covering manufacturing.

This week's cover of The New Yorker has been sketched using an iPad and Apple Pencil, created by illustrator Jorge Colombo. The image depicts Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights that Colombo frequents, with the artwork capturing a couple of basketball games and spectators at the park.Apple CEO Tim Cook shared The New Yorker cover on Twitter this morning, with a quote from Colombo who mentioned his fear that one of the basketballs would fly near him and hit his iPad.It’s one of my favorite places to hang out,” Jorge Colombo says, about the park he sketched, on an iPad, for the cover of this week’s issue. “I live down the street, in Brooklyn Heights, so I go there all the time, either to take the East River Ferry or just to relax by the water. It is a magnet—people come from all of Brooklyn’s many neighborhoods just to take a selfie by the waterfront or picnic by the water. This was a risky drawing to make, though: I kept worrying that the ball would hit me or the iPad.” The New Yorker also shared a video of Colombo's illustration process on its website this week. Apple's iPad and Apple Pencil have been celebrated as tools for artists in the past, with Apple recently highlighting Rob Zilla's NBA illustrations. Apple's tablet was even used to create the poster for Stranger Things.

As the 2016-2017 NBA season comes to an end, Apple today highlighted artwork created by Robert Generette III, aka Rob Zilla, an artist who uses an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil to draw 'bright, arresting sports imagery.' Rob Zilla's latest sketch celebrates the Golden State Warriors' NBA-best regular season record and Kevin Durant's return to the team ahead of the 2017 NBA Playoffs.Along with an Apple Pencil and an iPad Pro, Rob Zilla uses Adobe Illustrator Draw to make his creations. The sketch displayed by Apple is an exclusive illustration of Kevin Durant, with a GIF included to show the artist's process. As part of Warriors Fan Night at the season finale in Oakland, the Golden State Warriors will feature an array of Rob Zilla's illustrations of warriors players, legends, coaches, and fans. He'll also be recognized at half time, and has been commissioned by the Washington Wizards to create player portraits and murals.

Pad & Quill has created a Leather Apple Pencil Grip that allows users to get a better hold of the Apple Pencil when drawing or working on a compatible iPad. The grip accessory comes in a two-piece construction, with one piece towards the bottom of the pencil to provide the holding grip, and the other towards the top that acts as a clip and Lightning cap holder.Like all of Pad & Quill's leather products, the Apple Pencil Grip is made of full-grade American leather so it's unique and is 'designed to age with use and break in like an old baseball glove.' Due to the Apple Pencil's traditional, slippery nature, the company says that the grip gives users an advantage when using Apple Pencil, from more comfortable work sessions to not losing it when it rolls off of a table thanks to the custom pen clip.At Pad & Quill, we firmly believe the pen, or in this case the Apple Pencil, is mightier than the sword. We love our Apple Pencil, and believe it is the greatest thing to hit the iPad since the finger.

Our Leather Apple Pencil Grip turns the Pencil from useful tool into a work of art. This is truly one of those Apple Pencil accessories you never knew you needed until you see it in action. No more hunting for lost lightning caps, that pesky charging cap stays put, even when plugged in. No more rolling away from you when you set it down or storage difficulties, the custom pen clip keeps your Apple Pencil in place on the table and in the pocket.

And no more slippery fingers, the leather grip provides a sturdy tactile feel while letting you be as precise as you want. Apple may be planning to introduce a second-generation Apple Pencil this year, according to rumors out of the Asian supply chain. Apple is planning new hardware and software features for iPad that cater to professional users, according to Bloomberg, including a new iPad with faster display technology that allows for smoother on-screen zooming, panning, and scrolling.KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said Apple will release a 10.5-inch iPad Pro model next year alongside a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2 and a 'low-cost' 9.7-inch iPad model. The fate of the iPad mini remains uncertain, but it is presumable that Apple could discontinue the 7.9-inch tablet due to its lack of Apple Pencil support and relatively close proximity in size to 5.5-inch Plus-sized iPhones.The new hardware will be completed by wider iOS support for the Apple Pencil, the report adds. Apple is reportedly planning to introduce the new software features in a subsequent iOS 10 update in the first half of 2017, but may decide to hold back on the improvements until iOS 11 is released later in the year.Apple has considered allowing users to annotate objects in many applications across the whole operating system, including in Mail, the Safari web browser, and iMessage, similar to what Samsung Electronics Co. Offers on its Note smartphones, the person said. Currently, Apple only supports Pencil functionality in specifically developed apps.Apple saw its iPad revenue grow slightly for the first time in 10 quarters in July, and these improvements could help the company continue that.

In a recent interview with Mashable, an artist based in the United Kingdom, Kyle Lambert, divulged his process of creating the memorable poster art for Netflix's science fiction series Stranger Things. Netflix asked the artist to keep with the 80's theme of the show, and provided him with a vague plot outline, rough cuts of only the first few episodes, and some still shots 'to communicate the story in a single image.'

Ultimately, Lambert said he decided on the iPad Pro for the project because the tablet lets him 'sketch in a very natural way,' especially when used in conjunction with the Apple Pencil. He used the Apple device in the sketching process of the main poster art that has gained fame online in the weeks since Stranger Things launched in July, but Lambert has also been known to create impressive art on iPads over the years, particularly in a photorealistic representation of Morgan Freeman he created on an iPad Air in 2013.' This was a very exciting project for me, as an artist that trained with oil paints, I really enjoyed the challenge of reproducing this traditional painting style using digital tools,' Lambert told Mashable. 'I used the iPad Pro to do the preliminary composition ideas and the sketch that became the final Stranger Things poster.

