EKWB has introduced CPU and VRM water blocks for the ASUS ROG Dominus Extreme motherboard, the motherboard designed to take on board Intel's overclockable 28-core Xeon W-3175X. The products enable enthusiasts and PC makers to build full-custom liquid cooling solutions for these machines.
The best Ultrabooks won’t just be able to get work done, but they’re also a status symbol of sorts. Just think about it: you’re sitting at a coffee shop, where everyone is either using a Chromebook or some big and bulky laptop relic. Then, you whip out an Ultrabook – a thinner, lighter, faster and more attractive laptop, rocking the best processors and SSDs on the market.
These thin and light beauties are as much about portability as they are about sheer horsepower. The best Ultrabooks won’t freeze up on you when you’re trying to get an important project done, or run out of battery on a short flight. You don’t have to worry about any of that.
That’s why we took the time to find the best Ultrabooks on the market right now. From household names like Dell and HP, to brands you might not have heard of like Huawei, these thin and light beauties will get you through your work day in style. Plus, we tested and reviewed all these Ultrabooks ourselves, so you can be confident you’re getting your money’s worth.
For a few years now, Huawei has been lurking in the shadows, ready to take on the best Ultrabooks, and its time has finally arrived. Like the Huawei MateBook X Pro before it, the Huawei Matebook 13 packs in a ton of powerful hardware into an attractive shell, while keeping the price low enough for anyone to afford. Plus, we have to mention those discrete graphics – it may be one of the smallest laptops out there to pack an MX150 GPU. It’s not hard to see why the Huawei Matebook 13 is the best Ultrabook right now.
Read the full review: Huawei MateBook 13
The Dell XPS 13 has been the best Ultrabook for years, and while it’s been dethroned by the Huawei MateBook 13, it remains one of the Ultrabooks to beat in 2019. This time around, Dell has moved the webcam from the bottom of the display to the top, fixing one of the biggest problems faced by the XPS 13 for years. Add in the updated internals, and the Dell XPS 13 is still one of the best Ultrabooks out there – even if some of the competition has caught up.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13
Sometimes an Ultrabook comes along that completely changes the game. And, the 2018 model of the Huawei MateBook X Pro did just that. This beautiful Ultrabook brings high-end components into an elegantly designed package that puts even the MacBook Pro to shame. It really is one of the best Ultrabooks on the market. There is a 2019 model, with an Intel Whiskey Lake processor, but the 2018 model is still where it’s at.
Read the full review: Huawei MateBook X Pro
The original Surface Laptop launched nearly two years ago, and while it was a great Ultrabook, it was held back thanks to relatively weak hardware and Windows 10 S. Thankfully, Microsoft launched the Surface Laptop 2 in late 2018, bringing quad-core processors and the full-fat version of Windows 10. Its through these core improvements that the Surface Laptop 2 is able to bring the purest Windows 10 experience on a laptop, at a price that won’t make you gasp.
Read the full review: Surface Laptop 2
Few Ultrabooks are as brilliantly designed as the Lenovo Yoga 920, a 2-in-1 laptop that’s as illustrious to look at as it is to use. In contrast to its nearest competitors, such as Microsoft’s Surface Book 2, it’s also a far less expensive endeavor. For the modest price you pay, you’re getting a gorgeous, all-metal finish that can be flipped inside out for extended functionality. It also houses the latest 8th-generation Intel processors, just in case speed was a concern.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga 920
From the moment your eyes meet the HP Spectre 13, you’ll be impressed by its sheer beauty. HP has taken the already luxurious Spectre and dialed the design up to eleven with gold trim and packed it with internal specs that blow the competition out of the water. One of the first Ultrabooks rocking an 8th-generation Kaby Lake Refresh chip, the 2017 Spectre 13 more than doubles the CPU performance of most of its competitors. This added performance comes at the cost of battery life, but clocking in at just under 6 hours – the battery life is still passable.
Read the full review: HP Spectre 13
Razer has been known as a gaming company for years now, but with the Razer Blade Stealth the green-themed manufacturer wants to dispel that. If you’re not convinced, this Ultrabook might change your mind by turning into a 13.3-inch, QHD+ beauty. You can no longer upgrade to 4K, but the performance this Ultrabook offers is more than worth that compromise – especially given how beautiful the chassis is.
Read the full review: Razer Blade Stealth
When you’re shopping for an Ultrabook, it’s rare to find a manufacturer that manages to think of everything, but for what it’s worth, HP did almost exactly that with the Spectre x360. It’s a 2-in-1 convertible laptop, which by itself makes it a bit of a niche product. Still, for those right-brained users out there, the HP Spectre x360 comes bundled with a Windows Ink compatible stylus, unlike the vast majority of hybrids. That would mean very little if the HP Spectre x360 didn’t have great sound and visuals – and it definitely does.
