The Best Laptops of 2025

2 weeks ago 30

The basic essence of laptop design—a screen on a hinge slapped onto a keyboard and trackpad—hasn’t changed for more than 40 years. Even when companies try to break the mold with a folding design, the clamshell reigns supreme. Finding the right one for you is an incredible balancing act—luckily, our 2025 buying guide is here to help.

The big question every laptop buyer has to ask is if they’re beholden to Apple’s comfortable and constrained Mac ecosystem or the open tundra that is the land of PCs. Whether you work within Microsoft’s Windows platform (necessitating you crawl through the ever-more AI– and ad-filled Windows 11) or the wild west of Linux, you’ll find far more choices for laptop types, Intel, AMD, and now Qualcomm chips for an ARM-based Windows experience. You may opt for a discrete GPU for graphics processing and gaming. As much as the PC diehards won’t admit it, Apple’s M-series chips on Mac are still some of the best performing CPUs available today.

Apple fans will stick to the Mac. Gamers are still better off with PC. Everybody else should simply go with whatever is most familiar. Today’s Lunar Lake-based lightweight laptop CPUs have proved to be some of Intel’s best chips, with most featuring all-day battery life. The more-recent Intel Core Ultra HX lineup for higher-end or gaming PCs also maintain solid performance for intensive tasks. AMD’s Strix Point chips are similarly great for smaller devices. Not to mention, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is one of the strongest we’ve seen for both CPU and GPU performance on a single chip. That power will cost you, and you’ll struggle to find a laptop with one outside of devices like the Asus ROG Flow Z13 tablet. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X lineup, including the flagship Snapdragon X Elite, offer considerable battery life gains at the risk of some software incompatibility issues. However, the next generation of chips with Intel Panther Lake and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 will hit the scene starting next year. The next generation of lightweight laptops is bound to get extra exciting in 2026.

Then, there are the new Nvidia 50-series GPUs in all new laptop variants. The gen-over-gen performance wasn’t a huge leap for the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, but they’re worth checking out if you’re thinking about an upgrade. My advice: don’t spend so much to get a laptop with an RTX 5090. The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 are more than enough for most gaming or productivity laptops, which rarely eclipse QHD+, or 3,200 x 1,800 pixel resolution. If you want a 4K laptop, they do exist, but expect to spend several thousands of dollars for the privilege. We have a separate list for our favorite gaming laptops, some of which you’ll find in this guide as well.

Which laptop should I buy?

All mobile design is a juggling act. More processing power will inevitably lead to smaller battery life. More GPU power will necessitate more-advanced cooling solutions. Your laptop buying decision should be defined by what you plan to do with it and your budget. If it will be your primary computer, sit on a desk, and never really move around or get packed in a bag, you don’t need to worry about size and weight. You’ll need a faster processor if you want to play video games. If you’re a road warrior, you want something small, light, and durable.

In our list below, we’ve identified several of those use cases and our laptop pick for each. If money’s no object, you don’t have niche power-user concerns like financial modeling, and you don’t care what operating system the hardware runs, you can opt for a thin and light design.

Finally, remember that one of the rules of consumer electronics is that as soon as you buy a new gadget, it will be eclipsed by a newer, faster, better model. Chipmakers will continue to release powerful new processors, and laptop makers will roll out new designs. If your current laptop is fine, wait for CES in January to find out how the new year’s lineup compares.

