Most modern Windows PCs rely on Microsoft Defender as their first line of defense against malware. Over the years, it has evolved into a capable and often underrated antivirus that blocks a wide range of threats. But a hacker group has found a way to abuse a legitimate Intel CPU tuning driver in a “Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver” (BYOVD) attack to completely disable Microsoft Defender.
The technique has been observed since mid-July 2025 and is already being used in active ransomware campaigns. The method doesn’t rely on exploiting a software bug or delivering an obviously malicious file. Instead, it takes advantage of how the Windows driver system is designed to allow deep hardware access.
Let’s discuss all you need to know about the attack and how you can stay safe.
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The Akira ransomware group exploits a legitimate Intel CPU tuning driver in cyberattacks to completely disable Microsoft Defender on Windows systems.(Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How Akira ransomware disables Microsoft Defender
The Akira ransomware group has developed a new way to bypass security tools by using a legitimate Intel CPU tuning driver called rwdrv.sys from the performance-tweaking tool ThrottleStop. Security firm GuidePoint Security says attackers load this driver to gain kernel-level access to Windows systems, then install a second malicious driver, hlpdrv.sys, which changes the DisableAntiSpyware registry setting via regedit.exe to shut down Microsoft Defender.
Once Defender is disabled, attackers can run other malicious programs undetected. GuidePoint says this method has been consistently spotted in Akira campaigns since mid-July.
The Akira ransomware group has been infiltrating Windows operating systems by exploiting a legitimate driver to gain access.(Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Akira ransomware targets Microsoft Defender and SonicWall VPNs
The same group has also been linked to attacks targeting SonicWall VPN devices. SonicWall has stated that these incidents likely involve a known vulnerability, CVE-2024-40766, rather than a brand-new zero-day. The company recommends restricting VPN access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and disabling unused accounts as immediate defenses.
Akira attacks often involve stealing data, setting up hidden remote access, and deploying ransomware to encrypt files across an organization. Security experts warn that fake or lookalike websites are increasingly being used to distribute these malicious tools.
Researchers at GuidePoint have published a YARA detection rule, along with file names, service names, SHA-256 hashes, and file paths to help identify this activity. They recommend administrators actively monitor for these indicators, apply filtering and blocking rules as new IoCs emerge, and only download software from official or verified sources.
We reached out to Microsoft for a comment, but did not hear back before our deadline.
Antivirus software, two-factor authentication and data removal services are just a few ways Windows users can protect themselves from hackers.(Cyberguy.com)
6 ways to protect yourself against Akira ransomware and similar threats
The Microsoft Defender attack is smart and dangerous, but you’re not without defenses. Here are a few tips to help you stay safe:
1) Use strong antivirus software
Even with regular updates, Windows systems can be left exposed if built-in defenses are disabled. A strong antivirus software with real-time protection, kernel-level monitoring, and frequent updates can provide backup security. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
2) Limit exposure
Many exploits rely on user interaction, such as clicking a shady link, downloading a compromised file, or mounting an untrusted virtual disk. Stick to reputable websites, avoid opening unsolicited email attachments, and use a browser with built-in security features (like Microsoft Edge or Chrome with Safe Browsing enabled).
3) Avoid running unexpected commands
Never paste or run commands (like PowerShell scripts) you don’t understand or that were copied from random websites. Attackers often trick users into unknowingly running malware this way.
Regularly update your operating system, browsers, and all software applications. Updates often include patches for security vulnerabilities that malware can exploit.
5) Use two-factor authentication (2FA)
Enable 2FA on all your accounts. This adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification, making it harder for attackers to gain access even if they have your password.
6) Invest in personal data removal services
Even with strong device security, your personal information may still be exposed online through data brokers and people-finder sites.
While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap – and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
Akira’s trick shows a bigger flaw in how Windows trusts certain tools. A driver meant for harmless CPU tuning ends up being the key to turning security off. Since it’s from a legitimate source, Windows just lets it through without asking questions. We tend to think hackers always break in from the outside. Here, they’re already inside the circle of trust, using the system’s own rules.
Should Microsoft be doing more to stop ransomware groups from disabling Defender? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
We’re conditioned to think our email address is harmless. Most of us think it’s just an ID, a way to get receipts and shipping updates, but that’s not it.
Your email is the skeleton key to your online identity. It’s what companies use to build behavioral profiles, target ads, link purchases, and sometimes worse, facilitate fraud after a breach. And when you reuse the same email address everywhere, you make that key universal.
To keep things private, I use an alias for online shopping to stay anonymous, cut down on spam, and more. Let’s discuss what aliases are, why they matter, and how they quietly turn the tables in your favor.
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A woman browses the Amazon website on her laptop on Sep. 29, 2024.(Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket)
How Email Aliases Help You Stay Anonymous Online
Each time you enter your main email on a shopping site, you give that company a lasting way to connect your behavior across different platforms, devices, and timeframes. They might hash or encrypt your email, but the behavioral patterns remain. You can still be tracked, but aliases interrupt that chain.
Instead of sharing my actual email address, I create a unique one for each website. The emails still reach me through forwarding, but the company never sees my real address. That small change prevents them from linking my activity with other accounts or sites. It is not a perfect solution, but it adds just enough friction to disrupt the tracking systems.
Every alias I use becomes a kind of tracker. If one starts getting spam, I know which site sold or lost my data. Most people don’t know where the breach happened, they just assume “it happens.” I take a different approach. When an alias starts getting unwanted emails, I do not try to unsubscribe or set up filters or waste time guessing. I simply disable the alias, and the problem is gone.
A spam phishing email is displayed on a laptop screen on March 21, 2022. Retail companies often sell shopper data, leading to unwanted spam and phishing messages.(Peter Dazeley)
Stop Companies From Tracking You With Email Aliases
The average e-commerce site uses between 15 and 30 third-party scripts, analytics trackers, ad pixels, behavioral beacons, according to a study. Even if the site itself is honest, its stack probably isn’t. Your email passes through layers of infrastructure, mailing tools, CRM platforms, shipping plugins. And all it takes is one misconfiguration or a careless developer for your data to end up in the wrong hands.
An alias reduces the blast radius. If the site gets breached your core identity remains untouched.
Aliases don’t just protect privacy, they improve behavior. When I started using them, I found myself thinking more clearly about where I was signing up and why. The mental pause required to generate a new alias made me more deliberate. And it gave structure to the mess. I could set rules like all product warranties go to products@myalias.com, all newsletters to news@myalias.com.
Create Email Aliases For Better Online Privacy
An alias alone isn’t enough to stay safe out there. You also need a secure email provider to start with. By creating email aliases, you can protect your information and reduce spam. These aliases forward messages to your primary address, making it easier to manage incoming communications and avoid data breaches.
For recommendations on private and secure email providers that offer alias addresses, visitCyberguy.com.
A woman browses Best Buy on her smartphone while online shopping.(Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket)
Kurt’s Key Takeaway
We’ve made progress when it comes to password hygiene. Many of us now use password managers and enable two-factor authentication, but when it comes to email, the habits haven’t changed much. Most people still rely on a single email address for everything, including shopping, banking, subscriptions, work, even family communication. That’s not just inefficient, but also a security risk. Using email aliases is a simple way to fragment your digital identity. It adds complexity for attackers and reduces the chances of a single breach affecting multiple accounts.
Would you still use your main email for everything if you knew it made you easier to track? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
It has been a big year for repairable-laptop maker Framework. After launching the Framework Laptop 12 and the Framework Desktop this summer, the company is now rolling out a big update to the Framework Laptop 16. The machine can be configured with (or upgraded to) an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop graphics card. You can also upgrade to the new 2025 mainboard, which includes the next-gen AMD Ryzen AI 300 series chips.
Why is this a big deal? Well, Framework is a company we’ve grown to appreciate a lot over the past few years. The company has been pioneering a more sustainable (and fun!) approach to designing computers, making as many parts of the device as modular as possible. That has included things like the RAM and storage, naturally, but also the CPU, battery, Wi-Fi card, and much more.
The idea is to swap out components on the laptops when new modules come out (or if something breaks down), reducing the need to buy a new laptop every few years and sending fewer parts to the landfill. But upgrading discrete graphics on laptops has always been elusive. Companies like Alienware have tried modular discrete GPUs in portable PCs before, and they never lasted. But with the new RTX 5070 graphics module upgrade, Framework proves it can be done.
Courtesy of Framework
The original Framework Laptop 16 arrived at the beginning of 2024, launching as an AMD-exclusive system with the Ryzen 7 7840HS (or Ryzen 9) and the discrete Radeon RX 7700S for graphics. At the time of testing, GPU performance landed somewhere around a mobile RTX 4060. On paper, that makes the jump to an RTX 5070 not only a great demonstration of the Framework ethos—but also a big deal for performance. Framework says it’s a 30 to 40 percent increase in GPU performance over the RX 7700S.
More power doesn’t come free, so Framework is shipping a 240-watt USB-C charger that uses the USB Power Delivery 3.1 spec. That’ll make it one of the only laptops with an RTX 5070 that is powered solely by USB-C. Other 240-watt power adapters often use a proprietary power port (see almost every gaming laptop).
The Framework Laptop 16 was the follow-up to the original Framework Laptop 13 and added more than just the discrete graphics module. It also had a unique approach to customization, letting you arrange the keyboard and trackpad however, using modules and spacers to customize it. The new model also comes with a better webcam and a more rigid top cover (on the lid).
