Best laptops 2023

The latest MacBook Pro is the most powerful laptop Apple has ever made, and it’s best you can buy if price isn’t an issue.

While you may prefer Windows 10 or 11 to macOS, there’s no denying the incredible performance offered by the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Both are available on 14in and 16in sizes, with superb power efficiency resulting in incredible battery life.

Apple’s stunning displays are here in all their glory, while you also get a great 1080p webcam for video calls – you can use your iPhone’s camera for this if you’d prefer, though.

It’s great to see HDMI and a SD card reader, but Apple still hasn’t included a USB-A port, so you may need an adapter or hub. There’s also the unattractive notch (which still can’t be used for Face ID) and no touchscreen, not to mention those high price tags.

The 2023 MacBook Pro is a superb device that will serve you well for many years to come, but you don’t necessarily need to spend this much on a laptop.

You might have heard a lot about Samsung’s Galaxy Book Ultra, but the more affordable convertible Pro model is a better option for most people.

It’s the finest convertible laptop you can buy right now, with that 360° not compromising design, durability, or ports. But the 120Hz OLED touchscreen is a real highlight here, especially when combined with solid all-round performance and stylus input via the included S Pen.

You even get quad speakers and a Full HD webcam, although it’s not all good news. The typing experience isn’t the most convincing, while battery life falls just short of a full working day for most people.

With a still-high price tag and no discrete GPU, your main decision here is whether it’s worth spending the money for a laptop that’s very good, but by no means perfect.

If you’re specifically looking for a 16in laptop, there’s more choice than ever in 2022. But the new MateBook 16s takes the crown, performing well in almost all the key areas. Performance from 12th-gen Intel CPUs is solid, especially when used in tandem with the gorgeous, large, touchscreen display.

Other highlights include a generous 84Wh battery with impressive fast charging, alongside a diverse range of ports and Huawei’s trademark premium design.

It’s big, bulky and there’s no discrete GPU, but if you can look beyond these things the MateBook 16s could be for you.

Most laptops look very similar these days, so it’s nice to see a device that truly stands out. The ceramic-like rear of the Zenbook 14X is a real sight to behold, yet military-grade durability proves the build hasn’t been compromised either.

But you’ll be looking at the 120Hz OLED display much more often, so it’s reassuring to know that it’s one of the best on any laptop. Despite being a relatively thin and light device, it doesn’t sacrifice on ports or performance, although the option for a discrete GPU would’ve been nice.

You’ll also have to make do with average battery life, but charging is relatively quick and the keyboard is solid. That makes it easy to recommend, even if there are no shortage of rivals at this price point. For everyday use, there aren’t many better.

The MateBook X Pro has been around for a few years, but this latest model is Huawei’s best effort yet.

A slick, premium design has been made even better thanks to a lighter magnesium alloy, which means a 14.2in laptop now weighs as little as 1.26kg. There’s still room for an excellent full-size keyboard and trackpad, though, which help the MateBook X Pro stand out from the competition.

Other highlights include that 90Hz display, a much more logical webcam position and solid performance from Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs, although there’s no option for a discrete GPU. Huawei has also gone all-in on USB-C, meaning there’s no room for any USB-A ports.

Fast charging is a nice touch, but sub-par battery life means you’ll be reaching for the 90W adapter more often than you might like.

Despite these drawbacks, the MateBook X Pro remains an excellent laptop that’s definitely worth considering.

The Dell XPS 15 remains one of the best-looking business laptops on the market, thanks to its aluminium and carbon fibre finish.

It excels in many other areas, too: its Core i7-11800H processor is very fast, while the laptop also boasts plenty of storage and a great keyboard.

A 15in display is vibrant and a joy to use, especially when combined with excellent speakers. It’s also got the battery power to handle a day of work in most scenarios.

XPS machines are never cheap, though, and the 9510 is not perfect. You’ll want to look elsewhere if colour accuracy is a top priority, and you’ll be able to find better battery life and a broader selection of ports elsewhere.

Putting OLED in the name of the laptop shows you Asus was confident in the Zenbook S 13’s display, and it’s easy to see why. The 13.3in, 2800×1800 panel is a joy to use, with incredibly detail and colours that really pop. It also supports input via touch and the stylus that’s included in the box.

Combined with a full-size keyboard with decent travel, the Zenbook S 13 is easy to use as an everyday laptop. That’s helped by AMD’s 2022 Ryzen 7 chip and a bumper 16GB of RAM under the hood, which means performance is great despite the lack of a discrete GPU.

Despite having such a thin and light design, the device also boasts great battery life. Charging is via USB-C, but there are no USB-A ports or Thunderbolt support. You’ll also need to rely on the fingerprint scanner to unlock it, with no depth sensor beside the solid 1080p webcam for face unlock.

Still, this is a laptop which ticks all of the most important boxes for many people. But that display is the main reason to buy it over rivals.

The Gram 16 being so low on this list reflects the strength of laptops in 2022, but also that it’s not quite as impressive as it once was.

It uses 12th-gen Intel CPUs, but not from the most powerful H-Series and still with an integrated GPU. Many premium laptops are shifting to a high refresh rate display, but the Gram 16 is still stuck at 60Hz. At this price, it’s harder to accept these compromises.

