The Best Laptops of 2024

These are the best laptops for work, gaming, graphic design, and more

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The first decision when buying a laptop is whether you want a Windows or macOS machine. Many find Apple machines more straightforward to use, but Windows laptops offer more flexibility.

Your needs will largely determine what you need out of a laptop. If you want to replace your desktop computer, you'll enjoy more power in your device. If you travel often, you might prefer something lightweight and easy to carry.

Our experts have looked at dozens of laptops, and we've rounded up our favorites.

in this article

Best Windows

Dell XPS 13

Dell XPS 13 9310

Dell

Pros
  • Extremely portable

  • Amazing 4K display

  • Keyboard and trackpad are both awesome

  • Battery life is great

Cons
  • Fingerprint sensor is touchy

  • Not a lot of ports

Dell's XPS laptops consistently beat the competition with slim, impeccable designs and components. The Dell XPS 9310 is no exception. It's available with up to 32GB of RAM (memory), 2TB of solid-state storage, and has a 4K display that's color-accurate enough for photography. It's also made from aluminum and carbon fiber like its predecessor, the Dell XPS 7390, and features the latest Intel processors. 

Like other models in the XPS lineup, the 9310's minimal design means there aren't many ports, but it's still enough for most users. The only minor downside is that the fingerprint sensor can be somewhat unreliable. Also, remember that this laptop doesn't include a dedicated graphics card, so it's not ideal for gaming or graphics-intensive tasks. However, it is fast and powerful enough for most day-to-day use and is a well-rounded laptop.

Screen Size: 13.4 inches | Resolution: 1900x1200 | CPU: Intel Core i7-1185G7 | GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: 32GB | Storage: 512GB SSD | Touchscreen: Yes

Best Ultraportable, Apple

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Air M1

Amazon

Pros
  • Super fast

  • Keyboard is awesome

  • Gorgeous display

  • Great battery life

Cons
  • Limited ports

  • Bad webcam

Apple's MacBook Air from 2020 is still compelling if you prefer Mac to PC. Beyond its snappy performance, you'll find a remarkably great keyboard for a thin and light laptop. Our reviewer saw up to 12 hours of performance before needing a charge and says, "Apple made bold claims about an all-day battery in the run-up to the release of the M1 MacBook Air, and they delivered."

On the downside, its limited port selection and sub-par webcam bring it down slightly. While it could have used some upgrades beyond the Apple M1 chip that debuted with this MacBook Air, it's still a fantastic option for fans of Apple products.

Screen Size: 13.3 inches | Resolution: 2560x1600 | CPU: Apple M1 | GPU: Apple 8-core GPU | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 256GB SSD | Touchscreen: No

Best for College Students

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

Lifewire / Matthew S. Smith

Pros
  • 3:2 aspect ratio is useful

  • Fast performance

  • Great trackpad

Cons
  • No LTE support

  • Lackluster display

Microsoft's Surface laptops are as innovative as they are powerful, and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a particularly excellent choice for college students. It's versatile and productivity-focused with its 3:2 aspect ratio. This taller screen gives you more space to read and write than the more common widescreen 16:9 displays.

The Surface Laptop 4 features a responsive keyboard and trackpad but lacks 4G LTE cellular data. The display is unexceptional but makes up for that with the excellent battery life that should get you through an entire day in class. Our reviewer saw up to nine hours of battery life while completing tasks, including web browsing and photo editing.

The Surface Laptop 4 also has a powerful processor and plenty of RAM (computer memory) but no dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU), which is fine for a laptop intended for school and business work.

Screen Size: 13.5 inches | Resolution: 2256x1504 | CPU: AMD Ryzen 4680U or Intel Core i5/i7 | GPU: AMD Radeon Graphics or Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB RAM | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB SSD | Touchscreen: Yes

Best Ultraportable, Windows

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Amazon

Pros
  • Very portable

  • 3:2 aspect ratio is useful

  • Full touch screen

  • Keyboard and trackpad are outstanding

Cons
  • Not much power

  • Limited ports

  • Poor camera

Microsoft's Surface Go laptop offers snappy performance for essential productivity tasks in an ultra-portable package. It features a 3:2 aspect ratio screen, which is ideal for writing. In our testing, we found the keyboard and trackpad to be excellent, and the trackpad is almost unrivaled in devices this size.

