Take it from us, though: It can be a little too easy to succumb to the hype. Don’t let some silky, disembodied voice in an ad persuade you to upgrade — you know better than anyone else when you need something new.
If you’re thinking of going laptop shopping soon, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before you whip out your credit card.
What do you actually need?
Here’s a good place to start: Think about the things you do daily and the situations where you find yourself turning to your laptop, and make a list.
Among other things, your preference for operating systems should play a role in all this. Are you a longtime Windows person or a Mac devotee? You’ll probably want to stick to what you know best, though switching is certainly doable.
From there, you can turn that list of needs into features to chew on.
If you’re constantly ferrying lots of files around, you might want to prioritize storage space and get the biggest SSD — or solid-state drive — you can afford.
If you want more than anything to post up in a coffee shop while cruising the skies in Microsoft Flight Simulator, a dedicated, or “discrete,” graphics card is almost a must.
And if you’re a creator — or are trying to become one — wrangling and editing big video files is easier if you have a processor with lots of cores and loads of RAM.
You’ll also want to think through what you often need to plug into a computer — think flash drives, SD cards and more. Full-size USB ports are getting rarer by the day, which means you may also need to buy an adapter to connect some of your accessories.
What could make your life easier?
Now that your list of needs is set, think about what your laptop could do to make your life a little easier.
Many people probably stick to keyboards and trackpads when using their laptops, but if you’re an avid artist or note-taker, you may want to consider a laptop with a touch screen and a stylus.
Unfortunately, Apple’s Mac laptops are a non-starter in this department, but PCs like the ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED ($999+) and Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 ($1,899+) have bright, crisp screens that fold all the way around to pull double duty as a tablet.
Pro tip: If you’re really serious about writing on your computer, a “detachable” PC like Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9 ($999+) might be the better choice. While you can snap on an included keyboard cover for easier typing, leaving it off means the Surface just acts like a sleek, Windows-powered tablet.
Or maybe you frequently find yourself itching for more screen space but don’t want to carry around another monitor. Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i ($1,999+) has a second screen where you’d normally find the keyboard, and its included accessories help you prop it up to use both displays at the same time.
Meanwhile, if you’re already an iPhone user, there’s a strong argument to stick with Apple for your next laptop. The company has built plenty of features that bridge the gap between smartphone and computer, like easy file transfers through Airdrop and the ability to respond to incoming calls and messages on your MacBook.
How much do you want to spend?
Unless you have a serviceable desktop sitting around, you’re probably going to spend a lot of time with your new machine, so it’s worth paying to make sure it has enough horsepower to last at least a few years.
But that doesn’t mean you need to go out and put a big dent in your bank account. For basic Web browsing, Chromebooks can be hard to beat, and you can get a great one for $600 or less — I’m a fan of Lenovo’s $599 IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook, mostly because of its huge, 16-inch screen.
Coincidentally, $600 is also what I’d consider the absolute floor for a good Windows laptop. As you get closer to the $1,000 mark, niceties like premium designs and crisper screens become more common, as do higher-end processors and more RAM. (Decent gaming laptops generally start in the neighborhood of $1,000, too, though prices can shoot through the roof if you’re trying to maximize performance.)
And if you’re okay with spending $1,500 or more on a laptop, you’re starting to look at the most powerful, feature-packed machines out there.
Things are a little different with Macs. Right now, Apple doesn’t sell any of its laptops for less than $1,000, though there are some exceptions — deals from third-party retailers are pretty common, and students and educators can claim the company’s M1 MacBook Air for as little as $899 with school discounts. (The catch? That’s a nearly three-year-old laptop. While it may not always feel dramatically faster, the M2 MacBook Air is definitely a bit more future-proof.)
Just like with Windows PCs, though, you’ll start to see big gains in performance as you shell out more money, until you hit the company’s new, top-of-the-line M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pros ($1,999+).
Actually seeing and touching a new laptop can give you some insights that company websites and reviews might not offer.
There’s a pretty good chance you’ll spend a lot of time typing on your new laptop, so take that keyboard for a test drive. Ditto for the trackpad — some are much worse than others. If you know you’re going to have to spend lots of time on Zoom calls, fire up the webcam and check out the quality. After all, no one wants to look lousy on camera if they can help it. And though the security systems at stores don’t always allow it, pick up the laptop if you can and get a feel for its heft.
How easily can you upgrade it?
There will come a point when your laptop stops working as well as it used to. Rather than buy a new laptop, one of the best things you could do for your wallet — and possibly even the environment — is upgrade it yourself.
Consider a laptop’s RAM, for instance — the more your laptop has, the snappier it’ll perform. Many readily available laptops make it easy enough to swap out important parts. Ditto for a laptop’s SSD or hard drive.
The problem is, not every company makes this as easy as it should be.
Apple’s recent MacBooks are a great example of this. Because the company’s chips use an all-in-one design, it’s near impossible to add more RAM or upgrade your storage without serious, exacting surgery. (The company will, however, let you try to repair your MacBook yourself if you’re feeling brave.)
Windows PCs are generally a little better in this department, though some companies actively make upgradeability a priority. Framework, an upstart laptop maker founded in San Francisco, is one of them. The company’s namesake notebook looks like an unassuming Windows laptop at first, until you notice that each of its ports can be popped out, swapped, and rearranged. The company sells additional ones if you want to replace, say, a USB port with an HDMI port for external monitors, and you can even swap in a new “mainboard” — which includes an updated CPU — when the original isn’t cutting it anymore.
And the best part? If you ever do need to crack open a Framework laptop for upgrades, the tool you’ll need to do it actually comes in the box. Too bad the rest of the industry isn’t this pro-consumer.
