The best business laptops in 2024

Business woman working on one of the best business laptops in an office
(Image credit: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock)

The best business laptops might cost a bit. But they can help you or your employees remain productive, whether you're working from an office, or working from home. So in the long term, they're a great investment.

Here, we've drawn on our years of experience to pull together a list of the best business laptops available today. That means all the devices below all offer enough power and processing speed to run office software and display presentations, quickly and efficiently. Their batteries will be powerful enough to last a working day. They're also sleek and professional-looking; thin and light enough to be easily portable; large enough to easily view documents on, and with a keyboard comfortable enough to use for work.

If you have other specific uses for a laptop, though, check out our guides to best laptops for video editing and the best student laptops.

The best business laptops in 2023

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Best business laptop overall

Product shot of Dell XPS 15 (2022), one of the best business laptopsEndorsement Image

(Image credit: Dell)

01. Dell XPS 15 (2022)

The best business laptop overall

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i7-i9
Graphics: Iris Xe graphics or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
RAM: 16-64GB
Screen: 15.6" LCD, resolution from 1920 x 1200 to 3840 x 2400
Storage: 512GB-4TB

Reasons to buy

+
Fast processors
+
Beautiful display
+
Amazing battery life

Reasons to avoid

-
Expensive

Dell is the top dog when it comes to making slim, stylish and utterly desirable Windows laptops, and the XPS 15 is their brilliant flagship. Take this device out in any office or meeting, and you'll get a lot of appreciative looks. But it's not just about aesthetics. Dell has packed the XPS 15 with some of the most powerful mobile components you'll find in any laptop right now, so it'll easily handle pretty much any task you need to use it for. It's so powerful that you can even play games on it pretty effectively, and it's great for photo and video editing too.

All this power is packed into a stylish body that's thin and light, making it ideal if you're often working out and about. Its 15.6-inch screen is bright and vibrant, and it's backed up by a comfortable keyboard and excellent speakers. All this, plus Dell's famous build quality and support, makes it expensive, but worth it.

Best business laptop for battery

Product shot of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10, one of the best business laptopscb badge

(Image credit: Lenovo)

02. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 (2022)

The best business laptop for battery life

Specifications

CPU: 11th gen Intel Core i5-i7
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 8GB-32GB
Screen: Touchscreen, 14-inch, 16:10, resolution 1920 x 1200p to 3840 x 2400
Storage: 256GB-1TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Great performance
+
Fantastic battery life
+
Thin and light

Reasons to avoid

-
Only integrated graphics

Lenovo make excellent laptops for business use, and this new model is a great example of that. It's thin and light, with an excellent battery life, which makes it perfect for business people who travel a lot for work.

It packs a speedy Intel i7 CPU and Intel Iris Xe graphics, has some great built-in security features and can be fitted with up to 32GB of RAM. The build quality and after sale support means this is a laptop you can confidently use for work day in day out as well. 

However, for creatives, you may want to bear in mind that it only comes with integrated graphics. This means for graphic intensive tasks like 3D rendering and animation, or CAD use, this may not be for you.

Best business laptop for budget buyers

Acer Swift 3 with its screen openCB endorsed

(Image credit: Acer)

03. Acer Swift 3

The best budget business laptop

Specifications

CPU: Up to Intel Core i7-8565
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce MX150, Intel HD Graphics 620 or AMD Radeon Vega 8
RAM: 4-8GB
Screen: 14-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) ComfyView IPS – 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080)
Storage: 128GB – 1 TB HDD, 16 GB Intel Optane Memory

Reasons to buy

+
Great value
+
Superb keyboard and trackpad
+
Excellent performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Looks a little plain

Short on cash? The Acer Swift 3 is a fantastic business laptop for people who want to keep costs down. It's one of the most affordable Windows laptops out there, but it doesn't skimp on performance. In fact, it can go toe-to-toe with more expensive laptops, even though some of its hardware is showing its age a bit (it was first released in 2020).

The keyboard and trackpad are both comfortable to use, and while the chassis is a little plain, it feels robust enough that you won't worry about carrying it around with you. The 14-inch 1080p screen means working on this laptop doesn't feel cramped, and it offers enough power to handle pretty much any day-to-day office task you require of it. For heavy-duty use, however, you'll want to splash out on something a bit more capable.

