The 5 Best 15-16 Inch Laptops - Fall 2024

The best 16-inch laptop we've tested is the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). With its thin bezels, this 16-inch model is practically the same size as most 15-inch laptops. It feels incredibly well-built, provides an amazing user experience, and is ideally suited to demanding tasks like video editing and 3D graphics. It has a bright Mini LED display with full DCI P3 coverage, a comfortable keyboard that you can type on all day, and a gigantic, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. The speakers and the webcam are among the best on the market. Its port selection is excellent, so you can connect multiple peripherals and external displays easily. The only downside is that none of the components are user-replaceable, and upgrading the RAM and storage adds to the total cost of the device considerably.

For Windows users, we recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024), a premium workstation laptop. This model is configurable with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, up to a Core Ultra 9 185H, and various NVIDIA discrete GPUs, including GeForce and RTX Ada Generation models, giving you plenty of processing power to tackle demanding tasks. You can get up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, and unlike the MacBook, these components are user-upgradeable. Three display options are available: a 60Hz FHD+ IPS, a 165Hz QHD+ IPS, and a 60Hz 4k+ OLED panel—the latter has full DCI P3 coverage, making it suitable for color-critical work. The user experience is great. You get a comfortable keyboard, a large haptic touchpad, Lenovo's iconic Trackpoint, and an excellent 1440p webcam. Port selection is excellent, as is battery life, which is almost on par with the MacBook.

If you only need to perform light tasks like web browsing and text processing, get the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024), one of the best 15-inch laptops we've tested that uses Windows. It's the first Surface Laptop to sport an ARM SoC, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. The biggest concern is app compatibility, as most programs don't run natively on an ARM processor, so you need to ensure that the apps you use have a native ARM version or run well enough through emulation to get your work done. Compatibility aside, this laptop provides an amazing user experience with one of the brightest displays and the longest battery life we've tested. It even beats Apple silicon's battery efficiency, lasting up to 17 hours on a single charge for light use. It also stands out for its keyboard, touchpad, and webcam quality. RAM and storage max out at 64GB and TB, respectively. The storage is user-replaceable, but the RAM isn't.

For those who want a Mac, get the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024), one of the best 15-inch laptops we've tested. This laptop is super thin for its size but still feels rigid and exceptionally well-built. It comes with the same powerful (base) M3 SoC as the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023) above, but due to the fanless design, it's not intended for intensive and sustained tasks. The user experience is great; you get amazing up-firing speakers, a large haptic touchpad, and a 2.8K display with full DCI P3 coverage. The display is IPS, so it doesn't get as bright as the Pro's Mini LED panel, and its refresh rate is only 60Hz rather than 120Hz, so it doesn't feel as smooth. Port selection is scant, with only two USB-Cs, but they offer USB4/Thunderbolt 3 data speeds and charging. Unlike the older M2 version, there's support for two external displays, but only if you close the laptop lid.

Our best mid-range pick is the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 (2023), a 2-in-1 convertible. It's fairly portable for a 16-inch device, thanks to its thin and light design, and while it doesn't feel as premium as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) above, it's still very sturdy, sporting an all-aluminum chassis. Its large display gives you plenty of room for split-screen multitasking, and since this is a 2-in-1, you can flip the screen and use it as a tablet. There's also pen input support, and the laptop comes with a stylus in the box. The keyboard feels comfortable to type on for extended periods and includes a Numpad, which is handy if you work with lots of numbers.

Port selection is excellent; you get two USB-As, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, an HDMI, and a MicroSD card reader. Biometrics include a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition camera. Spec-wise, it's available with Intel 13th Gen U- and P-series CPUs, which are plenty fast for general productivity tasks like web browsing, text processing, and video playback. The webcam is decent; the image looks relatively sharp but has an unnatural tint, and the microphone picks up some background noise. Finally, while the manufacturer has discontinued this laptop, you can still get it directly from Lenovo's website if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

The best budget 16-inch laptop we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). Although its display is large, the IPS panel looks slightly washed out and isn't bright enough to combat glare in well-lit settings, unlike the picks earlier in our list. Also, the speakers sound boxy and unnatural, so this laptop doesn't provide the best multimedia experience. Still, this is a reliable, portable everyday laptop despite its larger screen. It's also relatively sturdy and easy to service. Its AMD Ryzen CPUs are adequate for general productivity tasks like text processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and web browsing. It also has a decent port selection that supports power delivery and fast charging over USB-C, but not video output or Thunderbolt 4. Its battery life is good enough to get through an eight-hour day with light use, but anything more intensive (including video playback) will require you to plug it in to charge.

Our best gaming laptop pick is the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023). This 16-inch model provides an amazing gaming experience. It's available with fast AMD Ryzen CPUs and various discrete GPUs, up to a Ryzen 9 7945HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (mobile), respectively. Display options include two QHD+ panels (165Hz or 240Hz) and an FHD+ 480Hz panel, so you can choose based on your budget, preference, and CPU/GPU configuration. All three panels support variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. RAM and storage max out at 64GB and 8.5TB, respectively; both are user-replaceable.

This laptop feels very well-built. It has a solid metal and plastic construction, with a finish that doesn't pick up many fingerprints or smudges. It isn't the best for on-the-go use, though, as It's bulky and heavy, and you'll need to bring the charger because the battery lasts less than an hour when gaming. The keyboard is configurable; you can get it with scissor or low-profile CherryMX mechanical switches. Online gamers, you'd be happy to hear it has Wi-Fi 6E and an Ethernet port to ensure a reliable internet connection. There's also a newer Dell Alienware m16 R2 (2024), but it has fewer configurations (it only goes up to an RTX 4070), and its thermal performance isn't quite as good.