President Donald Trump on Friday announced the U.S. government has secured a 10% stake in struggling Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in a deal that was completed just a couple weeks after he was depicting the company’s CEO as a conflicted leader unfit for the job.“The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future,” Trump wrote in a post.The U.S. government is getting the stake through the conversion of $11.1 billion in previously issued funds and pledges. All told, the government is getting 433.3 million shares of non-voting stock priced at $20.47 apiece — a discount from Friday’s closing price at $24.80. That spread means the U.S. government already has a gain of $1.9 billion, on paper.The remarkable turn of events makes the U.S. government one of Intel’s largest shareholders at a time that the Santa Clara, California, company is i n the process of jettisoning more than 20,000 workers as part of its latest attempt to bounce back from years of missteps taken under a variety of CEOs.Intel’s current CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has only been on the job for slightly more than five months, and earlier this month, it looked like he might be on shaky ground already after some lawmakers raised national security concerns about his past investments in Chinese companies while he was a venture capitalist. Trump latched on to those concerns in an August 7 post demanding that Tan resign.But Trump backed off after the Malaysian-born Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, leading to a deal that now has the U.S. government betting that the company is on the comeback trail after losing more than $22 billion since the end of 2023. Trump hailed Tan as “highly respected” CEO in his Friday post.In a statement, Tan applauded Trump for “driving historic investments in a vital industry” and resolved to reward his faith in Intel. “We are grateful for the confidence the President and the Administration have placed in Intel, and we look forward to working to advance U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership,” Tan said.Intel’s current stock price is just slightly above where it was when Tan was hired in March and more than 60% below its peak of about $75 reached 25 years ago when its chips were still dominating the personal computer boom before being undercut by a shift to smartphones a few years later. The company’s market value currently stands at about $108 billion – a fraction of the current chip kingpin, Nvidia, which is valued at $4.3 trillion.The stake is coming primarily through U.S. government grants to Intel through the CHIPS and Science Act that was started under President Joe Biden’s administration as a way to foster more domestic manufacturing of computer chips to lessen the dependence on overseas factories.But the Trump administration, which has regularly pilloried the policies of the Biden administration, saw the CHIPs act as a needless giveaway and is now hoping to make a profit off the funding that had been pledged to Intel.”We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier this week. “It’s obvious that it’s the right move to make.”About $7.8 billion had been been pledged to Intel under the incentives program, but only $2.2 billion had been funded so far. Another $3.2 billion of the government investment is coming through the funds from another program called “Secure Enclave.”Although U.S. government can’t vote with its shares and won’t have a seat on Intel’s board of directors, critics of the deal view it as a troubling cross-pollination between the public and private sectors that could hurt the tech industry in a variety of ways.For instance, more tech companies may feel pressured to buy potentially inferior chips from Intel to curry favor with Trump at a time that he is already waging a trade war that threatens to affect their products in a potential scenario cited by Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics for the Cato Institute.“Overall, it’s a horrendous move that will have real harms for U.S. companies, U.S. tech leadership, and the U.S. economy overall,” Lincicome posted Friday.The 10% stake could also intensify the pressure already facing Tan, especially if Trump starts fixating on Intel’s stock price while resorting to his penchant for celebrating his past successes in business.Nancy Tengler, CEO of money manager Laffer Tengler Investments, is among the investors who abandoned Intel years ago because of all the challenges facing Intel.“I don’t see the benefit to the American taxpayer, nor do I see the benefit, necessarily to the chip industry,” Tengler said while also raising worries about Trump meddling in Intel’s business.“I don’t care how good of businessman you are, give it to the private sector and let people like me be the critic and let the government get to the business of government.,” Tengler said.Although rare, it’s not unprecedented for the U.S. government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM.The U.S. government’s stake in Intel coincides with Trump’s push to bring production to the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country’s dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the U.S. will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence.Even before gaining the 10% stake in Intel, Trump had been leveraging his power to reprogram the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are powering the AI craze, to pay a 15% commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced the U.S. government has secured a 10% stake in struggling Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in a deal that was completed just a couple weeks after he was depicting the company’s CEO as a conflicted leader unfit for the job.
“The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future,” Trump wrote in a post.
The U.S. government is getting the stake through the conversion of $11.1 billion in previously issued funds and pledges. All told, the government is getting 433.3 million shares of non-voting stock priced at $20.47 apiece — a discount from Friday’s closing price at $24.80. That spread means the U.S. government already has a gain of $1.9 billion, on paper.
The remarkable turn of events makes the U.S. government one of Intel’s largest shareholders at a time that the Santa Clara, California, company is i n the process of jettisoning more than 20,000 workers as part of its latest attempt to bounce back from years of missteps taken under a variety of CEOs.
Intel’s current CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has only been on the job for slightly more than five months, and earlier this month, it looked like he might be on shaky ground already after some lawmakers raised national security concerns about his past investments in Chinese companies while he was a venture capitalist. Trump latched on to those concerns in an August 7 postdemanding that Tan resign.
But Trump backed off after the Malaysian-born Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, leading to a deal that now has the U.S. government betting that the company is on the comeback trail after losing more than $22 billion since the end of 2023. Trump hailed Tan as “highly respected” CEO in his Friday post.
In a statement, Tan applauded Trump for “driving historic investments in a vital industry” and resolved to reward his faith in Intel. “We are grateful for the confidence the President and the Administration have placed in Intel, and we look forward to working to advance U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership,” Tan said.
Intel’s current stock price is just slightly above where it was when Tan was hired in March and more than 60% below its peak of about $75 reached 25 years ago when its chips were still dominating the personal computer boom before being undercut by a shift to smartphones a few years later. The company’s market value currently stands at about $108 billion – a fraction of the current chip kingpin, Nvidia, which is valued at $4.3 trillion.
The stake is coming primarily through U.S. government grants to Intel through the CHIPS and Science Act that was started under President Joe Biden’s administration as a way to foster more domestic manufacturing of computer chips to lessen the dependence on overseas factories.
But the Trump administration, which has regularly pilloried the policies of the Biden administration, saw the CHIPs act as a needless giveaway and is now hoping to make a profit off the funding that had been pledged to Intel.
“We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier this week. “It’s obvious that it’s the right move to make.”
About $7.8 billion had been been pledged to Intel under the incentives program, but only $2.2 billion had been funded so far. Another $3.2 billion of the government investment is coming through the funds from another program called “Secure Enclave.”
Although U.S. government can’t vote with its shares and won’t have a seat on Intel’s board of directors, critics of the deal view it as a troubling cross-pollination between the public and private sectors that could hurt the tech industry in a variety of ways.
For instance, more tech companies may feel pressured to buy potentially inferior chips from Intel to curry favor with Trump at a time that he is already waging a trade war that threatens to affect their products in a potential scenario cited by Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics for the Cato Institute.
“Overall, it’s a horrendous move that will have real harms for U.S. companies, U.S. tech leadership, and the U.S. economy overall,” Lincicome posted Friday.
The 10% stake could also intensify the pressure already facing Tan, especially if Trump starts fixating on Intel’s stock price while resorting to his penchant for celebrating his past successes in business.
Nancy Tengler, CEO of money manager Laffer Tengler Investments, is among the investors who abandoned Intel years ago because of all the challenges facing Intel.
“I don’t see the benefit to the American taxpayer, nor do I see the benefit, necessarily to the chip industry,” Tengler said while also raising worries about Trump meddling in Intel’s business.
“I don’t care how good of businessman you are, give it to the private sector and let people like me be the critic and let the government get to the business of government.,” Tengler said.
Although rare, it’s not unprecedented for the U.S. government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM.
The U.S. government’s stake in Intel coincides with Trump’s push to bring production to the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country’s dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the U.S. will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence.
Even before gaining the 10% stake in Intel, Trump had been leveraging his power to reprogram the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are powering the AI craze, to pay a 15% commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses.
Back to school is always a great time to pick up a deal on a new laptop for the upcoming semester, and the Asus CX15 Chromebook is available at Walmart for $159. It may not be the fanciest option, but it has a sizable screen and a full keyboard with a numpad, all for less than the cost of a new textbook. If you’re just looking for a no-frills Chromebook for occasional web-based work and a slightly larger display, this is a great deal.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
When it comes to performance, the CX15 isn’t terribly exciting, with an Intel Celeron N4500 and 4 GB of memory. Fortunately, that should be fine for regular note-taking, email sending, and essay editing, with most of that work happening in your browser anyway. The extra-large 15-inch screen is great for putting two windows next to each other while getting some work done, or for watching a movie in the evening, even if the color accuracy isn’t the best.
The Chromebook CX15 is available in two colors, a classic and professional Pure Gray as well as a more fun and friendly Fabric Blue. Both feature the full-size keyboard, which is going to make writing out long paragraphs more comfortable, and the full numpad for you math and science nerds out there. The touchpad isn’t our favorite, with some occasional clunkiness, but you could do a lot worse for the price.
It has only 120 GB of internal storage, which is fairly common for Chromebooks, because it’s expected you’ll lean heavily on Google’s cloud storage options. To that end, the Asus Chromebook CX15 includes three months of the Google One AI Premium Plan, which includes 2 TB of cloud storage as well as a variety of AI-enhanced tools. You’ll also get three months of YouTube Premium, which gives you an ad-free experience while watching videos and listening to music.
If the Asus Chromebook CX15 isn’t speaking to you, there are several other deals currently running on some of our other favorite Chromebooks. We’ve also put together a list of our favorite back-to-school laptop deals if you’re specifically looking for a new laptop to bring to class or the library.
The leading national nonprofit devoted to computer access partners with AT&T and Chicanos Por La Causa Parenting Arizona to connect families in six Arizona communities with 120 computers, giving them access to educational and employment resources.
NORTH CONWAY, N.H., April 9, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– Digitunity, a national nonprofit with a mission to make computer ownership possible for everyone, announced today that it has begun distributing 120 laptop computers to families across six rural Arizona communities, in partnership with AT&T and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Parenting Arizona.
This effort is part of Digitunity’s AT&T Rural project, designed to increase access to digital services by providing free and low-cost computers to rural families who lacked such devices. It demonstrates Digitunity’s commitment to addressing the digital divide through partnering with trusted community-based organizations to deliver solutions and shape systems to eliminate barriers to computer ownership and empower people with digital opportunity.
In this initiative, the Digitunity AT&T Rural project has partnered with the CPLC Parenting Arizona initiative to provide computers to families with children from prenatal to 5 years old. The new computers will enable the young families to participate in virtual visits with Parent Educators, access online healthcare resources, and engage with educational activities essential to their children’s early development.
“As more services like appointment scheduling and applications shift online, computers become a critical bridge for families to access these resources,” said Jennifer Goodall, program director at CPLC Parenting Arizona. “Some families may need more guidance in using technology, while others simply need the tools to help themselves.”
By bringing digital tools into homes, Digitunity and its partners are addressing an urgent need in Arizona. More than 340,000 households – about 12% of the state – do not own a large-screen computing device. And nearly one-quarter of the state’s residents said a lack of access to computers or other digital devices prevented them from using the internet, according to Arizona’s Digital Equity Plan.
“Families in the rural parts of Arizona have two different obstacles: a gap in resources and a method to access the resources available,” said Renato Ramos, associate director at CPLC Parenting Arizona. “Every family has strengths that our teams focus on to help families navigate whatever situation they may be facing. Having a computer to find a job, update information for their kids’ school, or anything else they can work through themselves, helps to build upon these strengths and that feeling of pride in themselves.”
