Laptop Buying Guide: Choosing the Right OS, Processor, and More

Most people will be happy just buying the latest MacBook Air—and I'm happy for them. But you're not most people. You want to know that your money isn't being wasted, or that you aren't missing out on the latest and greatest technological innovation. Or maybe you're just wondering what’s changed in the past five years since you last bought a laptop.

Good news—that's how my brain works too. And I've been testing laptops for well over a decade now, including all the major releases so far in 2026. Feel free to skip around, but if you have a question about a laptop or a particular aspect of a laptop, you've come to the right place.

Updated May 2026: We've added the latest chip news from Intel, AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm. We also have details on changes in pricing, the memory shortage, the latest MacBooks, and the future of Chromebooks.

Understanding Use Cases and Budget

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, I always recommend starting with the biggest question first: What will you do with your new laptop? Is this a business machine meant primarily for office work and other simple tasks that can be done in a browser? Or perhaps you have a burgeoning interest in a hobby like PC gaming, video editing, coding, or design. Maybe one of those hobbies is more of a job for you, meaning you'll want something that is designed from the ground up to accelerate work in those applications. On the other side of the spectrum, maybe you plan to primarily use your laptop on the go, whether that's on a plane or in coffee shops. In that case, portability and battery life may be the most important factors to consider.

The answer to those questions will help point you in the right direction and ensure that you don't overspend on features or performance you don't need. For example, buying a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air just because you have extra money to spend isn't a good idea. Neither is configuring a laptop with a faster processor with less memory. And all that brings me to the budget: $1,000 is an important price. There are many good options below that price, but it's the level at which you can expect laptops to feel premium and lack significant compromises. It's the starting retail price of the starting MacBook Air, as well as several Windows laptops. That's not to say that there aren't many cheap laptops these days that are surprisingly solid. In fact, with the launch of the $599 MacBook Neo earlier this year, we're seeing a surge of competition to create the best laptop at this price.

If your budget is truly only a few hundred bucks, though, you're better off buying a Chromebook than a bottom-tier Windows laptop. They'll feel faster and lighter, and usually get longer battery life, at least compared to similarly priced Windows laptops.

Which Operating System Is Best?

I won't waste your time repeating the same arguments you've probably already heard about why macOS is better than Windows, or vice versa. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and you likely already have opinions about them. The truth is that these operating systems are more similar today than they have ever been, not unlike Android and iOS. So if you're on the fence, I recommend opting for a laptop that runs whichever is most familiar.

For some people, however, it might be helpful to think through what software you need to run, and which operating systems it runs best on, which will help you determine the hardware you need. And let's not forget: ChromeOS and Linux are still alternative options. So, here's how the four available operating systems break down.

Windows

Windows is the stalwart default OS. Windows is the broadest and most widely used operating system, supporting the largest number of applications and hardware. Your workplace may require it, or maybe you need it to run a specific app. Every new Windows laptop released in the past few years comes with the latest Windows 11. Due to its comparatively open nature, new laptops arrive throughout the year, ranging from cheap laptops to blinged-out gaming laptops. There is even a variety of 2-in-1 laptops to consider, with adventurous designs and integrated touchscreens. Regardless of your budget, you'll have an easier time finding something in the Windows ecosystem that works for you. Since 2024, Microsoft has been pushing Copilot AI features deeper and deeper into the operating system, but in 2026, that direction may be reversing—or at least slowing down. Its upcoming 2026 update scheduled for later this year will focus more on improving performance, removing Copilot clutter, and adding more customization to the Taskbar.

macOS

Apple's macOS is a bit more beginner-friendly than Windows, especially if you own an iPhone. But it's tightly coupled with the company's hardware, meaning your buying options are limited to MacBooks. Since Apple uses its own chips and MacBooks are a different beast altogether, we have a separate guide to picking the best MacBook. If you're already bought into the Apple ecosystem with iPhones or iPads, MacBooks have several software features (such as AirDrop and Universal Control) that are legitimately convenient, and Apple makes some of the best laptop hardware in the game. The last major release of the operating system, macOS 26 Tahoe, officially launched last fall, which brought a new visual design, updates to Spotlight, and much more.

