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The best laptops to buy in 2026
The MacBook Air M5 wins for its speed, portability and tested battery life; the MacBook Neo and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x offer cheaper choices.
| Best overall | Best value | Cheapest that's still good | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5, 2026) | Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 2026), 256GB | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x (15.3-inch, Snapdragon X, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) |
| Price | about $1,100 | about $689 | about $518 |
| Why | Tom’s Guide and Engadget both name the MacBook Air M5 their best laptop for most people. It pairs strong everyday performance and a light, sturdy design with a tested 15-hour-plus battery life. | Reviewers praise its capable everyday performance, vivid display and aluminum build at a substantially lower price than the Air. It’s a strong fit for ordinary school and home tasks if you’re comfortable with macOS. | Tom’s Guide recommends the IdeaPad Slim 3x as its best laptop under $500 when discounted, and Windows Central recently reported it at about $518 on Amazon. Its tested battery life and comfortable keyboard stand out for the price. |
| Good to know | It costs more than the previous-generation Air, and its screen is limited to 60Hz. | Its 8GB of non-upgradeable memory can constrain heavier multitasking. | The screen is dim, and some Windows apps may not work well on its Arm processor. |
| See on Amazon | See on Amazon | See on Amazon |
picture by AITom’s Guide and Engadget both name the MacBook Air M5 their best laptop for most people. It pairs strong everyday performance and a light, sturdy design with a tested 15-hour-plus battery life.
Good to know: It costs more than the previous-generation Air, and its screen is limited to 60Hz.
See on Amazon
picture by AIReviewers praise its capable everyday performance, vivid display and aluminum build at a substantially lower price than the Air. It’s a strong fit for ordinary school and home tasks if you’re comfortable with macOS.
Good to know: Its 8GB of non-upgradeable memory can constrain heavier multitasking.
See on Amazon
picture by AITom’s Guide recommends the IdeaPad Slim 3x as its best laptop under $500 when discounted, and Windows Central recently reported it at about $518 on Amazon. Its tested battery life and comfortable keyboard stand out for the price.
Good to know: The screen is dim, and some Windows apps may not work well on its Arm processor.
See on AmazonDanilli may earn a small commission from Amazon when you buy through these buttons. The price is the same for you. Product pictures are made by Danilli's AI to show the product; check the real photos on the store page.
What matters
Choose a laptop based on the apps you need, how much you carry it, and whether you need Windows or macOS. Battery life, memory, storage and screen quality matter more than a flashy spec alone.
Who this is for
These picks suit everyday work, school and browsing, from buyers seeking a premium all-rounder to shoppers on a tight budget. Skip the MacBooks if you need Windows-only software, and skip the budget models for demanding games or creative workloads.
The picks, one by one
Best overall: Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5, 2026)
Tom’s Guide and Engadget both name the MacBook Air M5 their best laptop for most people. It pairs strong everyday performance and a light, sturdy design with a tested 15-hour-plus battery life. The 13-inch model has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, M5 processor and 512GB of storage. Tom’s Guide measured 15 hours and 28 minutes of battery life; Engadget’s testing found more than 18 hours, illustrating that results depend on test conditions. It’s a quiet, portable choice for work, school, browsing and light editing. Get a gaming laptop instead if demanding PC games are a priority.
Good to know: It costs more than the previous-generation Air, and its screen is limited to 60Hz.
See on AmazonBest value: Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 2026), 256GB
Reviewers praise its capable everyday performance, vivid display and aluminum build at a substantially lower price than the Air. It’s a strong fit for ordinary school and home tasks if you’re comfortable with macOS. The 13-inch Neo weighs about 2.7 pounds and uses Apple’s A18 Pro chip. Tom’s Guide reports over 13 hours of battery life and says it handles everyday browsing and documents well. Its 8GB of memory is not upgradeable, so heavy multitasking is a poor fit. The keyboard also lacks a backlight, and Touch ID costs extra.
Good to know: Its 8GB of non-upgradeable memory can constrain heavier multitasking.
See on AmazonCheapest that's still good: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x (15.3-inch, Snapdragon X, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
Tom’s Guide recommends the IdeaPad Slim 3x as its best laptop under $500 when discounted, and Windows Central recently reported it at about $518 on Amazon. Its tested battery life and comfortable keyboard stand out for the price. The 15.3-inch touchscreen and 16GB of RAM make it a practical Windows machine for documents, web browsing and everyday apps. Tom’s Guide measured more than 16 hours of battery life, though the exact result depends on the test. Reviewers found its display dim and its gaming performance poor. Because it uses an Arm-based Snapdragon chip, check that any specialist apps you rely on are compatible.
Good to know: The screen is dim, and some Windows apps may not work well on its Arm processor.
See on AmazonHow we chose
Reviewers benchmarked performance and ran real-world work and browsing tasks, while measuring battery life, display quality and usability. Battery figures vary with test method and configuration; the cited tests reported over 15 hours for the Air M5 and over 16 hours for the Lenovo. Danilli read the reviews and tests listed below and compared current prices; it does not take money from brands to pick a product.
Sources
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Written with Danilli's AI from the sources above and refreshed about once a month; prices change, check Amazon for today's price. Danilli may earn a small commission from Amazon when you buy through these buttons. The price is the same for you. Product pictures are made by Danilli's AI to show the product; check the real photos on the store page.