Top Pick

Apple MacBook Pro 2019

Processor: Intel Core i9 9th Gen

RAM: 16 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon Pro 5500Ms Graphics with GDDR6 memory

Storage: 1 TB SSD

The Apple MacBook Pro comes with Touch Bar and Touch ID, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M Graphics with GDDR6 memory, Ultrafast SSD and Intel UHD Graphics 630 for optimum performance.

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When it comes to selecting a laptop for programming, you need the one that fulfils all the storage, speed, keyboard and other vital features. You have to select the laptop with best processors, best SSDS and the keyboard that provides ease to your fingers and a smooth run. To make your work easy, we have selected some of our best choices for best programming laptops. If you are looking for a Windows 10 machine or macOS, we have got you updated and covered.

Top Pick

Apple Macbook Pro 2019

Processor: Intel Core i9 9th Gen

RAM: 16 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon Pro 5500Ms

Storage: 1 TB SSD

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Best Value

LG Gram 17 Laptop 2020

Processor: Intel Core i7-1165G7

RAM: 16 GB DDR4

GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics

Storage: 1 TB SSD

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Best Budget

Apple Macbook Air 2020

Processor: Apple M1 (8-core)

RAM: 8 GB

GPU: Apple 8-core GPU

Storage: 512 GB SSD

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Best Laptops for Coding and Programming

1. Apple MacBook Pro – Our Top Pick
2. Apple MacBook Air – Best Budget
3. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
4. Apple Macbook Pro 2019
5. LG Gram 17 – Best Value
6. Dell XPS 15
7. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
8. HP Spectre x360
9. Razer Blade 15 Base
10. Asus Chromebook Flip C436

Comparison Table
Preview	ProductApple Macbook Pro	FeaturesProcessor: Appe M1 8 Core GPU: Integrated 8-core GPU RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512 GB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductBest Budget Apple Macbook Air	FeaturesProcessor: Appe M1 8 Core GPU: Integrated 8-core GPU RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512 GB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductMicrosoft Surface 3	FeaturesProcessor: AMD Ryzen 5 3580U GPU: Radeon Vega 9 RAM: 16 GB DDR4 Storage: 256 GB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductTop Pick Apple Macbook Pro 2019	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core i9 GPU: AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 RAM: 16 GB DDR4 Storage: 1TB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductBest Value LG Gram 17	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core i7-1165G7 GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics RAM: 16 GB Storage: 1TB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductDell XPS 15	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ GPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 4GB GDDR5 RAM: 16 GB Storage: 512 GB SSD (PCIe)	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon	FeaturesProcessor: Intel i7-10510U GPU: ‎Integrated Intel UHD RAM: 16 GB Storage: 1TB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductHP Spectre x360	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core i7-1065G7 GPU: Intel Iris Plus RAM: 16GB LPDDR4 Storage: 512 GB SSD	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductRazer Blade 15 Base	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core i7-10875H GPU: NVidia GeForce RTX 200 Super Max-Q 8GB GDDR6 RAM: 16 GB Storage: 1 TB SSD (PCIe)	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review
Preview	ProductGTRACING Ergonomic Gaming Chair	FeaturesProcessor: Intel Core m3-6Y30 GPU: Intel HD Graphics 515 RAM: 4GB LPDDR3 Storage: 64 GB eMMC + TPM	Availability Check Latest Price Read Review

1. Apple MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 2020 is the major leap towards the smallest Pro line series progressing the CPU, GPU and machine learning performance.

The Apple MacBook has 13.3 retina display that makes sure you enjoy the vibrant colors and incredible image display. It also has Face time HD camera that excels the advanced image signal processor for clear and sharp pictures.

Apple power it with its own M1 chip, instead of Intel core processors. The M1 chip delivers a much greater performance than the other Intel-powered 13-inch MacBook Pros that came before it. It’s also 2.8 times faster than its prototype and three times quicker than equivalent Windows laptops, but also boasts a longer battery life than its Intel predecessors.

It also has 8-core GPU which has 5x faster graphics and 16-core Neural Engine for advanced machine learning. It also has superfast SSD storage that can launch apps and files in an instant.  It also has active cooling system to sustain the performance.

2. Apple MacBook Air – Budget Friendly

Why MacBook featured a series named Air? Because it has fan less design for silent operation. No fans, just air!

The Apple MacBook Pro features 13.3 retina display and Face time HD camera that excels the advanced image signal processor for clear and sharp pictures to see and to be seen.

Apple MacBook Air has its own M1 chip. The M1 chip delivers a much greater performance than the other Intel-powered 13-inch MacBook Pros that came before it. It ensures a smooth running and an 18-hour long battery life.  It is one of the best laptops for the programmers.

It also has 8-core GPU which has 5x faster graphics and 16-core Neural Engine for advanced machine learning.

It also has superfast SSD storage that can launch apps and files in an instant.  It also has active cooling system to sustain the performance.

3. Microsoft Surface 3

This laptop is an edition to the surface line series of the Microsoft laptops. It is fitted with AMD Ryzen Surface Edition Laptops making it an exceptional edition to the surface line laptops.

