Having a reliable laptop is a must in college — it can be difficult getting along without one. Many university classes now allow or even require students to use their laptops in class for a variety of purposes. Having a laptop with a long battery life is essential for note-taking during long lectures. You also want one that’s light enough and small enough to fit in a backpack or tote, for easy travel. Performance and longevity are important to consider as well. A basic, entry-level laptop will cover you for general classwork, but the more you’re able to spend, the longer it will likely last you — important if it needs to last you four years or more.
With the supply chain issues and chip shortages we’ve seen over the last few years, you might think it’s hard to get your hands on a decent budget-friendly laptop for school. However, it’s still possible to find laptops and two-in-ones with the latest processors from AMD and Intel, which help performance and battery life over previous generations.
The majority of our picks for the best college laptops run between $500 and $1,000. If you’re looking for a more affordable laptop — or if you’re open to an alternative to Apple’s MacOS and Microsoft Windows
— we recommend checking out the best Chromebooks for students
(just make sure any software you need for classes is supported). On the flip side, if you’re searching for a more powerful laptop, or a gaming laptop
that doubles as one for college, we have some suggestions for those, too. So if you’re ready to upgrade your tech, keep reading our list of the best laptops for college.
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Despite the availability of the bigger and better M2 MacBook Air, the M1 MacBook Air (one of the first to switch from Intel to Apple silicon) is sticking around and that’s a good thing. Apple’s entry-level laptop is still our go-to recommendation for a MacOS laptop for basic everyday use. It has great performance and long battery life — up to 18 hours — and is a solid choice for school and entertainment anywhere.
Like the previous Mac laptop models, the M1 Air has Apple’s Magic Keyboard, Touch ID, a Force Touch trackpad and a 13.3-inch Retina display. If you’re a college student, it’s hard to go wrong with the new MacBook Air.
Read our MacBook Air M1 review.
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HP packed a lot of value into the Aero 13: Eye-pleasing magnesium-aluminum chassis, strong processing performance, long battery life, a bright, colorful display and a weight of just 2 pounds (0.94 kilograms). Amazingly, considering all that it offers, it has a regular starting price of less than $800 but it’s regularly on sale for less than $700. Read our HP Pavilion Aero 13 review.
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Gateway was known for low-cost desktops and laptops in the 1990s. The brand was revived in 2020 for a new lineup of laptops and tablets sold exclusively through Walmart. We tested
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