We test a wide variety of laptops each year here at The Verge, and many of them are very good. But you cant buy them all. So weve done the very difficult (very difficult, trust us) task of selecting some of the best laptops you can get. Whether youre looking for a Chromebook, a gaming laptop, a 2-in-1 convertible, an ultralight notebook, or something thats a little bit of each, weve got options for you.Our current pick for the best laptop is the MacBook Air M3. Its a device that does just about everything right. It has no major flaws and it even got better recently thanks to a free RAM upgrade from Apple. Its a great pick for productivity, browsing, and even light gaming.RelatedIts getting harder to buy a bad laptop, but what separates the best laptops from the merely good laptops is how they balance power, efficiency, portability, and comfort. A great laptop should have a fantastic keyboard and trackpad; Its display should be bright and sharp; its processor should be powerful enough for most anything short of intensive video editing and advanced gaming. And the whole package should be easy to carry around and able to last all day without needing to be plugged in.What were looking forPrice is a very important factor in evaluating devices for this page. Were seeking laptops that offer great value for their asking price and that are the best of the best compared to other laptops in their price category. The more expensive a device, the more exceptional it has to be to make it on here.We want laptops with enough power to accommodate their target audience. An ultraportable laptop should be able to handle a standard office workload without excessive heat or fan noise. A gaming laptop should run todays popular games.These are the two biggest reasons youd get a laptop over a smartphone or tablet. Theyd better be good or youll hate every minute.We like displays that are color-accurate, bright, and sharp enough that you arent distracted by jagged edges or visible pixels.Were looking for laptops with a solid, durable build that can handle a standard amount of briefcase wear-and-tear while (in most categories) easy to carry around from place to place.Battery life is much more important in some categories than it is in others. That said, in general, we assume that most shoppers are choosing a laptop over a desktop because they value some ability to work away from a plug. Battery life gives a user more freedom and makes a device more reliable for travel, so we consider it here.The more ports, the better.Our other picks for the best laptops, Chromebooks, and 2-in-1s include the MacBook Pro 16 and the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition with a Snapdragon X Elite chip. Check out the full list of best laptop picks below, if youre looking for a powerful machine that doesnt sacrifice portability.In this articleThe best laptop13-inch Apple MacBook Air M3 (2024)$1004$10999% off$1004The MacBook Air M3 is a jack-of-all-trades, with a balanced combination of performance and power efficiency. It also now supports dual displays with the lid closed, storage speed that is noticeably faster, and a base 16GB of RAM after a mid-cycle update.CPU: M3 (8-core) / GPU: M3 (8- or 10-core) / RAM: 16GB, 24GB / Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB / Display: 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display, 2560 x 1664 or 2880 x 1864 , 60Hz, no touch option / Dimensions: 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches or 0.45 x 13.40 x 9.35 inches / Weight: 2.7 pounds (13-inch) or 3.3 pounds (15-inch)Apples MacBook Air M3 is the best laptop for most people Mac users, of course, but also the platform-agnostic or anyone who wants a no-fuss, straightforward machine that doesnt bombard them with advertisements or bloatware. Its a productivity laptop that can do a bit of everything, and it now starts with 16GB of RAM and comes in a 15-inch version for those who like their laptops a little larger. Its hard to find another laptop that offers this kind of combination of performance and battery life in a thin and light chassis.Despite losing its way around the mid-2010s, Apple has a long history of sending quality MacBooks to market, and the Air M3 is no different. A smooth, almost ethereal trackpad, check. A chiclet-style keyboard that makes typing feel like a dance, check. Fast Wi-Fi adapter, color-rich display, 1080p webcam, and MagSafe charging, check. The Air M3 wasnt made for heavy gaming, video editing, or for those who want more than two USB-C ports, but for nearly everyone else, its a great option.However, if you do need some of that, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 is a great bang-for-your-buck laptop in its own right at $1,599. But opting for a Pro over an Air is best for students in creative fields and content creators needing more headroom and features like a third USB-C port and an SD card slot.The Apple MacBook Air M3 is the best laptop of 2024. Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeIts absolutely worth spending an extra $100 to get the Air M3 over the MacBook Air M2, which Apple still sells. Its about 16 to 18 percent faster than Apples M2 chip, and the storage on the 256GB configurations is up to twice as fast. The new Airs also support two external displays with the lid closed, which is another improvement from the previous generation. If you opt for the larger model, youll find that the speakers on 15-inch Air M3 are vastly superior, especially on the low end. You can actually hear the bass, whereas on the 13-inch, its nearly nonexistent. And if you get the midnight color in either model, keep a microfiber cloth handy. The amount of fingerprints it collects turns the chassis into a CSI playground.We previously recommended upgrading the MacBook Air M3 to at least 16GB of memory, but Apple now does that for you, as all current Air models now start at 16GB of RAM. You can still find 8GB configurations at some retailers, but its not worthwhile unless you get it on some kind of fire sale. The increased RAM will improve the laptops ability to multitask now and will give you some extra years of service down the line. (Important since youd have to buy a whole new laptop to upgrade the memory.) 256GB of storage is easier to get away with, given the plethora of cloud and external storage options available.If you dont need to buy right away, you might consider waiting for the M4 version of the MacBook Air, which is expected in early 2025. But the M3 Air is a great option if you cant wait.Apple MacBook Air M3 (15-inch)$1189$12998% off$1189The 15-inch MacBook Air is also equipped with Apples M3 chip. It features a larger display and better speaker array than the 13-inch MacBook Air M3. As of October 2024, it starts with 16GB of RAM instead of the original 8GB when it launched.Read our review of the Apple MacBook Air M3.Best Chromebook$699Acers latest Spin Chromebook is configured with Intels first generation of processor with an NPU. It also has Google Gemini baked right into the OS, and if you sign up for a new Google One AI premium plan, your first year of service is free.$699 at Best BuyCPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 115U / GPU: Intel UHD / RAM: 8GB, 16GB LPDDR5 / Storage: 256GB, 512GB / Display: Touch 14-inch FHD 1920 x 1200, 60Hz IPS with stylus support, 340 nits / Dimensions: 12.35 x 8.84 x 0.71 inches / Weight: 3.21 pounds Like last year, Acers newest Chromebook Spin is the best Chromebook weve seen so far in 2024 and its still part of the Plus line of Chromebooks, which now have Google Gemini features integrated with ChromeOS. It also comes with a 12-month subscription to the Google One AI premium plan, which includes 2TB of cloud storage space.The Core Ultra 5 115U is slower than last gens Intel Core i5-1335U (the Ultra has eight cores with clock speeds up to 4.20GHz, while the Core i5 has 10 cores and goes up to 4.60GHz), but the Ultra Core has an NPU, which means its better suited for running AI-related tasks on-device. The new Spin Chromebook also supports the current LPDDR5 memory standard, which is faster than the previous generation in the 2023 Spin 714.Acer upgraded some of the connectivity port options, too. The Spin 714 now has two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, instead of two USB-C 3.2 ports, for much faster data transfer and power delivery.Best Snapdragon X laptopMicrosoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (13.8-inch)$799$100020% off$799The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop is Microsofts closest rival to the MacBook Air, using Qualcomms Snapdragon X chipsets for exceptional battery life.CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100, Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 / GPU: Qualcomm Adreno / RAM: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB LPDDR5X (soldered) / Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / Display: 13.8-inch touchscreen LCD, 2304 x 1536 120Hz, 600 nits / Dimensions: 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches / Weight: 2.96 poundsOut of all the Snapdragon Copilot Plus PCs weve tested so far, the 13- and 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th edition stood out for its balance of performance, exceptional battery life and standby time, and quality components (120Hz screen, keyboard, webcam, trackpad, etc.). Microsoft was obviously gunning for Apples MacBook Air with this laptop, and it mostly delivers that level of hardware experience for a Windows machine. Theyre the full package if you want a thin-and-light productivity machine running Windows that easily lasts all day and into the night.The greater concern with Snapdragon X-equipped laptops is if Windows on Arm has all the app compatibility you need to get your work done. Most everyday apps work fine, via native Arm versions or emulation, but there remain outliers. Also, if you like the idea of your productivity machine being able to pull light gaming duties (one of Windows advantages over Mac) then youre likely better off with a laptop using Intels Lunar Lake or AMDs Ryzen AI chips. Snapdragon X laptops can only run a fraction of the games you find on Steam.Microsoft recently announced Intel Lunar Lake- based versions of the Surface Laptop 7, due out in mid-February, but theyre priced a ridiculous $500 higher and aimed solely at businesses. Its a shame, because having this hardware with Lunar Lakes compatibility might have been an appealing prospect.The best 16-inch Windows laptopAsus Zenbook S 16$1700$1700The newest Asus Zenbook S 16 features AMDs latest Ryzen AI mobile processors. Its one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops available and doesnt cut corners on performance. Its a mighty machine that can handle all sorts of heavy workloads with ease and grace. Read our review.