I’ve awarded two laptops an Editors’ Choice award in recent months, starting with the MacBook Neo in March. With a premium MacBook look and feel at a much lower price, and enough performance for most people, the Neo is the best under-$600 laptop you can buy right now. More recently, the Asus Zenbook A16 took home some hardware for its leading application and AI performance that comes wrapped in an incredibly thin-and-light-yet-rigid design. Beyond these two award winners, I have favorites across a broad range of categories, from sleek, long-lasting ultraportables to high-powered gaming and content creation machines. Our Picks Best laptop overall M5 MacBook Air (15-inch, 2026) $1,150 at Amazon 9.0/10 CNET Score CNET Score CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance. Read more on: How we test The 15-inch MacBook Air is proof that you don’t need a Pro to get a larger display. It supplies a larger screen that you once found only on the pricier Pro models. If you’re eyeing the 14- or 16-inch Pro models primarily for the added screen size, the MacBook Air 15 is the more affordable option you should go for. Read full review Jump to details Pros Optimal balance of screen size and system weight Improved app, graphics and AI performance from M5 chip Cons Costs $500 more than MacBook Neo Smooth ProMotion display still exclusive to MacBook Pro Expand Pros & Cons Featured Deal What is this? Get $500 off this high-performance gaming laptop Alienware 18 Area-51 See at Dell 8.5/10 CNET Score CNET Score CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance. Read more on: How we test The Alienware 18 Area-51 is overkill, and that’s the point. No one needs a laptop this large, but if you want the biggest, baddest gaming laptop and have the money to get it, it’s a supercolossal showpiece. Jump to details Pros RTX 5090 delivers outstanding 3D performance 18-inch display is massive and fast CherryMX mechanical keyboard is awesome Dazzling RGB lighting is everywhere RAM and storage can be upgraded after purchase Cons Pricing will make you weak in the legs You’ll need to lift with your legs to move it No OLED or mini-LED display options Battery life is predictably short Expand Pros & Cons Best laptop for students MacBook Neo $590 at Amazon 8.3/10 CNET Score CNET Score CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance. Read more on: How we test The MacBook Neo is easily the best laptop for school use, especially if you (or the student you’re buying for) already have an iPhone. The two devices work seamlessly together. At $599, the Neo is nearly half the price of the cheapest MacBook Air, and students and teachers can get it for only $499. Given the convenience and security that Touch ID provides, however, I’d view Apple’s $100 educational discount as a way to get the added Touch ID (along with more storage) for free, rather than lowering the price of the base model. Read full review Jump to details Pros Premium MacBook look and feel at much lower cost 13-inch display not much smaller than Macbook Air’s A18 Pro chip is powerful enough to provide fulfilling MacOS experience Surprisingly impressive sound from stereo speakers Cons Touch ID costs $100 extra Baseline 256GB SSD will fill up fast No MagSafe or fast charging Smaller battery and shorter battery life than MacBook Air Expand Pros & Cons Laptop with best mix of performance and battery life Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen
Sumber: CNET