The 5 Best 15-16 Inch Laptops - Summer 2024 Reviews

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 are among the best on the market; the same can be said about the webcam. 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 Dell XPS 16 (2024), a premium 16-inch mobile workstation. This laptop can handle even the most demanding workload as it's available with Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9 CPUs, up to an RTX 4070 GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 4TB of storage. Unlike the MacBook Pro 16, the RAM and storage are user-replaceable. The user experience is great overall, as this laptop has a bright, sharp 4K+ OLED display option, a sturdy all-aluminum chassis, and an excellent port selection. Although the keyboard and touchpad are spacious, they have pain points. Accidental key touches are prevalent as you adjust to the edge-to-edge keycap design, and some keys are awkwardly sized (like the Caps Lock, which is too large, for example). Moreover, while the haptic touchpad simulates clicks well, the entire front deck is a single piece of glass, so you can't see where the touchpad is.

If you only need to perform light tasks like web browsing and text processing, 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.

A Windows alternative to the MacBook Air would be the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022), also a premium ultraportable designed for light productivity. You can configure it with an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 CPU and up to 32GB of memory and 1TB of storage. Its port selection is arguably better since it has a USB-A port and multi-display support via Thunderbolt 4; however, its 3:2 display doesn't get as bright, and its battery life is a tad shorter. As you may know, Microsoft has announced a Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 featuring ARM-based SoCs, though it's only in pre-order at the time of writing. See more details here.

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 Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) 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, you can get this laptop directly from Lenovo's website if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

The best 15-inch laptop we've tested in the budget category is the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 15 (2023). This 15-inch Windows laptop is a great option if you just want a simple device that can handle light productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. It's available with various Intel 13th Gen CPUs, from a Core i3 to i7, and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The Core i3 configuration is often on sale for less than $400 USD on Lenovo's website. It has a comfortable keyboard, a small but responsive touchpad, and a surprisingly good 720p webcam. There's a fingerprint sensor, so you can log in quickly.

You have a couple of options regarding the display; unfortunately, the cheaper configurations come with a low-quality TN panel, so you'll have to spend a bit more if you upgrade to an IPS display. There's a touchscreen option, but unlike the Yoga 7i 16 above, it isn't a 2-in-1 convertible and lacks stylus support. Another downside is its short battery life. It lasts less than seven hours of light use, which is almost six hours less than the Yoga 7i.

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. You can get this laptop directly from Dell if you have trouble finding it elsewhere. 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.