The initiative is already underway, with CPLC Parenting Arizona staff beginning laptop distribution in late March 2025 via its established Home Visitation program. The project will deliver 75 laptops to La Paz-Mohave, 23 to Sierra Vista, 10 to Flagstaff, six to Globe, and six to Hopi. Through the home visits, CPLC staff will help families build valuable digital skills and connect to essential support services for parents and children.
For families in CPLC’s Home Visitation program, the laptops will allow them to conduct virtual visits with Parent Educators, participate in monthly group connections on topics like dental health and child nutrition, and access developmental activities for children up to age 5. This evidence-based program helps children develop a strong foundation for kindergarten.
For families in CPLC’s Family Support Coordination program, the laptops represent pathways to self-sufficiency. Parents can now more easily apply for employment, complete online GED courses, conduct virtual check-ins with coordinators, and research and access essential services like WIC, SNAP, and housing assistance.
Through collaborations like this project, Digitunity continues to advance its mission of eliminating barriers to digital opportunity. By equipping people with computers and devices they lack, Digitunity, AT&T, and CPLC Parenting Arizona empower families with the means to succeed in the modern digital economy.
For more information about Digitunity’s programs and initiatives, visit www.digitunity.org.
About Digitunity Digitunity is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to make owning a computer possible for everyone. For over 40 years, Digitunity has been engaged in the work of shaping and strengthening systems to address the computer needs of those impacted by the digital divide. Through generating and placing donated computers with organizations serving people in need, supporting a national practitioner network, and providing strategic advisory support to states and cities, Digitunity works to create sustainable solutions that make computer ownership possible for all.
HP OmniStudio X 31.5 for $1,450: This all-in-one computer has considerably better graphics performance thanks to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, and it’s the first Core Ultra-based all-in-one to hit the market. It’s almost a toss-up compared to the Lenovo above, but while it’s got plenty of power and scads of ports, the OmniStudio’s comparatively tame design left me dreaming of more eye-catching options.
Dell Inspiron 24 All-in-One ($950): While it’s a little more expensive, a little less sexy, and a little less powerful, this Dell AIO is nonetheless a reasonable alternative to HP’s Envy Move. The all-white but otherwise no-nonsense design feels particularly appropriate for corporate environments.
Avoid These AIOs
Photograph: Asus
I’ve tested several more all-in-one computers but can’t recommend the following. Stick with one of the models above.
Asus M3402 and A5702: Asus’ all-in-one lineup (available in both 24- and 27-inch versions) features dated, chunky, uninspired hardware and surprisingly lackluster performance. While the smaller M3402 is the cheapest all-in-one I’ve tested to date, the slow CPU and grainy LCD are both recipes for frustration.
Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27ARR9: This 27-inch all-in-one is a reasonable pick if you’re trying to outfit the sleepiest corporate office on the block, its black monolithic design offering only a modicum of style over the aforementioned Asus machines. Though performance here isn’t outright bad, it simply has none of the panache of Lenovo’s Yoga AIO 9i, making for a bit of a letdown. My other low-cost all-in-one picks are just better options.
Microsoft Surface Studio 2+: I’m not entirely sure who this 28-inch, touch-centric all-in-one is supposed to be for. Microsoft perhaps doesn’t either, as the hardware is still running on a (discontinued) processor released at the beginning of 2021. While even a luxe all-in-one like the Yoga AIO 9i will cost you $1,800, the Studio 2+ runs a shocking $4,500. It’s an “avoid” based on price alone.
Then there’s the display notch, where the webcam sits at the top of the screen. It’s still an eyesore—and during my testing, it covered up dialog boxes more than once. Also, the MacBook Pro fan has always been extremely loud under load, and it’s just as noisy today, and the power brick is still white, even if your laptop is Space Black.
These aren’t fresh concerns, and they’re all minor complaints next to a fresh, weightier concern: At 4.7 pounds, the MacBook Pro M4 feels very heavy—and sure enough, it’s a full half-pound heavier than the M3 Max version I reviewed exactly a year ago. However, inexplicably, it is still 19 millimeters thick. Where has that extra half a pound gone? Must be the tantalizing internal upgrades that are going to blow our minds, right?
Power Boost
The obvious upgrade is Apple’s new M4 Pro CPU, which is the mid-level offering between the standard M4 and M4 Max, not including a rumored M4 Ultra in 2025. The new features on the M4 silicon are too numerous and too nerdy to list here, but the short of it is that you’re getting more cores on both CPU (14 on this configuration) and GPU (20), and (also as configured here) 48 GB of unified memory, which is designed to speed up everything from video processing to DNA sequencing, if that happens to be your hobby.
Naturally, there’s the amply hyped, upgraded Neural Engine, now at 16 cores, designed to power on-device AI workloads (and the new Apple Intelligence) at three times the speed of the M1. My tested configuration also added a 2-terabyte solid-state drive, so this rig is about as loaded as it gets.
Aside from the motherboard, there are new features that may be more immediately visible—three to be exact. First, the USB ports support Thunderbolt 5 (120 Gbps/sec) for faster data transfer speeds. A new 12-MP webcam features “Desk View,” which lets you share a livestream of your desk while you’re screen-sharing. Lastly, there’s a “nano-texture” screen upgrade option, which is Applespeak for its glare reduction technology that debuted on the Studio Display. I have the feature on my test machine, and if nothing else in the MacBook Pro M4 gets you excited, this should. It makes the screen feel like you’re looking at a photograph. (The upgrade will cost you $150.)
in 2020, Apple’s MacBooks entered a new era. The company announced it was moving away from the Intel chips it had been using since 2006; in their place, it rolled out the first Macs with the Apple-designed M1. Cut to 2024 and the company now offers the choice between 14 custom processors, the latest of which is the M4 lineup powering the latest MacBook Pro.
Like with Apple’s iPhones, the chips run on the ARM architecture and afford the company greater control over its hardware and software. These processors make Apple laptops more powerful and power-efficient, meaning greatly improved performance and battery life. You get other perks, like the ability to run mobile apps originally made for iOS. Despite all these advances, choosing a MacBook is still a task. Here’s what you should spend your hard-earned money on.
Updated November 2024: We’ve added information on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips.
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A Breakdown of Each M-Series Chip
All of Apple’s processors are scattered throughout different MacBook models. At this point, it might be tough to find a MacBook powered by a chip from before the M2. But if you do stumble upon its older chips (which came out four years ago), you might be wondering how they compare to other options. We break down the difference between each one.
M1 Series
M1: This is the first custom silicon Apple debuted for its MacBook Air in 2020. It has an 8-core CPU and up to an 8-core GPU. Originally, there was support for up to 16 GB of unified memory (RAM) at an extra cost, but nowadays you can only purchase the 8 GB model. It’s much faster than any previous Intel-powered MacBook Pro, and it is the practical choice for most people, as it’s in the most affordable MacBook Air you can buy right now (from third-party retailers). It packs more than enough processing power to get you through common day-to-day tasks—even light gaming—and it can handle more intense jobs like photo editing.
M1 Pro: Next step up is the M1 Pro. It has up to 10 cores in the CPU and up to a 16-core GPU, with up to 32 GB of unified memory. Apple says performance and graphics are both twice as fast as on the M1. We found it to be considerably more capable than the base chip, ideal for anyone who works heavily on MacBooks for music production or photo and video editing. Only the MacBook Pro (14 inch and 16 inch) from 2021 use this chip.
M1 Max: Like the M1 Pro, the M1 Max has a 10-core CPU but a heftier 32-core GPU (with support for up to 64 GB of unified memory). Apple says it’s four times faster than the M1 in terms of graphics. As proven in testing, this chip is extremely powerful and handles every heavy-duty task with ease. It’s the clear choice if you need a computer that can handle multiple streams of 8K or 4K video footage, 3D rendering, or developing apps and running demos. You probably already know whether you need this much power. It’s available in the MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch) from 2021.
M1 Ultra: The M1 Ultra is the second most powerful of them all. It’s two M1 Max chips connected with a technology called UltraFusion. It packs a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU (which can be configured with up to 128 GB of unified memory), and 32-core neural engine—complete with seven times more transistors than the base M1. Even with the M2 Ultra now available, the M1 is plenty powerful and a great option for anyone who needs a heavy-duty processor for working with intense visuals and graphics. It’s available only on the first-generation Mac Studio.
M2 Series
M2: You might think the M2 is better than the M1 Pro or M1 Max, but you’d be wrong. It’s an entry-level chip like the M1, with slightly more processing power. It packs an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU (two more GPU cores than its predecessor), along with support for up to 24 GB of unified memory. Apple says the second-generation chip has an 18 percent faster CPU and a GPU that’s 35 percent more powerful. The M2 is great for daily tasks like word processing and web browsing, but tasks like editing multiple streams of 4K footage and 3D rendering should be reserved for the M1 Pro or M1 Max (or the next two chips). It’s available in the MacBook Air (13 inch, 2022), MacBook Air (15 inch, 2022), MacBook Pro (13 inch, 2022).
M2 Pro: The M2 Pro is the next step up from the M2. It has up to 12 cores in the CPU and up to a 19-core GPU, with up to 32 GB of unified memory. Apple claims performance is up to 20 percent faster than the 10-core M1 Pro and graphics are 30 percent faster. We recommend this chip for intermediate video and photo editors. It’s a marginal upgrade compared to the M1 Pro, but it’s the best option for those who want a more future-proof processor. You’ll find it in the MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch) from early 2023 and Mac Mini (2023).
M2 Max: The M2 Max packs up to a 12-core CPU and up to a 38-core GPU (with support for up to 96 GB of unified memory). According to Apple, graphics are 30 percent faster than the M1 Max. The M2 Max is an excellent choice for those who work with graphics-intensive content, including graphic design, 3D modeling, and heavy-duty video footage. But as with the M2 Pro, it’s an incremental upgrade if you’re coming from an M1 Max. It’s available in the MacBook Pro (14 inch and 16 inch) that came out early in 2023 and Mac Studio (2023).
M2 Ultra: This is the successor to the M1 Ultra, making it the most powerful of them all—even the latest M4 Max. It’s available on the second-generation Mac Studio and the Mac Pro (2023). Composed of two M2 Max chips, using Apple’s UltraFusion technology, the M2 Ultra has a 24-core CPU and a GPU configurable with 60 or 76 cores. Apple claims the CPU delivers up to 20 percent faster performance and a 30 percent faster GPU than the M1 Ultra. This is the chip to get if you’re working with extremely heavy-duty content that you believe the M1 Ultra, M2 Pro, or M2 Max simply won’t be able to handle. You’ll know if you need a chip this robust.