The downside is that this isn't a powerful laptop and tends to get hot if you push its capabilities. Also, the camera could be better, and your selection of ports is relatively limited. With that said, you're getting a super thin and light machine with a whopping 13 hours of battery life.

Screen Size: 12.4 inches | Resolution: 1536x1024 | CPU: Intel Core i5-1035G1 | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 128GB SSD | Touchscreen: Yes

Best Budget

Acer Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop

 A515-43-R19L

Image Source / Amazon

Pros
  • Very inexpensive

  • Attractive finish

Cons
  • Plastic built feels cheap

  • Small trackpad

If you're on a tight budget, look at the Acer Aspire 5. This laptop has a lot going for it, including a brushed metal lid (that covers a primarily plastic body) and a tremendous 15.6-inch IPS display. The internals is nothing spectacular. You've got an AMD Ryzen 3 dual-core processor, 128 GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, and a 720p webcam. None of that is necessarily attractive, but they'll get most of the jobs done. Don't plan on gaming, photo processing, or video editing. 

The price also shows itself in the build. The lid is brushed metal, but the body is plastic, resulting in a laptop weighing over four pounds. That weight is acceptable when you have the power to back it up. If you do, it's easier to stomach. But this laptop can usually be had for less than $400, so it's hard to argue any downsides. More money will get you better features, but if you spend more, look at other laptops that provide more bang for your buck.

What to Look For in a Laptop

Display

Which size of display you choose will largely determine the size of the computer. On the small end, an 11-inch screen means a super portable computer but only a little space to work, while a 17-inch screen gives you a desktop PC screen real estate but at the cost of portability.

Most people can go with something in the middle (14 or 15 inches offer an excellent compromise) and don't need to worry too much about resolution in a laptop, so long as the screen is at least 1080p. 4K is nice but only noticeable in more prominent 15- or 17-inch laptop displays. If you're a gamer, look for a display with at least a 144hz refresh rate.

Components

Look for at least a 514GB SSD unless you're going for a cheap device and only need a little onboard storage. Also, traditional hard disk drives (HDD) are extinct in modern laptops, so avoid them if possible.

Find 8GB of RAM at a minimum. However, 16GB is preferable, and 32GB is almost necessary for high-end gaming and graphically intensive productivity (such as photo editing or graphic design). You'll also want the latest generation of processors from AMD, Intel, or Apple, and if you're doing any gaming, you'll want a dedicated graphics card.

Operating System

Most laptops run Windows 10 or 11. Windows 11 may be the latest, but it isn't fundamentally much different from its predecessor, Windows 10, so feel free to buy a laptop with this older operating system that still receives updates and support from the manufacturer. If you get an Apple device, you'll be using macOS, and Chromebooks run ChromeOS, which is very similar to a web browser.

FAQ
  • What size laptop should I buy?

    For frequent travel, it's a good idea to go for a laptop with a screen 14 inches or smaller. However, this often means sacrificing processing and graphics power, though if you can afford to pay more, you can find highly compact and very powerful computers. For productivity, a larger screen is nice, and the larger the laptop, the better the price-to-power ratio.

  • Should I buy a 2-in-1 laptop?

    Most 2-in-1 laptops are highly flexible machines that work either as laptops or tablets. If you need both tablet and laptop functionality, this is a great way to reduce the number of devices you own. However, you tend to pay more for a 2-in-1 laptop than a traditional laptop, with traditional laptops tending to give you more bang for your buck in terms of computing power. Also, traditional laptops are usually more robust.

  • Do I need a graphics card?

    If you're planning to use your laptop for school or business, or doing light productivity tasks, then you can save a lot of money by not buying a laptop with a graphics card. However, if you plan to do gaming, photo editing, or any other graphically intensive task, then you want to buy a laptop with a reasonably powerful graphics card.

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