The 6 Best Laptops For Writers - Summer 2024

The best laptop for writers we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024), a premium ultraportable. It has a sturdy but thin design, making it well-suited for on-the-go use, and its battery easily lasts through a full workday. The user experience is excellent, as it sports a sharp, bright display, a spacious keyboard, and a large haptic touchpad. The 15-inch display is great when you need to keep your reference material open while writing, and its 16:10 aspect ratio gives you some extra vertical real estate over a standard 16:9 screen. Port selection is limited, though. It only has two USB-C ports, and while you can run two external displays, this is only with the lid closed. Performance-wise, Apple's M3 SoC easily handles most writers' workloads, like text processing, web browsing, and video playback.

If you want a smaller form factor, the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024) is a good choice, too. It's the same device but with a 13-inch screen and worse speakers. Don't worry, the keyboard and touchpad still feel great despite the smaller chassis! If you want to save a bit more money, Apple still sells the M2-based Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022) as a budget-friendly alternative; the differences are minimal, with slightly less performance and battery life, with support for only one external display.

If you prefer a Windows laptop, get the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) instead. This premium 2-in-1 laptop offers an excellent user experience and is fantastic for on-the-go use thanks to its compact 14-inch form factor. It features a sturdy all-aluminum chassis, a great and spacious keyboard, and an excellent large touchpad with haptic feedback. You get the same 16:10 aspect ratio as on the MacBook but a nicer 2.8K OLED display that supports both touch and pen input, which is great if you want to use the laptop in tablet mode to mark up your writing with handwritten notes.

Performance is a non-issue, as this laptop comes with Intel's Core Ultra 5 or 7 CPUs, which can easily handle text processing and other writing workloads. The Spectre x360 has a better port selection than its Apple counterpart, featuring one USB-A port, two USB-C ports, and a combo mic/headphone 3.5mm jack. While the battery life isn't quite as good as the MacBook's, it isn't far off and is enough for a full day of writing, coming in at around 11 hours of use. You can find a wide selection of configurations for this laptop directly on HP's website.

Our best mid-range pick is the HP Pavilion Aero 13 (2024), a 13-inch ultraportable. While the display is smaller, both the FHD+ and QHD+ IPS panels are bright and sharp, so they are great to use. One significant compromise is the build quality; the chassis has significantly more flex and uses cheaper materials than the premium models above, and the finish is prone to scratching from everyday use. If you can overlook the build quality, this laptop has a lot to offer. It's configurable with AMD's Zen 4 Ryzen CPUs that can handle intensive multitasking, and you get 16GB of RAM. The RAM isn't user-replaceable, but it shouldn't be an issue for writers. There's a wide port selection with four USBs and an HDMI port. Battery life is great at around 10 hours of light use, and you can charge the laptop via USB-C—say goodbye to hauling around proprietary chargers!

If you want something with more screen real estate, get the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (2024), a 14-inch 2-in-1 Chromebook. ChromeOS is more limited for software compatibility, so be sure to check if you use any specialized programs. OS limitations aside, this laptop offers a great user experience. Its IPS display looks vibrant and features both touch input and stylus support (although a stylus isn't included). Unfortunately, the display has poor reflection handling. Direct light sources are easily visible, so this isn't the best choice for working in coffee shops or outside on a nice day. On the bright side (no pun intended), the performance is great. Its Intel Core Ultra CPUs can easily handle word processing and multitasking, so it won't be an issue if you like to keep far too many Chrome tabs open. Its keyboard and touchpad are comfortable to use and its battery life is great at over 10 hours of light use.

The best budget laptop we've tested for writers is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023), a 16-inch Windows ultraportable. This model feels well-built and is easy to carry around despite its size. You can configure it with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 CPU, which are more than adequate to handle writing tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. Most models come with 8GB of RAM, which can be a bit limiting, depending on your workload; however, you can find models with 16GB through some retailers or upgrade it yourself. You may need to charge throughout the day as the battery lasts only a little over eight hours of light use.

The overall user experience is good. It has a comfortable keyboard, a large, responsive touchpad, and a decent 720p webcam. Its 1080p display looks reasonably sharp but isn't the brightest, so visibility may be an issue in well-lit rooms. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a fingerprint sensor for quick logins, and a decent port selection with three USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI. Unfortunately, the USB-C doesn't support video output, so you'll have to use the HDMI port to connect an external display.

The best cheap laptop we've tested is the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023). You can find this laptop for as little as $300 to $500 USD. Writing isn't particularly CPU-intensive, so any CPU and RAM configuration will do. However, we highly recommend getting the Core i3-N305 CPU with 8GB of RAM if you're a relatively heavy multitasker. If you have trouble finding it elsewhere, you can get this configuration (paired with a touch-sensitive FHD display) from Lenovo. The 1080p display looks sharp and gets bright for use in most indoor settings. Battery life is outstanding at around 13 hours of light use.

Naturally, there are some downsides to a budget-friendly laptop like this one. The keyboard feels spacious but mushy, and the touchpad is small and not always responsive. The webcam is surprisingly good, though, especially for a cheap Chromebook. Port selection is decent; you get two USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI port. The USB-C supports charging and video output. There's no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition camera, which is unfortunate but expected for such an inexpensive device.

The best 2-in-1 tablet for writers we've tested is the Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition (2024), a premium Windows tablet PC with a kickstand and detachable keyboard. This form factor makes the Surface Pro incredibly versatile. You can use it as a traditional laptop or as a tablet, and you can also draw and take handwritten notes. It works with Microsoft's Surface Slim Pen 2, a stylus specifically designed for the new Surface Pro, and there's a slot on the type cover keyboard to store and wirelessly charge the pen. The stylus and type cover keyboard are separate purchases, though, so you'll have to factor them into the overall cost of the device. It has an excellent 1440p webcam for video calls and a facial recognition IR camera to log in quickly.

As for the user experience, it's available with very sharp 3:2 OLED or IPS displays. They get bright enough to combat glare and have a 120Hz refresh rate to make pen input feel more responsive. Unfortunately, the OLED display exhibits a screen door effect caused by its digitizer, which might bother some people. The keyboard feels spacious and tactile; however, typing with the device on your lap can be challenging because all the weight is in the display, and the type cover keyboard isn't super stable. Also, the kickstand can dig into your legs if you wear shorts. The battery lasts over 11 hours of light use, which is fantastic, especially for a tablet PC. Finally, this laptop uses the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite ARM-based SoCs. As many programs lack support for Windows on ARM, you must ensure that the apps you use have a native ARM version or can run properly through Microsoft's Prism emulation layer.