A good work-from-home laptop has a few important requirements. First, it needs to have a decent webcam. The whole idea of remote work often depends on replacing in-person meetings with video calls — so having a laptop with a decent webcam, display, and microphones is key.
You also probably need your work-from-home laptop to have decent port selection. While some people are fine working off just a single laptop screen, many will want to connect one, two, or even more external monitors. You may also have some peripherals and accessories to connect. For all that, a wide array of fast, high-end built-in ports is handy.
Beyond those two factors, the other elements you want in a work-from-home laptop are the same you'd want when hopping for the overall best laptop. Performance, battery life, keyboard, build quality, and all of the other important components of the best laptops need to be in place too — hopefully without breaking the bank.
MacBooks might not be the go-to option for IT departments, but if you're someone who can pick your own remote work laptop, you can't do better than one of the latest M4 MacBook Pros. Unless you need the extra GPU performance, you likely don't need to go for the M4 Pro or M4 Max either — the M4 will do you just fine, which means you'll need to stick with the 14-inch model.
But what you get in return is the ultimate work-from-home laptop. It has the highest resolution webcam on any laptop we've reviewed, ensuring you're getting the sharpest image in video calls. It also has top-of-the-line microphones and speakers, meaning you can even take calls without needing to always use headphones and an external microphone. In my own testing, the webcam quality is the best of any laptops I've used, not only due to its sharpness but also its great low-light performance.
The M4 MacBook Pro also comes with a great array of ports, including HDMI 2.1, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a full-size SD card slot. It can support up to three external monitors, two of which can be 5K resolution and one at 4K. The only thing it's missing is USB-A, so if you have some older accessories or peripherals to connect as part of your workstation, you'll need a USB hub, dock, or dongle.
And, of course, beyond the ports and webcam, you'll find a fantastically fast laptop that won't skip a beat on nearly all workloads — so long as you can afford the price tag.
You might think buying a $700 laptop would present some compromises. But not the Zenbook 14 OLED.
Really, the only sacrifice you're making by opting for a laptop of this price is the processor. Because it uses an Intel Core Ultra Series 1 processor, you're getting significantly less battery life than with a newer laptop. But the performance is there. The OLED display is there. And it's certainly a thin, portable laptop.
More than that, the Zenbook 14 OLED has a great selection of ports, including two USB-C ports, USB-A, and HDMI 2.1. It also has a 1080p webcam, which might not be the highest resolution camera in the world, but should do the trick when it comes to your daily video calls. For $700, that's a really solid deal.
The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 matches a lot of what the Zenbook 14 OLED has. It has the same OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and resolution, the same port selection, and very similar dimensions for the chassis. So why pay more for the HP?
Well, you're getting two major improvements. First off, it comes with Intel's latest-gen processors, the Core Ultra Series 2. These are much more efficient chips that provide vastly improved battery life. Don't expect a huge improvement in performance — at least not outside the faster integrated GPU.
The other upgrade the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 gets you over the Zenbook 14 is the higher-resolution camera. It's a 9-megapixel webcam, which is significant improvement to sharpness over 1080p, as tested in our review of the laptop.
On top of all that, it comes with a touchscreen and 360-degree hinge, which can come in handy depending on your work arrangement.
There's never been a rival to the MacBook Pro quite like the Asus ProArt P16. It comes with a 4K 16-inch OLED display, Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and either an RTX 4060 or 4070. The RTX 4060 configuration comes in well under $2,000 too. And while it can't be configured without the discrete graphics like the M4 MacBook Pro, if you need that extra performance, the ProArt P16 delivers.
It also comes with a 1080p webcam, and a very similar arrangement of ports as the other laptops in this list. It even throws in a full-size SD card slot for good measure. Don't buy this if you don't need the GPU performance, of course, but if you need a MacBook Pro-like device for work that sticks with Windows, the ProArt P16 is as good as it gets.
The MacBook Air 15-inch is only marginally cheaper than the MacBook Pro, but you can get either the M2 or M3 model for fairly cheap these days. Yes, technically, you're paying a bit extra for the premium feel and Apple logo on the lid, but you're getting fantastic battery life in a super-thin chassis.
There is one pretty big caveat here, though, which is the ports. Not only are you limited to just two Thunderbolt 4 ports but the MacBook Air can only support one external monitor (or two, if have the laptop lid closed while using it). I realize that doesn't make it the best work-from-home laptop for some, but let's not forget: not everyone needs more than one external monitor to use for remote work. If you just need a more affordable MacBook with a single, large display, the 15-inch MacBook Air will suit your needs.
Not many people seek out a Chromebook for remote work, but if you're looking for something seriously cheap, Chromebooks are your only choice. And in that case, I recommend the Acer Chromebook Plus 515. Despite only costing a few hundred bucks, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 has a full 1080p webcam, an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. The package isn't the prettiest, primarily due to the large bezels bordering the 16:9 aspect ratio screen.
The webcam is 720p, and let's be honest, that's not the best. It was the standard a few years ago, so while it's not preferred, it isn't horrible for a laptop this cheap.
Remote work can take all shapes and forms, depending on the applications you'll be running and the type of work you need to do. But in addition to the basic stuff you want in a laptop, there are two areas of importance on a work-from-home laptop that are unique to consider. The first is the webcam. If you're moving from in-office work to remote work, that'll most likely involve doing video calls in place of in-person meetings. That's why you'll want to pick a laptop with a decent built-in webcam. 1080p is the standard, but if you can find something that's even sharper, you'll get a clearer image, regardless of the lighting conditions.
Secondly, you probably also want something with good external monitor support and lots of ports. You might have multiple monitors to connect, or even some additional peripherals.
If you rely primarily on external monitors, you probably won't be too concerned if your work-from-home laptop is a 13-inch, 14-inch, or 16-inch laptop. Lots of remote workers shut the lid of their laptop entirely and just use large external monitors. But not everyone does, and if you plan to use the laptop's screen at all, you'll probably want something a bit larger. 14-inches is decent size, but if you don't have an external monitor, a 15-inch or 16-inch display might be a good idea.
Just remember that if you plan to connect up external monitors, you need to ensure that the laptop you buy can actually supports those monitors with its built-in ports.
If you've already picked out your laptop, there are a few important work-from-home accessories you can pick up to sweeten your home office setup. Choosing one of the best monitors is a good first step, whether you need one, two, or even three. From there, you'll probably want to grab at least one of the best mice — and maybe even one of the best keyboards.
That should be enough to get you started. Some next steps from there, though, might be a Thunderbolt dock, an ergonomic office chair, or even a standing desk.
We've reviewed hundreds of laptops over the years, and dozens this year alone. We review each and every device in detail, running the most important benchmarks and tests to ensure that the performance, display, and battery life are up to snuff.
And more than that, I've been primarily working from home for years now and have been doing my laptop testing in that context. Over those years, I've become aware of the pain points in remote work, and what features laptops need to help. While everyone's specific work will tweak those needs, considerations like the quality of the webcam and the ports you need are nearly universal.
When we test laptops, we don't just stop at display testing and running CPU and GPU performance benchmarks — we also use these devices as our main devices as we work. So, when the webcam quality is poor or the laptop can't support my external monitor, I notice.
But of course, those tests we run aren't unimportant. Knowing how strong the multi-core CPU performance is or how long the battery lasts will matter for a work-from-home laptop too, especially if you like the ability to work in different parts of your house like I do.
Luke Larsen is the Senior Editor of Computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.