The best laptops of 2024, tried and tested

Whether you work from home, go into an office or just want something to keep yourself entertained, a good laptop is all but a necessity these days. But with so many brands and models to choose from, finding the right Windows laptop or MacBook for you can be overwhelming.

That’s where we come in. We extensively test the latest laptops on the market from the likes of Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Samsung in order to help you figure out what’s actually worth spending your money on. Whether you’re in search of the perfect MacBook, a tricked-out gaming notebook or just something basic for your daily emails, here are our picks for the best laptops you can buy now.

The best laptop: Apple MacBook Air M3

The latest MacBook Air is, once again, the best laptop for most people, and it earns that title for all the usual reasons. It’s reasonably affordable, comfortable to use, slim enough to take anywhere and faster than just about anything in its price range by a good margin.

Aside from its titular processor upgrade, the MacBook Air M3 is practically identical to its predecessor — and that’s a good thing. Everything we loved about the fully overhauled 2022 MacBook Air is intact here, including a more seamless screen, full-size function keys for easily making adjustments on the fly, a crisp 1080p webcam and a handy MagSafe charger that won’t send your laptop flying if someone trips on the cable. We were pleased to see this year’s model launch with 13- and 15-inch variations right out of the gate, as the latter has become one of our favorite big-screen laptops. The one notable physical change is a welcome one: The famously smudgy Midnight model is now a little less fingerprint prone, thanks to the same anodization technique used on the pricier Space Black MacBook Pro M3.

Of course, the biggest improvements to the new MacBook Air are under the hood, where the system’s new M3 processor predictably chewed through everything we threw at it — and sped well past the competition in most areas. The laptop handled our usual boatload of browser tabs and productivity apps without a stutter, and we saw some notable gains over the previous generation Air on benchmarks (though you’ll see a much bigger leap if you’re coming from an M1 or Intel-based MacBook). The MacBook Air M3 can even handle Mac games decently well; just be prepared to keep your graphics settings on the moderate side.

These updated internals also unlock a key new feature: You can now use the MacBook Air with two external displays at once. This does come with the caveat that your laptop lid has to be closed for both monitors to work, but it allowed us to work across two Apple Studio Displays without a hitch and is the kind of perk that makes the entry-level MacBook a pretty good Pro replacement.

That said, if you already own an Apple silicon-powered MacBook (and especially if you have an M2 model), you can probably skip this one. And if you’re looking to save some money, the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 is a better value than ever at its new $999 starting price. But if you want the best laptop money can buy without spending a fortune, it doesn’t get better than the MacBook Air M3.

Other laptops we recommend

How our recommendations compare

How to choose the right laptop for you

While there are a number of factors to consider when choosing the right laptop, we advise that you start by figuring out how much display you need. Most laptops are available in display resolutions ranging from 1080p to 4K (3840 x 2160) and in screen sizes from 13 to 17 inches. Many Windows machines also offer optional touch displays.

We think a 13- to 15-inch laptop at 1080p is the sweet spot for most people, as you’ll get very good clarity and a decent amount of real estate within a machine that’s still fairly portable and reasonably priced.

Recommended specs

A higher screen resolution means you can see more detail when using apps and watching movies, or get more screen real estate for apps (assuming you are willing to look at very small text), but it can also drive the price of a laptop up considerably. So, a 4K display (or alternative display technology options like OLED, also available in very high screen resolutions) makes the most sense if you do a lot of graphics work or use your laptop as your main entertainment screen for movies and TV (though you’ll get the most benefit if you choose a 15-inch or larger display). Also think about how you’ll be using your laptop: A slim 13-inch notebook is ideal for working on the road, while a 17-inch machine isn’t quite as portable but will get you more screen space (and possibly more power) for working at your desk.

Many Windows-based machines also offer optional touch displays, but we generally feel that you can skip this to save some cash. Unless you’re looking to carry only one device and are specifically looking for a 2-in-1 laptop that doubles as a tablet, we think a dedicated tablet does a better job at touch, and touch doesn’t add that much functionality to a laptop.

Many modern laptops are light on connectivity options, usually packing a handful of USB-C ports in addition to a microSD card reader and a headphone jack. If you want a laptop that can connect to USB-A gadgets (and chances are you have a lot of those) as well as traditional HDMI cables for external displays, you’ll want to check out some of the thicker, business-class Windows notebooks out there from manufacturers like Acer and Lenovo. Alternatively, you can pick up a USB-C hub to augment your Mac or Windows laptop’s connectivity options.

