The best laptops you can buy in 2024 for work, school, and gaming (2024)

Read Mashable's full review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M3). We tested a configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Why we picked this:

The new 15-inch Apple MacBook Air deserves way more fanfare than Apple gave it at launch. (Seriously? Just a blog post?) Its M3 chip was about 20 percent faster than the previous-generation M2 chip in our testing, and it brings new support for WiFi 6E as well as two external displays —though its lid has to stay closed when you use it that way. Plus, the midnight finish now comes with an anodization seal to avoid picking up fingerprints.

The M3 MacBook Air is otherwise a carbon copy of its predecessor, but that's actually a plus: Apple didn't need to change anything about its vibrant display, 1080p webcam, rich speakers, or snappy Magic Keyboard. (It could still use more ports and start with a bit more RAM, though.) Its price has also carried over from the M2 era. As a complete package, it's a decidedly "worthy refresh" that continues the MacBook Air line's Mashable's Choice Award winning streak, said tech editor Kim Gedeon.

Note that the M3 MacBook Air also comes in a 13-inch size that starts at $1,099; it has two fewer speakers (four instead of six).

Who it's for:

The older M2 MacBook Air remains an excellent laptop despite losing its best Macbook title, especially now that its base configuration is only $999. (The arrival of the M3 version prompted a permanent $100 price drop.) But if you're not on a strict budget, the brand new M3 model is the MacBook most people should buy in 2024 That includes "creatives, professionals, and students who need robust performance that can handle their multifaceted workflows," wrote Gedeon.

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Note: The Dell XPS 15 is being phased out and replaced with the new Dell XPS 16, which debuted at CES 2024 alongside the new XPS 13 and 14. We'll be reviewing one of them in the very near future, but the XPS 15 retains its spot as our top pick in the meantime —it's hardly outdated.

Why we picked this:

Last year's Dell XPS 15 is a 15.6-inch machine from the brand's premium laptop line. It boasts a solid build quality, a beautiful edge-to-edge display, and specs that can crush everyday tasks right out of the gate. (Its $1,499 base configuration has a swift 13th-generation Intel Core i7 H-series processor with 16GB of RAM.) If you need even more oomph for gaming or multimedia editing, optional upgrades like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics, up to 4TB of storage space, up to 64GB of memory, and a vivid OLED touchscreen will turn the XPS 15 into a bona fide desktop replacement.

The experts over at PCMag (owned by Mashable's publisher, Ziff Davis) gave the XPS 15 a 4.5/5 rating and an Editor's Choice pick, calling it "one of the best and most flexible luxe laptops for a range of audiences" despite their disappointment with its 720p webcam and limited selection of ports. It does come with a free USB-C to USB-A and HDMI adapter, at least.

Note that the base XPS 15 has a lackluster listed battery life of up to nine hours, but the PCMag team was able to squeeze over 14 hours of use out of its upgraded testing unit.

Who it's for:

The Dell XPS 15 is a stellar multitasker for Windows users who want a laptop that strikes the right balance between brawn and beauty, delivering desktop-level power in a glossy package. Bargain-hunters should also put it on their watch list: It will be easier to find on sale in the coming months now that Dell's announced its successor. (The last time we checked, two NVIDA GeForce RTX configurations were $500 off on Dell's website.)

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Read Mashable's full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3. We tested a configuration with 16GB of RAM.

Why we picked this:

Can you fall in love with a laptop based on its keyboard alone? It happened to Kim Gedeon, who called the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3's keyboard "one of the best" she's ever tested. (In her book, the only keyboard that rivals it is that of the HP Spectre x360 14.) It's the cherry on top of its excellent and ultra-portable design, which has the sort of lightweight, premium feel you'd expect from a much more expensive machine. "[It] should be called 'Windows Air,'" said Gedeon.