M3 Series
M3: The M3 is available on the 14-inch MacBook Pro (late 2023), 13-inch MacBook Air (2024), 15-inch MacBook Air (2024), and 24-inch iMac (2023). It packs an 8-core CPU and up to 10-core GPU with 24 gigabytes of unified memory. When compared to the M1, Apple claims CPU performance is up to 35 percent faster and GPU performance is up to 65 percent faster. The company says the CPU and GPU are both 20 percent faster than the M2. As with the M1 and M2, it’s great for basic tasks like word processing, sending emails, using spreadsheets, and light gaming. With the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, you also have support for two external displays (one display with up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz and another with up to 5K resolution at 60 Hz).
M3 Pro: With a 12-core CPU and an 18-core GPU, Apple claims the M3 Pro’s GPU is only up to 10 percent faster than the M2 Pro—making this a marginal upgrade from its predecessor. Compared to the M1 Pro, however, the M2 Pro is up to 40 percent faster in GPU performance and 20 percent faster in CPU performance. It’s available on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2023. It’s the ideal in-between for those who need a chip that’s more powerful than the M3 but won’t utilize the full power of the M3 Max.
M3 Max: This is the next step up from the M2 Max and the most powerful of the three chips (but still not as powerful as the M2 Ultra). It has a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and up to 128 gigabytes of unified memory. According to Apple, the CPU performance is up to 80 percent faster than the M1 Max and up to 50 percent faster than the M2 Max. As for GPU performance, it’s said to be up to 50 percent faster than the M1 Max and 20 percent faster than the M2 Max. The M3 Max is available on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (late 2023).
M4 Series
M4: The M4 is the newest entry-level chip that has a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. Apple claims it delivers 1.8 times faster CPU performance and 2.2 times faster GPU performance than the M1. Meanwhile, the neural engine is over three times faster than the original and twice as fast as the M3. It also starts with 16 GB of unified memory, which will help power Apple Intelligence (the company’s suite of artificial intelligence features) a lot more smoothly. It’s available on the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2024) and iMac (2024).
M4 Pro: The M4 Pro has a 14-core CPU (which Apple claims it’s up to 1.9 times faster than the M1 Pro) and up to 20-core GPU, with up to 64 GB of unified mmory. Built on a second-generation three-nanometer process, it also supports features like mesh shading and ray tracing—the latter of which is now twice as fast than on M3 chips. You’ll find it on the latest MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch) and Mac Mini (2024).
M4 Max: This chip has a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU with support up to 128 GB of unfied memory. Apple says the CPU is up to 2.2 times faster than the M1 Max while the GPU is up to 1.9 times faster. As with the M4 Pro is packs support for mesh shading and ray tracing. Although the M2 Ultra is the most powerful chip of them all, it’s only available on the second-gen Mac Studio. The M4 Max is currently the most powerful chip you can get in a MacBook Pro. It’s available on the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Which Macs Support Apple Intelligence?
With Apple’s latest operating system, macOS Sequoia, you’ll have access to Apple Intelligence—the company’s artificial intelligence features that are also available iOS and iPadOS 18. Apple recently launched the first set of features with MacOS Sequoia 15.1 including Writing Tools, an overhauled Siri, Smart Replies and Mail Summaries, and Clean Up in Photos. However, Apple Intelligence is exclusive to Macs with the an M-series chip. This includes the following:
None of Apple’s MacBooks are cheap, and replacement parts are nightmarishly expensive. Since the entire computer is fully integrated into Apple’s tightly designed aluminum chassis, you’re one coffee spill away from a shockingly large repair bill. This is why Apple’s AppleCare+ is worth it—starting at $100, AppleCare extends your factory warranty to three years, gives you matching telephone support, and throws in two accidental damage repairs as well. After paying a minimum $99 service fee, whatever you did to zap your shiny new Mac will be undone, and you’ll be back to hammering away on your keyboard.
Take Advantage of Apple’s Education Discounts
Apple always offers small discounts on hardware for students and teachers. All you need to do is purchase something through Apple’s Education Store, choose the product you want (you should see the discounted pricing), and go through the motions to place the order like normal. You don’t need to show any proof that you’re a student at the time of purchase, but you should be honest, as Apple can email you at a later date and ask for verification.
Is Now a Good Time to Buy?
For the most part, yes. Apple just released a new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro powered by the latest M4 chips, so they’re fully up to date. The 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air will likely receive the M4 treatment in the spring of 2025. But the M3 versions, which launched earlier this year, are still excellent.
The Best for Most People
Apple’s latest MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) with M3 isn’t dramatically different from the MacBook Air with M2. It has the same boxy chassis (instead of the old wedge design), a 13.6-inch LCD screen (with a 60-Hz refresh rate and a max brightness of 500 nits), plus a notch that cuts into the display housing a 1080p webcam.
It comes in the same four colors: Starlight, Midnight, Space Gray, and Silver. However, the Midnight color now has an anodization seal to reduce fingerprints, which works pretty well—you can still see smudges (especially in direct sunlight), but I didn’t find myself using a cloth to wipe it down as much as the Starlight version. It is easy to see dust in such a dark shade though.
Apple kept the same port selection. There are two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a MagSafe port for charging. Speaking of, there’s support for fast charging if you purchase the 70-watt USB-C power adapter, which Apple claims can juice up the laptop up to 50 percent in 30 minutes (if you opt for one of the higher storage configurations, Apple will include it in your purchase). As for battery life, Apple claims the same 15 hours of wireless web browsing as its predecessor. In reality, I hit 29 percent after eight hours during the workday. It’s better than the M2-powered MacBook Air, which had to be plugged into the charger after the same amount of time, but it’s not a big leap ahead.
Under the hood is Apple’s M3 chip. It offers a nice boost in performance over the original M1 processor—Apple says it’s up to 60 times faster, but it’s only 20 percent faster than the M2 chipset, so don’t upgrade if you have that model. With the M3, you get an 8-core CPU with the option to choose between an 8-core or 10-core GPU. I tested the model with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16 GB of unified memory. Performance was super smooth on standard workdays when I had apps like Slack, iMessage, Spotify, and Telegram running simultaneously, along with about 60 tabs open in Google Chrome.
When I opened up about 10 more tabs, it started to struggle. Still, it wasn’t enough to trigger the infamous rainbow wheel or make me close any tabs or force-quit apps. I attribute this to the higher unified memory configuration. If it’s in your budget, I highly recommend opting for anything above the base 8 GB model for a smoother experience. However, it’s worth noting that as of October 2024, Apple has decided to equip the base MacBook Air with 16 GB of unified memory and brought the price down to the original 8 GB variant (which no longer exists). You’ll find the 8 GB model at third-party retailers, so be careful when shopping and try to avoid it.
This MacBook Air now supports two external displays, with support for one display with up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz and another with up to 5K resolution at 60 Hz. This is a welcome change since the M1 and M2 chipsets natively support only one monitor. There’s a caveat: You have to keep the MacBook Air closed. (Technically it still only supports two displays.) One of the external displays will go completely dark whenever you open the lid.
The M3-powered Air is ideal for anyone who needs a reliable laptop for everyday tasks and a little more. If your workload is graphics-intensive, I suggest snagging one of the 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro models below.
If You Want a Bigger Screen
The 15-inch MacBook Air is the first large-screen option within the Air lineup. You finally don’t need to splurge on a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro just to get a big screen. It packs all the same features as its smaller sibling (see above) and remains thin and lightweight at 3.3 pounds—around a half-pound heavier than the 13-inch MacBook Air and slightly lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro. It supports Wi-Fi 6E connectivity for download speeds that are twice as fast as its predecessor, but you’ll need a Wi-Fi 6E router to take advantage.
Unlike the smaller MacBook Air, the base model has a 10-core GPU instead of the 8-core GPU. Apple sent me the 15-inch MacBook Air with 16 GB of memory, and it handled 41 Chrome tabs, three separate windows, and multiple apps without any hiccups. As usual, I recommend upgrading to at least 16 GB of unified memory, which ensures the machine won’t sputter when you push it with dozens of browser tabs and apps running simultaneously. As with the 13-inch model, it’s worth noting the base model M2 and M3-powered MacBook Air now comes with 16 GB of unified memory instead of 8 GB (starting at $999). If you’re buying it through Apple, you won’t have to worry about anything; for third-party retailers, make sure you opt for the 16-GB version.
One other difference is the speaker system. The quad-speakers on the 13-inch MacBook Air are upgraded here to a six-speaker system, which includes two tweeters and two sets of force-canceling woofers. The difference is noticeable. It delivers better sound clarity, and I don’t have to crank it to max volume whenever I watch a movie. Battery life is also better. Apple claims the 13-inch and 15-inch have up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, but I saw better results with the larger MacBook. I’d have to plug in the 13-inch MacBook after seven or eight hours of use, but the 15 incher hit 54 percent after the same amount of time with similar workloads.
I generally never felt the need to connect this 15-inch laptop to an external monitor, which was more of a necessity with the 13-inch MacBook Air. If you find these smaller screens to be a little too cramped, then go for the 15-inch MacBook Air.
For Power-Hungry Port Lovers
This is the latest version of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, powered by Apple’s entire lineup of M4 chips. In addition to the M4 Pro and M4 Max, you can once again configure the 14-inch model with the entry-level M4 chip (as you could with the M3 version). The 16-inch can be paired with the M4 Pro or M4 Max.
It retains many of the same features as its predecessor, including a Mini-LED screen, 120-Hz refresh rate, 1080p webcam, and a six-speaker sound system. But now, for an additional $150, you can add nano-texture glass on all configurations. It’s helpful if you work outdoors or by a window and want to reduce glare. The 12-megapixel camera also comes with Center Stage. Previously only available on iPads and Apple’s Apple’s Studio Display, this feature keeps you in frame during video calls.
It has more ports than before. The base MacBook Pro now comes with three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 (that’s one extra port than on the M3 version), while the M4 Pro or M4 Max models come with three USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports—which means you’ll get faster data transfer speeds. All still come with an HDMI out, an SD card slot, a high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. You also get support for Wi-Fi 6E along with Bluetooth 5.3.
Apple finally upgraded the memory on the base models to 16 gigabytes. In the past, we always recommended it over 8 GB to ensure the smoothest experience while multitasking, so it’s nice to see the company nix it completely. This increase in RAM will also help to create a better experience with Apple Intelligence, available with MacOS Sequoia 15.1. The artificial intelligence features are available on all M-series Macs, giving you access to various features like Writing Tools, an overhauled Siri, and Smart Reply in Messages.
