A RAMageddon guide to back-to-school laptop shopping

If you’re a student looking for an affordable laptop, I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that computer prices are out of whack due to the ongoing RAM and storage crunch, making some a little pricier than they used to be and others wildly more expensive.

The good news? Despite that, there are still many great options, including the selection we’ve tested and highlighted below.

Before you go for the cheapest option you can still find, consider biting the bullet on a more powerful laptop, especially if you’re buying for a college student. Prices are likely to continue rising well into next year — especially since all the memory being made through 2027 is already allocated. You can get a mostly tolerable laptop for under $500 and a good one for around $700, but spending more to get something like a MacBook Air gets you better build quality and enough performance headroom to last through four years of college and well beyond. (Many Verge writers and editors are still using M1 MacBook Airs from 2020). But even the modest options below (new or refurbished) should easily be good for more than a few years. The key is to avoid something that feels slow or janky on day one, if you can. It’ll only get worse from there.

If your school or curriculum recommends certain laptops or minimum specs, then you already know what to aim for. If not, our rule of thumb is to go with a Mac running Apple silicon or a Windows laptop running Intel or AMD chips released in the last few years. (For Windows machines, don’t go any older than 2022 or 2023 — Intel’s 13th-gen “Raptor Lake” or AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series.) Snapdragon X chips are also great options unless you’re a college student who needs to run specialized software not compatible with Windows on Arm (or if you want to play games).

But try to get 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage or more if you can — especially for college students. Eight GB of RAM is workable on macOS with the MacBook Neo, but Windows laptops struggle a bit with it. And for the most budget-conscious or anyone shopping for younger kids, a quality Chromebook is still great.

The MacBook Neo is the easy pick for students from middle school to high school. There’s still no beating its balance of build quality and good-enough performance at this price. Students and teachers can get it starting at $599, and Apple offers refurbished models for $599 for the rest of us as well. If you can justify spending an additional $100, it’s worth getting the model with twice the storage and a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which makes logging in and entering passwords much less of a hassle.

The A18 Pro chip is powerful enough for most high school students (and adults), and everything from its trackpad to its speakers and screen range from good to great, which is not the case for Windows laptops in this price range. Its only shortcoming by comparison is having just two USB-C ports. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB of base storage mean a student eventually pushes the limits of what this laptop can do sooner than a more powerful MacBook Air, but the Neo is still significantly cheaper.

The best laptop for college

The Neo is the best cheap laptop, but the MacBook Air is still the best laptop for most people, and the standard recommendation for college students. Every part of it is a step up from the Neo: It has a much more powerful processor, and it starts with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of much faster storage. And few laptops can match the Air’s overall build quality. It also means spending $1,299 (or $1,199 for students) on a 13-inch model, or $1,499 for the 15-inch. It’s a shame the Air no longer starts at $999 like it did just last year, but it’s still worth springing for if you’re buying for the long term.

The Airs have been so good for so many years now, you don’t miss out on much by buying a refurbished model if it’s substantially cheaper. Keep an eye on Apple’s refurb store, and retailers like Best Buy sometimes have great deals too.

A Windows laptop nearly as nice as a MacBook Air

Asus Zenbooks are some of the sleeker, better-looking Windows laptops, and the Zenbook A14 is Asus’ wannabe MacBook Air. It has a good Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a lovely OLED display in an ultra-light chassis (it’s just 2.4 pounds / 1.09kg), all for $1,000 or as low as $700 on sale. It even has a solid port selection, with one USB-A, two speedy USB4, and HDMI 2.1. I really enjoyed the larger Zenbook A16 version when I reviewed it, but the A14 is even lighter and significantly cheaper. Like its larger sibling, the A14 is coated in Asus’ Ceraluminum finish that gives it a nice textured feel and unique look. (It’s a beige laptop!)

A cheap laptop with a great processor

Acer’s Aspire 14 AI didn’t impress me with its screen, speakers, or build quality when I tested it against the Neo, but for $500 or $600 on sale, which it often is, it’s hard to beat. It has a solid Intel Lunar Lake processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a bunch of speedy ports. Getting two USB-A, two Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI 2.1 on a $600 laptop? Hell yeah.

A Lunar Lake chip means you get great battery life, and you can even do some light gaming. Its screen isn’t pretty and everything creaks, but with the money you save you can overcome some of its shortcomings with a mouse and monitor. Just keep in mind that the appeal of this laptop is what you’re getting for the price. If the deal winds change and Aspire 14 AIs are selling for $700 or more, consider something else.

A formidable 16-incher for about $500

I’m still testing the HP OmniBook 3 for a full review, but I’ve used it enough and I like it enough at around $500 to give it a nod. Its speakers and screen are not good quality, but they’re slightly better than the Acer Aspire above — just don’t look too close, or you’ll notice that its 1920 x 1200 resolution isn’t very sharp at this scale. At 16 inches you’re getting a big screen for cheap, but this laptop doesn’t feel large, as it weighs only 3.65 pounds / 1.66kg and is about 0.63 inches / 16mm thick (at its hinge, where it’s slightly thicker). And its sizable battery and efficient Snapdragon X chip allow it to last long on a charge. Plus, it’s got an ample-sized numpad for you numbers people.

Consider a refurbished ThinkPad

ThinkPads are awesome. They have great keyboards and trackpads, sturdy builds, lots of ports, and even a TrackPoint. They’re typically very expensive when bought new, and they have a reputation for lasting a long time. They’re Lenovo’s business line, so there’s a constant stream of used ThinkPads entering the secondhand market when companies refresh their fleets. That makes them a great candidate for buying refurbished or used. Lenovo sells many refurb units directly, so you know you should be getting something in good shape. Many of them are still expensive, but this ThinkPad T14 is an attractive example, offering a 13th-gen Intel chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for around $700. Or for a bit more you can get this ThinkPad L14 Gen 5 with a newer Intel Meteor Lake chip for around $1,000.

And for the more adventurous folks out there, you can pick up an even older ThinkPad on the cheap and install Linux to give it new life.

Our go-to pick for a cheap Chromebook

A Chromebook is good for web browsing, doing homework, and nailing the basics of browser-first computer use — when done well. The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is a mainstay of The Verge’s laptop recommendations, despite being a few years old. It’s very affordable at just $350, and even with its 12th-gen Intel chip and 8GB of RAM it’s more than serviceable for ChromeOS. Google’s new Googlebooks are coming in the fall, but some early leaks are pointing at those potentially being pricier laptops (making me wonder what exactly their appeal will be).

A great convertible Chromebook

If you can afford a slightly pricier, newer, and better Chromebook than the Asus, check out the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514. Its full price of $749 is a bit much, but when discounted to $600 like it is at the time of this writing it can be worth it. The Arm-based MediaTek Kompanio Ultra in this Chromebook paired with 12GB of RAM gives it very good performance and excellent battery life. And since it’s a convertible, it’s also great to use with an optional stylus for note-taking, drawing, and sketching.