The best laptops of 2024, tested and approved by Mashable's experts

Read Mashable's full review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air.

Who it's for:

Apple's latest M3 MacBook Air is the model most people should buy in 2024, especially now that it starts with 16GB of memory by default. That includes "creatives, professionals, and students who need robust performance that can handle their multifaceted workflows," Gedeon said. MacBook Pros are great, but they're overkill for non-specialty users, realistically.

Why we picked this:

The 15-inch MacBook Air deserved 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 features support for WiFi 6E as well as two external displays — though its lid has to stay closed when you use it that way. Plus, its midnight finish comes with an anodization seal to avoid picking up fingerprints.

The M3 MacBook Air is otherwise a carbon copy of its M2 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, though.) Its price also carried over from the M2 era, with double the base RAM as of Nov. 2024. As a complete package, it's a decidedly "worthy refresh" that continues the MacBook Air line's Mashable Choice Award-winning streak, Gedeon said.

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).

Black Friday insights:

Black Friday is the best time to score a deal on a MacBook. Any retailers that still have ample stock of the M3 MacBook Airs with 8GB of RAM (both sizes) will probably make them ridiculously cheap for Black Friday now that the 16GB configurations are standard; I wouldn't be shocked if they surpassed their current all-time lows to the tune of more than $250 off. Other variants will likely fall to record-low prices, saving shoppers a couple hundred bucks. I'll also be looking to see if Amazon brings back its Apple Care bundle deal from last Black Friday.

Read Mashable's full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3.

Who it's for:

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go 3 is "ideal for students and busy-bee travelers in need of a portable notebook" with major style points, wrote Gedeon. It also goes on sale quite often, which makes it easier to rationalize its outdated internals.

Why we picked this:

Can you fall in love with a laptop based on its keyboard alone? It happened to Gedeon, who called the Surface Laptop Go 3's keyboard "one of the best" she's ever tested. It's the cherry on top of its excellent and ultra-portable design, which features a crisp touchscreen and has the sort of lightweight, premium feel you'd expect from a higher-end 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. If you can, try to find it on sale.

Black Friday insights:

Relatedly (and fortunately), the Surface Laptop Go 3 has been pretty easy to find on sale for at least $100 off ever since launch — usually at Amazon and Best Buy. The cheapest it's ever been was $549.99, a price it briefly hit right after Amazon's flagship Prime Day sale in July. I can see that getting revived for Black Friday.

Read Mashable's full review of the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch.

Who it's for:

HP's Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is a low-cost, large-screened laptop for those who work in the Google productivity ecosystem and watch a lot of YouTube in their free time. If you like numpads, all the better.

Why we picked this:

This HP Chromebook Plus is helmed by a huge, vibrant display that blew me away when I reviewed it: "The colors are intense, with good contrast and rich blacks, and an anti-reflective panel preserves that quality at most viewing angles," to quote my write-up. I loved using it for movie-watching and light gaming (via Xbox Game Pass). On the clock, it was fast enough to handle my daily workflow, which involves a lot of Gmailing and Google Meeting, though its battery life disappointingly drained before the end of my eight-hour shift. I also found it hard to listen to anything playing on it while naked-eared: Its speakers stink.

As a Chromebook Plus, this puppy comes with some interesting software extras like File Sync, AI-powered webcam settings, and support for some multimedia tools (including Google Magic Eraser and Adobe Express). None of them felt revolutionary in my testing, but they're decent value-adds for such a cheap machine.

As of Oct. 2024, the Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch also now has Google's Help me write and Help me read tools, a Live Translate feature, generative AI wallpaper and video call backgrounds, a Recorder app, and Gemini access within its app shelf. I haven't tested these yet.

Black Friday insights:

The exact configuration I reviewed is only available at Best Buy, where I've spotted it on sale for $399 before. (It feels like a really solid value at that price.) But there's another variant on HP's website that you can customize with a nicer display, keyboard backlighting, and WiFi 6E support starting at $599.99. Cross-check prices across both retailers around Black Friday to make sure you're snagging the best deal on the specs you need.

Read Mashable's full review of the Alienware M16 R2.

Who it's for:

Dell's latest Alienware m16 R2 is a competent, fairly priced Triple-A machine for those who usually wear headphones while gaming and rarely play on the go. Maybe you need a new everyday (non-gaming) laptop, too — know that it's also easily tone-down-able.

Why we picked this:

The m16 R2 might best be described as the Clark Kent of gaming laptops. Its 2024 redesign brings a smaller footprint (sans thermal shelf) and a "Stealth Mode" hotkey that ditches its RGB lighting, so it can be as subtle or showy as you'd like. It also includes an MUX switch that lets users switch between its integrated and dedicated GPUs for different tasks. (Nvidia's Advanced Optimus feature can do this automatically, too.) It's basically designed to lead a double life as an everyday workhorse and gaming champ.

Going deeper into the gaming front, our review unit "[output] impressive performance numbers on demanding games" for its mid-range specs, said Gedeon. (It packed an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and an RTX 4070 GPU.) While its 240Hz display felt a tad bit dim to her, it was otherwise smooth and punchy: "I was impressed with the contrast and vivid colors" while playing CyberPunk 2077 on it, she wrote. Its springy keyboard and responsive touchpad also got her seal of approval.

Some of the bigger bummers about the m16 R2 are its tinny speakers, shoddy webcam, and lousy battery life; it only lasted 51 minutes in our video rundown test. It also weighs in at a hefty 5.75 pounds, so forget about taking it on the go — whether you use it for work or play, it'll shackle you to an outlet. Yet none of these were dealbreakers in the eyes of Gedeon, who ultimately deemed the m16 R2 "the ultimate RTX 4070 beast of a gaming laptop you can get." It's a Mashable Choice Award winner.

