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Best MacBook Air Alternatives for 2023

Here are the best non-Apple light and small laptops priced around $1,000 or less.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Justin Jaffe Managing editor
Justin Jaffe is the Managing Editor for CNET Money. He has more than 20 years of experience publishing books, articles and research on finance and technology for Wired, IDC and others. He is the coauthor of Uninvested (Random House, 2015), which reveals how financial services companies take advantage of customers -- and how to protect yourself. He graduated from Skidmore College with a B.A. in English Literature, spent 10 years in San Francisco and now lives in Portland, Maine.
Expertise Credit cards, Loans, Banking, Mortgages, Taxes, Cryptocurrency, Insurance, Investing. Credentials
  • Coauthor of Uninvested (Random House, 2015)
Joshua Goldman
Justin Jaffe
3 min read

Apple's popular MacBook Air set the bar for years for what you could expect from a $1,000 laptop and gave you a great entry point into MacOS without having to shell out for an iMac or MacBook Pro. However, PC makers have caught up to the Apple laptop and, in some cases, surpassed what's possible for an ultraportable laptop. 

Despite having what's arguably the best computer operating system around, MacOS, Apple rarely delivers the best value on major components (processor, RAM and hard drive capacity), battery life, ports and connections. And the Apple MacBook Air doesn't offer a touchscreen option -- a useful feature found on an increasing number of competitive models, as well as Apple's own wildly popular iPad and iPad Pro.

Watch this: CNET's laptop reviewers pick their favorite 2020 laptops

All six laptops highlighted below as MacBook Air alternative options cost roughly as much as Apple's MacBook Air, have a 13.3-inch or slightly larger screen, weigh less than 3 pounds (1.4 kg), and are reasonably streamlined and stylish. Each will make a worthy alternative to a new MacBook. Check them out.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Dell XPS 13

A superb Windows laptop

If you're a Windows person and want a balance of portability, power and price, it's hard to find a better laptop than the XPS 13. Starting at $1,000, this lightweight laptop is attractive, easy to use, incomparably slim and offers a ton of configuration (and price) flexibility. In 2020, Dell put in a taller 13.4-inch display screen giving you a little more room to see your spreadsheets, but still managed to make the body overall smaller. That said, that taller display also improves users' web browsing and streaming experiences on this Dell laptop. Dell also makes a 15-inch version, which starts at $1,000.

Read our Dell XPS 13 (2020) review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

HP Spectre x360 13

Strong battery, great keyboard

Refreshed toward the end of 2019, the HP's premium two-in-one looks like its predecessor right up until you see them next to each other and realize just how much smaller the newer HP Spectre x360 is. This device is also running a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 that handily outperforms the last-gen model running a similar configuration with an Intel eighth-gen CPU. The HP Spectre x360 has a battery that kept it running for more than 10 hours in our tests.

Read our HP Spectre x360 13 (late 2019) review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Surface Laptop 3 nails almost everything you want in a mainstream, portable laptop. It's thin and light, has a fantastic trackpad and keyboard combo and, thanks to a processor upgrade, offers a notable power boost over 2018's Surface Laptop 2. And it has a touch screen. The price can get high depending on the configuration, but like the rest here, it does start around $1,000.

Read our Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5-inch review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Lenovo Yoga C740

Air-like design, but with a 2-in-1 twist

Regularly available for less than $750, this thin, 3-pound convertible is a solid choice for anyone who needs a laptop for office or schoolwork. The all-metal chassis gives it a premium look and feel and it has a comfortable keyboard and responsive, smooth precision touchpad. Though the device is light on extra features compared to its premium linemate, the C940, it does have one of Lenovo's sliding shutters for its webcam that gives you privacy when you want it. And it has a long battery life to boot.

Read our Lenovo Yoga C740 (14-inch) review.

Josh Goldman / CNET

Featuring AMD's Ryzen 4000 series mobile processors, the Swift 3 is a remarkable bargain for anyone in need of a low-cost, lightweight laptop for work or school. This 14-inch laptop weighs only 2.7 pounds (1.2 kg), costs around $600 and has processor performance that bests laptops twice its price. As you might expect, a couple of corners were cut to keep the price down on the Acer Swift, but if price, performance and weight are your main concerns, this device will have you covered.

Read our Acer Swift 3 (14-inch, 2020) review.

Joshua Goldman/CNET

The Asus Chromebook Flip C436 is not your ordinary Chromebook. The device is not even an ordinary premium Chromebook. Starting at $800, the ultraportable two-in-one looks and feels as good as top Windows 10 laptops like the 2020 Dell XPS 13 or Apple's latest MacBook Air. It's also one of the first Chromebooks to be co-engineered with Intel as part of its Project Athena program, which means it meets certain requirements that make it speedier than others.

Read our Asus Chromebook Flip C436FA review.

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