Choosing the best laptop is a largely subjective decision that comes down to your primary use cases, your preferred operating system, and your budget. In other words, there's no such thing as a universally best laptop.
This is an annoying fact of life for both laptop shoppers and those of us doling out "best laptop" recommendations, since we can't make custom judgment calls for everyone in need of a new machine. (I would love to, but I've got a thing after this.) However, I can confidently point you in the right direction of some standouts that I and other members of the Mashable team have vetted and approved.
What are the best laptops right now?
As of April 2025, we think the new 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M4) is the best MacBook for most people. It's a sleek-as-ever notebook featuring impressive performance, open-lid support for two external displays, a great 12MP Center Stage camera, and an extremely reasonable starting price of $1,199 (making it $100 cheaper than its M3 predecessor).
The best Windows laptop we've tested is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, a sophisticated and snappy Copilot+ PC boasting an unrivaled battery life of nearly 23 hours. Note that Microsoft recently announced an Intel version that may appeal to users wary of Windows on ARM for app compatibility reasons, but it's a business-oriented model with a significant markup.
A note about tariffs
Now is an especially weird time to be shopping for a new laptop: President Donald Trump's tariffs on almost all imports have upended the tech market, causing some computer manufacturers to increase their prices and others to temporarily pause U.S. sales. We're monitoring this situation closely and have reached out to all major laptop brands to see what changes they've made to their lineups' pricing or availability, if any.
None of our current top picks are affected by tariffs (so far), but two new contenders that we have in hand for testing have been impacted. The Asus ZenBook A14 powered by a Snapdragon X processor is now $100 pricier because of tariffs, and the base Framework Laptop 13 with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU has been shelved for the time being. Framework said on X that the current 10% tariff on Taiwanese imports means it would have to sell the configuration to U.S. shoppers at a loss.
Read on for Mashable's in-depth guide to the best laptops of 2025. FYI: We've listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop's base model.
How will President Trump’s tariffs affect you? Keep checking Mashable for our latest tariff news and explainers, from delayed Nintendo Switch 2 preorders to reports of iPhone 16 panic buying.