is a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021.
We’re in the heart of summer fun, but it’s already time for back-to-school planning, especially if that involves buying a new laptop.
The dizzying number of different laptops and configurations can feel overwhelming, especially if you want something that doesn’t cost too much but will still last a long time. My general guidelines are to first pick the operating system you need (based on personal preference or class requirements), and then get the best specs you can afford. If your school has specific requirements or recommendations, they are likely found on the school website. A quality laptop should also have a good screen, keyboard, and trackpad — and preferably enough ports and some decent speakers.
Unless you’re buying a Chromebook, aim for an M4 processor (for Macs) or an Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7, an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor on a Windows machine, especially if you want your laptop to last at least four years. Aim for at least 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. If your budget allows for more RAM or storage then go for it, especially if neither is user-replaceable — it’ll help with performance and longevity. If you have to choose based on budget, prioritize RAM, since external storage is easily available.
What we’re looking for How we test laptops Collapse The Verge tests laptops with an emphasis on real-world use. That means I use it for everyday work, which is not too different from the way many college students would work: getting a feel for multitasking performance while running lots of apps and browser tabs, running the battery down to see how long it lasts, and spending ample time with the laptop as my primary computer. I also run some synthetic benchmarks to quantify things like graphics processing, but, just like a student, a laptop is more than its test scores. Value Collapse Much like our general buying guide, I’m looking for laptops with all-day battery life and decent performance for a good price. Keeping students and family budgets in mind, it should be a machine that can last five or more school years before getting bogged down or feeling outdated. Keyboard and trackpad Collapse A good keyboard and quality trackpad are essential, especially since students in classrooms are less likely to plug in peripherals. The keyboard should be pleasant to type on, durable, and ideally backlit. The trackpad should be accurate and big enough to use comfortably. Screen Collapse Screen size can come down to preference, since what you give up in size is typically made up in portability. In most cases, around 13 inches is as small as you want to go, with 16 inches being the maximum before things get unwieldy. A 14-incher is a happy middle ground (and represented by more than half of our picks here). Aim for at least a 1920 x 1080 / 60Hz display that gets fairly bright, though higher is better, especially on larger screens, if it doesn’t get too expensive. Design Collapse A student’s laptop should be well built and portable. For younger kids especially, it should be durable. For older kids and young adults, it should be easy to repair or at least readily serviceable to last as many years as possible. Battery life Collapse A student laptop should be able to get through a student’s day of classes without needing to be constantly charged. Port selection Collapse For ports, at least a couple of USB-C are essential.
Taking much of that into account, here are our top picks among current laptops.
The best laptop for most students
Unless you’re going into a field involving lots of graphics rendering or video editing, a MacBook Air should be more than enough computer to last through the student years. The Air is our top laptop recommendation for most people, and that includes students — particularly students in high school or starting college. Nothing else offers quite the same balance of performance, build quality, and battery life as Apple’s entry-level laptop. It’s a speedy little machine that can even handle some heftier content creation work. Its battery can easily get you through a packed day of classes. And it has the best trackpad around. The only major downside with an Air (as with all modern MacBooks) is that you can’t upgrade the storage or memory after you buy it.
Now that MacBooks start with 16GB of RAM, even the base $999 13-inch model is excellent, if a little short on storage space at 256GB. So you may want to consider the $1,199 model with 512GB of storage. For the same price you can get the larger 15-inch model with roomier screen real estate and even better speakers, but then you’re once again starting with 256GB.
A note on older M-series Airs: The original M1 MacBook Air can still be bought new from Walmart for $649 or less. Even at five years old, it remains a very good machine for those on tighter budgets, but it’s worth hunting for a deal on an M2 MacBook Air or newer if you can. That lingering M1 only has 8GB of RAM, and newer M2 and M3 versions have MagSafe chargers, better keyboards, and markedly better screens. You can often find one with 16GB of RAM for just a bit more than the M1, and it’ll be better for the long haul.
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