10 MacBook Features You Should Be Using

Combining power and portability, the MacBook series is the most versatile of all Apple computers. Whether you're saving money on a lightweight MacBook Air or shelling out for a portable powerhouse in the form of a MacBook Pro, here are some of the great features you should be using.

Battery life all day

When Apple ditched Intel in favor of its own Apple Silicon processors like the M1 and M2, battery life improved dramatically. The first MacBook Air with an M1 processor lasted about a third longer than its predecessor, while the 16 2021-inch MacBook Pro got double the battery life in video playback compared to the 2019 model.

You should expect around 17 hours of "wireless web" from a 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, and performance similar to the revised MacBook Air M2 released in 2022. Owners of MacBook Pros with an M1 Pro chip can expect around 16 hours in the 16-inch model, which has the best battery life of the 2021 models.

The M1 Max doesn't fare so well, but considering how much power you have, those are still impressive numbers. Depending on what you're looking for, you may be comfortable leaving your charger at home when you go away.

No matter which model you own, you should resist leaving your MacBook plugged in all day. Enjoy the freedom that comes with a battery that lasts all day. If you want to keep your MacBook battery in top condition, install an app like AlDente to prevent your laptop from going over 80% charge.

Best-in-Class Laptop Speakers

The MacBook Pro still has some of the best (if not the best) laptop speakers on the market. Apple's 2021 refresh has improved on already impressive results, adding a depth to bass response that few other models can match. They sound amazing when you're seated right in front of them, and they can fill a room as well as many portable Bluetooth speakers if the need arises.

The MacBook Air doesn't have as much room in the chassis for such impressive sound, but it's still there for a laptop of this size. Don't feel tied to your headphones when listening to music. The Pro and Air are great for watching movies or streaming videos, assuming you're in an environment where you can crank up the volume.

HDR playback on a bright screen

The 14 16-inch and 2021-inch MacBook Pro feature a gorgeous mini-LED display that gets even brighter than many modern TVs. Reaching a peak brightness of 1600 nits in HDR content, prepare to be dazzled when watching HDR10, Dolby Vision, or HDR videos you've shot yourself on an iPhone.

Using mini-LED technology, MacBook Pro makes extensive use of dimming zones to increase contrast ratio by turning off the backlight to improve black reproduction. The 14-inch model has 2 dimming zones, while the 010-inch model has 16. It's not quite OLED quality (and blooming can be an issue) but it's still the one of the best laptop screens on the market.

Even the MacBook Air M2 can put up a decent fight, although its display only reaches a peak brightness of 500 nits. That's still superior to many monitors that carry the DisplayHDR 400 standard, and the thinner bezels are a real improvement over the M1 models.

Quick charge

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models all support fast charging, as do the MacBook Air M2 models, as long as you're using a powerful enough charger. Unfortunately, Apple did not include the required charger in the box for all models.

All 16-inch MacBook Pro models come with a sufficiently powerful 140W charger and most 14-inch MacBook Pro models come with a 96W charger that provides fast charging out of the box. If you have a 14-inch MacBook Pro that uses an M1 Pro with an 8-core processor, the 67w charger in the box isn't good enough. You'll need Apple's 96w USB-C adapter instead.

All MacBook Air M2 models have fast charging capability, but none of them come with an AC adapter that supports this feature. For that, you'll need Apple's 67w USB-C adapter. It might be worth the investment if you want to be able to top up your laptop's power in record time (up to 50% charge in 30 minutes).

Be aware that fast charging is only possible using the MagSafe port on 16-inch MacBook Pro models and won't work over USB-C even if you have a powerful enough adapter. Other models can use USB-C fast charging, as long as the USB-C cable is capable of supporting the charge.

Power and charge via USB-C too

Pre-Apple Silicon MacBooks only charge via USB-C, but the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) and MacBook Air M2 (2022) models reintroduce MagSafe. This superior charging solution uses a strong magnet to hold your power cable in place while charging, which releases safely if you catch it (saving your laptop from drop damage).

However, MagSafe isn't the only way to power your laptop. All models with MagSafe can also be powered using a USB-C cable connected to an appropriate adapter. It could even be the single connection point for a compatible USB-C monitor.

