The 5 Best Laptops Under $1,000 - Summer 2024 Reviews

The best laptop under $1,000 we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022), a 13-inch ultraportable designed for general productivity. It has an exceptionally sturdy all-aluminum build, a bright and sharp Retina display, a spacious keyboard, and Apple's industry-leading haptic touchpad. You also get great-sounding speakers and an excellent 1080p webcam. Performance isn't a problem; its M2 SoC can easily handle general productivity tasks and even some light programming and video editing. Port selection is its biggest drawback, as it only has two USB-C ports with support for a single external display.

Configuration-wise, the only model under $1,000 is the base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. RAM is probably the biggest limitation, as you can always get external storage drives, so make sure you can live with only 8GB. If you need more, you can try Apple's refurbished section or third-party sellers, where you might find a 16GB model that's closer to $1,000. Otherwise, upgrading the RAM costs $200 USD more.

If you can stretch your budget slightly over $1,000, you can get the newer M3 Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024). The upgrades are fairly minor, though. They include Wi-Fi 6E, slightly better performance, and support for two external displays, though the latter only works with the laptop closed. The M3 version occasionally goes on sale for $999, but unless you need the upgrades on the M3 model, you're probably better off getting an M2 model with 16GB of RAM than an M3 with 8GB.

Our best pick under $1,000 on the Windows side is the ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (2023). This sleek ultraportable sports a full aluminum chassis and feels as well-built as the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022) above. Plus, it's a 2-in-1 convertible with support for pen input. It comes with a stylus, although there's nowhere to dock the pen for transport. This new model sports an Intel 13th Gen P-series CPU. For under $1,000, you can get a Core i5 configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is more than adequate for general productivity tasks.

As its name suggests, this laptop has an OLED display. It looks incredibly sharp, gets bright enough to combat glare, and produces deep, inky blacks. Also, it has a 90Hz refresh rate, resulting in a more responsive desktop experience. The keyboard feels great to type on, and the touchpad is large and responsive. You get two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI port, Wi-Fi 6E, and a facial recognition camera for quick logins. Battery life sits around eight hours of light use, so depending on your usage, you may need to plug it in for a quick charge to get through the day.

The best Chromebook under $1,000 we've tested is the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022). It has a 14-inch screen that gets bright enough for use in most indoor settings and provides just enough space for split-screen multitasking. Since this is a 2-in-1, you can set it up in tent mode for media consumption or use it as a tablet. The display supports pen input, and the laptop comes with a stylus that you can dock into the side of the device for transport. Ports include one USB-A, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4, and an HDMI port. Battery life is amazing at over 13 hours of light use, and you can charge over USB-C. Unfortunately, there's no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition IR camera.

Regarding specs, this laptop is available with various Intel 12th Gen CPUs, ranging from a Core i3 to a Core i7. These CPUs are more than fast enough for anything you'd need to do on a Chromebook. The problem is availability. The Core i5 model with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage is the most widely available, and even that model is getting hard to find. There's a newer 20203 model with Intel 13th-generation CPUs, which we haven't tested but looks largely the same design-wise. The only other upgrade besides the CPU is the higher-resolution 1440p webcam. You can get the 2023 model on Amazon or at Best Buy.

The best under-$1,000 2-in-1 tablet we've tested is the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021), a tablet Windows PC with a built-in kickstand and detachable keyboard. With this versatile form factor, you can detach the keyboard to make the device lighter and easier to hold or to save space, like on a kitchen counter or airplane tray table. Its 3:2 display looks incredibly sharp and gets bright enough for outdoor use. Plus, it has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes the system feel more responsive, especially when using pen input.

Unfortunately, you must buy the stylus separately; the same goes for the keyboard. The stylus is optional, but the keyboard is a near necessity because Windows isn't particularly touch-friendly, and the keyboard also helps protect the screen from scratches. The webcam is excellent and among the best on the market, and you also get an IR camera for quick logins via facial recognition. Battery life is passable at around seven hours of light use or six hours of video playback.

One thing to note is that Microsoft has already released the Surface Pro 9. It's identical to the Pro 8 in design; it just has a faster Intel 12th Gen processor. The performance increase likely isn't noticeable in light productivity workloads, so you aren't missing out on much. As for the Surface Pro 8, you can easily find the base model for as low as $700 since it's an older device, although that's without the keyboard and stylus, so expect to spend a bit more for the whole package. See the Surface Pro 9 on Amazon. Final note: Microsoft will release the new Arm-based Surface Pro 10 soon; you can read about it here. Be sure to look out for our full review after it launches.

Our best gaming pick is the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023). For under $1,000, you can get this laptop with a Ryzen 7 7735HS, an AMD Radeon RX 7600s GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a fast 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. This configuration can deliver high, consistent frame rates in demanding AAA games at 1080p or even 1440p, depending on your settings. The only display option within the budget is a 165Hz FHD+ IPS panel; while it doesn't get very bright, it does support variable refresh rates to reduce screen tearing.

This laptop sports a solid port selection for peripherals and external displays, including an Ethernet and HDMI 2.1 port. The RAM and storage are user-replaceable, providing a clear upgrade path down the line. Thermal throttling is minimal under load, but the laptop does get hot and loud. Thankfully, there aren't any hot spots around the WASD keys. This laptop also isn't particularly portable as it's relatively bulky, and you'll need to carry along its fairly beefy charger for use on the go, as its battery lasts only a little over an hour when gaming.