These models are more or less spec bumps, with few hardware upgrades. We still have to put both models through their paces to see just how powerful the new M4 chips are, but as always, they’re only a worthy upgrade if you’re looking to invest in your first MacBook Pro or are coming from a much older model. Stay tuned for our review.
The Cheapest MacBook
The MacBook Air (9/10, WIRED Recommends) from 2020 with the original M1 chip is still a pretty powerful laptop for the money (especially since the price has come down since its launch). My unit is still going strong despite daily, rigorous use. It’s not the snazziest Apple laptop, but it lasts more than a full workday, with the battery hitting 22 percent after I ran it almost nonstop from 9 am to 7 pm using Safari and work apps like Slack. (I had to plug in the old Intel model by 4 pm.)
Unlike older MacBooks you might still find available with Intel chips, this one can instantly wake up from sleep whenever you tap the keyboard or trackpad or lift the screen, just like when you tap your iPhone or iPad to wake it up. There’s no fan here, so it remains whisper-quiet even under the heaviest loads. There is a thermal heat spreader to dissipate heat and it never gets too warm.
You can only buy the base model with 8 GB of unified memory and 256 GB of storage, which should be sufficient for general-purpose tasks. Just keep in mind that while this M1 chip supports Apple Intelligence, it may struggle with some tasks due to the limited memory. Also, if you push it with too many browser tabs and apps running simultaneously, you may run into some slowdowns. Other downsides? The 720p webcam isn’t great. and the M1 only supports one external monitor.
Other Good MacBooks
Apple releases new MacBooks at a quick pace so you might feel inclined to buy the latest and greatest. These slightly older models are still good options, as long as you find them on sale for the right price. Apple no longer sells them directly (aside from the M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Air), but we recommend checking third-party retailers (like Amazon, Best Buy, or B&H). Just cross-check the price with the latest models and make sure you’re spending less.
Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch, Late 2023): The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are powered by the M3 series chips. You can configure the 14-inch MacBook Pro with all three while the 16-inch version can be paired with M3 Pro and M3 Max. The M3 is ideal if you want a few of the “Pro” features but don’t want to spend nearly $2,000 to get it, while the M3 Pro or M3 Max are great for tasks like editing 4K videos, rendering 3D models in CAD, and producing music.
MacBook Air (15-inch, 2023): The 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) packs all the same features as the 13-inch version, plus a larger screen. The M2 also offers great performance and good battery life (we squeezed about 10 hours out of it). Try to find it for around $999 or less.
MacBook Air (13-inch, 2022): The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is still a nice laptop. The M2 chip delivers smooth performance for everyday tasks (like writing emails, creating spreadsheets, web browsing, and streaming content) and solid battery life (we reached about eight hours before having to plug it in). You’ll also get a bigger and brighter display (13.6 inches), a 1080p webcam, and MagSafe charging. Apple still sells the M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Air for a reduced price of $999 (down from $1,099), and it even comes with 16 GB of unified memory.
MacBook Pro (13 Inch, 2022): This is the best option if you want the Touch Bar at the top of the keyboard since it’s the last model to come equipped with one. Under the hood is an M2 chip, which performed fairly well in our tests but did feel sluggish at times—the laptop stuttered a bit while editing video footage and photos. But unlike the MacBook Air, it has a fan, which allows it to eke out more power over a longer period. It’s helpful if you’re working on pro-level tasks but can’t spend the premium that Apple charges for its bigger Pro models. We only recommend it if you can find it for $1,000 or less.
MacBook Pro (14 Inch and 16 Inch, Early 2023): If you don’t want to spend a ton of money on the latest 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends), the M2 Pro and M2 Max (which launched early in 2023) are more than capable for handling intensive, graphically demanding production work. In our testing, both the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Max delivered smooth performance and playback after being put through stress tests (like editing 4K and RED Raw footage, as well as adding 3D effects). We recommend only snagging this one for around $1,800 or less.
MacBook Pro (14 Inch and 16 Inch, 2021): These MacBooks (8/10, WIRED Recommends), powered by the M1 Pro and M1 Max, were the start of a new era for Apple’s high-end machines. The company introduced a redesigned chassis with more ports, a 120-Hz refresh rate, and a MagSafe port. Even though these launched in late 2021, you don’t have to steer clear of them—both processors are still plenty powerful. In our testing, we found the M1 Max felt one-to-one with the $6,000+ older Mac Pro. It didn’t struggle at all while editing heavy-duty footage. However, it’s growing increasingly tough to find in stock at third-party retailers. If you do manage to find one, we suggest only purchasing it if it’s on sale for around $1,500 or less.
What About Older MacBooks?
We recommend only buying an M-series MacBook. Older MacBooks with Intel chips and butterfly keyboards are simply not worth the price and will not be supported for much longer.
There’s Shark Week, and then there’s Mac Week. It’s a little less exciting, but Apple first announced a new iMac yesterday, and today we’re being treated to a new Mac Mini. Tomorrow, there’s a good chance you can expect a new MacBook Pro, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The Mac Mini is Apple’s tiniest desktop computer and it’s getting its first redesign in decades. Apple refreshed this machine early in 2023 with the M2 chipset, but the latest entry is powered by the all-new M4 Pro, a processor making its debut today. The M4 lineup improves on power efficiency and speed, and like its predecessor, it can take advantage of the new Apple Intelligence that rolled out this week in macOS Sequoia 15.1.
Apple’s smallest desktop starts at $599 and is available for preorder now. It starts shipping on November 8.
Photograph: Courtesy of Apple
Small but Mightier Than Ever
OK, remember when Apple said the Apple Watch Series 10 had an all-new design and it still looked pretty identical to every other Apple Watch? Yes, the small changes made the Series 10 more comfortable and nicer to wear, but new design is a bit of a stretch. That’s kind of like the Mac Mini. It hasn’t received a major redesign since 2010, but things are changing now.
The already small desktop computer is now even smaller—coming in at 5 x 5 inches. Despite the smaller footprint, it’s a little taller, and the base slopes down with vents for airflow. It’s still, for all intents and purposes, a metallic cube.
Apple has finally added ports to the front, making them easier to access. Two USB-C ports support the USB 3.0, and there’s a 3.5-mm headphone jack. On the back, the M4-powered Mac Mini includes three Thunderbolt 4 ports while the M4 Pro version has three Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports (another first—Thunderbolt 5 is the latest standard that supports up to 80 Gbps data transfer speeds and it’s only available in very few devices at the moment). Both models also have an HDMI (for connecting an external display), an Ethernet connection (configurable up to 10 GB), and a port for the power cable. Apple has completely nixed the USB-A ports in this model.
Unlike the iPhone, which arrives exactly on time every September, Apple’s desktop hardware can be a little more sporadic, and naturally, that means the processors powering these machines aren’t chronological. The last Mac Mini had the M2 chip, and no, this one doesn’t have the M3, but the M4 instead. There are two types to choose from: M4 or M4 Pro.
The joint computer donation effort was launched last month in Ruidoso, New Mexico, where Digitunity and OBAE worked together to help residents who had suffered from the recent wildfires and flooding in that region to apply to receive a computer. Through a computer donation campaign, individual and corporate technology donors are connected with local organizations that will distribute computers to those who have applied for a computer.
The goal of the new partnership is to help expand computer access to underserved communities and provide hardware to people.
“This is a vital collaboration between Digitunity and OBAE in that digital access is extremely important in these times,” said Scot Henley, Digitunity Executive Director. “People need computers and broadband access for education, telehealth, employment, and access to crucial services. We are excited to get these devices to those who need them.”
Before donated computers are handed out to individuals and organizations, they will be refurbished and repaired to ensure they are fully functional.
“Broadband is no longer a luxury but a necessity,” said Jennifer Nevarez, a member of OBAE’s Broadband and Digital Equity Support Team. “OBAE has identified access to computers and hardware as one of the main barriers preventing people from fully participating in the digital world, and we are pleased to be a part of this important partnership.“
Digitunity is actively working with the U.S. General Services Administration to operationalize the Computers for Veterans and Students Act of 2022 (COVS), set to launch in 2026. Once in place, this program will enable government agencies to donate repairable, out-of-service computers to nonprofit refurbishers, greatly expanding the availability of affordable technology.
Digitunity is a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding computer ownership and advancing digital equity. For nearly 40 years, Digitunity has been generating and distributing donated computers to organizations serving individuals in need. It supports a robust national network of practitioners and provides expert guidance to states, cities, and coalitions on strategies to address the ongoing device needs of communities affected by the digital divide. Learn more at Digitunity.org.
About OBAE
OBAE is dedicated to serving New Mexico with a commitment to make high-speed broadband accessible to all New Mexicans. OBAE’s mission is to expand and improve high-speed internet service with passionate leadership that drives bold, equitable and affordable solutions.
Unless you’re a keyboard enthusiast or a gamer, with custom builds for specific tasks, it’s highly likely you’re using whatever keyboard you saw first on a shelf at Best Buy. You probably know nothing about it, other than the fact that it works and gets you through the day. But a company called Nuio, cofounded by brothers Tom and Greg Wilson, want to up the ante on ordinary keyboards, starting with the Flow Keyboard—a premium, fully wireless, ergonomic, split keyboard.
As an ergonomics accessories company, the Wilson brothers have created an entire ecosystem centered around Flow. In addition to the split keyboard, Niuo offers a whole host of high-end magnetic attachments to pair with it, including a trackpad, deskpad, adjustable stands, and wristpads. All sold separately, you can customize your setup for peak comfort. And since the entire setup is wireless, you can use it virtually anywhere—whether that’s at your desk, on a flight, or even on your lap.
While the Flow Keyboard is, at its core, another split keyboard, Niuo has set out to redefine what it means to have a “standard” keyboard by customizing everything from the shape of the base to the keys themselves. I’ve been using it for only a week, but it’s altered how I think about my own everyday keyboard. It’s available for preorder directly from Nuio’s site starting at $399, and will ship beginning December 1.
Compact and Clean
Nuio was founded by Tom Wilson (CEO) and Greg Wilson (CMO), brothers who both have an extensive background in the design and technology space. Tom Wilson is a former Apple exec who worked on the company’s portable devices like MacBooks. Greg Wilson was formerly a designer at renowned industrial design firm Frog Design (Tom Wilson also worked there at one point) and also had his own consultancy called Wilson & Co.
As the brothers began kicking ideas around for a new company, they wanted to focus on a product that hadn’t been changed in a while. With Tom’s background in hardware components, they landed on the keyboard.