Unfortunately, none of the MagSafe MacBook Pro or Air models support fast charging via USB-C.

Portable Airplay Screen Mirroring

AirPlay lets you mirror your screen or stream video and audio to a device wirelessly from an iPhone, iPad, or another Mac. Your MacBook can act as an AirPlay receiver, giving you a portable wireless monitor on which to display photos, videos, or whatever else is happening on your screen wherever you take it.

You can set AirPlay permissions under System Settings > General > AirPlay and Handoff. It's great for showing something off your iPhone to a group of people or listening to audio like music on your MacBook's top speakers.

Use trackpad gestures to navigate macOS

macOS is an operating system that greatly benefits from trackpad gestures. There are so many gestures that become second nature with a little practice that even desktop Mac owners should invest in Apple's optional Magic Trackpad. But all MacBook owners, regardless of model, have a built-in trackpad.

You can see the full list of gestures and customize them under System Settings > Trackpad. Some of the most useful gestures include pinch to zoom and rotate with two fingers to manipulate maps and photo editing, swipe left or right with three (or four) fingers to change space, trigger Mission Control or App Exposé with a three-finger swipe up and down, and quickly revealing the desktop by spreading three fingers and your thumb apart.

The Trackpad settings panel also has videos to help show you how to perform the gestures and what they do. If you're having trouble with click-and-drag using a trackpad, we recommend enabling "Three Fingers" under System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options.

Dedicated multimedia encoders

The 14 16- and 2021-inch MacBook Pros are ideal for media professionals, with all models including hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW playback. The M1 Pro has ProRes hardware video decoding, encoding and encoding capabilities, while the M1 Max turns it into two hardware encoding engines and two ProRes encoding and decoding engines.

Even the MacBook Air M2 includes the same hardware-accelerated playback options, plus unique video decoding, video encoding, and a ProRes encoding and decoding engine. This makes both models suitable for those who frequently work with video, with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips being better suited for professionals who need power on the go.

Access media or expand storage with SD card reader (MacBook Pro)

All 14 16- and 2021-inch MacBook Pro models have been equipped with an SD card reader, to the delight of photographers and videographers around the world. The card reader provides a convenient way to access media stored on an SD card (or microSD card with an adapter) without the need for a dongle.

Even if you're not a creative type, you may still be interested in using the card reader slot to expand your MacBook's storage using an adapter that snaps into the chassis. Choose from the Transcend JetDrive Lite in your preferred size or the BaseQi 420A microSD adapter with your own microSD card.

Importantly, the SD card reader isn't particularly fast, hitting around 300MB/s with a UHS-II card. This makes it unsuitable for storage applications or professional applications where read and write speeds are vital (such as editing high-bitrate 4K video). That said, it's great for storing documents, 'cold' storage of files you don't need often, or even for Time Machine backup purposes.

Run Windows in a VM

Any Mac owner can run Windows on their machine, it's not limited to the MacBook series, or the newer Apple Silicon models. That said, it's such a great feature that it was worth mentioning anyway. Now that Windows on ARM supports most 86-bit x64 applications, there's never been a better time to get started.

You can do this easily with a paid solution like Parallels Desktop 18, which downloads Windows and configures everything for you. You can even run windowed Windows apps alongside standard macOS software if compatibility (rather than full desktop mode) is all you care about.

You can also run your own Windows 11 solution on ARM using a free app like UTM for Mac or the latest experimental builds of VirtualBox with native support from Apple Silicon. Older Mac users who have an Intel chip can use most of the same solutions or install Windows using Boot Camp.

You don't even have strictly have to pay for Windows, because the basic functionality is free if you can live with the "Activate Windows" overlay in the corner of the screen. Alternatively, your standard Windows 11 license can activate Windows on ARM (since you cannot specifically purchase the ARM-only version yet).

Choosing the Right MacBook

Check out our best MacBook roundup to determine which Apple laptop is right for you. Keep in mind that Apple's laptop isn't the best laptop for everyone, and if you're on a tight budget, a Mac mini M1 might be the best bang for your buck.