These days, laptops are all but required for college, whether you’re an engineering student that needs GPU horsepower for complex models, or an English major that just needs a decent keyboard and a screen. With how far they’ve come in the last few years, the best laptops for school can go a long way to promoting your success.
TL;DR: These Are the Best Laptops for Students
MacBook Pro 16 – Best laptop for collegeMacBook Air M3 – Best writing laptopSurface Laptop (Copilot+) – Best AI laptopRazer Blade 16 – Best gaming laptopLenovo Ideapad Flex 5i – Best Chromebook
For most people, the best laptop for college will look similar to what anyone would look for in a laptop. You want a comfortable keyboard, along with a display that doesn’t hurt your eyes to look at for too long. Under the surface, you also need a powerful processor and enough RAM to effectively multitask. After a few hours of grinding away at a paper, even Microsoft Office is going to start eating up any and all resources it can get its hands on, after all.
Engineering students, or anyone who needs to run complex models or software on their PC are especially going to need CPUs and GPUs that can keep up with them. If this sounds like you, I’d actually recommend going all-out for a gaming laptop like the Razer Blade 16, because its powerful GPU can easily keep up with any complex software like MATLAB or AutoCAD. Plus, you’ll be able to play your favorite PC games in your downtime.
1. MacBook Pro 16
Best Laptop for College
It almost seems like the MacBook Pro 16 is synonymous with ‘college,’ and you’ll doubtlessly see them populating your campus coffee shops, but there’s actually a reason for that. The top-end MacBook is extremely good at powering any kind of creative workload, thanks to a beefy GPU that has no problem in apps like AutoCAD and Adobe Premiere. But what really makes this laptop special for students is the software: macOS is incredibly simple and lacks any kind of bloat that would otherwise get in the way of you getting work done. You can just open the MacBook Pro 16 and be pretty confident that it’s going to get you right where you need to go without worrying about some obscure app you’ve never heard of booting up.
The only problem with the laptop running on macOS is that sometimes you’ll run into software that simply won’t run. And while you can get around this somewhat by running something like Bootcamp, you should check with your syllabus to make sure you won’t have compatibility issues with your professor’s pet software.
This latest generation of MacBook Pro runs on either the Apple M3 Pro or M3 Max, both of which should easily be able to run through any workload that comes up in your studies. However, while the GPU in the M3 Max is powerful, it still can’t really stand up to something like the RTX 4090 for engineering students or anyone that needs to do 3D modeling.
Back to School Laptop: OMEN Transcend 14
2. MacBook Air M3
Best Writing Laptop for College
I have done so much writing on a MacBook Air that it’s become the de facto writing laptop in my mind. It’s been a long time since the days of the butterfly keyboard, and the scissor switch-equipped one on newer MacBook Airs is a delight to type on. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the keyboard is housed in a laptop that’s just 0.44 inches thick and only weighs 2.7 lb, making it extremely easy to carry around campus.
The latest MacBook Air also features the Apple M3, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) featuring an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, which will have no problem keeping up with most of the work a liberal arts student can throw at it. However, when you go to checkout, I’d advise upgrading the laptop to at least 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, just to make sure you have breathing room. After all, you won’t be able to crack the laptop open and make any upgrades after you buy it.
While the MacBook Air is a no-brainer for anyone that just needs to type up papers and keep on top of email, it can run into issues in heavier workloads. The 8-Core GPU is decent enough, but because this laptop is using a fanless cooler design, it can really start to struggle in heavier workloads.
3. Surface Laptop 13 (Copilot+)
Best AI Laptop for College
Love it or hate it, AI PCs are here, and the Surface Laptop 13 is the star of the show. This Copilot+ laptop has one of the new Snapdragon X Elite processors, which makes it specially tuned for light AI workloads. This means if you want to use AI to help you structure assignments or summarize text for you, the Surface Laptop 13 is one of the best laptops to do it, thanks to a dedicated Copilot key that’ll bring up an AI assistant when you press it.
The Snapdragon X Elite processors do mean that this is a Windows laptop running on an ARM processor, which has always been a minefield for compatibility issues. However, in my time with this chip, most of the apps I use on a daily basis do work fine, though your mileage will vary, especially if emulating x86 apps would sap away too much performance for your needs.
However, if you specifically need a laptop for heavy AI workloads like Stable Diffusion or MATLAB, the lack of a discrete GPU can really hold this laptop back, despite the built-in NPU (neural processing unit). Instead, the Surface Laptop is meant for light AI workloads that complement your studying. Anyone actually engineering AI models is probably going to want a gaming laptop or workstation.
Regardless of what’s going on under the covers, the Surface Laptop is a stunning little laptop. The all-aluminum chassis is durable, and because Microsoft finally did away with the felt covering that plagued earlier models, it won’t get grimy after a couple of weeks of heavy study.
4. Razer Blade 16
Best Gaming Laptop for College
Look, I’ve used so many gaming laptops in my time, but there’s only one that’s an auto-include whenever I travel, especially if there’s any semblance of work that I’ll have to do. And it’s the Razer Blade 16. Razer really hasn’t changed up the design of this gaming laptop for years, but it’s still just as sleek as it was five years ago, with its premium unibody aluminum chassis and literally the best touchpad in a Windows 11 laptop.