ChromeOS

If you can do most of your laptop tasks in a web browser and are trying to save some cash, ChromeOS is a good choice. Chrome laptops (called Chromebooks) are also among the cheapest (and least powerful) you'll find, so the OS is also worth considering if you're on a tight budget. Although Chromebooks are most often associated with the dirt-cheap school laptops that are loaned out to high schoolers, they've grown into something more than that. The “Chromebook Plus” designation rolled out in late 2023, a way of emphasizing higher-end Chromebooks that use faster processors, more memory, more storage, and better video cameras, such as on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus. The same limitations are still there, though. You can't run Adobe's Creative Suite or Microsoft Office. Some apps, notably Office, do have an Android phone/tablet version you might be able to install on your Chromebook (or a web version), but I have found Android apps often don't run well. Google has recently been talking about the future of Chromebooks and Google tablets, confirming that a merging of the two is coming in 2026, first rumored as Aluminium OS and has since been revealed as Googlebooks. Read our Best Chromebooks guide for more.

Linux

As an alternative to Windows, there's been a growing interest in Linux over the past few years. The surge in popularity of the Steam Deck plays a big role in this, but people have also begun turning to Linux in response to the required upgrade to Windows 11. If you don't need MS Office and don't mind a learning curve, you can install Linux on just about any piece of laptop hardware ever created. Like with ChromeOS, the catch is that popular apps like MS Office and Adobe's Creative Suite don't support Linux. However, there are free, open-source alternatives like LibreOffice, Darktable (Adobe Lightroom replacement), and GIMP (Adobe Photoshop replacement). See our Best Linux Laptops guide for our favorites.

Understanding Processor Names (CPUs)

Once you know which operating system you want and have some idea of the software you're going to run, you can figure out the minimum hardware specifications you'll need. The first thing we suggest looking at is the processor, also referred to as the chip or the CPU. These days, there are four competitors in the laptop space that you need to know about.

Intel Processors

Intel has had a rough few years, but its offering in 2026 feels quite strong. Panther Lake, built on the long-anticipated 18A node, is the culmination of five years of planning and engineering—and it's largely paid off. I won't get into all the details, but the company is finally executing on CPU performance, GPU performance, and battery life at a scale it's never accomplished before. I saw this most recently when I tested the Dell XPS 14, which was one of the first laptops out of the gate to support Panther Lake. It has the GPU performance you could only get with a discrete graphics card in the past, but it also gets really impressive battery life. That's a combination we've only seen on MacBooks thus far.

But let's discuss naming, because when you go out to buy one of these impressive new laptops, you'll need to be careful. For decades, few things in tech were as iconic as Intel's “Core i” branding. CPUs are complicated (and usually involve a string of numbers), but you could at least always know that the Core i7 was faster than the Core i5. Intel introduced new branding back in 2023, however, which swapped out “Core i5” for “Core Ultra 5.”

With the latest generation of silicon from Intel, the company has once again introduced a change to how the chips are named. You still depend on the “3” at the beginning of the SKU to know what generation you're in, fortunately. But that's only step one. When shopping for the new Dell XPS 14 devices, for example, you're presented with four Intel chip options: Core Ultra 5 325, Core Ultra 7 355, Core Ultra X7 358H, and Core Ultra X9 388H.

All the H-series chips get you 16 CPU cores, while adding the X7 or X9 modifiers indicates chips with 12 GPU cores. They're the first Intel chips that truly feel like they can compete with what Apple has achieved on the M4 and M5 in terms of integrated graphics performance. You'll notice that the “V” and “U” designations used in the Core Ultra Series 2 are gone, as that distinction is no longer necessary with these new chips, which were all manufactured by Intel.

BrandArchitectureCPU coresGPU CoresH X9Panther Lake16 cores12 coresH X7Panther Lake16 cores12 coresHPanther Lake16 coresUp to 10 coresNo letterPanther Lake4 cores4 cores

As always with Intel, there are odd exceptions to allow Windows laptop manufacturers to build and sell unique designs. For example, the Core Ultra 5 338H has only 12 CPU cores but 10 GPU cores, while the Core Ultra 7 356H has 16 CPU cores and only 4 GPU cores. It's not just as simple as all the Core Ultra 7 H variants being faster than the Core Ultra 5 H chips.