Best overall MacBook: 16-inch MacBook Pro (M4 Pro)

I understand if you can’t stand Apple. You can dislike macOS and lack of compatibility. You can dislike the Magic Keyboard or its boring, four-year-old design language. Then again, the MacBook Pro 16 with M4 Pro chip is easily the best all-rounder I’ve used. The M4 Pro chip with the 20-core GPU variant blows away most other laptop chips and even some desktop CPUs in performance. It’s a big step up over the base M4, making the 14-inch MacBook Pro or the 16-inch MacBook Pro 16 more enticing. That being said, you’ll need to pay the Apple tax to experience its pleasures. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro chip costs $2,500 but can easily exceed $3,500 for a model with upwards of 48GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro also come with Thunderbolt 5, though you won’t maximize the number of external displays you can plug in unless you opt for the more powerful M4 Max version. Read More —Kyle Barr

See MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro) at Amazon

Best business laptop: HP EliteBook X G1a

HP EliteBook X G1a on. wooden table with Gizmodo sign in the background

Professionals who want their laptop to be their on-the-go workhorse don’t have to look further than the HP EliteBook X G1a. You want a durable body? Nice speakers and a vivid OLED display? Simply put, the EliteBook X G1a checks those boxes and still offers great performance with an AMD Radeon AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor. The big consideration: this laptop isn’t for those with weak shoulders. It weighs in at 3.3 pounds, which is slightly heavier than many other thin-and-light designs with similar 14-inch frames. Despite all that, the EliteBook X G1a still sports all-day battery life.

The 14-inch laptop starts at a little more than $2,000, though with all the fixings may cost closer to $2,200. Read More —Sherri Smith

See HP EliteBook X G1a at Amazon

Alternatively: 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5)

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is as good as its ever been, even if the design is on the verge of a radical transformation with an OLED display. With the new M5 chip, the smaller MacBook Pro model is still the top of its class in CPU benchmarks, but its real surprise is its super fast SSD boasting spectacular read and write speeds. The laptop’s redesigned GPU with an evolved ray tracing engine also makes it better for 3D rendering tasks and—believe it or not—some light-to-medium gaming. There are few laptops with as much packed into its solid frame, so even while the design hasn’t changed in close to four years, the MacBook Pro is still one of the easiest choices you can make. Read More —Kyle Barr

See MacBook Pro (M5) at Amazon

Best laptop for flexible workstations: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable

Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Gen 6 Rollable Review

This first-of-its-kind laptop with an extending screen costs $3,300. That’s the price you would pay for a laptop with a high-end discrete GPU and a full 18-inch display. So why should you consider Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable? Because it’s a 14-inch laptop that can extend to a full 16.7-inch display with the press of a button. That’s more useful than it initially sounds. If you write or read a lot online, having the extra room that’s not being clogged up with ads is a blessing. Coders can make good use of a vertical display as well. When you’re done, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable clams up into a laptop that’s not much bulkier than other devices of its size. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is a better option than any current folding laptops if you want a larger screen experience on the go. Read More —Kyle Barr

See ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable at Lenovo

Best ultrathin laptop: Asus Zenbook 14

When you simply don’t want to feel the laptop sitting in your bag, the Asus Zenbook 14 is your best choice beyond sticking with a tablet. While the Zenbook S 14 will offer higher-end chips, the company’s 2025 regular Zenbook model with its thin chassis is compact and still offers a good feel to the keyboard and a beautiful OLED display. That screen may not be as bright as more expensive devices on this list, but it makes up for it in a long battery life.

Performance-wise, you should expect it will be enough for your daily browsing tasks. For anything more intensive, an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H—the lower end of the Lunar Lake lineup—will struggle. However, the laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 will be much better for productivity tasks. The model with the higher-end chip starts at $1,300, but it’s normally on sale for less than $1,000. If you want a simple PC that weighs just 2.82 pounds, the Zenbook 14 is the one. Other members of the Zenbook line also sport a “Ceraluminum” chassis that gives each laptop a smooth, ceramic feel. You may also want to check out the Zenbook S 14 or the more-recent Zenbook A14. —Kyle Barr

See ASUS Zenbook 14 at Amazon

Alternatively: 13-inch MacBook Air (M4)

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 chip is easily the best bang-for-buck laptop Apple has produced in the last half-decade, as it starts at $1,000 with 16GB of RAM. The 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 chip has the same chassis as the M2 version from 2022, which means it’s under three pounds and half-an-inch thick when closed.

