Skip to Content

MacBook vs Chromebook: Which One to Choose in 2022?

MacBook vs Chromebook: Which One to Choose in 2022?

Macbooks and Chromebooks are usually the extremes when it comes to price and performance. Macbooks are expensive and fast, while Chromebooks are cheap and much slower. Or at least that is the general perception about the two.

But there are other things to consider when it comes to deciding between a Macbook or a Chromebook and this is what we’re going to talk about today.

MacBooks vs Chromebooks

I think that the best approach to find your winner (as it really depends on your particular situation and requirements) is to quickly go through the Pros and Cons of each model.

And in order to make things even easier, we’ll put them together, so you can immediately compare Pros and Cons of Macbooks and Chromebooks. This way, you can decide which of the two works best for you.

And if you still can’t decide, worry not! We’ll share our thoughts and conclusion regarding the winner as well. But until then… let’s check out the Pros and Cons of both Macbooks and Chromebooks. We’ll start with the Pros.

MacBook Pros

  • very fast & reliable – extremely solid specs the offer a great performance
  • amazing display
  • highly portable (thin & light)
  • large, 16″ display is available, but also a small 13.3″ one
  • very good battery life (up to 18 hours)
  • relatively immune to viruses & malware
  • great design & diehard community
  • advantages if your friends & family generally use Apple products

Chromebook Pros

  • usually cheap & affordable
  • usually highly portable – light & thin (with exceptions)
  • available in all sizes, from 11″ to 15.6″ (although larger Chromebooks are rare)
  • relatively immune to viruses & malware
  • no bloatware coming from the OS, which is created for online use
  • they can be fast enough if you don’t try to multitask

Now, let’s see what the CONs are in the epic battle between MacBooks and Chromebooks. In our opinion, the Cons are what really matter here, potentially becoming deal breakers in specific situations. But let’s check out the Cons for each device.

MacBook Cons

  • very expensive
  • limited variety (basically just three models and two sizes: MacBook Air & MacBook Pro @13.3″ and MacBook Pro @16″
  • no HDMI port and no slot for headphones, so you will need adapters
  • expensive to fix (and time consuming) if they break
  • impossible to upgrade the RAM
  • some Windows or ChromeOS apps & programs might not exist, work or work differently on MacBooks

Chromebook Cons

  • very limited amounts of local storage
  • basically useless without internet
  • in many cases, the quality of the display (image quality) is decent at most
  • most models are really small (11.6″ – 14″). Difficult to find 15.6″ Chromebooks and above.
  • potential compatibility issues with Windows & MacOS apps
  • some apps & programs don’t exist on Chromebooks (Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite etc)
  • they can get pretty slow, especially if you try to multitask or run too many apps at once

It’s easier to look at the columns above and compare the Pros and Cons of both Chromebooks and MacBooks. These are generally valid so you can use them to make a decision.

There are some other things to consider, though. The most important is that in both cases, as the price increases, so does the performance. But it is very unlikely to find a Chromebook that offers similar specifications to either MacBook Airs or MacBook Pros.

So if you are looking for a powerful computer that can handle a lot and offer good performance, MacBooks are the clear winners. The fact that they have amazing displays with jaw-dropping image quality is also a bonus, even though they do cost a bit.

If you only care about getting a decent device and you’re on a limited budget, the Chromebook will have to do. They are still good for young professionals and students who want to focus on work – especially online work and activities that don’t require a lot of processing power.

MacBook versus Chromebook: our winner is…

macbook pro winner

But if budget wouldn’t be an issue and we had to choose between a MacBook and a Chromebook, based on all the Pros and Cons mentioned above, we would definitely pick the MacBook Pro 16 (affiliate link). If not, we’d choose the smaller MacBook Pro 13 and we’d even go for a MacBook Air instead of a Chromebook.

As we said, Chromebooks do serve a purpose and are good choices for those on a limited budget or those who don’t really need a really fast computer. If you’re just doing work online or studying, streaming movies from Netflix and listening to music mostly, then a Chromebook is just enough.

We have already shared a list of the best cheap Chromebooks this year – cheaper than many phones on the market. And that’s something we’ll probably never say about MacBooks.

What do you think? Which is your favorite in today’s battle of MacBook vs Chromebook? Let us know by sharing your comments below!