The MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops for astronomers, delivering processing power, portability, and incredible display quality. For professional and amateur stargazers it’s an invaluable asset offering some of the best-in-class image processing, data analysis, and telescope control.
Save $200 and buy the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch for just $1,399 at Amazon.
Regardless of the model, the MacBook Pro is always in demand but it comes with a hefty price tag. If you’re looking to upgrade your current laptop or a Mac is on your wishlist, then this deal on the 14-inch 2024 MacBook Pro, equipped with the latest M4 chip, has a huge $200 saving — a rarely seen discount worth grabbing fast.
In our buyers guide to the best laptops for astronomers we selected the 2023 Apple MacBook Pro with the M3 chip as the best overall laptop. This new M4 series discounted at Amazon packs even more performance punch than its predecessor. The 2024 MacBook Pro is supercharged with the M4 chip making it a powerhouse laptop ready to handle all the best stargazing apps and memory-hungry photography processing software like Photoshop and Lightroom.
It also comes powered by one of the best-performing batteries to date in a MacBook Pro. Apple says it will deliver the same exceptional performance whether it’s running on battery or plugged in — making it perfect for mobile stargazers.
If photographing the night sky is your priority, you’ll most likely own one of the best cameras for astrophotography. Pairing it with the 2024 MacBook Pro with its breathtaking Apple Liquid Retina XDR display will mean your celestial images will have never looked better.
The Liquid Retina XDR display has 1600 nits peak brightness, up to 1000 nits sustained brightness, and 1,000,000:1 contrast for incredibly detailed views of your astrophotography.
Key features: M4 Pro chip, 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, Space Black or Silver colorway, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD Storage, long-lasting battery performance.
Product launch: May 2024.
Price history: With the $200 discount it beats the previous best Amazon price of $1,439 by $40 and is the cheapest the 14-inch 2024 MacBook Pro has been this year.
Price comparison: Amazon: $1,399 | Apple: $1,599 | Walmart: $1,479
Reviews consensus: We’ve yet to review this exact model at Space.com but our colleagues at T3 gave it 5 out of 5 stars and summed the MacBook Pro up by saying: “There is no better option in a laptop than the MacBook Pro. It’ll crunch through huge image and video files, and is arguably more machine than you’ll ever need.” Amazon reviewers have been overwhelmingly positive too. The 14-inch 2024 MacBook Pro M4 gets an aggregate score of 4.8 out of 5 from almost 500 ratings, with 90% of reviewers giving this MacBook Pro model top marks.
TechRadar: ★★★★½ | T3: ★★★★★
✅ Buy if: You want portable power without breaking the bank, the MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 is a brilliant blend of performance, portability, and reasonable price.
❌ Don’t buy if: You want a bigger screen and ultimate performance. This version is the baseline M4, the MacBook Pro 16-inch model has a larger screen and for even more power you can choose the M4 Max chip.
Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, Lego and much more.