The update to M4 brings in a performance upgrade above the M3, but it’s much more dramatic when you compare it to the M2 or M1 MacBook Airs. The laptop is so good it can handle most hardcore tasks nearly as well as the 14-inch MacBook Pro (M4), and if you opt for a 10-core GPU, you even have the capabilities for rendering and light gaming. There’s a reason the MacBook Air is so popular, even with few complaints like the notch in the screen. Read More—Kyle Barr

See MacBook Air 13 with M4 at Amazon

Best 2-in-1 laptop: Lenovo Yoga 9 2-in-1

I keep finding 2-in-1 laptops that sport dull displays. These laptops, which can bend backward until they become a full tablet-like device, need a beautiful screen with a full gamut of colors and contrast. The Lenovo Yoga 9 2-in-1 goes a step further and combines a vibrant and bright 2.8K-resolution OLED display with a shell that’s fun to hold. The sloped sides and “Cosmic Blue” colorway add to the sense this is an artistic laptop first and foremost. Thankfully, it has the performance to match its aesthetics with up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor and 32GB of RAM. If you wanted to stand the laptop up for movie streaming, the Yoga 2-in-1 offers surprisingly loud and strong audio through its four stereo speakers. The rub is that it can be costly at $1,750, though you should be able to find it for less if you look around. —Kyle Barr

See Lenovo Yoga 9 2-in-1 at Amazon

Best gaming laptop for most people: Lenovo Legion Pro 7i

If you’re just looking for that one gaming laptop to have at home, the 2025 edition of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i has everything you need for a clean gaming experience. It has many of the accoutrements of 18-inch laptops, but in a 16-inch frame. The keyboard and trackpad both feel nice, and that big, glossy OLED display will make your games look their best. The Legion Pro 7i is not a very portable machine, especially since it relies on a massive 400W power brick. However, if you plan to take the laptop from room to room, or on an extended sojourn with a lot of luggage in tow, you won’t find better performance for the price. Read More —Kyle Barr

Best tiny laptop for creatives: Acer Predator Triton 14 AI

There are very few 14-inch laptops as feature-rich as the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI. Along with an OLED display and discrete GPU, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, the laptop comes with a haptic trackpad that supports a stylus. So instead of drawing on the touchscreen, you can use the trackpad as a pseudo drawing pad when you’re out on the go. Otherwise, the Predator Triton 14 AI makes for a versatile laptop whether your a creator, gamer, or any combination of the two with its solid frame and bright per-key RGB backlit keyboard. It may not be as performative as other 14-inch laptops, but if I wanted to do more than game on the go, the Predator Triton AI would be my choice. Read More —Kyle Barr

See Legion Pro 7i (2025) at Amazon

See Legion Pro 7i (2025) at Lenovo

Best Chromebook: Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14

Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 2025 Review 09

Considering that today’s Chromebook Plus models all feature minimum specs that can handle most of the tasks you’ll do in ChromeOS, what does it matter if a laptop has a more powerful chip? Well, the $650 Lenovo Chromebook Plus has the impressively capable MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 and a total of 16GB of RAM. That means it can support up to two 4K external displays and has an NPU (neural processing unit) for light AI tasks. The keyboard feels great to type on, the trackpad is a delight to scroll on, and the bright OLED display has vibrant contrast without needing to spend even more. Read More —Kyle Barr

See Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 at Best Buy

Best customizable laptop: Framework Laptop 13

The 2025 version of the Framework Laptop 13 will make you an expert about what goes into a clamshell. You can buy the laptop pre-configured or select the parts you want from a long list, which you then have to put together yourself. Plus, all the extra modules you can slot in mean you’ll always have the I/O ports you need. The display and sound may not be as good as most other pre-built laptops—and it will get more expensive if you choose all the parts yourself—but the benefit of this modular laptop is it will be easier to repair and upgrade well into the future. Read More —Kyle Barr

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