Apple's latest Macs are the best computers for those who prefer using macOS Sonoma over Windows or Linux. These machines pack a wide range of productivity tools and apps that make them ideal for students and employees alike. As a result, many users rely on Macs to read e-books and annotate them. Though, to do so, one must rely on an application that supports e-book formats. To help you out, we've listed some of the best reading apps available on the Mac.

Our favorite reading apps for the Mac

Apple Books is my favorite reading app for Mac. Formerly called iBooks, this app supports importing PDFs, EPUBs, and other e-book formats. So even if you're not buying a book from the app itself, you can still use it to view and interact with books you've downloaded from other sources.

iCloud sync is one of the reasons I really love this app. When I'm reading on the metro, my progress is always uploaded to the cloud and reflected on my Mac. When I get back home, I can resume reading on macOS right where I stopped on iOS. The synced data only consumes a few kilobytes, so it won't fill up your iCloud storage quota. Plus, the app is always updated with the latest design changes introduced in new macOS versions, so it doesn't look out of date.

Apart from reading, the Books app allows readers to highlight passages, add notes, bookmark pages, and more. And all of these features are free to use, so you neither have to buy the app nor subscribe to a monthly service. Apple Books offers a wide catalog of free and paid books from both famous and lesser-known writers, and you can browse based on genres, price tags, and more.

The Apple Books app is available on all Macs by default, so you don't have to download it yourself. You can find it through Launcher or Spotlight Search.

If you tend to buy your digital books from Amazon, this app is for you. The Kindle app allows you to read all of your Amazon e-book purchases in one place. It also supports accessing your local e-book library, so you can read digital books from other sources all in one place.

Kindle allows some customizations when it comes to font type and size, line spacing, text alignment, and more. You can also highlight, take notes, use split-view, and utilize text-to-speech. It's a feature-rich app that is both free and simple to use. And thanks to Whispersync, you can resume reading wherever you pause on any device with the Kindle app installed.

PDF Expert is one of the best PDF reader apps for Mac. It's particularly special because it allows you to easily edit PDF text, images, links, and outlines. You can fix a typo, change a logo in a contract, or update your CV in a matter of a few seconds.

Apart from reading PDFs, this reader allows you to merge documents, annotate, highlight, sign, and more. And thanks to Readdle Transfer features, you can seamlessly switch devices in the middle of a document. It works across macOS, iPadOS, and iOS, so you can work on your Mac and use your iPad or iPhone to take advantage of touch controls when you want to sign a document, for example.

This app costs $140 in the U.S., and it's PDF-focused only. So you can't read EPUB files or other file formats.

MarginNote is a capable PDF and EPUB reader aimed at students, with utilities to make studying and memorizing content from digital books easier. Apart from the usual highlighting, note-taking, and bookmarking features, this app has text recognition and video editing engines that allow you to deal with notes and videos in one place. It also features a research browser, which lets you look up a certain keyword without leaving the document you're studying. You can create mind-maps, mirror cards, link to notes, and more to connect your thoughts and better remember the content.

MarginNote also supports flashcards and smart reminders that help you learn from your mistakes based on how often you commit them. An algorithm calculates how long it should take you to memorize something and suggests different timings for different difficulty levels.

This reading app is free to download from the Mac App Store, but it includes in-app purchases to unlock all features and take advantage of its functionality.

The popular e-reader from Adobe has a lot to offer. Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) supports syncing between devices that have the software. So if you add or remove a book from your Mac, expect that to be reflected across your other devices.

This powerful tool allows users to keyword-search chapters of a certain text, so finding the needle in a haystack is no longer a biggie. Do you have a public library card? If yes, ADE supports certain online public libraries, so once you provide the requested information, you can start borrowing digital books. You can even print the e-books you store on ADE unless the publishers block this feature.

Just like Apple Books, Adobe Digital Editions supports highlighting, bookmarking, adding notes and shelves, in addition to VoiceOver accessibility controls. It supports multiple file formats, such as EPUB, EPUB3, and PDF. You can even modify the text and document size on certain formats.

Best Mac reading apps: The bottom line

Personally, I prefer using Apple Books when it comes to reading e-books. The app costs nothing, is available by default on all of my Apple devices, and offers the right amount of functionality. It also includes a Reading Goals feature, which encourages me to read every day for a certain amount of time. Ultimately, people's needs and tastes differ, so you might find yourself liking another app better.