But we’d still recommend considering it due to the way it excels in other areas. The Gram 16 is still incredibly thin and light, while a matt coating on the screen contributes to an excellent viewing experience. Battery life is among the best you’ll find in any laptop, and it’s impressively durable for a device that’s so portable.

We didn’t think LG could make the Gram 17 much better, but the 2021 model has really nailed it.

It remains an incredibly lightweight marvel of engineering, but LG has now improved our main problems with the 2020 model – namely the speakers and trackpad. Design refinements mean the Gram 17 looks better than ever, while performance from 11th-gen Intel chips is impressive.

But on a 17in laptop that weighs just 1.35kg, getting such great battery life is a pleasant surprise. There are plenty of ports here for most people (including Thunderbolt 4), plus above-average speakers and an excellent display, although the latter isn’t touchscreen.

If you can look beyond a spongy keyboard and the relatively high price, the Gram 17 is the large laptop to beat. There is a 2023 version, but new CPUs and the option for a discrete GPU are the only real changes compared to the 2021 model. But its age is the main reason it’s not higher in the list.

Several years of minimal updates mean the Surface Laptop 5 isn’t a very exciting device. In 2022, its dated design can’t match the competition, and Microsoft has only added new processors this time around.

However, there are still plenty of reasons to consider it. Performance has had a useful boost and offers plenty for everyday tasks, while the touchscreen display (you can choose between 13.5in and 15in) remains one of the best – even without OLED.

The keyboard is perhaps the only exceptional thing about this laptop, but it gets the fundamentals right. You’ll have to deal with thick bezels and no AMD option anymore though, and it doesn’t come cheap.

If you’re looking for a 2-in-1 laptop, well how about a 3-in-1 which Microsoft has achieved with the Surface Laptop Studio.

The screen might not detach like the Surface Book but a slick hinge design means you can quickly alter the Studio between three useful modes, although we’d like to adjust the angles on some.

The laptop also has a gorgeous 120Hz display, which can automatically adjust depending on what you’re doing. This should boost already-solid battery life, while a dedicated RTX 3050 Ti GPU at the higher end helps deliver impressive performance.

Combined, these features make it a well-rounded and versatile laptop. It is at the premium end in terms of price and we’d like more ports but the Surface Laptop Studio could make an excellent choice for some users.

With the XPS 13 Plus, Dell has reimagined what a 13in laptop can be.

Undoubtedly the highlight is a new edge-to-edge keyboard, which delivers a truly excellent typing experience. An invisible trackpad is surprisingly good, but the row of physical function keys with haptic equivalents doesn’t quite hit the mark.

However, it’s easy to excuse, given the quality of the 3.5K OLED screen and gorgeous design. For a device that’s only 15mm thick and weighs just 1.26kg.

Ports and battery life are the big reasons it’s not higher in this list though. The XPS 13 Plus definitely isn’t the most practical laptop, but it is one of the most exciting.

The Yoga Slim 7i Pro X isn’t most powerful laptop you can buy, but it manages to pack a lot of high-end specs into a relatively slim (15.7mm) and light (1.45kg) 14.5in device. An Intel 12th-gen Core i7 chip combines with an Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU and 32GB of RAM for superb performance without any significant overheating.

Its modern design doesn’t stand out among Windows 11 laptops, but you do get a great keyboard and large, responsive trackpad. The screen has a high resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, but panels around this price often deliver better colour accuracy.

Alongside underwhelming battery life and that high price tag, most people will find better value for money elsewhere. But you’ll struggle to find more performance in a consumer-focused laptop of this size.

The 14 Flip OLED is an expensive convertible laptop, but it ticks a lot of boxes for most people.

Undoubtedly the highlight is that 90Hz OLED display, which delivers both vibrant colours and crisp details. It’s a touchscreen panel, but can also work with the stylus included in the box – that’s where you’ll want to make use of the 360° hinge.

Performance from Intel’s 13th-gen CPUs is solid, despite no separate discrete GPU. And with an impressive keyboard, decent battery life and plenty of ports, the 14 Flip OLED has all the fundamentals covered.

A poor webcam is the biggest frustration, alongside some unnecessary extra Windows 11 apps and that high price tag in the UK. But if you’re based elsewhere (such as the US) or aren’t working to a strict budget, this is a solid option.

The TUF Gaming A15 isn’t a laptop most people should consider, but it’s an excellent option for people who want a portable gaming machine.

A heavy, bulky will put many people off, but it means the device has some incredible specs. A powerful AMD Ryzen 7 processor is paired with Nvidia’s RTX 3060 discrete GPU to help the A15 handle very demanding workloads. It’s supplemented with 16GB of RAM and a generous 1TB SSD.

The 15.6in 1440p display is a joy to use, especially with its 165Hz refresh rate. Battery life is better than many gaming laptops and there are plenty of ports, although the USB ports could be faster. You also miss out on a fingerprint scanner, while the webcam and trackpad aren’t great.

But for gamers, this remains one of the best ways to play anywhere without making big sacrifices to the quality of your experience. There are plenty of other great cheap gaming laptops, though.