The most common MacBook problems, from 618 verified buyers
What owners of the 5 macbooks we cover complain about and love most, from every 1 to 3 star review and the newest 4 and 5 star ones, written by people the shop checked had bought it. Data as of 12 Nov 2026.
Key findings
- What happy owners praise most: “Fast”, in 23% of the 4 and 5 star reviews we read.
- 97% of verified buyers rated their MacBook 4 or 5 stars, against 93% across every product type in our study; macbooks rank 4 of 37 for happy buyers.
- 1% gave 1 or 2 stars, about 1 buyer in 100.
- Across the 4 macbooks with 30 or more ratings, the share of happy buyers ran from 97% to 100%.
- Paying more did not disappoint more buyers: the pricier half of these macbooks had a median of 100% happy buyers, against 97% for the cheaper half (up to £1299).
- Buyers in Asia, Africa and Oceania were the happiest (99% at 4 or 5 stars), and buyers in the rest of Europe the least (95%).
What owners love most
Share of the 166 newest 4 and 5 star reviews we read that praise each point.
- 1. Fast23%Came up on 4 models
- 2. Looks good19%Came up on 3 models
- 3. Easy to set up and use11%Came up on 3 models
- 4. Light, compact or easy to store10%Came up on 2 models
- 5. Long battery life7%Came up on 3 models
How buyers rated them
By where they bought
Regions with 30 or more ratings, by where the shop is. Shops in each region sell different models, so a gap can come from the models as much as from the buyers.
| Region | Ratings | 4–5 stars |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 168 | 98% |
| US and Canada | 148 | 96% |
| Rest of Europe | 135 | 95% |
| Asia, Africa and Oceania | 167 | 99% |
Against similar product types
| Product type | Ratings | 4–5 stars | 1–2 stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games consoles | 16,121 | 97% | 2% |
| MacBooks | 618 | 97% | 1% |
| Tablets | 5,392 | 96% | 2% |
| Mirrorless cameras | 568 | 96% | 2% |
| Office mice | 1,335 | 95% | 2% |
| TVs | 10,811 | 94% | 4% |
| Smartwatches | 2,553 | 94% | 3% |
| Ergonomic mice | 2,682 | 92% | 4% |
| Office keyboards | 2,346 | 92% | 5% |
| Keyboard and mouse combos | 1,949 | 92% | 4% |
| Gaming keyboards | 546 | 92% | 5% |
| Soundbars | 2,700 | 91% | 5% |
| Gaming headsets | 2,366 | 91% | 6% |
| Headphones | 4,776 | 90% | 6% |
| Smart speakers | 1,145 | 89% | 7% |
| Earbuds | 5,500 | 86% | 9% |
How we counted
We count only reviews a shop marks as coming from a checked purchase, and leave out reviewers paid with a free product or a reward and complaints about the shop rather than the product. We read every review of 1 to 3 stars and the newest 4 and 5 star ones, sum up each model's recurring points in our own words and count the owners behind each, then group those points into the themes above across models; a theme shows once at least three owners raised it on two or more models. These are the macbooks we cover, not every model on sale, so compare them with the other product types here rather than with ratings elsewhere. Price halves use UK prices. The full study compares every product type, and How we decide has the rules for each shop.
Quote and chart these numbers with a link to this page. Cite as: WhichOneToGet, “MacBooks: verified buyer ratings”, 12 Nov 2026, https://www.whichonetoget.com/research/verified-buyer-ratings/macbooks.