Windows laptops come with a swath of processor options, but we consider the latest Intel Core i5 or the AMD Ryzen 5 5000 series to offer a good amount of performance for everyday multitasking for the price. And to back up that processing power, we recommend opting for at least 8GB of RAM to keep all your apps running smoothly. If you’re someone who does heavy creative work such as video and photo editing, it’s worth considering Core i7/Ryzen 7 as well as 16GB to 32GB of RAM. And if you’re a gamer, you’ll need a laptop with discrete graphics, starting with at least an Nvidia RTX 4050.

Of course, you’ll also have to decide between Windows and MacOS, which largely comes down to personal preference. Windows can be found on the largest range of laptops, including budget notebooks and powerful 2-in-1 workstations, and offers a better selection of gaming software. Meanwhile, macOS is limited to a handful of Apple’s own laptops and is ideal for folks who already own lots of Apple products, thanks to its ability to sync up with your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Windows laptops can be found for as cheap as a few hundred dollars, whereas MacBooks occupy a premium middle ground that starts at $999 for the MacBook Air or $1,599 for the higher-end MacBook Pros.

How we tested

As with every CNN Underscored review, we rigorously test devices both quantitatively and qualitatively. For laptops, we made the decision to benchmark first to get a standard for quantitative performance. If you’ve read our standalone laptop, tablet or mobile phone reviews, these tests will be familiar.

On Windows laptops, we performed GeekBench 5 and 6 and PCMark 10 tests. These run the laptops through a series of workflows and application processes, many of which you’d find yourselves (and we found ourselves) completing on a daily basis. For Mac laptops, PCMark 10 is not available, so Geekbench 5 and 6 were performed. If a laptop is gaming-capable, we run it through the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark to see how it’ll hold up against many of the best PC games.

Regardless of operating system, we put each laptop through our standard battery test, which involves charging the laptop to 100%, setting brightness to 50% and engaging airplane mode to ensure connectivity is off. We then loop a 4K video file with the sound set to 15% until the battery dies and the machine turns off.

The combination of battery and benchmark testing gives us a quantitative feel for the devices and a hard number for each that can be used for comparisons. We then used each laptop as our daily driver for work, play and entertainment tasks, testing the battery to see if it could last through a full day of tasks, watching a movie to get a feel for the display and, of course, running a bunch of different applications.

Other laptops we tested

Currently on sale with discounts of more than $500 off, the 2023 MacBook Pro M3 was an excellent computer that only fell out of our top picks because Apple’s replaced it with a faster model that doesn’t limit the number of USB-C ports you get based on your CPU.

Excellent battery life and snappy performance from the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU make the latest edition of this venerable Microsoft Surface Pro a great laptop alternative. However, It loses points for a few display oddities and the fact that its keyboard isn’t included by default.

One of the most unique laptops we’ve ever tested, the Framework Laptop 16 is a modular notebook engineered for a longer lifespan. Not only can you upgrade its storage, memory, CPU and GPU on your own but you can mix and match its six ports and change everything from the keyboard to the bezel. Oh, and you can also replace its internal battery. As for why it didn’t make it to the top of the charts? As much as we admire what Framework is doing, too many little quirks (such as a webcam issue we hand-fixed) popped up during the testing process.

The latest edition of our historical top pick for best Windows laptops takes everything we love about Dell’s XPS line and puts it inside a risky design the company is going all-in on. So, while you still get great battery life, speedy performance and a comfortable keyboard (and can pay more for a gorgeous OLED display), Dell’s sliced off the traditional function keys for a capacitive row of sensors that light up with the volume, screen and hardware controls you expect. Also, the traditional touchpad is gone, replaced by a giant glass surface with no visual indicators, which can be a bit confusing. For those who can get used to these changes, the Dell XPS 14 is a great laptop. It just feels like a slight regression as Dell looks for the most futuristic design it can find.

Our previous pick for best overall laptop, the 13-inch MacBook Air M2 is a better value than ever at its new price point of $999 (which is often even lower thanks to frequent sales). Most importantly, it’s still an incredibly fast and reliable laptop that’ll serve you well for years. However, if you can afford to spend a little extra, the M3 model gets you slightly more future-proofed performance and dual-monitor support.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is a very good pick for students or folks on a tight budget, offering dependable performance and just about the best build quality you can find for the price. Though, realistically, you might want to get the slightly more expensive model that comes with a more usable 256GB of storage and fingerprint reader. When you factor that in, we think other options, like our best budget laptop pick in the Dell Inspiron 14, are a better overall value for Windows users.

Why trust CNN Underscored

CNN Underscored editors thoroughly test all the products we cover and provide full transparency about our testing methodology. We’re made up of an experienced team of editors and writers who have tested various products for years. When necessary, we consult with experts in applicable fields to expand and improve our testing. Senior tech editor Michael Andronico and electronics writer Henry T. Casey have more than 21 years of combined experience testing and reviewing laptops, as well as using them for our hobbies in music, podcasting and writing.