Instead, Intel commoditized itself by creating an ad campaign that highlights all of the benefits of PC laptops regardless of what’s inside of them. Make fun of Apple or not, the goal of this campaign should have been “a laptop without Intel is like a burger without Heinz“. When Intel ran its “Go PC” campaign with Justin Long, I criticized the company for commoditizing itself. I can’t help but wonder if, in the minds of many reviewers, MacBooks were PCs so long as they used Intel, and therefore they stopped being PCs once Apple switched to using their own silicon. Facts are facts, and a lot of people need or want to buy a Windows laptop regardless. Are they afraid that constantly showing MacBooks outperforming Wintel laptops will give the impression that they are in the bag for Apple? I don’t see why. Is it that reviewers don’t think they could fairly compare x86 and ARM laptops? It seems easy enough to me. I can’t fathom why some reviewers have recently stopped doing so. If memory serves, including Macs in PC hardware comparisons was more or less the norm just a few years ago. The current review only includes other Wintel laptops in benchmarks whereas the one from 2017 included that year’s MacBook. Compare Ars Technica’s review of the Surface Laptop Go 2 from this month to their review of the Surface Book 2 from 2017. Wirecutter’s exclusion of MacBooks from a category that is effectively “best laptop” is the latest bit of evidence in a recent trend I’ve noticed wherein reviewers have inexplicably stopped comparing Wintel laptops to Apple’s MacBooks. Naming the category “best ultrabook” instead of “best laptop” feels like a deliberate cop-out to justify excluding Apple’s MacBooks. In that sense, “ultrabook” really means “off-brand MacBook Air”.
Take out the word “Windows” and what the authors describe is the category of laptop defined by the MacBook Air. You should expect to pay between $900 and $1,300 for a great Windows ultrabook that will last you three to four years. have great keyboards, screens, and battery life, they offer enough power to do everything most people need a computer for, and they’re thin, light, and portable. In an article titled “The Best Laptops”, Wirecutter confusingly refers to the “best in show” category as “ best ultrabook“, and describe “ultrabook” as follows: Not only do I agree with John’s objection about pricing, I’ll add my own about terminology.
That makes it all the more baffling that their recommended “Best Laptop” - not best Windows laptop, but best laptop, full stop - is a Dell XPS 13 that costs $1,340 but is slower and gets worse battery life (and has a lower-resolution display) than their “best Mac laptop”, the $1,000 M1 MacBook Air. My longstanding complaint about The Wirecutter is that they institutionally fetishize price over quality. The Wirecutter's extensive research and testing is supported by a small commission from the purchases its readers make.John Gruber recently took umbrage with Wirecutter’s pick for best laptop. To see the current recommendation, go here. It's not flashy, it's just competent, and it'll stay that way for a long time.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T450s has an amazing keyboard, great support, and a tough chassis, and it's easy to service and upgrade so it'll keep kicking for years.
The business laptop is a dying breed, but there's life in them yet. It's not a traditional business laptop, but it's a great laptop for business.
But Apple has the highest satisfaction ratings of any laptop maker, and OS X is a great operating system - you can always run Windows under Boot Camp or a virtual machine if you need it. It's also expensive, even compared to already-expensive business laptops, and you can't upgrade it later if you run out of RAM or storage space. It only has two USB 3.0 ports, and you'll need adapters if you want to use VGA or Ethernet cables. It has excellent battery life, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, and a top-of-the-line Wi-Fi card.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina has a higher-resolution screen and more powerful CPU than the ThinkPad T450s or the Latitude E7450. Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina Display (left) is the best business laptop for people who don't need Windows or legacy ports.