“We wanted to start with the keyboard simply because not only had it not changed, but it’s literally been 40 years since everybody has a rectangular keyboard,” Greg Wilson explained in a virtual briefing. “With all the technology today, why are we doing it that way? It doesn’t really fit anyone. It’s a remnant of how typewriters were built.”
When designing the Flow keyboard, the Wilson brothers made it a point to stay away from that traditional rectangular shape. Instead, they wanted to create a keyboard that contorts to the natural way your hands rest on the keyboard, rather than the other way around. So, they opted for a 3D wave design with contoured keys that are supposed to feel like they’re hugging your fingertips. Both the enclosure and keys are built from scratch and proprietary to Nuio.
Windows 2-in-1s have been doing the tablet-laptop hybrid thing for a while now, but the tablet part of that equation always feels lacking. While iPads and Android tablets have refined the experience for more than a decade and have vast ecosystems of tablet-optimized apps at the ready, Windows remains a bit of an ugly duckling.
But what if you combined a Windows laptop with a full Android tablet? That’s the idea behind the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus (Gen 5), and it’s an interesting beast.
The closest analogue to the ThinkBook Plus (Gen 5) is Microsoft’s now-dead Surface Book line but without the need to split shared hardware between the screen and the base. Instead, the ThinkBook packs all of its laptop internals into the keyboard base and the separate tablet hardware in the display. What you end up with is a laptop that can instantly (well, nearly instantly) switch between Windows and Android at the press of a button, or operate separately when you detach the screen.
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
The hardware is no slouch either. My review unit Lenovo has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1-terabyte solid-state drive for storage. The tablet portion of the machine includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset (the flagship Android processor from 2022), 12 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage. Those are fairly beefy specs on both ends of the equation and help keep the ThinkBook Plus (Gen 5) feeling snappy with both Windows and Android.
As you’d expect from a $3,500 machine, the build quality of this ThinkBook Plus is exceptional, with an all-metal chassis that feels like it can survive being run over by a pickup truck (please don’t do that). It features a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel-resolution 14-inch OLED touchscreen display that looks as good as you can get in a premium laptop. Combined with a set of robust speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, you have a great overall media experience.
Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro is the standard-bearer for detachable 2-in-1 Copilot+ PCs. But as I noted in my review at the time, it suffers from several issues—most notably a sky-high price of $1,950 as it was configured for our tests. No matter what you think about the detachable keyboard concept, this device comes with an awfully hard price to swallow.
Enter Asus with a suspiciously similar concept, albeit considerably cheaper. I wouldn’t quite call this the Wish version of the Surface Pro, but at $1,100, the ProArt PZ13 may at least take some of the sting out of the cash outlay should you venture down this road.
Photograph: Christopher Null
To trim the price, Asus has made its fair share of sacrifices. Certain elements remain the same, including a 13-inch touchscreen, 16 GB of RAM, and a magnetically attached keyboard, which comes included with your purchase. Otherwise, the ProArt comes across as a slightly different animal. It starts with the stripped-down CPU: The ProArt uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P42100 instead of the more capable Elite that dominated the first wave of Copilot+ PCs. The aspect ratio and resolution of the two screens are slightly different—2,880 x 1,920 pixels on the Surface versus 2,880 x 1,800 on the ProArt—and although the ProArt screen isn’t nearly as vibrant and bright, I had no complaints with it through several days of use.
Surprisingly, there are a couple of upgrades on tap from Asus over what comes on the Surface Pro. Instead of Microsoft’s 512-GB SSD, Asus packs in a 1-TB drive by default. It also enhances the two USB-C 4.0 ports—one required for charging on the ProArt, unlike the Surface Pro—with a full-size SD card slot. Oddly, the card slot and one of the USB-C ports are hidden under a rigid plastic flap that’s difficult to open and does little more than get in the way.
Many of today’s programmers—excuse me, softwareengineers—consider themselves “creatives.” Artists of a sort. They are given to ostentatious personal websites with cleverly hidden Easter eggs and parallax scrolling; they confer upon themselves multihyphenate job titles (“ex-Amazon-engineer-investor-author”) and crowd their laptops with identity-signaling vinyl stickers. Some regard themselves as literary sophisticates. Consider the references smashed into certain product names: Apache Kafka, ScyllaDB, Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Much of that, I admit, applies to me. The difference is I’m a tad short on talents to hyphenate, and my toy projects—with names like “Nabokov” (I know, I know)—are better off staying on my laptop. I entered this world pretty much the moment software engineering overtook banking as the most reviled profession. There’s a lot of hatred, and self-hatred, to contend with.
Perhaps this is why I see the ethos behind the programming language Go as both a rebuke and a potential corrective to my generation of strivers. Its creators hail from an era when programmers had smaller egos and fewer commercial ambitions, and it is, for my money, the premier general-purpose language of the new millennium—not the best at any one thing, but nearly the best at nearly everything. A model for our flashy times.
If I were to categorize programming languages like art movements, there would be mid-century utilitarianism (Fortran, COBOL), high-theory formalism (Haskell, Agda), Americorporate pragmatism (C#, Java), grassroots communitarianism (Python, Ruby), and esoteric hedonism (Befunge, Brainfuck). And I’d say Go, often described as “C for the 21st century,” represents neoclassicism: not so much a revolution as a throwback.
Back in 2007, three programmers at Google came together around the shared sense that standard languages like C++ and Java had become hard to use and poorly adapted to the current, more cloud-oriented computing environment. One was Ken Thompson, formerly of Bell Labs and a recipient of the Turing Award for his work on Unix, the mitochondrial Eve of operating systems. (These days, OS people don’t mess with programming languages—doing both is akin to an Olympic high jumper also qualifying for the marathon.) Joining him was Rob Pike, another Bell Labs alum who, along with Thompson, created the Unicode encoding standard UTF-8. You can thank them for your emoji.
Watching these doyens of programming create Go was like seeing Scorsese, De Niro, and Pesci reunite for The Irishman. Even its flippantly SEO-unfriendly name could be forgiven. I mean, the sheer chutzpah of it. A move only the reigning search engine king would dare.
The language quickly gained traction. The prestige of Google must’ve helped, but I assume there was an unmet hunger for novelty. By 2009, the year of Go’s debut, the youngest of mainstream languages were mostly still from 1995—a true annus mirabilis, when Ruby, PHP, Java, and JavaScript all came out.
It wasn’t that advancements in programming language design had stalled. Language designers are a magnificently brainy bunch, many with a reformist zeal for dislodging the status quo. But what they end up building can sometimes resemble a starchitect’s high-design marvel that turns out to have drainage problems. Most new languages never overcome basic performance issues.
But from the get-go, Go was (sorry) ready to go. I once wrote a small search engine in Python for sifting through my notes and documents, but it was unusably sluggish. Rewritten in Go, my pitiful serpent grew wings and took off, running 30 times faster. As some astute readers might have guessed, this program was my “Nabokov.”
On Saturday, a YouTube creator called ChromaLock published a video detailing how he modified a Texas Instruments TI-84 graphing calculator to connect to the internet and access OpenAI’s ChatGPT, potentially enabling students to cheat on tests. The video, titled “I Made the Ultimate Cheating Device,” demonstrates a custom hardware modification that allows users of the graphing calculator to type in problems sent to ChatGPT using the keypad and receive live responses on the screen.
ChromaLock began by exploring the calculator’s link port, typically used for transferring educational programs between devices. He then designed a custom circuit board he calls “TI-32” that incorporates a tiny Wi-Fi-enabled microcontroller, the Seed Studio ESP32-C3 (which costs about $5), along with other components to interface with the calculator’s systems.
It’s worth noting that the TI-32 hack isn’t a commercial project. Replicating ChromaLock’s work would involve purchasing a TI-84 calculator, a Seed Studio ESP32-C3 microcontroller, and various electronic components, and fabricating a custom PCB based on ChromaLock’s design, which is available online.
The creator says he encountered several engineering challenges during development, including voltage incompatibilities and signal integrity issues. After developing multiple versions, ChromaLock successfully installed the custom board into the calculator’s housing without any visible signs of modifications from the outside.
To accompany the hardware, ChromaLock developed custom software for the microcontroller and the calculator, which is available open source on GitHub. The system simulates another TI-84, allowing people to use the calculator’s built-in “send” and “get” commands to transfer files. This allows a user to easily download a launcher program that provides access to various “applets” designed for cheating.
One of the applets is a ChatGPT interface that might be most useful for answering short questions, but it has a drawback in that it’s slow and cumbersome to type in long alphanumeric questions on the limited keypad.
Beyond the ChatGPT interface, the device offers several other cheating tools. An image browser allows users to access pre-prepared visual aids stored on the central server. The app browser feature enables students to download not only games for post-exam entertainment but also text-based cheat sheets disguised as program source code. ChromaLock even hinted at a future video discussing a camera feature, though details were sparse in the current demo.
ChromaLock claims his new device can bypass common anti-cheating measures. The launcher program can be downloaded on-demand, avoiding detection if a teacher inspects or clears the calculator’s memory before a test. The modification can also supposedly break calculators out of Test Mode, a locked-down state used to prevent cheating.
While the video presents the project as a technical achievement, consulting ChatGPT during a test on your calculator almost certainly represents an ethical breach and/or a form of academic dishonesty that could get you in serious trouble at most schools. So tread carefully, study hard, and remember to eat your Wheaties.
AT&T has agreed to pay $13 million to settle a federal investigation into whether the mobile phone service provider failed to protect customer information in connection with a data breach last year, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.
The FCC’s probe focused on how AT&T’s privacy, cybersecurity and vendor management practices may have played a role in the January 2023 breach, in which hackers penetrated the company’s cloud system. The breach exposed data belonging to nearly 9 million wireless customers.
As part of the settlement, AT&T entered a consent decree that requires the telecommunications giant to enhance its data governance practices, increase its supply chain integrity, and ensure appropriate processes and procedures in handling sensitive data.
Before the cyberattack, AT&T relied on a third-party vendor to host customer data. The user information exposed in the hack, including the number of lines on a customer’s account and billing information from 2015 through 2017, should have been deleted well before the breach, according to the FCC. The sensitive information did not include customers’ bank information, Social Security numbers or account passwords.
“The Communications Act makes clear that carriers have a duty to protect the privacy and security of consumer data, and that responsibility takes on new meaning for digital age data breaches,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Carriers must take additional precautions given their access to sensitive information, and we will remain vigilant in ensuring that’s the case no matter which provider a customer chooses.
FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal also said telecom firms “have an obligation to reduce the attack surface and entry points that threat actors seek to exploit in order to access sensitive customer data.”
