16 Best Laptops for Web Development: Ranked & Reviewed 2023

Choosing a laptop for web development is an important step. The right machine will provide a blend of performance, flexibility, and ease of use. But with CPUs, RAM, STD and more, it’s tough to identify the best option at the right price point. And when you aren’t familiar with computer hardware, it’s easy to pick on superficial metrics like brand name then regret your decision.

In this guide, I rank and review the top 16 laptops for web development and explain who they’re best for. We use a rating methodology that considers 17 specifications and practical testing so you know what the laptop is like in real life and can pick what’s best for you.

Our Top Picks

#1 FREELANCER

Problem: Clients require diverse programs and systems that can be unpredictable

Solution: Flexible & powerful Windows laptop

Our pick:
Dell XPS 17 (14-Core)

Read review →

#2 ENTREPRENEUR

Problem: Your tech stack evolves over time and hardware requirements with it

Solution: Flexible laptop with that upgrades with your business

Our pick:
Macbook Pro M1 (2021)

Read review →

#3 BEGINNER

Problem: You don’t have a lot of cash but don’t want to buy cheap and have to upgrade later

Solution: Affordable Windows laptop that won’t become obsolete

Our pick:
LG gram 14 (2022)

Read review →

#4 AGENCY

Problem: To keep talent you need good equipment, but you need to keep costs low

Solution: Powerful Windows machine that’s heavily discounted

Our pick:
Dell XPS 17 (8-Core)

Read review →

↓ Jump to full list ↓

Choosing a laptop for you or for your team? It’s not easy. You have to balance compatibility, performance, customer service, lifestyle elements, and price. Rest assured, there’s an option for you. We’ve analyzed over 40 laptops and identified the best for each use case.

How to Choose a Laptop for Web Development

With literally hundreds of laptops available, there is no one-size-fits-all. But I crunched the data and profiled the best laptops for (1) freelancers _{jump to section →}, (2) entrepreneurs _{jump to section →}, (3) beginners _{jump to section →}, and (4) agencies _{jump to section →}. Here are some key points to consider for each.

Freelancers

Freelancers need power and can afford to pay for it upfront because they know they’ll take care of the machine, and it’s really just an investment. That said, here are some things freelancers have mentioned but often overlook:

LifeStyle
- Screensize. Smaller screens are “cool” and may seem easier to carry but the reality is that when you’re always on the move, investing in a larger screen that’s easier on the eyes is a better way to go. It’s unlikely you’ll get in the rythm of connecting to monitors unless you’re almost exclusively remote.
- Battery life. It’s the last thing you want to worry about when you’re on the move. Showing up at a client’s office and running out of battery is a big no-no.

Compatibility
- Operating systems & programs. When you get a new client who uses a different operating system than you, you HAVE to adjust. If you’re on Mac and can’t exchange PowerPoint and Excel documents, the incompatibility hurts your client relationship.
- Ports. They’re easy to overlook, but as a freelancer you need a full range of USB-A and USB-C ports, as well as HDMI, headphone and mic jacks, and even ethernet ports when Wi-Fi is down.

Performance
- Storage. Don’t pay too much attention to SSD. It’s important for storing files locally or as a proxy to cloud storage when you’re offline, but this is the 2020s and you don’t need a huge amount of local storage. You DO need flash memory and RAM for max performance though.
- Graphics. In web development it’s easy to get fixated on your IDE and loose sight of graphics, but remember that designing and testing graphical outputs are becoming more and more important over time and a strong GPU is key.

Customer Service
- Customer service. When you buy a new computer and there’s an issue, the LAST thing you want is to deal with poor customer service. Make sure you have a warranty and or insurance on your machine.

Our pick: Dell XPS 17 (14-Core)_{Read review →}

Entrepreneurs

Everything is high-risk when you’re an entrepreneur, so consider these elements to mitigate them:

Lifestyle
- Weight. Unless you’re running an agency, don’t get too consumed by the weight of your machine. The heaviest option on our list is 10 pounds, and even this won’t stop your from picking up and running to the SEC for your IPO.
- Screen Resolution. You can always accept the standard 1920×1080, but when you’re working on a computer day in and day out with little downtime, the strain on your eyes can have a legitimate impact on your performance. Don’t underestimate the power of high screen resolution.
Compatibility
- Operating systems and applications. One of the best investments you can make as you build a business is your IT infrastructure. As you grow, you’ll new new technologies to stay lean. The right machine should be able to evolve with you and your team over time with minimal friction.
- Storage. It’s been said that successful businesses are “1% idea and 99% execution.” Take this to heart for your data storage. The worst thing that could happen is a product that starts to take off and a cluster of data storage that can’t scale with it. That’s why we recommend Apple cloud storage for entrepreneurs.
Performance
- Wi-Fi. Internet connection is not stagnant. Computer protocol evolves every year. You need to ensure your machine has Wi-Fi 6 or 6E after 2019.
- Trackpad. Sounds silly, but one of the biggest frustrations on a daily basis is a lagging trackpad. You touch it more than your partner, so make sure that’s a seamless experience.
Customer Service
- Customer service. The importance of good customer service on a laptop can’t be overstated. You need a warranty and excellent service at all times so you don’t lose time Googling fixes when you could be finding solutions for your customers.

