I tested a 7-year-old laptop. Now I'm questioning PC upgrade cycles
…The seven-year-old Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 booted faster than the brand-new laptops I tested it against. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Whenever laptop or chip makers don’t…
Search
People also ask
Which laptop processor is best for office work in 2026?
When we consider Microsoft’s Office apps alone, the data is pretty clear. Intel’s Core Ultra 300 (Panther Lake) chips outperform everything else by a significant amount, though Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 Elite makes a valiant effort to overtake it. AMD’s last-generation Ryzen AI 300 processor finishes in the middle of the pack. (Though AMD announced its Ryzen AI 400 processor at CES in January, we have yet to receive a laptop with one inside of it.) The superb graphics capabilities of Intel’s Panther Lake chip doesn’t really meaningfully affect these scores. All this test tells you, thoug
Tested: The smartest work laptop chip of 2026 came out in 20242 sources covering this — show 1 more
Top stories
At Computex, the laptop market looks K-shaped
…If you care about performance, and you've been waiting for thinner, lighter laptops with serious graphical power, this is some exciting news! The new Surface Ultra laptop, the first major expansion…
This 2.2-pound Acer laptop somehow promises 30 hours of battery life
…Microsoft's latest Surface Laptop 8, which I'm currently testing, includes a similar chip and seems to be thermally limited, restricting performance. I'd expect the same from the new TravelMate…
The newest Surface is a mini PC, but it's not for you
…Meet the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, the second Surface device to use the RTX Park platform after the Surface Laptop Ultra, and the latest product to inherit Microsoft's terrible naming…
The hidden laptop parts that decide speed, heat, and noise
…Both laptops have the same CPU (Intel Core Ultra X7 358H, if you're wondering!), but the MSI probably has less cooling capacity due to its compact body. All that heat doesn…
The price of Nvidia RTX Spark PCs is going to hurt
…For the Surface Laptop Ultra and the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, Andrew Hill, corporate vice president of Surface, said, “We're not ready to talk about pricing yet until we get…
Buying a laptop? These are the 9 best laptops you can buy today
…We're also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget. CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | RAM: 32GB LPDDR5x | Storage…
Nvidia, Qualcomm Arm processors could be the best for AI mini PCs
…Our Snapdragon X2 Elite test laptop scored about 4,230 using the same benchmark. (You can see Nvidia's Jacob Freeman playing Alan Wake 2 on a Surface Laptop Ultra via X…
Tested: Alienware's Area 51 blends absurd speed with serious outlet anxiety
…The speakers are primarily directed towards the user, which provides a clear path for the sound and prevents it from becoming muddled if the laptop is used on a softer surface. The…