BUYING ANY LAPTOP is a big decision. Most of us go years between making purchases of this magnitude, and there are many makes, models, and chip configurations to choose from. Lucky for you, we’ve tested many of the new releases in the past year. These are our top picks for the best laptops in 2024 you can buy right now.
If you don’t know exactly what you need or what all the various hardware jargon means, be sure to read our How to Buy a Laptop guide. Check out our many other computing guides, including the Best MacBooks, Best Cheap Laptops, Best Gaming Laptops, Best Linux Laptops, and Best Laptop Backpacks.
Updated November 2024: We’ve added the MacBook Pro, Asus Zenbook S 16, and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition.
Best Windows Laptop:Asus Zenbook S 16 (2024)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 365
Memory: 24 or 32 GB
Storage: 1 TB
Display: 16 inch, 2,880 X 1,800, OLED, 120 Hz
The reality is that there is no such thing as a “best” Windows laptop. Every user needs something a little bit different. More power. Better portability. All-day battery life. Low price. And so on. Asus’s new 16-inch dazzler comes as close as anything on the market right now to meet all those needs and more. It’s got an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU and Radeon 880M graphics, plus a hefty 24 GB of RAM. In combination, they give the system considerably more power than most other machines in both its price and weight class, even on AI tasks like real-time translation and AI image creation. Better still is the laptop’s battery life. With over 14 hours of running time, you won’t readily find this kind of longevity elsewhere on the market either.
With the Zenbook S 16, Asus has also rolled out a new material used for the laptop’s chassis. Ceraluminum is the company’s name for a hybrid of ceramic and aluminum, which makes for an incredibly thin but very durable material that feels like plastic but has the rigidity of metal. It’s only on the top lid for now, but it’s an enticing sign of things to come, and today it helps keep the laptop to a svelte 3.4 pounds. As an all-around workhorse, I love the machine, but if the 16-inch model is too large for your bag, the Zenbook S is also available in 14- and 13-inch versions—just know that the smaller laptops use Intel CPUs with integrated graphics.
Apple MacBook Air (13- and 15-Inch, 2024)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: Apple M3 (8 or 10 Core GPU)
Memory: 16 GB, configurable up to 24 GB
Storage: 256 GB, configurable up to 2 TB
Display: 13.6 inch, 2,560 X 1,664, LED IPS, 60 Hz
Apple’s MacBook Air with the company’s M3 chip is our favorite Macbook. It’s a sleek, portable machine with plenty of power for the average person. There are two sizes to pick from—13 and 15 inches, both screens with a 60-Hz refresh rate. They are very similar, though we found the larger model had better battery life. The 15-inch is the first lower-priced MacBook with a large screen, and having all that screen real estate is fantastic for productivity. The display is easy on the eyes too, with a solid 1080p webcam sitting right above the notch. The 15-inch also features a slightly louder six-speaker sound system, but these machines are otherwise the same.
Battery life remains ahead of the competition, and macOS performance is breezy for everyday tasks like web browsing and document editing. You’ll notice some stuttering here and there if you push your devices hard with demanding apps. With the release of new Mac devices in the fall of 2024, Apple has bumped the base unified memory for its entire Mac lineup to 16 GB, including older models. It makes these laptops even better value and makes them more adept at supporting upcoming features, like Apple Intelligence. These MacBooks have a fanless design, so they will never sound like you’re sitting in a jet, but this Mac does tend to run warm. One big downside? It can only connect to one external monitor, which means no dual-monitor setup for you.
Razer Blade 18 (2024)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: Intel Core i9 14900HX
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, configurable up to RTX 4090
Memory: 32 GB
Storage: 1 or 2 TB options
Display: 18 inch, 2,560 X 1,600, Mini LED, 300 Hz
Razer is known for its high-end gaming laptops, and the aluminum chassis on the Razer Blade 18 has the same luxe build quality we’ve liked it for in the past. The star of the show is the bright and vivid 2,560 X 1,600 Mini LED display with blacks so dark it almost felt like the screen disappeared in dark rooms. It’s not quite an OLED display, but it was close enough that it fooled me for hours of flying through space. Best of all, the 300-Hz panel supports ultra-high frame rates for the smoothest gameplay.
Inside, the Blade 18 comes equipped with the powerful Intel Core i9 14900HX, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, a 1-TB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (upgradeable to an RTX 4080 or 4090). The RTX 4070 is a respectably strong GPU that can help power through demanding games like Starfield. See our full Best Gaming Laptops guide for more picks.
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (2024)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS
Memory: 16 GB
Storage: 512 GB or 1 TB options
Display: 14-inch touchscreen, 1,920 X 1,200, OLED, 60 Hz
We’ve been pleasantly surprised to see more lower-cost laptops that still incorporate some measure of this season’s hottest feature—artificial intelligence-focused performance tuning. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, the latest in the company’s line of affordable, no-nonsense laptops, is under $1,000 and uses the new AMD Ryzen 7 CPU (model 8840HS).
