A good business laptop works quickly, offers lengthy battery life, and has a few extra ports in case you need to plug it into a meeting-room TV, or if a client hands you an older USB-A thumb drive. Business machines should also be easier to repair than most thin-and-light laptops, so you won’t lose access to your files and communication for long when something breaks.Many of the laptops we tested this year are extremely expensive due to the ongoing chip shortage, but the Dell 14S offers strong multitasking performance, a sharp OLED screen, and 17-hour battery life for hundreds less than the competition.If you have more room in your budget, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition offers similarly strong performance but includes upgrades such as an especially lightweight design and a high-resolution OLED display, which is perfect for spreadsheets with small numbers.And if you prefer Macs or want your laptop to seamlessly integrate with your iPhone, we recommend Apple’s MacBook Air (13-inch, M5, 2026). You’ll have to take it to Apple if something goes wrong, but the company’s global presence makes replacing your laptop easy.