It has an easy to carry, clean and elegant design. It weighs 2.79 pounds so you can carry it everywhere. It has a reasonable price range in comparison to the sharp screen and configurations it is offering.

Due to its low weight and size measuring 13.4 x 9.6 x .57 inches (339.5 x 224 x 14.69mm), it’s both half a pound lighter and a hair thinner compared to the 15-inch MacBook Pro. 

It has improved speed and performance, with the latest processors. Surface Laptop 3 is up to 2 times faster than Surface Laptop 2.  It offers up to 11.5 hours of battery life, plus standby time when you’re away, interestingly, it can charge up to 80 percent in about 1 hour.

However, it has only two ports available. Also, as compared to MacBook Pro, its graphics are not much more dedicated to holding the graphics. This product is worth purchasing if you’re looking for a 15- inch display and basic computing needs in a reasonable price.

4. Apple Macbook Pro 2019 – Our Top Pick

It is one of the best laptops, Apple ever made and offering! Apple moved to a 16-inch display with this version without compromising the image quality. It has high pixel density and resolution up to 3072 x 1920.

There’s actually more to love about the Apple MacBook Pro. It has 7nm AMD Radeon Pro 5000M series graphics card, 64 GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage. This updates makes this laptop a best choice for the programmers! The battery life has boosted with 100-watt-hour battery, proving it to have one of the best battery lives. Up to 11 hours of battery life

It also have much-improved speakers and the smoothest Apple keyboard ever. Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers

The Apple MacBook Pro comes with Ninth-generation 6-Core Intel Core i7 Processor, Touch Bar and Touch ID, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M Graphics with GDDR6 memory, Ultrafast SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 630 and four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.

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5. LG Gram 17 – Best Valued

The LG gram 17 has a basic design but worth it features for a programmer. It weighs 2.98 pounds and is a light-weight alternative to other 17-inch displays. It offers Intel 10^th generation processing power and an impressive gateway. Its solid performance can make the multitasking easy for the programmers.

Talking about battery, it has a 14-hour long lasting battery, making it stand out for full office day! The LG gram 17 is undoubtedly impressive but expensive laptop.

The model has aforementioned Intel Core i7-1165G7 as well as Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM and an impressively large 1TB SSD. Those features makes the laptop’s speeds terrific.

The laptop proved its worth in performing tasks quickly, even under the stress of multiple tabs and programs open at the same time.

It also offers 16 GB DDR4 RAM and 1 TB M 2 NMVe SSD (512 GB x2), 80WH Lithium Battery (up to 17 hours), 6 Surge-protected outlets supply complete, and 2-line AC protection.

6. Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 is one of the best laptops for a programmers. This product stands out for quality in every way. From capable components to excellent design, this product is worth purchasing.

The model includes a powerful Intel Core i7-10750H processor with six cores, 12 threads, and clock speeds that can boost all the way up to 5GHz. It has the NVidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti as a plus point on laptops with integrated graphics. You won’t run short on memory either, as this model packs 16GB of DDR4 memory. It offers 1TB of space and also the speedy throughput of a PCIe SSD.

Dell XPS 15 is a highly portable 4.5 pounds. It also has Backlit English keyboard with fingerprint reader. Bluetooth 5.0, SD card reader, thunderbolt, USB 3.0 and System Ram type: Ddr4 SD RAM.

7. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

X1 Carbon Gen 8 is the sheer package that it offers beyond the rather mundane hardware. 

Yes you get an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1000 GB SSD with Windows 10 Pro plus a 14-inch full HD 400 nits and exceptional build quality. 

It has two Thunderbolt 3, two USB ports, a HDMI port and an audio jack), four microphones, four speakers as well as a 4-cell 51WHr battery that Lenovo claims will last up to 19.5 hours.

Like all ThinkPad laptops, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 is tested against 12 military-grade requirements and more than 200 quality checks to ensure they run in extreme conditions.

8. HP Spectre x360

The HP Spectre x360 (2021) 2-in-1 laptop has Latest Hexacore 10th- gen Intel i7- 10750H with2.6 GHz base frequency(2b), up to 5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost and 12 MB L3 cache, 6 cores. It is one of the best choices for a programming laptop.

The HP Spectre line has always consisted of stunning devices and HP spectra X360 is one of them. It has 15.6″ diagonal 4K 340 nits (3840 x 2160) IPS micro-edge Bright View WLED-backlit touch screen.

It offers impressively long battery life up to 13 hours, which means that you’re getting one of the best laptops on the market.

It also offers 1 TB PCIe NV Me M.2 SSD (17x faster than a traditional 5400-rpm laptop hard drive), 16 GB DDR4-2933 SDRAM of system memory for intense multitasking and gaming, smoothly run your graphics-heavy PC games and video-editing, 1 x Multi-Format SD Media Card Reader, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5 Combo (Supporting Gigabit file transfer speeds), Camera Kill Switch, Mic-Mute Key, and HP Pen.