Our pick: Macbook Pro M1 (2021)_{Read Review →}

Beginners

If you’re starting with web development, you’ve probably already done a lot of research. Here are some “ninja” tips to consider:

Lifestyle
- Keyboard. It’s easy to overlook keyboards when you’re shopping for webdev laptops as a beginner, but make no mistake, full size keyboards (that include the number pad) are super important when you’re starting because in most positions you will have an external keyboard and you’ll want to have a certain “fluid” use of the pad.
Compatibility
- HDMI. If you’re starting out, chances are you’re buying this computer not only for webdev but also for personal use. HDMI plugs are essential for hooking up to TVs, monitors, and other computers. You don’t want to end up blocked from streaming a movie on the big screen!

Performance
- Processing speed. If you’re active on Reddit, you know most devs talk about 32GB+ of RAM and Intel i7-12700H CPUs with 14 cores. That’s all fine and good, but as a beginner you definitely won’t need that power and should save some money by taking a machine with sufficient and affordable processing units.
Customer Service
- Customer Service. Make sure you get a warranty on your machine. When you’re starting, you take risks of all kinds and test new software. If something happens to your laptop, you don’t want to buy a new one. Warranties are a must 👍.

Our pick: LG gram 14 (2022)_{Read Review →}

Agencies

When you’re deciding on a laptop for your devs, it’s tempting to go for less expensive options. But you should keep a few things in mind. You can always find an affordable computer with the specs you need to beat the competition.

Lifestyle
- Webcam. When so much of what we do is virtual, even after the pandemic, having a strong webcam on your developers’ computers is a huge added value. A quality image has dramatic impact on employee interaction and improves overall productivity.
Compatibility
- Operating systems. While Apple is awesome, the reality is unless you’re an entrepreneur creating his/her own IT infrastructure, you need to cater to the masses. And the masses use windows. Plus, with Microsoft purchasing OpenAI and gaining control of ChatGPT, we’ll likely see a pause on companies switching to MacOS.
Performance
- Processing speed. As an agency, you’re biggest revenue enemy is speed. The faster you can produce results, the better it will be for your top line. That’s why you should prefer powerful CPUs like the Intel i7-11800H and graphics processors like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050.

Customer Service
- Customer Service. Everyone needs good customer service and warranties. Even if you have an internal IT team, someone at the brand needs to work in tandem to solve hardware problems. This also impacts speed, so make sure you protect yourself.

Our pick: Dell XPS 17 (8-Core)_{Read Review →}

Web Development Laptop Requirements

No matter who you are and what you need, all web development laptops must meet minimum requirements. Here’s a breakdown of the criteria. It’s also how we calculate each absolute ranking on this list.

Price. Min $650. You should expect to pay at least $650 to get a decent laptop. That said, the average price for something capable of handling web development with ease is about $1,400.
Screen Size (inch). Min 12.4 inches | Max 17.3 inches. We recommend 15 inch screens. These strike the balance between ease-of-use and practicality. But avoid anything smaller than 12 inches or larger than 17 inches.

Screen Refresh Speed (Hz). Min 60Hz. Avoid taking a laptop with less than 60Hz FPS. We recommend aiming for 120 if the laptop meets your other criteria.
Screen Resolution. Min 1920×1080. This is the standard for most screens, and there’s a reason. We recommend you 1920×1200 or higher.
Operating System. Min MacOS or Windows 10. Avoid taking a laptop with an OS older than Windows 10. You will loose compatibility with client systems and fall behind newer technologies.