Best business laptop from Apple

Product shot of MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022), one of the best business laptops

(Image credit: Future)
The best business laptop from Apple

Specifications

CPU: Apple M2 (8-core)
Graphics: Integrated 10-core GPU
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 Retina display (backlit LED, IPS, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut)
Storage: 1TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
High-end performance
+
Lots of storage
+
Great keyboard 

Reasons to avoid

-
Lack of ports

Do you desire an Apple laptop above all else? Many do, partly as a fashion statement, partly because they're just so powerful and reliable. 

The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2020) is by far the best business laptop Apple has made, so if you have your heart set on using a MacBook for work, this is the one to get. It's super-powerful, thanks to its Apple-designed M2 chip, and has the longest battery life ever seen in a MacBook. This thing is seriously impressive when it comes to battery, and means you can work on it all day without needing to plug it in.

As is usual with MacBooks, it also has a gorgeous Retina screen, while offering a sleek and stylish design that Apple is renowned for. The Touch Bar, a slim touch display that runs along the top of the keyboard, is a great feature, as it displays context-sensitive buttons and shortcuts that change depending on the app you're using. With the right apps, it can be a real boon to your productivity. 

The only real downsides are the price and the lack of ports: just two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports (one of which is used for power), an audio jack and that's it. Read more with our MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) review and our MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air comparison.

Best MacBook Pro alternative

An ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED laptop, one of the best laptops for graphic design, sitting in a nature scene

(Image credit: Future / Ian Evenden)
The best MacBook Pro alternative for business

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900H
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB)
RAM: 16GB, 32GB
Screen: 14.5-inch, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED
Storage: 1TB

Reasons to buy

+
Powerful processors
+
Thunderbolt 4
+
OLED screen

Reasons to avoid

-
A touch on the heavy side
-
Screen is reflective
-
Attracts fingerprints

Do you love MacBooks for your personal, but need to use Windows 11 for business reasons? If so, the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED is, in our experience, the closest device to Apple's powerhouse on the market today. The HDR OLED display is bright, sharp and colourful. The Intel i9 processor can match even the MacBook M2 processor in terms of fast performance. And while eight-ish hours of battery life isn't quite as much as a MacBook, most business people will find it generous enough. And on the plus side, it comes with an excellent touchscreen too. For more details, see our Asus Zenbook 14X OLED review.

Best big-screen business laptop

Product shot of LG Gram 17, one of the best business laptops

(Image credit: LG)

06. LG Gram 17 (2022)

The best business laptop with a large screen

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i7
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 17-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS LCD
Storage: 1TB

Reasons to buy

+
Very light and thin
+
Excellent battery life
+
Big bright screen

Reasons to avoid

-
Average speakers

If you're after a business laptop with a large screen then the LG Gram 17 is our top pick, because despite its size, it remains thin and light enough to easily carry around. 

Packed with some of the latest mobile tech around, including 11th generation Intel processors, Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM and speedy SSD storage, this is a great performer. Battery life is also phenomenal, easily lasting around 12 hours on a single charge. Best of all, it's also incredibly light at just 2.98 lbs (1.35 kg), yet doesn't feel at all flimsy. You honestly won't expect a laptop with a 17-inch screen of feeling this light, which is a credit to LG's engineers.

Best business laptop for graphic designers

A grey ASUS ProArt Studiobook OLED sitting on a desk

(Image credit: Future)
The best business laptop for graphic designers

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-13980HX
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (8GB)
RAM: Up to 64GB
Screen: 16.0-inch, glasses-free 3D OLED display, 3.2K (3200 x 2000)
Storage: Up to 8TB (2x4TB SSD)

Reasons to buy

+
Powerful specs
+
Beautiful design
+
Customisable dial

Reasons to avoid

-
Battery life a little low

If you're a graphic designer your day-to-day business is more about spreadsheets and emails; you also want a laptop that can cope with demanding creative software such as Adobe Photoshop. You'll want a beautiful pin-sharp display, with 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. And you'll be looking for special features for creatives too.