But what makes it such a great gaming laptop for college is how thin and light it is. Sure, weighing 5.4 pounds on top of however much the giant charging brick weighs doesn’t scream portability, but if you need portable access to an RTX 4090, you’re not going to get much lighter than that. Plus, at just 0.87 inches thick, it’ll have no problem getting shoved into your backpack next to all of your books.
The only thing that really holds this laptop back is its temperature problems. While any laptop rocking a Core i9 processor and a 4090 is going to get hot, because the Razer Blade 16 is so thin, that heat goes straight to the keyboard deck. It definitely doesn’t get hot enough to burn you, but let’s just say it’s not going to be super comfortable to type on in the middle of summer.
The Blade does make up for this a bit by having a metric ton of ports, with five USB ports, an HDMI and an SD card reader. That means you can have a whole desktop setup with this laptop, making the heat a complete non-issue.
This is the laptop to get if you need a ton of GPU performance for your studies. Or, you know, you can just get it to play games in your downtime.
5. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
Best Chromebook for College
While they’re not the most exciting devices in the world, the best Chromebooks are an excellent choice for any student on a budget. If you just want a laptop to tackle word processing without breaking the bank something like the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook is a perfect fit. Its Core i3 processor isn’t going to win any marathons, but it doesn’t need to. The whole conceit of ChromeOS is that it’s basically a Chrome browser stretched out to be an entire operating system, and if you can get all of your schoolwork done in your browser, there’s not much of a reason not to get a Chromebook.
The Lenovo Thinkpad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a 2-in-1 Chromebook with a 1200p display. That’s not the sharpest display, but it’ll absolutely get the job done, especially if all you’re looking at is words anyways. Plus, during breaks, you can flip the screen over and use it as a tablet to watch movies or even play Android games to give your brain a rest.
You will probably have to rely on cloud storage a bit, though, as the 128GB eMMC drive doesn’t leave a lot of space to store files. However, because everything is done through Chrome, it’s incredibly easy to save everything to Google Drive anyways.
What to Look for in a Laptop for College
When you’re setting out to buy a laptop, especially for college, the most important thing you can possibly do is figure out what you’re going to do with it, and I don’t just mean ‘school work’. These days, what you study in school drastically affects what you’re going to need from a laptop. If you’re an English major, for example, you can probably get away with a Chromebook, as it’ll allow you to view texts online and write all your papers in Google Docs.
However, if you need to do heavy workloads like video editing or 3D modeling, you’re going to need a laptop with significantly more horsepower. Even computer science majors need to make sure they have a laptop with plenty of RAM that won’t crash when trying to compile projects.
Then, you’re going to need to make sure you stick to a budget that makes sense for you. If you have extra funds from your student aid that you can put towards your laptop, you need to set aside a clear budget and keep that in mind. If you don’t have thousands of dollars to spare, there are a ton of budget laptops available, but you need to have a clear picture of what you need before you start shopping for laptops.
A laptop’s CPU is probably the clearest picture you’re going to get about what it’s capable of at first glance. Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors are probably the most complicated chips to look at, but it’s easy to figure out where they stand. Generally, Intel Core i3 processors are reserved for low-power laptops that are only good for light word processing and web browsing. Core i5 processors are more of a middle ground and are easily able to get most people through light photo work or Excel. Intel Core i7 and Core i9 processors are reserved for high-end devices, and are what you should keep an eye out for if you need a lot of computing power. Luckily AMD Ryzen processors are branded similarly, with Ryzen 3, 5, 7 and 9 processors following the same logic as their Intel counterparts.
You’re going to need to also make sure you get enough RAM. It used to be that 8GB was more than enough for most people, but those days are over. Unless you’re going for a low-power Chromebook, you should shoot for 16GB. If you’re going to be doing a lot of video editing or scientific modeling, you should aim for at least 32GB.
Unless you specifically need a discrete GPU, you can get away with whatever integrated graphics come with a laptop’s CPU. However, if you do need the GPU horsepower, finding a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 should be a sweet spot for most people. These laptops won’t be quite as expensive as something with an RTX 4090, but will still be able to get through any workload, albeit a little slower.
Picking the right amount of storage depends entirely on how you use your laptop. For instance, I rely on Google Drive for work, so I can easily get by with a 512GB SSD. However, if you like to save all of your work locally, you’re going to want to beef up your SSD, especially if you get something like a MacBook, as Apple stopped letting users upgrade SSDs years ago.
Best Laptops for Students FAQ
What does a university student need in a laptop?
Most college students can get away with mid-range laptops. Aim for something like an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM and enough storage to keep their work. However, if you’re studying a field that requires powerful hardware, like video editing or engineering, a gaming laptop with a discrete GPU like an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 will get the job done.
Do college students get discounts on laptops?
Not all college students will get a discount on a laptop. As a general rule, you should check with your school’s Financial Aid department to see what laptop discounts (if any) you can take advantage of. Beyond that, some manufacturers offer special discounts on select hardware if you’re a student. Apple, for one, offers discounts on a wide range of hardware for any student that can prove they are enrolled in school.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. She’s been writing about gaming PCs for almost a decade and has been building them even longer. You can follow her @Jackiecobra.
