The 6 Best Laptops For Writers - Summer 2024 Reviews

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 lasts easily through a full workday. The overall 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 on one side 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, as it only has two USB-C ports; you can run two external displays, but only with the laptop 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. 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 for $100 USD cheaper; the differences are minimal, with slightly less performance and battery life, and only support for 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 Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 (2023). This 2-in-1 convertible has a large 16-inch screen, a great keyboard, and all-day battery life. It feels very well-built and sturdy but not as premium as a MacBook. It's also relatively thin and light for a 16-inch model, so it's easy to carry around. There are two display options, an FHD+ and a QHD+ panel; we recommend the latter, as it looks sharper and gets brighter to combat glare. Support for pen input is present, which is handy when you need to mark a passage for correction or editing. Performance-wise, its Intel 13th Gen CPUs are more than adequate to handle most writer's workloads. The battery lasts over 12 hours of light use, even on a model with a QHD+ display, and it charges quickly over USB-C. You can get this model directly from Lenovo if you have trouble finding it.

If you want a more compact laptop that's easier to carry, get the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022), a 14-inch 2-in-1 Chromebook. Naturally, you won't get as much screen space for split-screen multitasking, but it's more portable, and its battery lasts even longer at over 13 hours of light use. It also supports pen input and comes with a stylus that you can dock into the side of the laptop for transport. Availability might be a problem since this is an older model. If so, you can check out the newer 2023 model, which we haven't tested but expect to perform similarly. It has a faster Intel 13th Gen processor and a higher resolution webcam. You can get the 2023 model on Amazon or at Best Buy. One last thing: Chrome OS is limited in the types of applications you can install, so if you use a writing app, just make sure you can access it through the browser or via an Android app.

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 8 (2021), a 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 Slim Pen 2, and there's a slot on the type cover keyboard to store and 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 1080p webcam for video calls and a facial recognition IR camera to log in quickly.

As for the overall user experience, it has a very sharp 3:2 display. It gets bright enough to combat glare and has a 120Hz refresh rate to make pen input feel more responsive. 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 around seven hours of light use, which is respectable for a tablet PC, and you can charge via USB-C. Finally, Microsoft has released the Surface Pro 9. It's essentially the same device but with faster Intel 12th Gen processors. The Surface Pro 9 is easier to find in stock, but if you don't need the performance increase and are willing to look around, you can save a good chunk of cash with a Surface Pro 8 since it's an older device and often on sale.