AT&T has been subject to subsequent breaches, including an April cyberattack it disclosed in July in which hackers “nearly all” of its cellular customers’ text and call records for a six-month period between May 1, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2022.
For its part, AT&T told CBS News that “protecting our customers’ data remains one of our top priorities.”
AT&T said that when a vendor it previously used was breached, its own wireless customer data was exposed.
“Though our systems were not compromised in this incident, we’re making enhancements to how we manage customer information internally, as well as implementing new requirements on our vendors’ data management practices,” a spokesperson said.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
In addition to these features, Copilot+ PCs have proven more than capable of running general business apps like Microsoft Office products, web browsers, and the like. Their benchmarks are outpacing Intel and AMD laptops at similar prices much of the time. Battery life is also great on Copilot+ PCs across the board, thanks to the lower power consumption required by ARM CPUs.
So What’s the Catch? What Can’t They Do?
There’s a tiny problem with the ARM world. For decades, Windows has been written and rewritten and rewritten again to run on x86 chips. Throw a new chip architecture into the mix and you have to rewrite your code. That’s not easy when there are thousands of apps on the market.
Application compatibility on ARM is better today than it was five years ago, in part because Microsoft’s Prism emulator can bridge the gaps between code written for x86 and the ARM CPU, but not all of them. So problems remain. Some apps won’t run at all. Some are still in the works. Some require emulation—and emulation invariably means a significant reduction in performance. There’s no canonical guide to what’s supported, but this site has the most comprehensive list I’ve seen.
The short of it is that the more you try to do with your computer outside the basics, the more likely you are to run into a compatibility issue. Various games and specialized apps like VPNs often don’t work (or don’t work well). Even some mainstream apps like Google Drive for Desktop aren’t supported on ARM. Many common Windows-based benchmarks won’t run on ARM either, which can make apples-to-apples comparisons with x86 machines difficult.
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge Copilot+ PC
Photograph: Christopher Null; Getty Images
Graphics performance to date has also been uniformly poor on Copilot+ PCs, as the Snapdragon chipset’s integrated GPU isn’t up to snuff compared to Intel and AMD—and these laptops don’t support more powerful discrete graphics. If you are serious about gaming or GPU-heavy work like video rendering, a Copilot+ PC may not be for you.
These caveats won’t apply to Intel- or AMD-based Copilot+ PCs once they become available, as they won’t have ARM-based compatibility issues, though don’t expect the same kind of battery life.
Should You Buy a Copilot+ PC?
Today, Copilot+ PCs are ideal for anyone who wants exceptional battery life but isn’t exactly pushing their laptops to the limit. Some of the Copilot+ PC AI features are useful—the Live Translate feature is downright amazing—while some are little more than novelties. Will a feature like Recall become a must-have or be shunned by those concerned about being tracked? Time will tell, and soon enough.
Meanwhile, consider Copilot+ PCs on their own merits, as performance, features, and price vary more widely than you’d think.
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Whatever your budget or operating system preference, there’s a laptop computer from a trusted brand that can help meet the demands of your life head-on. Here are some of our favorite laptops for just about any user — from creatives to hardcore gamers — all of which offer the latest AI tools. And if you’re wondering just want those tools can do, it’s maybe best to ask what they can’t; we’re talking everything from tracking down files, shooting off a text, gathering research data, editing photos, managing a schedule, dealing with emails, or just plain surfing the web.
Based on factors like processing power, display type and size, dimensions, weight, AI functionality and overall performance, our team of in-house technology experts has curated this roundup of the best laptop computers available right now — several offering the latest artificial intelligence tools. The majority of these laptops are affordable, feature-packed, have a long battery life, provide a decent size display and are easy to transport.
Best laptop: Asus Zenbook S 16
Asus
Out of all the laptops our team has tested lately, the Asus Zenbook S 16 is hands-down the best option for everyday users and students alike. It addition to a sleek and thin design, the laptop’s exterior was inspired by nature.
For starters, the S 16 is a mere 0.43 inches thick when shut. And the laptop offers a smooth and simple appearance that relies on a durable and water resistant outer housing that’s made from Ceraluminum — a fusion of ceramic and aluminum that’s widely used in the aerospace industry.
Sure, the Zenbook S 16 looks beautiful on the outside, but it’s the inner workings of this laptop that make it to stand out. One highlight is its 16-inch 3K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits maximum brightness. The laptop is powered using an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor with a dedicated AI NPU. And for graphics, you get a AMD Radeon 880m GPU.
Combine this with 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for internal storage, along with a quick-charging battery, and the result is a powerful and versatile Windows laptop. The internal six speaker system was co-designed by Harman Kardon. For video calling and other tasks, the Zenbook S 16 has a built-in, 1080p resolution webcam. Plus, the laptop is chock full of ports.
Even without using the Copilot + PC AI capabilities, this is a standout laptop. However, when you start using the AI, this greatly expands how the laptop can be used, for tasks like texting, transcribing audio recordings, doing in-depth research, organizing a schedule, making content creation easier, and so much more. The latest AI functionality is just one keypress away, thanks to the Copilot key on its backlit keyboard. All this computing power is packaged in a laptop that costs just $1,400.
Best budget laptop: Asus Vivobook 16
Amazon
Here’s an entry-level, no-frills Windows laptop with a 16-inch WUXGA display from Asus that’s suitable for handling basic computer tasks, like web browsing, online shopping, email management, word processing or casual online gaming. It’s priced under $500 and runs using a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U processor.
The Asus Vivobook 16 comes configured with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for storage. For wireless connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E support, so when you use the laptop with its built in 720p resolution webcam, speakers and microphone, it nicely handles video calling.
We like that this laptop offers a NanoEdge display mounted on a 180-degree hinge, so less space is wasted on a bezel and more emphasis is placed on the adjustable screen. This helps to create a more immersive user experience. The laptop measures 14.12 x 9.82 x 0.78 inches and weighs about four pounds. It comes with Windows 11 Home preinstalled. You also get two USB Type-A, one USB-Type-C and one HDMI port, along with an audio combo jack.
Best Apple MacBook Pro: 16″ MacBook Pro with M3 Max processor
Amazon
You can get a decently powered MacBook Pro for as little as $1,599. But if you need the best of what Apple has to offer in a laptop, it’s this 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is powered by the new Apple M3 Max processor (Apple’s fastest and most powerful).
To say this laptop is souped-up and high-end is an understatement. It handles any task you throw at it, no matter how intense, while maintaining an extra-long battery life. The Liquid Retina XDR display lacks touchscreen capabilities, but is simply stunning to look at. Thanks to its up to 120Hz refresh rate and the 10,000 mini-LEDs that make up the display, animations and high-action video will always appear buttery-smooth and detailed — with excellent contrast, brightness and color accuracy.
Meanwhile the Apple M3 Max processor offers a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 128GB of unified memory for the fastest and most efficient graphics rendering so far, with hardware-accelerated ray tracing. This processor is up to 80% faster than the M1 Max processor running in a MacBook Pro. It’s this configuration that makes it ideal for software development, photo editing, graphic design, music creation, video editing, gaming or anything that requires massive power.
This MacBook Pro is also equipped with a six-speaker system, a 1080p-resolution webcam, a decent collection of ports, plus both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support for wireless connectivity. The integrated TouchID fingerprint sensor is just one of its advanced security features. And of course, this MacBook runs the latest version of MacOS and comes with the same generous collection of preinstalled apps as other MacBooks.
Best Apple MacBook for average users: 13″ MacBook Air with M3 processor
Amazon
For Apple Mac enthusiasts, you can’t go wrong with one of the newer, 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops with an M3 Pro or M3 Max processor, but these come with a high price tag. A more affordable and even thinner and lighter option is one of the latest 13-inch MacBook Air laptops.
This MacBook Air is equipped with 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD for storage. Both the memory and SSD can be upgraded for an additional fee at the time of purchase. Choose from four colors — starlight, midnight, silver or space gray.
You can expect up to an 18-hour battery life from the MacBook Air, which is powered using Apple’s own M3 processor. This gives the laptop more than enough power to handle everyday computing tasks.
The MacBook Air comes with the latest version of MacOS and a diverse collection of apps preinstalled.
Best Windows laptopfor average users: HP Omnibook X AI
HP
Powered by one of the latest Snapdragon X Elite CPUs with a 3.4 GHz processing speed and 12 cores for computing power, this laptop offers a 14-inch, 2.2K resolution touchscreen and an extremely impressive battery life that’s up to 26 hours. For those looking for something that’s light, thin and easily transportable, this laptop checks those boxes, too. It weighs in at a mere 2.97 pounds and is just 0.57 inches thick when folded.
Since this laptop supports Copilot+ PC functionality, you get a specialized Copilot key integrated into the backlit keyboard. This provides quick access to a variety of AI-driven functions. A good size touchpad accompanies the keyboard.
The laptop’s dedicated NPU ensures excellent performance when taking advantage of Copilot AI functions. In addition to the better than average battery life, the Omnibook X AI offers a quick charge feature. You can go from 0% to 50% battery life in about 30 minutes.
The Omnibook X AI provides all of the computing power you need to handle your everyday personal, school or work-related computing tasks, plus easy access to the AI-driven functions which are continuously being expanded and improved by Microsoft.
Once you press the Copilot key, you can quickly track down a file simply by describing it. You don’t need to remember a specific file name anymore. You can also have the Copilot assistant help you compose text, transcribe and summarize audio recordings, translate content between languages, help you edit photos, create original artwork using text prompts, and much more.
The core configuration of the Omnibook X AI will meet the computing needs of most users, but if you purchase the computer directly from HP’s website you can upgrade its processor and storage. While not water resistant, like the Asus Zenbook S16, this laptop does offer a longer battery life and is highly customizable. Its design makes the computer comfortable to work with, whether you’re sitting at your desk or on-the-go and working from remote locations.
Best laptop for for people who need serious processing power: Dell XPS 14
Dell
When it comes to consumer-friendly laptops, you’d be hard pressed to find one that’s more powerful, portable and versatile than the 2024 edition of the Dell XPS 14.
This laptop offers a high-end configuration for power users. It includes a stunning 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen display, a 16-core Intel Ultra 7 155H processor, a Nvidia GeForce RTYX 4050 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD for storage. This laptop also comes with Windows 11 Pro preinstalled. Choose between a graphite or platinum housing color.
All of this computing power is packed into a laptop that measures 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inches and weighs just 3.8 pounds. Best of all, battery life is up to 21 hours. Regardless of how you’ll be using this laptop, it comes with everything you need to get the job done — and done well. This includes an 8-watt, quad-speaker sound system with Dolby Atmos support. You also get a dual array microphone setup, 1080p resolution webcam and support for Wi-Fi 6E.
