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Updated Jun 2026

Best Ultrabooks for Work

Premium thin-and-light laptops for pros and students — MacBook Air, XPS 13, ThinkPad X1, Surface.

Ranked by the weighted Specdex score — 0-100 composite of real-world and synthetic benchmarks.

  1. #1
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13" (M5)

    M5 · 13.6″ Liquid Retina · 1.23 kg

    Apple's late-2025 13″ Air — M5 chip with 10-core CPU, 16 GB base RAM, 13.6″ at 2560×1664, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and up to 18 hours of video playback per Apple.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,099
    Read review →
  2. #2
    Apple

    MacBook Air 15" (M5)

    M5 · 15.3″ Liquid Retina · 1.51 kg

    Apple's late-2025 15″ Air — M5 chip, 16 GB base RAM, 15.3″ at 2880×1864, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and up to 18 hours of video playback per Apple.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,299
    Read review →
  3. #3
    Apple

    MacBook Air 15" (M4)

    M4 · 15.3″ · Fanless · $1,199

    The best laptop for most people — silent, cool, all-day battery, giant display.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,199
    Read review →
  4. #4
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 16GB

    M4 · 16GB · 2025

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,099
    Read review →
  5. #5
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 32GB

    M4 · 32GB · 2025

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 32GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,399
    Read review →
  6. #6
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 64GB

    M4 · 64GB · 2025

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 64GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,699
    Read review →
  7. #7
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 16GB · 512GB SSD

    M4 · 16GB · 2025 · 512GB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,099
    Read review →
  8. #8
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 16GB · 1TB SSD

    M4 · 16GB · 2025 · 1TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,299
    Read review →
  9. #9
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 16GB · 2TB SSD

    M4 · 16GB · 2025 · 2TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,599
    Read review →
  10. #10
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 32GB · 512GB SSD

    M4 · 32GB · 2025 · 512GB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 32GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,399
    Read review →
  11. #11
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 32GB · 1TB SSD

    M4 · 32GB · 2025 · 1TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 32GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,599
    Read review →
  12. #12
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 32GB · 2TB SSD

    M4 · 32GB · 2025 · 2TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 32GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,899
    Read review →
  13. #13
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 64GB · 512GB SSD

    M4 · 64GB · 2025 · 512GB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 64GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,699
    Read review →
  14. #14
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 64GB · 1TB SSD

    M4 · 64GB · 2025 · 1TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 64GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $1,899
    Read review →
  15. #15
    Apple

    MacBook Air 13 M4 · 64GB · 2TB SSD

    M4 · 64GB · 2025 · 2TB SSD

    Apple's MacBook Air 13 M4 with 64GB — a 2025 notebook configured around M4.

    Editor’s Pick
    $2,199
    Read review →

Head-to-head

The two highest-ranked products compared side-by-side.

Apple
MacBook Air 13" (M5)
Editor’s Pick
VS
Apple
MacBook Air 15" (M5)
Editor’s Pick
Full comparison →

Frequently asked

What is the best laptop right now? +

MacBook Air 13" (M5) leads our Best Ultrabooks for Work list. Apple's late-2025 13″ Air — M5 chip with 10-core CPU, 16 GB base RAM, 13.6″ at 2560×1664, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and up to 18 hours of video playback per Apple.

How does Specdex rank products? +

Specdex does not run benchmarks in-house. Rankings reflect editorial judgement based on manufacturer-published specs and public reviewer consensus. See the methodology page for sources and how the verdicts are formed.

How often is this list updated? +

The ranking is regenerated on every page load from our live D1 database. Scores re-calibrate whenever we add new products or firmware updates change benchmark results.