Ranking the best laptops in early 2025

Dozens of new laptops will be unveiled at CES 2025, but you'll have to wait a while to get your hands on them.

The experts at Laptop Mag have picked out the best laptops for early 2025. First, the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is still the best choice for most people. At an affordable price, this laptop offers enough computing power for most users, and it has a durable design and long-lasting battery.

 

Acer Swift Go 14.

For those who prefer Windows, the Asus ZenBook 14 OLED is the best choice while the Acer Swift Go 14 is more affordable.

Laptop Mag experts conduct a rigorous battery of tests on each laptop: Geekbench (synthetic CPU test), Handbrake (video encoding CPU test), 3DMark (graphics test), display test (brightness, color gamut), battery test, and more. Then the laptops are sent to reviewers to use in real-world situations. Each computer spends dozens of hours on each review to provide the most objective results.

MacBook Air M3 13 inch.

Here are the 10 best laptops of 2025 according to Laptop Mag:

1. Best Laptop of 2025: MacBook Air M3

2. Best budget laptop: Acer Swift Go 14

3. Best laptop for students: Asus Zenbook 14 OLED

4. Best Ultraportable Laptop: Asus Zenbook S 14

5. Best Performance Laptop: MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro

6. Best Gaming Laptop: Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9

7. Best 2-in-1 Laptop: HP Spectre x360 14

8. Best Chromebook: Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

9. Laptop with the best battery life: Dell XPS 13 9345

10. Best Work Laptop: Asus ExpertBook P5