Of course, last year's Core Ultra Series 2 chips are still being sold at retailers as the new generation slowly replaces them. The rollout of Series 3 chips has been especially slow this year, which is why the majority of Intel laptops out in the market today still have a Series 2 chip, such as the Core Ultra 7 258V.

Qualcomm Processors

Qualcomm made a huge splash in the Windows laptop space in 2024, debuting the Snapdragon X line of chips and thoroughly disrupting Intel's hold on laptop CPUs. Over the past year, we've tested a number of these laptops and found them to be competitive not only with Intel's latest chips but also with the latest Apple M4 silicon.

There are three options: the Snapdragon X, Snapdragon X Plus, and Snapdragon X Elite. Battery life and AI capabilities are equivalent across all three, while CPU performance scales up. Qualcomm doesn't have higher-powered configurations for serious video editors, gamers, and content creators, but they do all come with an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) capable of 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second). When they initially launched, these Snapdragon laptops were the only devices that qualified as Copilot+ PCs, as they were the only laptops with the 45-TOPS NPU. These days, however, both Intel and AMD have earned the Copilot+ PC badge.

The major difference with the Snapdragon chips is the ARM architecture. These have been used in phone chips for many years, but Apple showed how they could scale up with the M-series of chips used in MacBooks, while keeping that impressive efficiency. Snapdragon X is the equivalent of that for Windows laptops, finally delivering both performance and battery life. Initially, there were concerns about app compatibility, which has been a problem with ARM adoption in the past. A year later, that's largely been resolved, with most major applications being compiled for ARM natively.

In October 2025, Qualcomm announced the first chips in its next-gen line, Snapdragon X2. So far, there's the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Plus, as well as a new entry in the lineup: the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme. Both the X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme have options for up to 18 cores, as well as a claimed jump in integrated graphics, which was the weakest point of the first generation. This X2 Elite Extreme has higher frequencies and higher memory bandwidth for better AI workload performance over the X2 Elite. Meanwhile, the NPU takes a big step forward as well, offering 80 TOPS of performance across the entire lineup of Snapdragon X2 chips. The only chip left in the line is the Snapdragon X2, which is its lowest-tier option, reserved for budget laptops. Some of my very favorite cheap laptops to recommend throughout the past year have been the base Snapdragon X laptops.

Like with Intel, though, we're still waiting for these new X2 chips to fully roll out to more devices you can actually go and buy.

AMD Processors

While AMD is Intel's primary competitor in desktop chips, the company has always had a hard time competing in laptops. Its latest chips are impressive in their own way, but we haven't seen AMD take much ground against Intel, unlike Qualcomm.

AMD reset its branding as a response to Intel, so we're now on the 3rd generation of chips. Like Intel, you can tell you're looking at the latest chips by the first number in the SKU. AMD uses similar nomenclature to Intel, including Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9. AMD even uses similar family names like HX, H, and U series to indicate different performance and power envelopes. AMD had a couple of unique solutions in 2026, such as the Ryzen AI Max/Max+ chips, as seen in the Asus ROG Flow Z13. These chips use an oversized integrated GPU chip, the Radeon 8060S, which has a whopping 40 GPU cores, effectively eliminating the need for a discrete GPU. I recently tested this in the Asus TUF Gaming A14 and found the results disappointing. Then, there's the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, which brings the successful 3D V-cache technology to a refreshed Ryzen 9000 chip for gaming laptops.

As you can see, gaming laptops have become a major emphasis for AMD, because it's the one area where AMD has managed to win designs from Intel. Like Intel and Qualcomm, AMD also launched its own next-generation chips earlier this year that use the Zen 6 architecture, but only a few models have reached store shelves yet.

Apple Processors

Apple makes several chips these days, used in MacBooks, Macs, iPads, and iPhones. The M-series chips have been a huge hit since 2020, dramatically increasing performance and battery life. Fortunately, the designations are a bit simpler to parse.