I chose to use the iPad Pro for the drawing stage of the poster because I find that I am able to sketch in a very natural way on the device using the Apple Pencil. The device in general is nice to hold for long periods of time, it is really portable and Procreate, the app that I used, has some really great.

Share on Facebook Tweet this Share Riley Young/Digital Trends It’s never been a more confusing time to buy a MacBook. If you walk into an Apple Store today hoping to pick up a lower-end MacBook, good luck. With the current line of options, now including the, it’s harder than ever to know which MacBook is right for you. This guide should help you sift through the sea of similar-looking Macs to find the gems. Your choices Here are the six models of MacBook currently available, counting different display sizes as distinct models. While that may not look like a vast selection compared to prolific brands like Dell or HP, it’s fairly swollen for Apple.

Let’s run them down one by one. The new MacBook Air. Apple recently the MacBook Air lineup with a new, which we now consider the leading candidate for a first-time Mac buyer. At 2.7 pounds and 0.16–0.61 inches in thickness, the new MacBook Air comes in a familiar thin and light design but outfitted with new gold and silver colors. It also picks up the same butterfly keyboard, USB-C ports, and larger trackpad — all matching the MacBook Pro. Apple even cut out the thick, silver borders from the new MacBook Air for a new screen with an edge-to-edge glass, which modernizes it a bit.

It’s still not as thin and light as the 12-inch MacBook, but it’s a bit slimmer than the MacBook Pro. The Retina display onboard also keeps the same resolution as the MacBook Pro, at 2,560 x 1,600, but in our testing, it only goes up to 291 nits. That might not be that bright, but it still produces really accurate colors, which makes it a good choice for photographers and graphic designers. On the inside, the new 2018 MacBook Air got a significant update too. It comes with the newer 8th generation 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Y-series processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz. Though the speeds might look slow, and it is not quad-core, it still packs some decent processing power, especially for an entry-level Mac.

When we tested it, the MacBook Air was good enough for watching videos, working in Photoshop, word processing, and web browsing. We couldn’t push it too far, though, and noticed some slowdowns when pulling open twenty Chrome tabs, multiple desktops apps, and streaming audio on Spotify and video on YouTube. How about the 12-inch MacBook? With the MacBook Air mentioned, let’s turn to. You might expect the MacBook to easily walk over its older siblings. It’s slimmer, lighter, and more portable. Fanless and wafer-thin, the MacBook looks like a laptop from the future.

But it has some glaring flaws. The first problem is the processor. Intel’s Core M is pretty advanced for a mobile processor, but it’s also meant for extremely slim systems that are often passively cooled.

That means it can’t be as quick as its siblings, or it’ll melt itself into a puddle of goo. In our initial review of the MacBook, we found it offers roughly three-quarters the performance of a standard fifth-generation Core, which is now three generations behind the most recent processors from Intel. Apple attempted to fix the poor performance with a processor update in mid-2017. Moving it up to seventh-generation processors, the MacBook now offers three options: The, the Core m3 showed itself to be impressive for a mobile processor, competing with the MateBook X’s Core i5-7200U in single-core performance, but it still lags behind the previous generation MacBook Pro. While we haven’t tested it yet, it should be noted that the “Core i5 and i7” versions of the MacBook are not the same i5-7200U and i7-7500U processors you’ll find in something like the MacBook Pro or standard 2017 Windows laptops. Rather, they’re rebranded, seventh-generation i5-7Y54 and i7-7Y75 versions of the old low-powered Core chips — you can blame Intel for the confusion there. And given Intel’s latest eighth-generation CPUs that are now quad-core and even faster and more efficient, the MacBook’s performance falls even further behind. The one argument in favor of the MacBook is portability.

It’s the lightest and smallest laptop Apple has ever produced, weight just above 2 pounds. But even here there’s a tradeoff, because the MacBook’s battery life isn’t exceptional.

It’s not bad — but, given its price, we expect more. So, unless you’re computing needs are very basic and you want the absolute most portable laptop, the 12-inch MacBook is just too expensive for what it is. What if you’re thinking of going Pro? With the MacBook and Air out of the way, only the remains.

But how “Pro” are these lower-end models really? Well, there are two primary models to consider.

The first is the $1,300 model, which doesn’t come with the Touch Bar, has only two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and comes with only a 7th-gen Intel processor. These 7th-gen processors are dual-core, like the MacBook and MacBook Air, meaning you won’t notice as big of a difference in performance. If you bump up to the quad-core, $1,500 version though, it’ll come with some noticeable performance gains, along with the extra Thunderbolt 3 ports and Touch Bar. Even still, neither of these entry-level MacBook Pros offer a very convincing value for what you get.

Despite it’s significantly higher price, the is better positioned. If you want the ultimate MacBook though, the 15-inch Pro with a six-core processor and discrete graphics is the one to get. It even has the option of a powerful Vega 20 card now on the high-end configuration. But even if you don’t want to spend a whopping $2,800 for the six-core version, the cheaper $2,400 is a good buy too. Non-Mac options like the Dell XPS 15 or ThinkPad X1 Extreme offer similar specs for less money, but most Mac fans will be happy to pay a little extra for the Apple magic. And the winner is If you’re looking on the lower end of the spectrum, we recommend the new 2018 MacBook Air.

This model comes with decent processing power for the money, a thin chassis, and the same keyboard and trackpad compared to some of the other Mac models. For more professional Mac fans, we commend the 15-inch MacBook Pro. It’s the only option that has enough power to handle more intense applications and heavier workflows. Unless there’s a very specific feature that catches your eye, stay away from the others.