The Loop reports that popular ratings and reviews magazine Consumer Reports has released its latest ratings of notebook computers, and Apple's new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models have topped their respective categories.
The 11-inch MacBook Air scored 67 points out of a possible 100, easily outdistancing the second-place Toshiba Satellite and its 51-point score.
The 11-inch model received a "very good" rating for ergonomics and display, a "good" rating for performance and "fair" ratings for versatility and speakers. Consumer Reports also found the MacBook Air had battery life of 6.25 hours. The Toshiba's battery life came in at 5.5 hours of battery life.
The 13-inch model faced stiffer competition, but still managed to finish on top of its category with a score of 78, two points better than the Toshiba Portege.
The 13-inch MacBook Air scored "very good" for performance, ergonomics, and display. It also scored "good" for speakers, "fair" for versatility and had 7.5 hours of battery life.
Despite some reports of display issues with the new MacBook Air, the notebook does seem to be proving relatively popular, generating significant buzz and demand appearing to force Apple to bump shipping estimates for the entry-level 11-inch model slightly to 1-3 business days.
Apple today updated its U.S. trade-in estimates, raising maximum values across the iPad lineup and for most Macs following today's announcement of the new iPad mini.
Every iPad category has gained value, although the increases are relatively modest. The iPad mini and standard iPad both rise by $20, while the iPad Air gains $15 and the iPad Pro increases by $10. The revised maximum estimates...
Apple is testing OLED displays for future MacBook Air and iMac models, though both upgrades remain some way off, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest "Power On" newsletter.
The next refreshes of the devices are expected to retain LCD displays. Gurman anticipates a new iMac to arrive this week and a MacBook Air refresh in early 2027, but offered no time frame for either model's...
Monday November 2, 2026 1:22 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is releasing five new products this Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models.
The following new products will be available from Friday:
iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip
iMac with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen
16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...