Black Friday insights:

The exact m16 R2 featured in our review is only available at Best Buy, but there are three other configurations up for grabs directly from Dell — and all of them were $400 to $600 off in early November. Those feel like pretty hefty, hard-to-beat discounts, so if they're still live by the time you're reading this (and they cover the specs you want), don't bother waiting until Black Friday to buy. Keep in mind that Best Buy will match prices during the holidays if anything you buy there gets cheaper later, but Dell won't — though its extended holiday return policy is now in effect. (Best Buy offers one, too, FWIW.)

Read Mashable's full review of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M3) and our preliminary look into how it differs from the all-new M4 model. Our review of the latter is coming soon.

Who it's for:

The M3 Apple MacBook Pro is excessive for everyday users, and it can get expensive fast once you start adding more memory. That said, it's a great investment for creative professionals who run intense multimedia-editing apps and software on a regular basis.

Why we picked this:

The M3 chipset in the current MacBook Pro "translates to an uptick in performance" over the previous M2 generation, wrote Gedeon, "whether you're diving into photo retouching, video editing, [or] other tasks." Its 10-core GPU features hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing so that games can render more realistic-looking lighting effects. And it's incredibly power-efficient: We got over 16 hours of battery life out of it.

On the outside, you're looking at a pretty standard MacBook Pro — albeit one with a bright and gorgeous 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display; that's Apple-speak for a mini-LED screen with ProMotion technology, aka a 120Hz refresh rate. Gedeon called the accompanying speakers "immaculate," adding: "I see why the MacBook Pro is highly recommended for music producers, podcast hosts, and other audio-focused professionals." There's also a good array of ports built into its base, including an HDMI port and an SDXC card slot.

Our main grievance with the M3 MacBook Pro is that it needs more base RAM (something Apple corrected in the M4 model), but even still, it's another Mashable Choice Award shoo-in.

Black Friday insights:

Retailers are going to want to clear their inventories of M3 MacBook Pros now that the next generation has launched, so it's probably only a matter of time before they drop to all-time lows this Black Friday season. For comparison's sake, the current record lows to match or beat are $1,299 for the 8GB/512GB base model and $1,499 for the 16GB/1TB model we tested.

Read Mashable's full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2.

Who it's for:

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is an unconventional and versatile machine for deep-pocketed professional artists. Gedeon also "[recommended] this laptop for differently abled users who could take full advantage of [its] adaptive touch trackpad feature."

Why we picked this:

The 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 fine-tuned for drawing, sketching, and other creative work — 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.) Notably, though, its silky-smooth haptic touchpad has an adaptive touch mode for users with limited mobility; it's the same one on the Surface Laptop 7.

Things start looking more familiar once you move inside the Surface Laptop Studio 2, as far as higher-end laptops go. There's a desktop-grade Intel Core H-Series processor and an Intel Iris Xe graphics card in the base model, which you can opt to upgrade to a dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU for more oomph. It's not technically a Copilot PC, but it does have an NPU that equips its 1080p webcam with Windows Studio Effects. It also counts a microSD card reader among its ample array of ports. All that machinery means it's quite a bit heavy, so it'll probably pass on plein air doodling sessions in favor of staying parked on a desk. That said, it has a surprisingly decent battery life.

Black Friday insights:

In early November, the Microsoft Store had all configurations of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 on sale for $100 to $600 off, and some of the models with GeForce RTX graphics were price-matched at Amazon and Best Buy. (The higher a model's original list price, the bigger its discount.) I'm hoping some of the lower-end variants will get even cheaper closer to Black Friday — we can do better than just $100 off, people — but if a model you're eyeing has a $500 to $600 price cut, consider locking that in ahead of time. Amazon doesn't honor price adjustments if items it sells during the holidays get cheaper later, but Best Buy and the Microsoft Store both do.

Read Mashable's full review of the Asus Zenbook Duo (2024).

Who it's for:

Asus' latest Zenbook Duo is the tops for zealous multitaskers who need more screen real estate than a standard laptop can provide, but don't want to haul around a separate monitor. It'll also appeal to those who simply appreciate a good, fair value: It looks (and performs) like a machine that costs more than $1,500, a number that includes useful accessories to boot.

Why we picked this:

The Mashable Choice Award-winning Zenbook Duo features two bright OLED displays stacked on top of one another, a detachable Bluetooth keyboard that works with both of them, and a built-in kickstand that allows it to shift into different positions. This design could feel suuuper gimmicky if it wasn't executed smartly, but Asus nailed it — and for well under $2,000. "[Single]-display laptops are now cancelled," said Gedeon, who confessed to feeling "spoiled" after testing this one in her everyday workflow. "How can I work on my MacBook Air, my daily driver, without missing the masterful app-juggling capabilities of the Zenbook Duo?"

Speaking of MacBook Airs: The Zenbook Duo comes with a new Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, which was as swift as Apple's M2 chipset in testing. (That's the one powering our current favorite "budget" MacBook.) Its quiet speakers and dull webcam won't wow anyone who's defecting from Team Apple to Team Windows, but those are minor gripes in the grand scheme of things. For productivity pros, the Zenbook Duo shines where it matters most: screens, speed, and selling price.

Black Friday insights:

Amazon has been playing around with Zenbook Duo price cuts for the past couple of weeks: It was $225 off there during Prime Big Deal Days, the retailer's "October Prime Day" sale, and $235 off the day after the sale ended. (At the time of writing, it was $200 off.) Don't buy it during Black Friday season until you at least see that $235 number matched.