$1700 at Best Buy$1700 at AsusCPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 / GPU: Radeon 890M, Radeon 880M / RAM: 32GB, 24GB / Storage: 1TB / Display: touch 16-inch 2880 x 1800, 120Hz OLED with stylus support, 500 nits peak HDR / Dimensions: 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.47 ~ 0.51 inches / Weight: 3.21 pounds The 16-inch Asus Zenbook S 16 is the best-looking, best-performing Windows laptop we tested over the summer; its also so thin and lightweight you wouldnt know it just by holding it! It can handle a little bit of everything, from emails to graphic design work, and it tackles gaming surprisingly well for a laptop without a separate graphics card. Its miles ahead of what any Copilot Plus PC can do, too, including the Intel Core Ultra laptops weve recently tested. Its a lovely, catch-all device.There are only two Zenbook S 16 models as of now. The $1,700 one comes in gray with AMDs flagship Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip and 32GB of memory, and the $1,400 model comes in white with the lower-tier AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 and 24GB of memory. Otherwise, they are identical. Both feature OLED touch displays with a native 2880 x 1800 (3K) resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, stylus support, 1TB of storage, and the same ports / Wi-Fi adapter. Everything but the Windows version. (The more expensive model gets Home; the cheaper one gets Pro.)At just 11 hours, its battery life doesnt last as long as similar laptops weve tested, such as the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge and Dell XPS 14, but its a small tradeoff. Theres currently no other Windows laptop that offers as much performance and versatility in a 16-inch chassis for the price.Read our review of the Asus Zenbook S 16.The best laptop for high-end gaming$3700The ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is one of the fastest gaming laptops you can get, thanks to its AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU. With 32GB of RAM, 1TB storage, and a 240Hz 1440p screen, its the high-end laptop to beat.$3700 at AsusCPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D / GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 4090 / RAM: 32GB / Storage: 1TB / Display: 17-inch IPS QHD, 240Hz display, 3ms, 300 nits, 100 percent DCI-P3 / Dimensions: 15.55 x 11.1 x 1.11 inches / Weight: 6.51 poundsThe ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is big. Its loud, its garish, and its flat-out the fastest gaming laptop weve tested. Thanks to its AMD Ryzen 9 79045HX3D processor, it leaves models with the same top-tier RTX 4090 graphics card and Intels fastest CPUs in the dust. It can run many of todays AAA titles at 1440p with triple-digit frame rates.The Scar 17 X3D has a 17-inch 2560 x 1440 240Hz screen with G-Sync, oodles of ports, a pleasant keyboard, and RGB galore. At over six and a half pounds and 17 inches on the diagonal, its your classic high-performance, barely portable gaming laptop.Its webcam is potato, battery life is exactly as bad as youd expect from everything we just listed, and its expensive, but for now this is the high-water mark for gaming laptops.For more down-to-earth performance and price, you can also get the ROG Strix Scar 17 with an RTX 4070 for about $2,200 or with an RTX 4080 for about $2,900.Read our Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D review.The best MacBook for photo and video editingApple MacBook Pro (M4 Pro / Max, 16-inch)$2239$249910% off$2239The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro starts with 24GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and 14-core CPU / 20-core GPU. The M4 Max version offers 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, 14-core CPU / 32-core GPU, and can be configured to ridiculously high prices. Both models have Thunderbolt 5 ports, 12-megapixel Center Stage webcam, and options for anti-glare displays.CPU: M4 Pro, M4 Max / GPU: M4 Pro, M4 Max / RAM: 24GB or 48GB (M4 Pro), 36GB - 128 GB (M4 Max) / Storage: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB / Display: 14.2 / 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 3024 x 1964 / 3456 x 2234, adaptive refresh up to 120Hz, no touch option / Dimensions: 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 (14-inch) / 14.01 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches (16-inch) / Weight: 3.5 / 4.7 pounds (M4 Pro), 3.6 / 4.8 pounds (M4 Max) If you need more power for intensive creative work like 3D rendering and working with ultra-high-resolution photos and video the MacBook Pro is your best bet. Both the 14- and 16-inch models are available with powerful M4 Pro or M4 Max processors. Theres also a 14-inch Pro with a standard M4 processor, and while its a formidable step up from the MacBook Air as an