I have spent my entire career in the software industry, well over a decade, as a professional developer, with two degrees in computer science, many years in tech product management, and even an MBA from MIT. Heck, we have three other team members here with a software development background. So today, we are returning to our roots to bring you this guide to the best laptops for programming. I'm going to first walk you through what to look for when shopping for the ideal software development laptop, and then at the end, I’ll present you with the laptops that you can buy right now that best embody this. Since new laptops are constantly being released, make sure to check out our website, specifically the best programming laptops list, which will be kept up to date with the latest laptops well after this Post is published.
Apple 2E:
Now, stating the obvious, there are many different types of coders working in very different ways. For example, some coders just use their laptop to remote into a more powerful desktop or server, so their laptop needs are more basic. This Post focuses on the most flexible laptop for coding, giving you the option to run your full development and testing environments locally. If you can’t afford a laptop that meets our criteria, do not let that prevent you from having a wonderful career as a software developer. You can code on almost any computer – I learned on an Apple 2E – you’re just going to have to make some sacrifices to bring down the laptop's price.
The first choice when it comes to picking a laptop for software development is what screen size to buy. Seeing a large amount of code on screen is going to make you more effective as a developer. For example, you can see the bigger picture of the algorithm you are working on or more easily discover the root cause of an issue when browsing through a large log file. If you have to constantly scroll to see what’s going on or drill into certain pieces of code, you’ll be less efficient, and you’ll often forget the details of what you were previously looking at.
This means you want a laptop with a screen large enough to get real work done, but most software developers that I know love the freedom to work in coffee shops or at different locations in a co-working space. Even corporate software developers often carry their laptops to meetings, so portability matters. Therefore, I recommend a somewhat lightweight, compact laptop with a 16-inch display, ideally no heavier than 5 lbs. If you value portability even more, at the expense of productivity, go for a laptop with a smaller display of 14 or 14.5 inches that is under 3.5 lbs. That screen is still large enough to see a decent amount of code.
Features:
But it is not just the size of the screen that determines how much code you can see on it; it’s also the screen's brightness and resolution. The higher the resolution, the crisper the code looks and the more visible it will be at smaller font sizes. High brightness also helps with this, particularly in brightly lit environments. For example, if your screen is glossy and the display's brightness is not high enough, it will not be able to overpower reflections, and that will be distracting. Therefore, I recommend a screen with 210 pixels per inch or higher and a display brightness of 500 nits if the screen is glossy. If it’s a matte, non-glossy panel, you can drop that brightness requirement down to around 400 nits.
When it comes to the laptop's processor, most modern ones are powerful enough for coding, but there are some gotchas to be aware of. Firstly, the type of laptop that you can buy may be dictated by your employer or school. They could require certain applications or environments that only run on specific hardware, so make sure to check with them before buying. But if you do have a choice, here is a general rule of thumb: for front-end web development, you can code on any laptop – Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, or Apple.
Those coding for native iOS applications will have to buy a Mac, as you’ll need to be able to compile Apple-specific code. For those coding native applications for the new breed of Qualcomm laptops, you’ll want a Qualcomm laptop. On the flip side, those coding native Android applications want to avoid a Qualcomm laptop, as it just doesn’t run all that well on that hardware. For those doing AI/ML development, playing video games, or even creating games, you want a laptop with an Intel or AMD processor and dedicated Nvidia graphics.
That being said, on AI and ML specifically, you’ll need an Nvidia GPU if you plan to train your models locally. If you’re only going to do this on remote servers, you can skip this requirement. For those doing backend development, Intel, AMD, or Apple laptops all work well, but Intel and AMD laptops have an advantage: you can run Linux on these laptops without the need for a virtual machine. If you're unaware, a lot of backend code powering things like the internet runs on Linux servers. If you run a development environment that matches your production one, you can avoid a lot of nasty surprises during a code deployment.
Best For Coding:
On Qualcomm laptops specifically, I would caution you against buying one for software development right now – many specialist applications don't run well. Since you don’t know what you’ll be coding in the future or what your needs will be, it’s safer to just avoid one.
Moving along, when it comes to memory, you’re going to hate me for saying this, but it depends on what you are coding. No YouTuber can give you a precise answer unless they know exactly what you are doing on your laptop.
For example, if you’re testing a very memory-intensive application and you need to run multiple instances to ensure concurrency controls work, you’ll need a lot of memory. The same goes if you need to run virtual machines on your laptop to test an application. As a developer, you should err on the side of caution and buy a laptop that will last you for many years to come. The more memory, the better. The absolute minimum for a new programming laptop should be 16 GB, but a general safe amount is 32 GB, so try to get that if you can.
When it comes to storage, again, this is highly dependent. If you plan to download a large production database for debugging purposes, you’ll want a large amount of storage. 512 GB of storage will probably work for students; one terabyte, though, should really be the minimum for professionals. But again, more is better. Now, if you are deciding between upgrading the memory or storage on your new laptop, get more memory. Storage is often upgradeable after you buy, and even if it isn’t, you can buy an external drive. With memory, if you don’t have enough, there is rarely anything you can do about it.
Alright, stating the obvious: as a coder, you’ll be typing on the keyboard a lot. You want one that is a joy to use, very comfortable. Plus, you want a standard layout. There is nothing more distracting than reaching for a key and pressing the wrong one. When it comes to the trackpad, you want a good one here too: accurate enough for placing the cursor in specific locations within the code. You really don’t want to have to rely on carrying an external mouse with you.
Other than this, coding is a brainpower-intensive task. When you’re in the zone, you want to minimize distractions. That means you want a laptop that doesn’t feel overly warm to the touch, and if you are coding in a quiet environment or one without headphones on, you won’t want to hear fan noise. That being said, many coders I know code in a louder environment, so this may be a nice-to-have.
Lastly, battery life. Most modern laptops do not have good battery life if you use them for high-performing tasks like coding. If battery life is important to you, you should buy a MacBook – they are still by far the best in this department. The next best would be to get a laptop with a large battery that is powered by AMD's latest N5 chips or one from Qualcomm Luna. Intel's newest processor, which is also called Core Ultra Series 2, is also meant to be pretty good.
But here’s the thing: I would not rely on your laptop to last a full day of coding when on battery. Plus, using the laptop consistently when on battery will degrade the battery, so I recommend buying a small, lightweight USB-C charger to carry with you, regardless of which laptop you buy. On that note, check out those UGREEN Nexo Pro chargers I mentioned earlier in this Post, linked below.
Conclusion:
Alright, class is over, let’s get into the fun stuff. Here are the top laptops for coding that you can buy right now. We’re going to start with the 16-inch laptops and move down to the smaller 14-inch ones. The Yoga PR ey is one of the best programming laptops out there. It gives you everything that most coders want for a very reasonable price, and it doesn’t have major gotchas. You get a stunning, bright, high-resolution
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