Our favorite feature is the InfinityEdge touchscreen display with its 120Hz variable refresh rate. It’s able to showcase bright, accurate and smooth graphics on a display that’s large enough to be highly functional, yet small enough so the laptop maintains a highly portable form factor.
What you wind up with is a wonderful balance between performance and power with a minimalist design. The processing capabilities of this laptop make it suitable for handling high-end tasks like content creation, video editing and gaming. And if you’re using this laptop for everyday tasks, like web surfing or word processing, you can expect lighting quick speed and extremely quiet operation.
Another compelling reason to invest in this higher-end Dell laptop is for its Copilot+ PC AI capabilities. This is combined with a touchpad that offers highly-responsive haptic feedback and precision, plus a touch-friendly keyboard that’s extremely comfortable to type on. The special Copilot key is conveniently located to the right of the space bar for easy access.
The included MyDell software makes it super easy and convenient to wirelessly sync and share data, documents, files and photos with any Apple iPhone or Android smartphone. Power users will also appreciate the generous selection of ports and the laptop’s integrated microSDXC memory card slot.
Best Windows laptop for creatives: Asus ProArt PX13
Best Buy
For anyone who uses their computer to handle graphic design, photo and video editing, content creation and CAD work, the Asus ProArt PX13 is a wonderfully thin and portable laptop solution.
Yes, you’ll pay a bit more for this Windows laptop, but it’s souped up with some high-end technology, like a 13.3-inch, 3K (2,880 by 1,800 pixel) resolution touchscreen display with a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s also equipped with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage. The laptop runs using an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.
The ProArt PX13 supports all of the latest Copilot+ AI tools. One standout feature is the Asus DialPad. It provides more intuitive and precise control when running creativity apps, like PowerPoint or Photoshop.
Yet another standout feature is the laptop’s durability. It’s water-resistant and meets MIL-STD 810H military standards for durability and reliability — even in extra high or low temperatures. We also absolutely love that this laptop weighs a mere 3.06 pounds and is just 0.7 inches thick when closed. This makes is easy to carry around in a backpack.
Best Windows gaming laptop: Alienware x16 R2
Alienware
When it comes to gaming laptops, you have a wide range of choices from top brands including Alienware, Asus TUF, Republic of Gamers and Razer. To get the most out of any gaming experience, you need a laptop with a high-resolution display, a fast CPU and GPU, plenty of RAM, and enough storage to hold games and related data. This is exactly what you get from the Alienware x16 R2.
This configuration is equipped with a 16-inch FHD+ (1,920 x 1,200 pixel resolution) display, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD for storage. It runs using an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with a processing speed up to 5.10 GHz and 16-cores of computing power. This is accompanied by a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. Windows 11 Pro comes preinstalled.
The x16 R2 is also equipped with two USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, one Thunderbolt 4/DisplayPort, a combo audio port and an HDMI port. Plus, there’s an integrated microSD memory card slot. The computer measures 14.36 x 11.41 x 0.73 inches and weighs about six pounds. Its speaker system includes two tweeters and four woofers. For wireless connectivity, the laptop supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
If this specific hardware configuration isn’t perfect for you, visit the Dell website to custom-configure your own Alienware x16 R2 laptop.
Best laptop for remote workers: Lenovo Yoga 9i
Amazon
For someone who wants a laptop with a larger, 16-inch display and that runs Windows 11 Pro using an advanced 14th Gen Intel Ultra 9 185H processor, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is the laptop for you. It comes configured with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage.
The 16-inch, 3.2K resolution mini-LED touchscreen display offers a super-fast 165Hz refresh rate and has a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits. From this laptop, you can expect an extremely high level of performance, along with fast wireless connectivity using Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Featuring a traditional laptop design, the Yoga 9i is a mere 0.81 inches thick when shut and it weighs just 5.07 pounds. For a sound system, the laptop has a dual speaker system and a built in subwoofer. While this laptop can handle all of your everyday computing needs if you’re a moderate user, it’s also a great option for online gaming.
The one drawback to the Yoga 9i is that all of its computing power requires a lot of battery power, so the laptop’s battery life is only up to five hours.
How to pick the best laptop computer
We recommend you choose a computer from a well-known brand and try to anticipate what your computing needs will be over the next three to four years, so you won’t need to replace the computer anytime soon. This might mean spending a bit more upfront for a higher-end computer, but for the investment, you’ll likely wind up with a computer that offers better overall performance and a fast wireless internet connection.
To get the most out of the laptop computer, stick with an operating system that’s compatible with the equipment you already use, such as your smartphone, smartwatch, tablet and desktop computer. People already invested in the Apple ecosystem will benefit the most from a MacBook laptop. An Android fan can take advantage of a Windows or ChromeOS computer, while someone with a Windows machine should purchase a laptop that also runs Windows.
16 factors to consider when choosing your laptop computer
Here’s a rundown of the 16 most important features and functions to look for when shopping for a laptop computer that you’ll rely on heavily in college:
Artificial intelligence: Many of the latest Windows laptops are equipped with Copilot+ PC functionality, which is Microsoft’s AI toolset that are baked into the Windows operating system and many popular apps. The latest MacBooks that run MacOS Sequoia can take advantage of Apple Intelligence, which is Apple’s own set of AI-driven tools and functions. Since AI is definitely where the future of mobile computing is headed, it’s a good strategy to invest in a laptop that offers this quickly evolving technology, even if you don’t plan to start using it right away.
Design: There are traditional laptop computers, 2-in-1 computers (that serve as a laptop computer and tablet), laptops with a touchscreen display, laptops that are extra thin and lightweight, and those are designed to be extra rugged. So ask yourself: What will you be using the laptop for?
Operating system: Your three main options are Windows, MacOS or ChromeOS. Focus on the OS of the equipment you’re already using. Also, make sure your laptop runs the very latest version that operating system.
Display size, type, resolution, brightness and refresh rate: In addition to non-touch and touchscreen displays, the screens built into laptop computers vary in size, display type, resolution, brightness and refresh rate. Think about the level of detail, vibrance and color accuracy you want to see. In general, larger displays that offer high resolution, a higher-than-average brightness level and a faster refresh rate will increase the computer’s price, as will choosing a higher-end display type, such as an OLED.
Stylus and touchscreen support: Some (but far from all) laptop computers offer a touchscreen display with stylus support. With a touchscreen, you get additional ways to interact with the computer to enhance your productivity. A stylus allows you to handwrite or draw directly on the screen, or annotate files as you’re reading or working with them.
CPU and GPU: A computer’s CPU (central processing unit) impacts processing power, while its GPU (graphics processing unit) determines how efficiently the computer handles graphics and animations. The faster and more powerful a computer’s CPU and GPU, the more expensive it will be.
RAM: Consider this the computer’s short-term memory. It’s used to manipulate data while applications are running. Having more RAM (or unified memory in the case of MacBooks) will determine how smoothly and efficiently a computer runs.
Internal storage: A computer’s internal storage determines how much content can be stored locally. This includes apps, data, documents, files, photos and other types of content. If you rely heavily on cloud apps and file storage, internal storage is less important. For the average user, we recommend a laptop with at least 256GB or 512GB of internal storage, although you may need 1TB. Chromebooks typically have a lot less internal storage, since their main focus is on cloud-based computing.
Battery life: If you’ll often use your laptop on the go, a more powerful battery will keep the computer running longer. Longer battery life is less critical if you’ll primarily be using the computer at a desk close to an electrical outlet.
Wired and wireless connectivity: All laptops have built-in ports such as USB Type-A and USB Type-C ports; HDMI; Ethernet; a 3.5mm headphone jack; or a memory card slot. The port array you need depends on what equipment you’ll be connecting to the computer (without needing an optional dock or hub). Also pay attention to the computer’s wireless connectivity. All offer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but make sure they’re the most recent — either Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Cellular connectivity should support 5G, which is significantly faster than 4G LTE.
Speakers: If you plan to use the speakers built into your laptop, make sure your machine offers at least two. Some of the latest laptops offer at least four speakers and an integrated subwoofer to generate robust, room-filling audio.
Keyboard layout: A computer’s keyboard design and layout, along with the size and location of the touchpad, dictates how comfortable it is to type on. Some laptop keyboards include a numeric keypad on the right side, a separate line of function keys along the top, or other specialty keys. Some laptop computers offer backlit keys (which makes it easier to type in the dark) or customizable RGB lighting.
Dimensions and weight: The size of the computer’s display is a key factor in determining its overall dimensions and weight. Dimensions and weight impact how easy it is to carry and the size of the case or backpack you’ll need.
Webcam and microphone: You’ll want a laptop with a high-resolution webcam (that offers at least 1080p resolution), along with quality microphones to ensure you’ll be clearly heard during web calls or virtual classes.
Price of accessories and upgrades: If you plan to stream video or audio, no matter how good the integrated speakers are, you’ll also want to invest in quality Bluetooth headphones or earbuds that offer noise cancelling and spatial audio. This will allow you to have private and more immersive listening experiences.
Special features: This might mean two separate displays or a more rugged (or even waterproof) design. Before spending extra money for these features, make sure they’re things you’ll actually use.
Jason R. Rich (www.JasonRich.com) is an internationally recognized consumer technology expert with more than 30 years’ writing experience. He’s also an accomplished author and photographer. One of his most recently published books, The Remote Worker’s Handbook: How to Effectively Work From Anywhere ($24.99, Entrepreneur Books) is now available from Amazon and wherever books are sold.
The big draw of 2-in-1 laptops is that they can be used as both a laptop and a tablet. While in laptop mode, they’re generally comparable to any other clamshell laptop you’ll find. However, Windows and ChromeOS aren’t exactly the best touch-oriented operating systems out there, so you may find the touchscreen experience lacking.
If you already use a recent iPad or Android tablet regularly, you may not get as much out of a 2-in-1. However, the different “modes” you can use with a convertible 2-in-1 can make one well worth considering. Being able to quickly rotate the display to show something to a colleague on the other side of a table or comfortably sign a PDF can come in clutch.
Ultimately, both of our top picks on this list, the Lenovo Yoga 9i and HP Spectre x360 14, are already some of the best laptops you can buy. Consider their 2-in-1 capabilities to be a nice bonus on top of their stellar performance and features. If you’re aiming for the more budget range and already have a tablet, it’s worth considering whether you can save some cash by sticking with a traditional clamshell.
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