All these needs will be meet by the ASUS ProArt Studiobook OLED (H7604). It's packed with high-spec components that run everything quickly without overheating. In the words of our reviewer: "[It's] ideal for everything from basic image editing to 3D rendering. It laughs at 4K video, plays games, flies through raw image processing and looks good while doing it." Its OLED display is bright and sharp packs in touchscreen functionality, and to speed up your workflow further, there’s a built-in dial that can be customised to whichever creative app you’re running. For more details, read our full Asus ProArt Studiobook OLED review

Best value Apple laptop for business

MacBook Air laptop in an office on a black desk

(Image credit: Future)
The best value Apple laptop for business

Specifications

CPU: Apple M2 (8-core)
Graphics: Integrated 8 or 10 core GPU
RAM: 8GB-24GB
Screen: 13.6-inch, 2,560 x 1,664 LED-backlit display with IPS technology
Storage: 256GB-2TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Silent use
+
Amazing battery life
+
Cheaper than MacBook Pro

Reasons to avoid

-
Lack of ports

The MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is similar to the MacBook Pro, above, but about $100/£100 cheaper. It's another great choice for business use, thanks to its powerful Apple-designed M2 chip. Its fanless design also means that it is pretty much completely silent when in use. And as with previous MacBook Airs, it features a gorgeous thin and light design that makes it easy to carry around with you, which makes it a great choice for businesses people who like to travel a lot. 

The fanless design means it can't quite keep pace with the MacBook Pro in heavy use cases, but for day-to-day use, the MacBook Air is a great affordable alternative to the MacBook Pro 13-inch. For more details, read our MacBook Air (M2, 2022) review and our MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air comparison.

Best value Windows laptop for business

Asus ZenBook 13 (2021) with screen open showing Windows desktop

(Image credit: Asus)

09. Asus ZenBook 13 (2021)

The best value Windows laptop for business

Specifications

CPU: 11th-generation Intel Core i3 – i7 / AMD Ryzen 5000
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics / AMD Radeon
RAM: 8GB - 32GB
Screen: 13.3-inch, OLED 1080p, 400 nits
Storage: 256GB - 1TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Gorgeous OLED display
+
Excellent battery life

Reasons to avoid

-
No headphone jack

The Asus ZenBook 13 is a couple of years old now, so it's on the affordable side. But it's a business laptop that can easily go head-to-head with most Apple MacBooks when it comes to pure design and power. 

You can choose between an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor, or Intel 11th gen CPU, and both of these offer excellent performance. It also has an absolutely stunning 13.3-inch OLED screen and one of the best battery lives around. You can configure it up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage, which makes this a brilliant laptop for working on, especially if you want to multitask, or store lots of large files. And that means it's a great choice for creatives looking for a classy business laptop.

How to choose a business laptop

Some of the most popular and respected brands of business laptop include Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple and Microsoft. But how do you choose between them? Well, essentially it means balancing your needs and budget: there's no point in spending thousands on a device if one that costs a few hundred can deliver all you need. 

So think carefully about what you'll be using the laptop for. If you only need it for basic tasks like email and web browsing, you can get away with a less expensive model. But if you need it for more demanding tasks like video editing or programming, you'll need to invest in a more powerful machine.

Once you know your budget and needs, it's time to start comparing specs, most importantly the processor, RAM and storage. The faster the processor, the better the performance, and the higher the RAM, the more you can multitask more effectively. Storage is where your files and programs are stored, so if you need to store a lot of data, more is better. 

Also think about what size screen is better for your purposes. A larger display means you can see more of your spreadsheets at once, and the easier it will be to put two windows side by side. Having said that the larger and bulkier the laptop, the bulkier it'll be to carry, so there's a trade-off to be made there. 

FAQs

What is the difference between a business laptop and a consumer laptop?

Technically, there's no specific category of "business laptop": most manufacturers want to sell to both business and consumer audiences, so they make devices that can serve both. Even when a model is specifically described as a business laptop in its title, that doesn't mean it can't be used by ordinary consumers. 

However, in everyday speech most people use the term "business laptop" to mean one that's more durable, has better security features, and offer longer battery life than the average consumer laptops. They may also come with software and services that are designed for business users, such as remote management tools and support for enterprise networks.

What is a suitable screen size for a business laptop?

A 13 to 15-inch display is common for business laptops, but ultimately different screen sizes suit different people. Smaller screens are more portable, while larger ones offer more workspace. Also consider the screen ratio: 16:9 is standard, but you may prefer a wider screen if often need to put windows side-by-side, or scroll along wide spreadsheets.

What is a docking station, and do I need one for my business laptop?

A docking station is a good choice if your laptop is short on ports, at allows you to connect your laptop to a variety of external monitors, peripherals, and network resources with a single cable. This makes them useful for professionals who use their laptops as desktop replacements.

Tom May

Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects. 

With contributions from