The specs under the Surface Laptop Go 3's hood are decidedly more underwhelming, mostly because they're largely unchanged from those in 2022's Surface Laptop Go 2, our previous top budget pick (including the same dim touchscreen display and 720p camera). It is powered by a newer 12th-generation Intel Core CPU, but that's now two generations removed in 2024. And while its base model does have double the storage space and memory of the previous model, it's also more expensive.

Who it's for:

It may not have the most up-to-date internals, but the Surface Laptop Go 3 is still "ideal for students and busy-bee travelers in need of a portable notebook," wrote Gedeon. If you can, try to find it on sale for at least $100 off. (Fortunately, that happens often on Amazon.)

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Read Mashable's full review of the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024). We tested a configuration with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage.

Why we picked this:

The new HP Spectre x360 14 stunts on other convertibles in almost every way. It has a 120Hz OLED touchscreen display with a generous 16:10 aspect ratio, which you can flip open on its hinge to switch between laptop, tablet, and tent modes. (Notably, it comes with its own stylus — the $76.99 HP Rechargeable MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen, which attaches to it magnetically — for drawing and note-taking.) Its large touchpad offers "the perfect balance of smoothness and resistance," said Gedeon, while its keyboard is straight-up "addictive." There's also a zippy new Intel Core Ultra processor with at least 16GB of RAM inside — plus, it was able to last more than 11 hours on a single charge in our testing.

But the real star of the show might be its wide-angle 9MP webcam, which was remarkably good at picking up real-life colors and tiny details. Video calls look more like portals on this thing. It's a big factor in its Mashable's Choice distinction — and enough to make you forget about its fingerprint-loving finish, weirdly crowded port setup, and heavier (for a 2-in-1) frame.

Who it's for:

For those who can't decide between a laptop or a tablet, the HP Spectre x360 14 is almost everything you could want in both devices: It's powerful, versatile, long-lasting, and great at making you look good on Zoom. The included stylus cements its status as a fantastic all-in-one buy.

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Read Mashable's hands-on review of the Razer Blade 14. We tested a configuration with 32GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics.

Why we picked this:

The latest Razer Blade 14 is a quiet and handsome 14-inch gaming laptop that starts at $2,199; our review unit with bumped RAM and graphics came in at an excruciating $2,699.99. Wait, don't go: It goes a long way to justify that sticker price with premium specs, including a brawny new AI-powered AMD Ryzen 9 CPU that can plow through AAA titles and content creation with finesse. There's also a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series GPU, a 240Hz display for silky-smooth gameplay, and an RGB keyboard you can customize via its free Razer Synapse software. This thing is a beast —and you probably couldn't tell just by looking at it. (At only 0.71 inches thin and 4.05 pounds, it's one of the most compact gaming laptops on the market.)

The Razer Blade 14 has another important thing working for it, which is its battery life: It clocked in at four hours of gaming and over 10 hours of regular use in our testing. Those numbers aren't earth-shattering, but they're definitely above-average in both respects, so the "on-the-go usefulness" value is there. This isn't the archetypal PC gaming machine that's going to shackle you to an outlet.

Who it's for:

If you're in the market for a gaming laptop that's basically an ultraportable rig, look no further than the Razer Blade 14 —but be prepared to pay up. This would be a good one to bookmark for Black Friday.

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Why we picked this:

The 2023 Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is doing its best to shed this category's "dinky" and "cheap" associations with specs you don't normally find on ChromeOS laptops, including a QHD webcam, a backlit keyboard, and a mid-range, 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM. It's also managed to translate the signature Chromebook ruggedness into a sleek and lightweight 2-in-1 design: Its build is rated for military-grade shock resistance, and its 14-inch touchscreen and touchpad are made with Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass to protect them from lingering stains and odors.

While this particular model hasn't been hands-on tested by Mashable or PCMag yet, the latter gave 2022's Chromebook Spin 714 a 4.5/5 and an Editor's Choice Award for its 16:10 aspect ratio ("a great balance between work and play"), durable metal chassis, and garaged stylus. This version has unfortunately ditched the stylus, but its newer processor, improved webcam, and slightly lower price maintains its overall excellence in our book.