Read the full review: HP Spectre x360
Anyone familiar with Apple’s thinnest and lightest laptop would be wise to compare the Asus ZenBook 3 to the 12-inch MacBook. The similarities are obvious, but one look at the specs and the differences stand out too. Adorned with the choice of a U-series Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, the ZenBook 3 is awfully powerful considering it’s less than half an inch thick and weighs two pounds. The port selection is sparse, but ultimately it’s well worth the sacrifice.
Read the full review: Asus ZenBook 3
It’s no secret that Apple neglected the MacBook Air – at least until the MacBook Air 2018 launched – but, in some cases a Windows Ultrabook can be just as good. Take the Asus ZenBook UX310UA, for instance. With still-good 7th-generation Intel Kaby Lake processors, a 178-degree viewing-angle QHD+ display, a USB-C port and an aluminum build, it’s still one of the best Ultrabooks out there, even after all this time.
Read the full review: Asus ZenBook UX310
Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article
Now that macOS Mojave is finally here, we have access to key iOS apps, like News and Stocks. Still, macOS has its own rich library of apps. With this software, your Mac can do everything from playing games to organizing your work. At the end of the day, it’s the software that keeps everyone coming back to the Jony Ive hardware every year.
There are so many things you can do with the best Mac apps, so some might not be up your alley. Still, Mac apps, like Evernote, the best note-taking app around, should be useful for anyone.
You won’t find all of these apps on the Mac App Store, but they’re still worth your consideration. With this guide, we found all the best apps, most of which we use every day. From free apps and utilities to professional music applications, these Mac apps will make even the best Mac better than ever.
Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article
Check out our Linux vs Windows vs Mac - OS comparison video below.
A computer free of annoyances simply doesn’t exist – and Macs are no exception. For the longest time, it’s been impossible to use our MacBooks – unbound by the chains of a power adapter – while video outputs to an external monitor. As we all know here at TechRadar, Apple’s laptops will automatically enter sleep mode when the lid is closed. This can be a huge inconvenience should you prefer the sheer magnitude of one of the best monitors as opposed to a 12, 13 or 15-inch screen.
Fortunately, Amphetamine allows you to continue using your MacBook while closed. Before, you could do this by using a similar app called Caffeine, but we prefer the UI features you get with this freebie. Not only does it fit in naturally with the rest of your Menu Bar items, but Amphetamine also supports hotkey commands as well as deactivation reminders – not to mention there are no annoying ads in sight.
While you’ve been able to snap programs to the edge of the screen in Windows since Windows 7, Apple didn’t have a solution until OS X El Capitan. What’s more, even then it lacked some of the comprehensiveness of Microsoft’s alternative. Luckily, HyperDock gives us that full-fledged functionality we so desperately crave, allowing anyone with a Mac to apply it to both the app Dock and windows.
With Windows, you can just drag a window to the right or left edge of the display, and it’ll automatically snap to fill that portion of the screen. This can save an extraordinary amount of time over dragging windows from the corners. For the Dock, hovering over apps activates something close to Windows 7 thumbnail previews, giving an overview of a window that can be accessed by a click or closed directly from there. It’s extremely useful.
If you have recently picked up a Mac and miss some of your old Windows applications, don’t fret – Parallels Desktop 13 can bring them back. Instead of having to dual-boot your Mac into a Windows partition, Parallels Desktop 13 allows Windows and macOS Sierra to co-exist side by side, and you can even run Microsoft-only programs such as Visual Studio 2015, or the Windows versions of the company’s Office 365 apps, alongside your native macOS ones.
All you need is a Windows 10 license – so prepare to buy one if you haven't already. Or, alternatively, you can use Parallels to try a handful of free operating systems including Chromium (a free distribution of Chrome OS) or Linux Debian. The latest version of Parallels in particular has seen improvements such as Touch Bar support, better resolution scaling for Retina displays and picture-in-picture for using other operating systems in conjunction with macOS.
If you’re anything like us, working on just one monitor or screen is just painful. Portable monitors are still fairly expensive (and bulky), luckily, though, you can use an iPad instead using a nifty app called Duet. Developed by ex-Apple engineers, it works by tethering your iPad to your Mac using one of Apple’s Lightning cables and firing up the app on both devices.
You can then drag apps and windows onto your iPad’s screen just like you would with a second monitor, and if you have a more recent iPad with a Retina display, you’ll get the full benefit of all those beautiful pixels. Just realize that the bandwidth isn’t quite what you would get with one of the best monitors, so it can be a bit laggy when you bump the quality up. But it’s still better for watching videos, reading websites and typing up documents.
