Best laptops 2025: MacBooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks, and more for every use
Let us help you find the right laptop for you
There are hundreds of laptops to choose from, and that’s before getting into the thousands of different configurations with different processors, GPUs, storage, and memory – It’s overwhelming! To save you from being lost in the sea of comparable specifications, I’ve picked out the best laptops across different operating systems, budgets, as well as uses from gaming to web calling, working in Google Docs, and more.
Each of my laptops picks are capable of handling whatever life throws at you. While some focus more on gaming vs offering long battery life, I’ve explained everything everyday terms to help you find the best laptop to suit your needs.
MacBook Air 13 M4
Best laptop
✅ Apple M4 drives enough power for video editing, 3D modeling, gaming, and more
✅ Stable performance whether plugged in or running off battery
✅ Decent 10-15 hours of battery life
✅ Generous 16GB of memory with base specs
❌ Default 256GB of SSD storage is too small
The MacBook Air M4 is easily the best value-packed laptop today. Apple’s M4 processor punches well above its weight with enough power for video editing, 3D modeling, gaming, and more. It can deliver this performance whether it’s plugged into a wall or running off a battery. If you’re looking for more battery life, the MacBook Air delivers on longevity with up to 10-12 hours of battery life. It also comes relatively well-equipped with 16GB of base memory (thanks Apple Intelligence requirements), although the starting 256GB of SSD storage is too small by modern standards.
Price: $899-$999
Microsoft Surface Laptop
Best budget laptop
✅ Super thin and relatively lightweight at 15.6mm thin and 2.7 pounds
✅ Full 45 TOPs of AI performance
✅ Up to 23 hours of battery life for marathon streaming and browsing
❌ Screen tops out at 60Hz and 400-nits
❌ Lower processor count might limit multi-tasking performance
If $999 is too much for a laptop for you, consider the $869 Microsoft Surface Laptop. It offers mid-range specs at an entry-level price, including a 13-inch IPS display that remains colorful and sharp, thanks to its 1080p resolution. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor doesn’t offer as much grunt as Apple’s M4 chip, but it can still handle image editing and light gaming, including Minecraft. The Snapdragon X Plus CPU is optimized for AI tasks, including live transcription and translation, generating summaries, and enhancing your camera quality during web calls. For a lower price, the Surface Laptop comes with an equal 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.
Price: $869
MacBook Pro 14
Best performance laptop
✅ Mini LED display looks impeccable with fantastic brightness, contrast, and sharpness
✅ Apple M4 maintains peak performance for longer with active cooling fans
✅ Included HDMI 2.1 port and SD card reader
❌ Pro and Max chip upgrades come at a steep price increase
The MacBook Pro 14 represents a significant leap in capabilities and price compared to our overall favorite, the MacBook Air. It features a significantly brighter, sharper Mini LED screen with a faster refresh rate. You also get more ports, including HDMI 2.1 and an SD card reader. The starting model still features an M4 processor, but you can jump up to more capable Pro and Max chips. The battery life on this model lasts longer, and its active cooling fans enable peak performance for more extended periods than on the MacBook Air.
Price: $1,399
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14
Best Chromebook
✅ Gorgeous 15-inch OLED screen
✅ Helpful AI features for searching and organizing
✅ Runs Android apps next to Google’s cloud suite
✅ Long battery life that lasts 17 hours
❌ Expensive for a Chromebook
The Lenovo Chromebook Plus takes the crown for the best Chromebook. $749 might sound like a lot for a Chromebook, but this is a full-featured Chrome OS laptop featuring a 14-inch (1,920 x 1,200) OLED screen with a MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor. This CPU enables the Chromebook to handily run Android apps and games alongside all of Google’s cloud-based apps. There’s also 50 TOPs of AI performance packed into the chip, so you can run AI tasks like text capture, organize hundreds of browser tabs into smart groups, and select to search from anywhere. 16GB LPDDR5 memory, a 256GB SSD, and up to 17 hours of battery life round out the rest of this Chromebook’s specs.
Price: $749
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Best gaming laptop
✅ Beautiful OLED display for gaming and work
✅ Nvidia RTX 5060 delivers fantastic 1080p and 1440p gaming performance
✅ Multi-Frame Generation boosts frame rates for full resolution gaming
❌ Expensive to start, more expensive to upgrade
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is our favorite gaming laptop. It’s thin yet powerful. Its gorgeous 14-inch Nebula OLED screen makes everything from games to spreadsheets look amazing on this laptop. The laptop starts with an Nvidia RTX 5060 that’s powerful enough (with the help of Multi-Frame Generation) to run all games at 60fps, even with the laptop’s full 2,880 x 1,800 resolution display. You can pack maximum power into this machine by upgrading it to an Nvidia RTX 5080, if you so choose to.
Price: $1,699-$1,799
Lenovo Legion Go S
Best gaming handheld
✅ Peak performance from the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU
✅ VRR display smooths out sub-60fps frame rates
✅ 32GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage
❌ Battery delivers 3-5 hours of battery life
❌ Display features large bezels and SDR-only colors
Technically not a laptop, but gaming handhelds have skyrocketed in popularity, and the fact that they run full Windows 11 allows you, and several hundred people already are, to use them like a full-on laptop. The Lenovo Legion Go S lets you truly take your PC gaming on the go, whether it be on the couch, a train, or a plane. I’ve been able to play full rounds of Helldivers 2, complete the Persona 3 Tartarus, and 100% Star Wars Outlaws all on the Legion Go S. Gaming handhelds are still not the ideal way to play graphical juggernauts like Cyberpunk 2077, and you’ll have to run most games on low settings. Even with those limitations, the convenience of the Lenovo Legion Go S can’t be beat – at least not until the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X releases later this month.
Price: $779
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.