Who it's for:

This 2-in-1 ChromeOS laptop should make your shortlist if you're hunting for a simple, portable, and durable (but not ugly) laptop everyone can use, whether it's for browsing, homework, or entertainment. Think of it as a modern, more compact take on the family computer.

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Read Mashable's full review of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M3). We tested a configuration with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

Why we picked this:

Apple's latest update to the MacBook Air line brings it way closer in line with the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro model, which has the same M3 chip for hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing support. However, there are some key differences that make the latter a better pick for photo and video editing. For one thing, it sports a much brighter and smoother Liquid Retina XDR display — that's Apple-speak for a mini-LED screen with ProMotion technology, aka a 120Hz refresh rate. Crucially, it's also got built-in fans that allow it to better handle heavy workloads (the MacBook Air doesn't); thermal throttling is a non-issue. Other M3 MacBook Pro exclusives include an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, and a starting storage capacity of 512GB instead of 256GB.

We do think Apple should add more ports and RAM the next time it revisits the MacBook Pro lineup —same as the Air — but this was another Mashable's Choice Award shoo-in.

Who it's for:

The M3 MacBook Pro is probably overkill for casual users, and it can get expensive fast once you start adding more memory. That said, it's a great investment for creatives who run intensive apps and software on a regular basis.

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Read Mashable's full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2. We tested a configuration with 64GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics.

Why we picked this:

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is, as its name suggests, a laptop. But the unique pull-forward design of its 120Hz, 14.4-inch touchscreen display means it can also "transform into a digital easel and a tablet," said Gedeon, "[making] it an artist's playground." Just like its predecessor from 2021, it's an especially versatile device for content creation —though it still doesn't come bundled with a stylus, which feels like a silly omission on Microsoft's part. (It does have built-in storage and charging for the Surface Slim Pen 2, at least.)

Speaking of: While the original Surface Laptop Studio was a great laptop, it was pretty outdated by the time its successor arrived in October 2023. This second iteration fortunately features a slew of upgrades like 13th-gen Intel Core H-Series CPUs, optional NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, or RTX 2000 GPUs, and the first Intel Neural Processing Unit in a Windows computer. (The latter adds "Windows Studio Effects" to its 1080p webcam, including blur and eye contact features). Microsoft also equipped it with a much-needed wider variety of ports and a silky-smooth haptic touchpad that has an adaptive touch mode for users with limited mobility. It is quite a bit heavier than its predecessor, so it'll probably pass on plein air doodling sessions in favor of staying parked on a desk.

Who it's for:

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a machine that's begging to be pushed to its creative limits, and as such, deep-pocketed professional artists are its target audience. Gedeon also "[recommended] this laptop for differently abled users who could take full advantage of [its] adaptive touch trackpad feature."

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Note: We'll soon review the next-gen Framework Laptop 16. Preorders for it are now live.

Read Mashable's review of the Framework Laptop (2021).

Why we picked this:

Repairability doesn't seem like a big deal until your MacBook's battery conks out and you have to haul it into the Genius Bar to replace the entire bottom half of the machine. The Framework Laptop 13 is the current version of a previous Mashable's Choice Award-winning device that's specifically designed to be fixable at home, even if you have zero prior repair experience, with replaceable CPUs, memory, storage, keyboards, displays, and even expansion cards for ports. What's more, these components can all be individually upgraded whenever Framework introduces new ones — it doesn't get more future-proof than that.

The pre-built, ready-to-use Framework Laptop 13 features a 13.5-inch matte display, improved hinges, and a better battery life than the previous iterations, and it starts with a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage space, and Windows 11 Home. You can also opt for the DIY Edition, which can be customized with the specs (even operating system) of your choosing.

Who it's for:

DIYers, tinkerers, and anyone sick of buying a new laptop every few years will consider the Framework Laptop a sweet buy (or a sweet relief). We've also pegged it as a good budget laptop, as its long-term value is unrivaled.

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