If you’re a coder and looking for a text editor primarily designed for you, Atom is right up your alley. Its flexibility and customization options make it a viable option for many different types of users. That’s because of two reasons: first, you can download a number of different Packages – basically plug-ins – to make it bend to your will. It can morph into a simple editor for blog posts for example, or you can hook it up to Evernote for storing notes in the cloud.
There's at least 10 different word counters out there, and you can even add typewriter sound effects as you hammer out your delicious prose. Atom is also infinitely customizable on the visual side thanks to an editable back-end, allowing you to do anything from changing the font size, line height and colors to giving the caret Word 2016-like elasticity.
Whether you’re a big time producer or you just like making some jams in your downtime, Macs are kind of known for being among the best laptops for music production – and Logic Pro X is a big part of that. Developed by Apple itself, its accessible interface hides a ton of advanced functionality. The latest version also comes with a svelte design, 64-bit architecture and a new session drummer that will save you from having to drop more cash on a drum machine (or a real drummer).
It also works in natural harmony with iPads, providing a touch-based alternative method of creating song structures to dragging and dropping blocks in the main visual editor. Whether you're a seasoned producer already (Sia used the app to record her hit song 'Chandelier') or are looking to upgrade from Garageband, Logic Pro X likely has what you need.
An uncomplicated app, but a great one, to do app Wunderlist’s selling point is its cross device functionality. It’s available on Mac, PC, Android and iOS, allowing you to sync your to do list wherever you’re using macOS’ Handoff feature.
Once you've started a list, you can schedule reminders, add notes and embed it into the macOS Notification Center using a widget. Team-based features are unlocked by signing up for Wunderlists’s pro subscription, and you can add files of any size without running into limits.
Evernote has morphed into a mighty note-taking app over the years. While some people will say that it's too bloated, the sheer number of things that you can do with it still makes it best-in-class. You can type up notes, obviously, organizing them using a combination of folders and tags. You can even embed Google Drive documents, which are accessible in a click.
There's also the ability to set reminders, share notes with friends, find information related to notes using Evernote's 'Context' feature, create lists, and favorite notes that you frequently return to. Better yet, all of your notes are synchronized using the company's servers, making them accessible on nearly any PC (through a browser or the native Evernote app) or mobile device in the world. The paid version lets you use Evernote with more than two devices while upping the amount of data you can sync each month.
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation, is one of the best free image editing apps out there. It’s a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop and comes with a wide array of pro-level functions that let you tweak existing images in a range of formats or create fresh ones from scratch. Features include layers, highly customizable brushes, automatic image enhancing tools and filters. You can do even more with plugins, which are available to download from the GIMP Plugin Registry.
These days, balancing features with simplicity and good design in the best Mac apps is critically important. However, unlike Word 2016, or even Apple’s own Pages, Ulysses has an extremely minimalistic interface. This allows you to get on with writing without being distracted by so many buttons and menus. The app uses its own version of Markdown – a type of text formatting engine – that allows users to focus on their writing in a way that not only makes organization easier but also makes exporting easier – Ulysses will format it in an attractive way, using one of many export styles, when you’re done writing.
There's a handy attachments bar on the right-hand side that features an attractive word counter and lets you write notes to assist you in your writing. Notes can be accessed anywhere thanks to iCloud support, so you can pick up your iPad and carry on where you left off using macOS's Handoff feature.
Sometimes you want to play your Xbox One, but you can’t because your roommate has decided to use the living room TV for watching the whole run of Ugly Delicious in one sitting. Now, you could technically stream Halo 5 or Sea of Thieves if you had a Windows PC. However, you just have a Mac.
That’s where OneCast comes in, a third-party work of reverse engineering performed by an independent developer to bring Xbox One game streaming to macOS. It works as easily as connecting both your Mac and Xbox One to the same network and subsequently logging in to Xbox Live. It works pretty well in our experience, though you should have both systems connected to your modem via ethernet if possible.
Nobody can deny that the best Macs are great for network admin uses, and if you need to manage a bunch of Windows devices, being able to remote into a PC to diagnose problems is critically important. Luckily, Microsoft has provided an app just for that.
With Microsoft Remote Desktop 10, you get an officially-supported app that gives you remote access to any PCs on your network – as long as you’re a network admin or an authorized user. It can be a bit of a pain to set up, and the PC you’re trying to access will need to be running Windows 10 Pro. But once you get going, you can access files, copy/paste across desktops and even run games – though, we don’t recommend that last bit.
Microsoft Remote Desktop 10 is a godsend for network admins and IT professionals, and is easily one of the best Mac apps you can download right now.
Microsoft Office has been available on Mac for years now, but you always had to go through a couple hoops to download it. We’ve been asking for a release on the Mac App Store for a while, and, well, it’s finally here.