everymans pro laptop, the M4 Pro and Max processors still outclass it in performance.Processors aside, the MacBook Pro has remained largely unchanged since 2021. It has a bright, beautiful, color-accurate, high-res screen with HDR and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz; amazing speakers, a comfortable keyboard and trackpad; and a good port loadout: three Thunderbolt 5 / USB-C ports, plus HDMI 2.1 and an SD card slot. The 14-inch MacBook Pro is a few hundred dollars cheaper than the 16-inch, but aside from the very lowest processor options, most configurations are available in either size, so pick whichever works for you.In our benchmarks, which test a variety of creative tasks including encoding, playback, and export time, the MacBook Pro 16 did better than any laptop weve ever used the only other machines that have come close to matching this thing in some of our benchmarks are high-end desktop PCs. The battery life is also record-shattering. The top-of-the-line 16-inch M4 Max model easily lasted all day in our most recent testing, with no battery-saving features enabled and even keeping the screen on full-time.Most people who need much more power than a MacBook Air including all but the most demanding pro photographers will be fine with an M4 Pro model, which starts at $1,999 for the 14-inch with a 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD. The 16-inch starts at $2,499 for a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 24GB of memory, and 512GB SSD. The M4 Pro chip can be configured with up to 48GB of memory and a 4TB SSD, at the usual absurd Apple markups, and it supports up to two external 6K displays.If you absolutely need more GPU power or more than two external monitors you can step up to the M4 Max. The base M4 Max with 14 CPU cores and 32 GPU cores, plus 36GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, starts at $3,199 in the 14-inch and $3,499 in the 16-inch. Theres also an M4 Max with 16 CPU and 40 GPU cores, which starts at $3,699 and $3,999, respectively. The M4 Max models are configurable with up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of storage and can support up to four external monitors. The vast majority of people dont have workloads heavy enough to notice a significant difference between the M4 Pro and M4 Max; if you do, you probably know it.14-inch MacBook Pro with M4$1459$15999% off$1459The entry-level MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM double that of its predecessor and a 512GB SSD for the same starting price of $1,599. It also gets a third USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port and comes in a new space black option.Read our reviews of the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro / Max and MacBook Pro 14 M4.The best 14-inch gaming laptop$1600This 14-inch ROG Zephyrus is an astonishingly balanced gaming laptop for its performance and price. Its AMD Ryzen 9 CPU and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU can push high frame rates and smooth graphics in games with its OLED display.$1600 at Best Buy (RTX 4060)$1750 at Best Buy (RTX 4070)CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945 HS / GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, RTX 4070 / RAM: 16GB, 32GB / Storage: 1TB / Display: 14-inch OLED, 2880 x 1800, 60Hz and 120Hz, 400 nits / Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.63 inches / Weight: 3.31 poundsThe Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with an RTX 4070 is the most well-balanced 14-inch gaming laptop. Its powerful enough to reach 60 frames per second on ultra graphics at its native resolution (with or without DLSS) and thin and lightweight enough without trapping too much heat in its chassis. Also, its battery can last up to 6.5 hours on a single charge, which is good for a gaming laptop.Its display has been upgraded from an IPS to an OLED, it has 1TB of SSD storage and 32GB of memory, and Asus put lighting back on the lid not a dot matrix, but a strip of LEDs spanning diagonally across.All that for $2,000 to $2,200 makes it hard to justify getting anything else, though you can save up to $500 if you get the RTX 4060 model. Though it has only half the RAM, it has the same great screen and build, and its frame rates are only about ten percent lower than the 4070 Zephyrus at 1080p/ultra.If you spend up to $700 more on the Razer Blade 14, youll get higher frame rates, a 240Hz screen, and upgradeable RAM but its battery life barely hits four hours in general use, and its display doesnt support G-Sync or HDR.The best dual-screen laptopLenovo Yoga Book 9i (2024)$1600$200020% off$1600The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is a dual-screen laptop that can fold and flip into several different modes. A Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and stylus come with it, along with a keyboard folio that can transform into a laptop stand. Its the Swiss Army knife of laptops. Read our head-to-head review.