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When you’re going off to college, you’ll need a laptop that can handle your school workload. Depending on your program, the best laptop for students may be a simple Chromebook, an ultraportable Windows laptop or MacBook, or a powerful mobile workstation. Most of the time, you’ll want a portable device with a long battery life, so it’s easy to carry around, and you won’t need to bring the charger with you. As you’ll be using the laptop a lot, you should also prioritize a good user experience, like a sharp and bright display, a comfortable keyboard, and a responsive touchpad. It’s also important to consider the port selection for peripherals or external displays.
Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024) – Best Laptop For College
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 general productivity tasks and even some light video editing and 3D graphics. Plus, this is a fanless device, so you won’t have to worry about loud fan noise in classrooms and libraries. The overall user experience is amazing; you get a sharp, bright display, a stactile keyboard, and a gigantic haptic touchpad. Port selection is its biggest weakness as it only has two USB-Cs. 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.
Just so you know, Apple has released the new M4 MacBook Airs. They’re relatively minor upgrades, bringing increased performance, a 12MP camera with Center Stage support, and better external display support, allowing you to connect up to two external monitors while still using the laptop’s built-in screen. If you don’t need these upgrades, you can get the M3 model at a lower price, but you’ll have to find it through a reseller, as Apple no longer offers it on its website.
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. Unlike most Windows laptops, this 7th Edition model uses an ARM-based Qualcomm SoC. Performance isn’t a problem, but since most programs don’t run natively on an ARM processor, 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.
Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-72-53BP) – Best Mid-Range Laptop For College
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.
ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023) – Best Budget Laptop For College
If you are on a budget, 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. Its 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.
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) – Best Cheap Laptop For College
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. If you want to see more Chromebook options, check out our best student Chromebook recommendations.
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024) – Best Workstation For College
For college students in more technical fields needing a high-performance laptop to run intensive applications, get the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024). This new M4 model’s outer design remains unchanged from its M3 predecessor, though there are a few noteworthy internal upgrades, which we’ll get into shortly. In short, this is still a premium workstation laptop with an exceptional all-aluminum build and a compact design. You get all the niceties of previous Apple-silicon MacBook Pros, like a sharp 120Hz Mini LED display, well-balanced up-firing speakers, and tons of ports. The battery lasts easily through a full school day and takes less than two hours to charge to full.
Aside from the expected performance increase that comes with every new generation of MacBook Pros, there are a few upgrades and new features. These include an increase in display brightness when viewing SDR content (up to 1000 cd/m²), an optional nano-texture display that further cuts glare, a 12MP webcam with Center Stage support, and Thunderbolt 5 (Pro/Max models). For those interested in the base M4 model, there’s also some good news: it now has a third USB-C port with the same external display support as the Pro model. If screen real estate is more important than portability, get the larger Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024). It’s the same device but with better-sounding speakers. It’s more expensive, though, and it’s only available with an M4 Pro or Max chip, meaning there’s no base M4 configuration.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) – Best Gaming Laptop For College
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. Its 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.