SSD Storage (TBs). Min 0.256TB (256GB). In most cases SSD is not critical because you’ll use cloud storage for permanent memory, but you still need some to ensure speedy performance.
RAM (GB). Min 16GB. If you were asking yourself whether 8GB is enough, it’s not. Web development requires some flash processing power, so you should avoid anything less than 16GB.
CPU. Minimum Intel i7, AMD Ryzen 7, or Apple M1 Chip.
- CPU Speed (GHz). Min 3.2Ghz. Anything less will be too slow, and we recommend 4.6 where possible.
- CPU Cores. Min 8. In some rare cases where you want to minimize costs or know in advance you won’t need the processing power, 2 to 4 cores are acceptable, but a good rule of thumb is 8 cores minimum.
- CPU Threads. Min 8. Again, in some rare cases less could be acceptable, but you should aim for 8.
- CPU Cache (MB). Min 8. The same rule applies as above. You could accept 4MB cache for rare cases, but 8 is best.
GPU. Minimum Intel Iris Xe Graphics, NVIDIA 3050, or Apple M1.
- GPU Cores. GPU cores are more complex than CPUs, and orders of magnitude can vary by thousands across brands. A good rule of thumb is 7 minimum for the M1, 2304 for NVIDIA, and 80 for Intel Iris.
- GPU Memory (GB). Min 4GB. There are really no exceptions here. Whatever you use, make sure the graphics card has 4GB memory minimum for acceptable performance.
Weight (pounds). Max 10 pounds. Weight is not as important a criteria as some believe. The spread of weight is small across laptops and even if yours is slightly heavy, it’s because the tradeoff for performance, size, and resolution are worth it. But, 10 pounds is still a lot so if you find a monster laptop, be weary of anything over 10 pounds.
Battery Life (avg hours). Min 6 hours. A laptop performing standard web dev functions should be able to stand alone for 6 hours minimum, and on average the number should be closer to 10 hours.

Keyboard. Full keyboard (with the number pad) is preferable. For beginners its a must, but entrepreneurs and agency owners will likely be able to invest in external keyboards, which are better anyway, so a partial keyboard is acceptable.
Ethernet port. Preferable. It’s not a must in the Wi-Fi world we live in, but it’s useful when you need to get a website online fast.
USB-A Ports. Min 1 preferable. Again, this is not a hard requirement, but if your client wants to send files the “old fashioned way,” you’ll be happy to have an A-type port.

USB-C Ports. Min 1. USB-C is becoming the norm and you cannot afford to have A-types ports only.
Headphone port. Preferable. If you use bluetooth speakers, this may not be necessary, but agencies whose developers use various tools will want to maintain the flexibility. On our list of 16 laptops, only the Microsoft Surface lacks a headphone jack.
HDMI port. Preferable. Many people still use HDMI, so if you’re freelance or an agency, it pays to have an HDMI plug ready. If you don’t, it’s not the end of the world, but make sure to have an adaptor just in case.

Webcam. Highly preferable. In today’s virtual world, not having a webcam is very tough. Only one option on our list doesn’t have one: the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15. That’s because it’s our top pick for gaming development, and gamers usually have separate webcams to improve image quality.
Wi-Fi Protocol. Min Wi-Fi 6/E. Any serious web development laptop should have the newest Wi-Fi standards, which are Wi-Fi 6.
Touchscreen. Optional. Touchscreens are nice, but they’re not critical for web development. We don’t recommend paying a premium for it because it’s more of a fad than a value-add.

One final note for Mac users — Apple has launched the M1 and M2 chips in recent years. Many consumers are wondering what the real difference is, and if the M2 chip is worth buying. From a poll of over 50 web developers, the results conclusively say no. The M1 chip packs more than enough power for web development.

What’s the best laptop for web development?

Here are my top picks for the best web dev laptop:

↓ To see them side-by-side, jump to our comparative table ↓

Computer	Score (of 10)	Best for…
Dell XPS 17 9720 2023 (14-Core CPU)_{read review →}	9.68	Best for Freelancers
Macbook Pro M1 (2021) _{read review →}	9.60	Best for Entrepreneurs
LG gram 14 (2022)_{read review →}	9.59	Best for Beginners
Dell XPS 17 9710_{read review →}	9.58	Best for Agency Procurement
Razer Blade 17 Gaming Laptop (2021)_{read review →}	9.42	Best for Gaming Development
Macbook Air M1 2020_{read review →}	9.39	Best Budget Mac
Dell G15 5000 5520 15_{read review →}	9.17	Best for Corporate Procurement
Acer Nitro 5_{read review →}	9.03	Best RAM
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15_{read review →}	8.95	Best Gaming Dev Value
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-702V Slim Laptop_{read review →}	8.88	Best Budget PC
HP Envy 2022_{read review →}	8.81	Best CPU Cores-to-Thread
HP Spectre_{read review →}	8.66	Best Battery to Price Value
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (2022)_{read review →}	8.65	Best Lenovo
HP Pavilion 15 Laptop_{read review →}	8.64	Best for Sustainability
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (2022)_{read review →}	8.12	Best Tablet
Google Pixelbook Go_{read review →}	8.06	Best Chromebook

Rating Methodology

Our rating methodology considers quantitative and qualitative factors. We assign points to quantitative factors based on standard deviation and/or percentile distance to the mean. For qualitative factors, we use binary or piecewise point assignment. Factors are weighted by importance to web development. For example, number of CPU cores is weighted higher than number of USB ports.