9. Razer Blade 15 Base

Razer recently created a power play for the 15-inch gaming laptop market with the Razer Blade 15, packed with impressive sleek design and powerful performance. This latest version of the Blade features the beautiful, durable design combined with an Intel Core i7 processor and an NVidia GTX 1060 Max-Q GPU. The Chroma keyboards from Razer are always pleasing to the eye. 

It is also one of the first Razer laptops that offers dual-storage and Gigabit Ethernet. The new Blade gives a master class in navigating the treacherous path between affordability and power.

10. Asus Chromebook Flip C436

It has 14 inch touchscreen Full HD 1920×1080 4-sided “frameless” Nano Edge Display around each side of the display packed with durable 360 degree hinge that can be used to flip the touchscreen display to tent, stand, and tablet mode.

It has a lightweight 2.58 lbs. magnesium-alloy chassis body making it a beautiful and elegant design.

It is powered by the Intel Core i5-10210U Processor plus on board Gig+ Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.0 for super-fast and snappy performance.

It has 512GB PCIe NV Me M.2 SSD, 16GB RAM, and 2x USB Type-C (Gen 1) ports plus an illuminated Chiclet keyboard The lightweight (2.58 lbs.) magnesium-alloy chassis body makes the C436 both durable and beautiful for a timeless look that will never go out of style.

Buyer’s Guide to The Best Programming Laptop

Here is a list of requirements, a developer or programmer should look forward in a laptop.

RAM

The amount of RAM is one of the major things to consider. As a programmer, you have to run heavy IDEs and virtual machines. Such stuff takes a lot of memory and load. So, you have to ensure that your laptop is packed with good RAM capacity for easy multi-tasking.

PROCESSOR

A fast processor is needed to handle massive projects and graphically intensive applications. You need a high core processor to work between multiple windows, application and the screens. We will recommend Intel Corei5 or Intel Corei7 for best programming. If you are on a budget, an AMD A8 or AMD A10 can also work fine.

KEYBOARD

Programmers need to spend endless hours in typing on the laptop. It’s very important to find a laptop with a comfortable keyboard. Possibly select one that comes with a numerical pad. Consider the ones that have a decent travel and a soft touch.

SCREEN

A programmer needs to spend a great amount of time in front of the laptop. You need a 13, 14, or a 15-inch display. Screen Resolution is also important. You need a full HD screen. Honestly, a 4K display would be best to consider.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do I need a powerful laptop for programming?

You don’t need powerful laptops for programming. Programming basically is just editing text files, so you can opt a lower spec laptop as well and save money.

What is the best budget laptop for programming?

From our list, the Microsoft surface 3 laptop is the best for programming and falls under a normal budget. It has the new Intel 10th Gen processor, Instant On, faster SSD, Type-C 3.1 port, and huge track pad.

Is Core i5 good for programming?
The i5 is better for programming. It has fewer cores which means that there is only 1 possible way the CPU can handle a program and it does not have to struggle with multiple threads.

How much RAM do I need for coding?

Most programmers will not need more than 16GB of RAM for the major programming and development work. 

What kind of computer do I need for coding?

Here are the specifications you would need in the computer:

• An Intel Core i5 processor with frequency of 3GHz
• 4GB of RAM
• A 256 GB solid-state drive
• Six hour battery life

Is i7 better than i5 for programming?

The i5 is better for programming. It has fewer cores which means that there is only 1 possible way the CPU can handle a program and it does not have to struggle with multiple threads, unlike the i7 which has 2 possible ways of handling a task, both of which use all 4 cores.

Is Mac or PC better for coding?

Here is why we will prefer Mac over windows:

• Macs can run Windows too
• MacOS is Unix-based
• MacOS has insane community support.
• MacOS has ports of almost everything. 
• MacOS has the best GUI
• MacOS has keyboard shortcuts
• MacOS has GUI automation
• MacOS has great recovery software.

Which processor is better for programming?

Some of the best processors for programming are

• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Processor 6 cores
• Intel Corei5 Processor
• Intel Corei7 Processor

Is MacBook good for web development?

MacBook are a great machine for full-time web developments. It has best graphics, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, immensely powerful and best one of the best operating systems out there!

Final Verdict

BEST LAPTOP FOR PROGRAMMING/ BEST LAPTOPS FOR PROGRAMMING STUDENTS:

If you’re looking for the best laptop to code, it is the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 2020. It offers exceptional battery, great performance and the smooth magic keyboard that feels great.

BEST BUDGET LAPTOP FOR PROGRAMMING/ CHEAP LAPTOP FOR PROGRAMMING:

Among the best budget laptops for programming, Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 wins. It has 15-inch Surface Laptop, best battery life we’ve experienced in a 15-inch laptop and a sleek design coming up in an affordable budget.

BEST WINDOWS LAPTOP FOR PROGRAMMING:

Dell XPS 15 is the best windows laptop for programming. It has powerful components, compact size and fast i7 processor.

While looking for a laptop, go through every specification we have discussed so far and read reviews so you can make the best purchase. Laptops are the everyday accessory of a programmer, make sure you make the correct choice to add on your desk.