The Best Laptops For College, Tested And Reviewed - Black Friday 2024

The best laptop for college we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024). This premium model is ideal for college students who need a thin, light laptop to write papers, browse the web, and consume media. Apple's base M3 SoC is well suited to light productivity tasks and even some video editing and 3D graphics. Plus, it doesn't even need a cooling fan, so you won't have to worry about loud fan noise in classrooms and libraries. It provides an amazing user experience, sporting a sharp, bright display, a spacious keyboard, and a gigantic haptic touchpad. Its battery life is excellent, though it takes a while to fully charge. Port selection is its biggest weakness as it only has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, and these ports will only output to two external displays if the lid is closed. The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) is also a good choice if you want a bigger screen with better-sounding speakers, but it costs more.

If you need or prefer a Windows machine, check out the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024). In many ways, it provides an even better user experience than the MacBook Air, sporting a brighter 120Hz touchscreen, a more comfortable keyboard, and a wider port selection. However, unlike most Windows laptops that most people are accustomed to, this 7th Edition model sports an ARM-based Qualcomm SoC. The X Elite chip can easily handle general productivity tasks, and its incredible power efficiency results in a 17-hour battery life during light uses. The downside is that Windows on ARM is relatively new (at least in this iteration with Microsoft's new Prism emulation), meaning you might encounter apps that don't run at all or perform poorly, so it's best to check with your school or professor regarding compatibility. 

FYI: the 15-inch Surface Laptop is more expensive than the 13-inch MacBook Air. If you can't afford to spend more on this model, you can check out the smaller 13-inch model, which we haven't tested but expect to be very similar in performance.

Our recommendation for a more affordable mid-range option is the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024), a 14-inch Windows ultraportable. It's compact and lightweight, and while it isn't quite as rigid as the MacBook Air above, it still feels pretty sturdy for the price. The battery lasts around 11 hours of light use, and you can charge it via USB-C, so you don't have to deal with a proprietary charger. It has a spacious, albeit slightly mushy keyboard, a large and responsive touchpad, a 1080p webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, and a wide port selection that includes two Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI.

For around $700 USD (the price may vary a bit, but not by a lot), you can get a configuration with a gorgeous 90Hz 2.8k OLED display, an Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. The Core Ultra 5 processor is plenty fast for general productivity tasks, and it can even handle more demanding workloads like programming. There are configurations with a faster Core Ultra 7 CPU as well as more RAM or storage, though expect to pay more. Finally, remember that the OLED flickers; there's a flicker-free IPS display option available if you're sensitive to screen flickering; however, the IPS panel has a lower FHD+ resolution and a slower 60Hz refresh rate.

If you are on a budget, then get the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). This model feels well-built despite its low price, and it's relatively portable for a 16-inch device. You can get it with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 CPU; both are more than adequate to handle most student workloads like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. RAM configuration is limited, as you can only get 8GB or 16GB. 16GB models are harder to find, but the upside is that the memory is user-upgradeable, so you can just get the 8GB model and pop in a SO-DIMM memory stick later on. Battery life is okay at around eight hours of light use.

The overall user experience is good. It has a comfortable keyboard, a large, responsive touchpad, and a decent 720p webcam. The display looks reasonably sharp but a bit dim and washed out, a common drawback of budget-friendly devices. However, you get plenty of nice features like Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity and a fingerprint sensor for quick logins. There's also a decent port selection with three USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI; the USB-C doesn't support video output, so you'll have to use the HDMI port to connect an external display.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) is the best laptop for students we've tested in the cheap category. It's a great option if you only need a simple device to browse the web and write papers. Its compact design makes it easy to carry around, and its battery lasts about 13 hours of light use. The Core i3 configuration (paired with an FHD display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage) is regularly on sale for around $400 to $500 USD on Lenovo's website. There are cheaper configurations, but we don't recommend them unless you have an extremely light workload.

As for the user experience, its FHD display looks sharp, gets bright enough for use in well-lit settings, and supports touch input. However, the keyboard feels mushy, and the touchpad is small and sometimes unresponsive. Its 1080p webcam is excellent, which is surprising for a budget-friendly Chromebook. Again, ensure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app; otherwise, it's best to go with a Windows laptop like the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023) above.

For students in more technical fields who need a high-performance laptop to run intensive applications, we recommend the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023). Like its M2 predecessor, this new M3 model has a sleek, compact design, a sturdy build, and all-day battery life. It provides a fantastic user experience with its sharp Mini LED display, comfortable keyboard, and gigantic, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. You get tons of ports to connect peripherals and external displays and an outstanding 1080p webcam for video calls. You also get a fingerprint sensor so that you can log in quickly.

Apple's M3 Pro/Max SoCs can easily handle demanding tasks, making this laptop a great option for students in programming, 3D graphics and animation, or science and engineering. The fans remain quiet under load, so you don't have to worry about causing too much noise in a quiet classroom or library. If screen real estate is more important than portability, you can get the larger Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). It's the same device but with better-sounding speakers and a longer battery life. The only downside is its higher price.

A quick note: Apple has released new versions of the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 with its M4 Pro/Max SoCs. We've purchased the new models and will test them soon. This means you can only get the M3 models via a third-party seller or marketplace, as Apple no longer sells them on its website. The new models have better performance, Thunderbolt 5 support, a brighter display, and a higher-resolution webcam. There's also a matte nano-texture display option that further cuts glare in well-lit settings.

If you want a laptop that you can game on during your downtime, get the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024). Sleek and compact, this 14-inch model is easy to carry around while still packing plenty of processing power to provide a smooth gaming experience in demanding games. It has a gorgeous 120Hz 2.8k OLED display, a tactile keyboard, and one of the best speaker systems you can find on a Windows machine. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a facial recognition IR camera for quick logins, and a wide port selection, including two USB-Cs and an HDMI 2.1.

Regarding the configuration options, you can choose between an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070. If you don't mind playing your games at 1080p, you can go with a 4050 model, but for 1440p gaming (or 2.8k), we recommend upgrading to a 4060 or 4070. RAM and storage max out at 32GB and 1TB, respectively. Only the SSD is user-replaceable, which you might want to do later, as 1TB fills up quickly with the size of most modern games. Battery life is decent at around eight hours of light use, so depending on your usage, you may have to plug it in for a quick charge to get through the day.