It’s been quite a busy year for laptops, especially with all the talk of Windows on Arm and AI PCs. But cutting through all the hype and fluff, there have been some really fantastic laptops we’ve had a chance to review, some of which will undoubtedly stand as the best laptops of the entire year.
Don’t get me wrong — there are some big ones still waiting in the wings too, whether that’s the M4 MacBook Pro or the AMD laptops coming soon. But now that we’ve arrived at the halfway point of 2024, let’s rank the six best new laptops — out of the 33 we’ve reviewed so far.
6. Acer Swift X 14
Let’s be honest: Acer’s Swift laptops have never been lookers. The latest version of the Swift X 14 makes up for that in lots of exciting ways, but it’s the price that really makes it stand out. For $1,700, you can get the high-end configuration, which comes with an RTX 4070, a 3K OLED 120Hz screen, 32GB of RAM, and terabyte of storage. That is quite the deal.
The fact that Acer even allows you to configure this relatively slim 14-inch laptop with an RTX 4070 already puts it in a category of its own. Outside of gaming laptops, that’s practically unheard of. It’s still a bit limited, mind you, given the system’s total thermal design power (TDP) of 80 watts. But in our performance testing, whether that’s in video editing or gaming, the Swift X 14 beats larger 16-inch laptops with the same GPU (except for the laptop sitting at my No. 5 spot).
If you don’t like the idea of wasting some power, the $1,400 RTX 4050 configuration should also be a great value — and a bit more fitting for this laptop’s size. Either way, it’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than the MacBook Pro.
5. Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16
A lot of laptops have attempted to be MacBook Pro killers this year, and none have succeeded as well as the Yoga Pro 9i 16. Despite only being 0.72 inches thick, it packs up to a Core Ultra 9 185H and RTX 4060.
That GPU, in particular, is of the utmost importance. The RTX 4060 might not sound like the biggest deal in the world, but these days, a mobile GPU is more than just its name. Many other laptops with the RTX 4060 on board — such as the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra or the Dell XPS 16 — restrict its thermals, allowing for a max of just 60 watts to the GPU. The Yoga Pro 9i 16 cranks that up to 100 watts, letting you get your money’s worth out of this graphics card. It makes a huge difference in performance, allowing this laptop to operate more like a traditional gaming laptop in terms of raw power.
Beyond just the performance, the Yoga Pro 9i 16 is rather decked out with an expansive touchpad, 5-megapixel webcam, and a 165Hz OLED screen. It shows that even in this current generation, Windows laptop manufacturers are getting really close to replicating the magic of the MacBook Pro.
4. MacBook Air M3
The MacBook Air M3 is what it is. There’s very little new here — it’s really all about the extra performance that comes with the M3. In particular, though, it’s the GPU performance that really provides a meaningful uplift over the M2.
Thanks to Dynamic Caching, in particular, the graphics performance has been cranked up, turning the superthin laptop into a more capable gaming and content creation machine. It’s really quite impressive what Apple was able to pull off in a laptop this tiny.
Of course, no one buys the MacBook Air specifically for those tasks — but when it’s $900 cheaper than the next step up in performance (the M3 Pro MacBook Pro), hobbyists, students, and people just getting started will appreciate the boost.
If you don’t happen to be one of those people, there’s really no big reason to get the M3 over the M2 MacBook Air — which is why Apple still sells the latter. It might not be the most revolutionary laptop I used in 2024, but it’s one of the best.
3. Asus Zenbook 14 (Q425)
There’s nothing advanced about the Zenbook 14 (Q425). It uses a plain Intel Core Ultra chip and, has a relatively simple design. It’s a nice-looking laptop, but nothing that stands out necessarily. So, what makes me place this as the third-best laptop released in 2024 so far? It all comes down the price.
That might sound silly, but finding a laptop this affordable that doesn’t sacrifice one or more of its parts is rare. Not only does the Zenbook 14 (Q425) not drop the ball in any important area, it actually outdoes many of its much more expensive counterparts.
Battery life is perhaps the best example. This is one of the very longest-lasting laptops of this generation that uses Intel’s Meteor Lake chips — likely due to the juiced-up 75 watt-hour battery that’s been stuffed inside. On top of that, Asus uses an OLED panel here, which again, puts to shame all the IPS displays being used in far more expensive devices.
The Zenbook 14 line has long been our go-to recommendation for Windows laptops under $1,000, and this year’s model only takes that proposition further.
2. Surface Laptop 7th Edition
The Surface Laptop 7th Edition is my choice from the new crop of Copilot+ PCs. Not only is it a good balance of performance, battery life, and portability, it really feels like it has the complete package.
Its design is the most confident and refined of the bunch, and it brings some great tweaks to the Surface Laptop design that I’ve always wanted. That includes a haptic feedback trackpad, rounded corners on the display, and thinner bezels across the board. It even has a brighter, faster screen. At long last, it’s the MacBook alternative it always felt like it could be.
I liked it so much that it quickly became my new daily carry — something I certainly didn’t expect to have happen. That wouldn’t have happened without the fantastic battery life and performance that come with the switch to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips. It doesn’t skip a beat, and considering this is a transition in system architecture, that feels like a miracle.
No, the battery life doesn’t quite live up to my high expectations — nor did the AI features. But is it the best Surface Laptop ever made? You bet — and it’s one of my favorite laptops you can buy today.
1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
This has been a down year for gaming laptops. With a lack of new mobile GPUs to choose from, many gaming laptop manufacturers have taken a step back. And rightfully so.
But Asus did just the opposite. Rather than save their big guns for next year, the company took a bold step forward in just about every way other than gaming performance with the new ROG Zephyrus G14. Better battery life? Check. Gorgeous OLED 3K panel with a 120Hz refresh rate? Yup. Thinner, more minimalist design elements? In spades.
This powerhouse machine is within striking distance of the MacBook Pro in terms of thickness and comes in lighter at 3.3 pounds. And remember — you can stuff an RTX 4070 and Ryzen 9 8945HS in this thing — both running full tilt. It’s simply the best-looking gaming laptop ever made — a far cry from the bulky, gaudy designs of yesteryear.
It’s the one case where I’d recommend buying the latest model over the 2023 version despite the relative performance parity — it really brings that many significant upgrades to the table. There’s a reason we called it “damn near perfect.”