The sum of points results in a ranked list. We then do a “gut” check based on testing to make sure the ratings make sense. This way you get the most comprehensive and “human” review possible, which prevents brand bias and data blinders.

Dell XPS 17 9720 2023 (14-Core CPU)

Best for Freelancers

↑ Return to list ↑

My Take

Dell’s XPS 17 inch has long been a pillar of development. With 3840×2400 screen resolution and 360 max FPS, it’s a visual experience like no other on the list. Combined with a 14-core CPU and 16GB RAM, this machine is THE most powerful on the list. It’s a bit heavy at 5 pounds, but the tradeoff in user experience and power are unbeatable.

Freelancers who need a machine that will go the distance, this one is ideal for you.

Our rating: 9.68 / 10

Best for:	Freelancers
Avg. Price:	$2,999.99

Screen Size (inch):	17
CPU Cores:	14
RAM (GB):	16
SSD Storage (TB):	1

See Current Price

All the Specifications

Screen Size (inch):	17
CPU:	Intel i7-12700H
CPU Speed (GHz):	4.7
CPU Cores:	14
CPU Threads:	20
CPU Cache (MB):	24
RAM (GB):	16
SSD Storage (TB):	1
GPU:	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
GPU Cores:	3584
GPU Memory (GB):	12
Operating System:	Windows 11
Screen Resolution:	3840×2400
Screen Refresh Speed (Hz):	360
Weight (pounds):	5.35
Battery Life (avg hours):	11
Battery Life (performance hours):	10
Keyboard:	Partial
Ethernet port:	No
USB-A Ports:	0
USB-C Ports:	4
Headphone port:	Yes
HDMI port:	No
Webcam:	Yes
WiFi Protocol:	6E
Touchscreen:	Yes

Key Features

Rare combination of size, graphical power, and high-caliber performance metrics
Built-in woofer for stereo-quality sound
Under $3,000

What I Like & Dislike

Like

Dependable, powerful machine that can take a beating in a fast-passed freelance lifestyle
Super-high resolution screen over 17 inches of workspace

Dislike

No USB-A ports, so you’ll have to buy an adaptor
No HDMI port, so we recommend buying an adaptor to accommodate

The Bottom Line

Dell’s 2023 XPS comes at a price, but it earns your money in lifetime value, both from a user experience and from a performance perspective.

Macbook Pro M1 (2021)

Best for Entrepreneurs

↑ Return to list ↑

My Take

Seven years ago, Mac wasn’t ready to compete with Windows for web development. No, it’s the preferred machine by many in the field. That’s because it’s just so easy to use, so powerful, so versatile, and backed by amazing customer service.

The major downside is it’s not compatible with many Windows environments, so freelancers have to be careful

If you’re an entrepreneur setting up an IT ecosystem, or even converting to a new one, going with the Macbook Pro M1 (not M2) is one of the best decisions you will make.

Our rating: 9.60 / 10

Best for:	Entrepreneurs
Avg. Price:	$2,249.49

Screen Size (inch):	14.2
CPU Cores:	10
RAM (GB):	16
SSD Storage (TB):	1

See Current Price

"Hey Web Devs, Which laptops are you using?"

"M1 pro MBP. Best machine I’ve ever used"

"Literally runs blender faster than my tower"

"Battery life is the one thing MacBooks have no competition at.

That my reason for staying loyal to my m1 macbook."

All the Specifications

Screen Size (inch):	14.2
CPU:	M1
CPU Speed (GHz):	3.2
CPU Cores:	10
CPU Threads:	n/a for mac
CPU Cache (MB):	n/a for mac
RAM (GB):	16
SSD Storage (TB):	1
GPU:	M1
GPU Cores:	14
GPU Memory (GB):	n/a for mac
Operating System:	macOS
Screen Resolution:	3024×1964
Screen Refresh Speed (Hz):	120
Weight (pounds):	3.5
Battery Life (avg hours):	17
Battery Life (performance hours):	17
Keyboard:	Partial
Ethernet port:	No
USB-A Ports:	0
USB-C Ports:	3
Headphone port:	Yes
HDMI port:	Yes
Webcam:	Yes
WiFi Protocol:	6
Touchscreen:	No