This is a small, portable machine (3.1 pounds and 19 mm thick), and it packs in plenty of ports despite the slim form. There are two USB-C ports (one of which is needed for charging), one full-size USB 3.2 port, a full-size HDMI output, and a microSD card reader. The keyboard has small arrow keys but is otherwise nice to type on. Read our Best Cheap Laptops guide for other picks.
Apple MacBook Pro (16 Inch, 2024)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: M4 Pro
Memory: 24 GB, configurable up to 128 GB
Storage: 512 GB, configurable up to 8 TB
Display: 16 inch, 3,456 X 2,234, Mini LED, 120 Hz
More power, more power! The fourth generation of Apple’s homegrown silicon continues to push the performance envelope, pouring out the juice for the upper tier of power users. The latest MacBook Pro will probably look familiar to you: The iconic chassis hasn’t changed a bit, and aside from the motherboard, upgrades are minimal compared to M3 models. New to the M4 is support for Thunderbolt 5 USB speeds and a new “nano-texture” screen system that effectively reduces glare to nil.
Performance does not disappoint—we clocked the system at up to 7 percent faster on CPU-centric tasks than the M3 Max from 2023— though the M4 Pro lacks the abundance of GPU cores that powered the M3 Max to record-breaking graphics frame rates. You’ll need to upgrade to the M4 Max if bleeding-edge gaming or video rendering is on your wish list. Unfortunately, the price will set you back more than a bit. This has always been the case with the MacBook Pro, but the $2,499 base price (and way up from there) may be tough to swallow, especially if your current MacBook is doing the trick. The pro move for those intent on upgrading? Grab the M3 Max MacBook Pro while you still can. Performance is comparable on CPU-heavy tasks and considerably faster with GPU work—and, as I said, it looks and feels the same as the M4.
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100
Memory: 16 GB
Storage: 1 TB
Display: 16-inch touchscreen, 2,880 X 1,800, AMOLED, 120 Hz
Listen. I’m not saying you should buy a Copilot+ PC. These are laptops with a new designation from Microsoft, running Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, tuned for several new artificial intelligence features. If you decide you need one, Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge is our king of the hill. Yes, it suffers from the same problems that impact most Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PC hardware—middling graphics performance, and compatibility issues—but these are largely overcome by the many other strengths of the device.
For starters, it has some of the best overall performance of any Copilot+ PC laptop we’ve encountered to date, and the larger, 16-inch AMOLED screen even affords you room for a numeric keypad without making the keyboard feel cramped. At AI-driven tasks like Microsoft’s real-time Live Captions, the Galaxy Book4 Edge kept up with rapid-fire dialogue in ways other Copilot+ PC devices we’ve tested weren’t able to do. It also stayed cool and quiet while cranking out a battery life of 14 and a half hours while playing full-screen YouTube videos. It’s a bit pricier than the competition, but you can save some cash opting for the smaller 14-inch model.
Acer Nitro 17 (2024, AMD)
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Memory: 16 GB
Storage: 1 TB
Display: 17.3 inch, 1,920 X 1,080, IPS LCD, 165 Hz
With a screen that measures 17.3 inches diagonally, Acer’s Nitro 17 offers the largest screen you can comfortably tote with you, even with an oversized bag or backpack. Not that we’d really recommend it: At 6.3 pounds, this is a laptop that best moves from desk to desk rather than from country to country.
What you lose in portability however you gain in power. This AMD- and Nvidia-equipped monster can chew through anything you throw at it: video games, AI jobs, and, yes, even spreadsheets. Features like tunable color backlighting on the keyboard and endlessly tweakable system settings (including things like fan speed control) make this a hacker’s dream system, though you’ll need to stay close to a power outlet, as the full-tilt experience will drain the battery in less than three and a half hours. The price is what seals the deal for us: At just $1,250, you won’t get a better price for performance from any other laptop on the market.
Dell XPS 14 and 16
Specs We Recommend:
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 (16 inch is configurable to RTX 4070)
Memory: 16 GB, configurable to 64 GB
Storage: 512 GB, configurable to 4 TB
Display: 14 or 16 inch touchscreen, 3,200 X 2,000, OLED, 120 Hz
Dell’s two XPS laptops of 2024 are aimed at Windows users with Macbook jealousy. The design, specs, and sizes line up perfectly with Apple’s offerings. The XPS 14 and 16 both have a gorgeous, sleek design, wonderfully bright and sharp OLED screens (with 120-Hz screen refresh rates), and are plenty speedy for everyday tasks. Unfortunately when it comes to more intensive tasks like video editing, the MacBook’s benchmarks run circles around the XPS 14. The larger XPS 16, which uses the more powerful RTX 4070 graphics card, fared much better but costs more than a similarly powerful Macbook.
The XPS 14 and 16 are both beautiful, well-designed machines. They’re plenty capable for most use cases, though heavy gamers and video editors will want to look elsewhere. They’re expensive for what you get, but if you don’t mind paying a premium for first-class build quality with clean, eye-catching design, then the XPS 14 and 16 are solid laptops.