$1600 at Lenovo$2000 at Best BuyCPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155U / GPU: Intel UHD (integrated) / RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X / Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD / Display: 13.3-inch (2880 x 1800) 60Hz OLED touchscreen w/ stylus support / Dimensions: 11.78 x 8.03 x 0.63 inches / Weight: 2.95 poundsA dual-screen laptop is exactly what it sounds like: a laptop with a second screen where the keyboard normally goes.The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i has a 360-degree hinge, which lets you use it as a regular laptop, a (large) tablet, and more. You can put it in clamshell mode and write or sketch on the bottom screen with a stylus or fold the keyboard folio into a stand to prop it up and take advantage of both screens. Thats how I usually use it at home: propped up and plugged into an external monitor as a three-screen desktop replacement. But when Im away, I use the included Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Its touchscreen gestures are super responsive but too responsive for the virtual keyboard and trackpad. Its easy to mistype and accidentally minimize windows.The Yoga Books only real competitor is Asus Zenbook Duo. The Duos physical keyboard includes a trackpad and makes it look a lot more like a traditional laptop. Its 14-inch OLED screens are a little bigger and brighter, it has a ton of port options, its more powerful, and its a little easier to fold up and put away. But its also heavier (at 3.64 pounds), its top lid doesnt fold back far enough to use it as a tablet, and its touchscreen gestures arent as responsive.Read our head-to-head review of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i and the Asus Zenbook Duo.The best repairable laptop$899The Framework Laptop 13 is the best laptop for those who want full control of their experience. Everything from the processor and RAM to the keyboard and bezels is user-upgradeable. It comes in Intel and AMD variants; most people should get the AMD. Read our review.$899 at FrameworkCPU: Intel Core i5-1340P / i7-1360P / 17-1370P, AMD Ryzen 7 7840U / GPU: Intel UHD / Iris Xe, Radeon 700M / RAM: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB / Storage: 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB / Display: 13.5 inch IPS, 2256 x 1540, 60Hz, no touch option / Dimensions: 11.68 x 9.01 x 0.62 inches / Weight: 2.87 poundsIf you want a 13-inch laptop that you can configure and assemble yourself, from the ground up, the Framework Laptop 13 is pretty much your only option. The Framework is a modular laptop that users can repair and upgrade over the length of their ownership. Everything from the RAM, to the storage, to even the processor can be upgraded down the line. The company has even come out with upgrades for parts like speakers and hinges that you can install yourself. Not only can you buy it as a prebuilt system, but you can also order it as a DIY kit, allowing you to assemble the entire thing yourself and swap out parts as you please. Repairability aside, the Framework has a number of laudable features as a laptop itself. The display is bright and high resolution, the speakers are great, and the chassis is quite portable, coming in at under three pounds. The 3:2 aspect ratio provides a lot of room to work and is still a somewhat rare find on todays market.The Framework Laptop 13 is one of very few 13-inch laptops with this degree of repairability. Photo by Monica Chin / The VergeThat said, I wont pretend that this is the best 13-inch laptop you can buy. On its own merits, it is an unremarkable system with a somewhat generic look and plasticky build, particularly compared to others in its price category. Nevertheless, the Frameworks standout feature is the unprecedented access it allows its users to replace and repair its parts. Wed love to see more companies make that kind of commitment to sustainable design.Read our Framework Laptop 13 review.The best laptop under $400$440The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is the most affordable Chromebook with the new Plus label. It has a 12th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 1080p screen for just under $400. Read our review.$440 at Amazon (256GB)CPU: Intel Core i3-1215U / GPU: Intel UHD / RAM: 8GB / Storage: 128GB, 256GB UFS / Display: 14-inch IPS, 1920 x 1080, 60Hz, non-touch / Dimensions: 12.9 x 8.4 x 0.74 inches / Weight: 3.17 poundsThe Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is the least expensive laptop with Googles new Plus certification. At around $400 for a Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, its the baseline Chromebook you should consider if you cant spend any more.Its so easy to get a bad Chromebook at this price, so its a relief that the Chromebook Plus CX34 is so good. Not only does it have respectable internals, but the 1080p screen and 1080p webcam are good for the price, the keyboard is great, and the trackpad is fine, if a bit stiff. Battery life is decent, too, and like all Plus Chromebooks, it comes with 10 years of software updates. You can spend more on a laptop, and you probably should, but dont buy a Chromebook less powerful than this one.Read our review of the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34.Update, February 4th: Updated pricing and replaced the Dell XPS 13 with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition as the pick for Best Snapdragon X laptop.See More: