Best laptops for architects? The MacBook Air 2018 is a long-awaited refresh of Apple’s line of lightweight laptops, which, since 2015, had only seen tiny, iterative updates instead of big leaps forward. The 2018 line-up brings a 2560×1600 Retina Display screen, which boasts fantastic levels of colour accuracy and decent levels of brightness and contrast. There’s Touch ID, which lets you unlock the MacBook Air with a tap of your finger, and the T2 security chip, which encrypts your files on the go. The stereo speakers also offer sound quality that’s among the best of any laptop we’ve seen recently. For everyday use, the battery gave us 9-10 hours of power, too. Downsides include the fact that you get just two USB-C ports. They support the Thunderbolt 3 standard, so you’ll be able to charge and transfer files quickly and hook your Air up to all manner of monitors, drives, eGPUs and other accessories, but, when you’re working on the go, this will be very limiting.
AMD’s Ryzen and Radeon silicon are a popular combo in gaming desktops, but the gaming laptop market hasn’t seen much from Team Red. That changes with the MSI Alpha 15 (starts at $899; $999 as tested), which pairs a quad-core Ryzen 7 3750H processor and a 4GB Radeon RX 5500M GPU to go head to head with Intel-based rigs packing Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1650, producing smooth and reliable 1080p gaming performance. Although it doesn’t unseat the MSI GL65 9SC as our value-gaming Editors’ Choice, you can view the Alpha 15 as a feature-rich, happy medium between that laptop and the Acer Predator Helios 300, our pick in the next (and more expensive) performance tier. In addition to the 2.3GHz (4GHz boost) Ryzen 7 3750H CPU and Radeon RX 5500M graphics, my Alpha 15 test unit (model A3DD-004) features 16GB of dual-channel memory, a 512GB PCIe solid-state drive, Windows 10 Home, and a one-year warranty. Its 144Hz full HD display with AMD FreeSync is unique to this configuration; the $899 model (A3DD-003) drops the refresh rate to a still respectable 120Hz.
At the small-screen end of the spectrum, 12- and 13-inch laptops, or ultraportables (more on these below), are worth considering if you plan on toting your laptop. These models are small enough to weigh 3 pounds or less, but large enough that they include a full-size keyboard and a decent size-screen. The downside is that port selection tends to be minimal due to the limited amount of room available on side panels. These laptops usually serve simple needs like surfing the web or modest word processing, and they’re a good choice for business travelers who need to tote a laptop frequently. Smaller 10- and 11-inch laptops (now less common than they used to be) have even less room for ports, and will have smaller keyboards and space between the keys, so you’ll have to adjust your typing style to accommodate. See more info on best home theatre projector under 1000.
Nobody is doing affordable Android phones quite as well as HMD Global-owned Nokia right now: we’ve seen handset after handset combine decent specs, polished design, and bloat-free Android (with speedy updates from Google too). These phones are definitely worth considering if you’re working to a budget. The Nokia 7.2 is one of the most recent and one of the best phones in the current range, bringing with it a generously sized screen, capable internals and a very fine rear camera too – a camera that’s led by a 48-megapixel sensor. Whatever you need your smartphone to do, the Nokia 7.2 will be able to do it. You don’t get all the bells and whistles that you do with a true flagship phone (there’s no wireless charging for example), but not everyone wants to spend a boat load of cash every time they upgrade their phone. The Nokia 7.2 is available at a very tempting price at the moment.
If you’re after the latest and greatest laptop from Apple, we suggest you look into the 2018 model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. While Microsoft had the performance edge over last year’s MacBook Pro, with the Surface Book 2, Apple has come out swinging with some seriously beefed up specs for the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2018, and even more so if you go for the larger 15-inch model. The headline Touch Bar – a thin OLED display at the top of the keyboard which can be used for any number of things, whether that be auto-suggesting words as you type or offering Touch ID so you can log in with just your fingerprint – is again included. It’s certainly retained Apple’s sense of style, but it comes at a cost. This is a pricey machine, so you may want to consider one of the Windows alternatives. If you’re open to switching to a PC, definitely consider the XPS 13 or the excellent MateBook X Pro. But, if you’re a steadfast Apple diehard, this is definitely the best laptop for you!
Being primarily web-driven, Chrome is a very simple, straight-forward operating system. It’s designed for speed and ideal for people wanting to browse the web, online shopping, send emails and watch videos. It automatically uploads your files to the cloud and allows you to access them quickly and easily through any internet-enabled device – ultimately lowering the risk of losing work. It’s worth noting that Chrome OS can be quite restrictive, as most software is designed for a Windows OS In case you want to know more about chromebooks, you can check out our dedicated chromebook buying guide here. Discover even more information at here.