We’re sure we don’t really need to go into too great of detail what Microsoft Office is, but it’s essentially Microsoft’s suite of office apps, from Word to PowerPoint to Excel. It’s absolutely an essential app to have, but you should keep in mind that you’ll have to get a subscription to Office 365 to use it.
It’s one of those Mac Apps that should be essential for any professional, and the fact that it’s finally on the Mac App Store means that you don’t have to worry about keeping it updated.
The market for disk optimization apps is neither desolate nor particularly interesting, particularly on the Mac – where Apple usually does a good job of cleaning up its drives on its own. However, for a program that’s far more intuitive and user friendly than, say, the built-in Macintosh HD storage management software, your best bet is to turn your attention to Dr. Cleaner. This app splits up all your data into easily digestible chunks that would otherwise be obtuse.
Dr. Cleaner groups up all the trash on your Mac and labels them in groups like ‘Junk Files’ and ‘Big Files’ – rather than listing off 30GB of documents and 10GB of iOS files you can’t comprehend. Then, you can look at the file names themselves and decide whether or not you want to keep them on your PC. You can also use Dr. Cleaner to monitor CPU, network and RAM usage as well, for the sake of putting some pep in your aging Mac’s step.
It might be kind of like three apps than just one, but SoftMaker Office 2018 takes all the key features of Microsoft Office and puts them into an interface that tailors to your needs. It comes with a group of programs called TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations 2018 that are similar enough to Office 365 without the rolling subscription.
Regardless of whether you need an easy-to-use word processor or a spreadsheet or slideshow creator of equal accessibility, SoftMaker Office has what you’re looking for. And, because it’s still in beta, you can get a complimentary, albeit temporary, license over email if you want to give it a spin. Otherwise, there’s a permanent free version called SoftMaker FreeOffice, but it’s only available on Windows, Android and Linux.
Since you’re obviously going to install all of the other apps we’ve mentioned, you’re going to need at least a utility that, well, declutters your desktop. And, while macOS Mojave brought Stacks to your Mac, making everything less cluttered, Unclutter goes even further. So, whether you’re a frivolous notetaker or a temporary file hoarder like we are, Unclutter will help keep everything in one place, rather than scattered across several folders.
It’s a brilliant idea made even better by the fact that it can be configured for use with gesture controls. At any given point, you can swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers on the trackpad (or one on the mouse) to reveal a trio of windows that can be concealed and re-summoned whenever you please.
When you’re out there hustling every day, it’s easy to lose track of messages. With so many social media companies, SMS platforms and instant messaging services to choose from, most of us also have a number of different accounts used to administer to all of those messages. But what if you only had to log into one?
That’s the central idea in Franz, a messaging app that allows you to view and send messages in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, HipChat and more. It lets you seamlessly switch between any of these apps as easily as you can toggle between Slack workspaces. Best of all, there’s no limit to the amount of services you can use at once. That way, even if you have 10 Facebook accounts for whatever reason, all of your messages will be visible in the same place.
If you’re anything like us, you have tons of packages coming in all the time – and it can get hard to keep track of everything. Luckily, there’s an app for that. With Deliveries, you can keep track of all your incoming deliveries in one place in an easy-to-read interface.
It will notify you whenever there’s a change in your delivery, syncing the information between macOS and iOS so you are on top of things, even on the go. All you have to do to track a package is hit Command + New and paste in the tracking number – that’s it. It really is one of the best Mac apps for anyone with a busy mailbox.
If you do a lot of cooking, and you have a hard time keeping your recipes organized – especially on a digital platform – you’re going to love Paprika. With this app, you can download any recipe you find online, and it will automatically format it in a way that’s extremely easy to read.
What’s more, if you download the iOS app, you’ll be able to sync your recipes between all of your devices, so that you can keep tabs on the ingredients you need when you run to the store in a panic.
Sometimes, life gets hectic, and you need some help getting everything organized. Luckily, there’s an app for that. Fantastical 2 is the most fully-featured calendar and reminder suite we’ve ever seen.
You’re able to set events and reminders using natural language, and it’s fully compatible with your iCloud reminders. There’s also an iOS app for iPhone and iPad that will effortlessly sync with the Mac app, so that you can stay on top of your busy life no matter where you are.
You don’t need a gigantic mining PC that chugs electricity to mine for cryptocurrency. With this list of the best mining laptops you can buy today, we’ve gathered up all the best laptops that can be used for mining.
Before you head out and drop a wad of cash on the best gaming laptop to get your mining operation moving, you need to think about a few things. First, you need to figure out which cryptocurrency you’re going to pursue. And, even if you already have the best mining laptop, there’s a harsh truth you have to face: many cryptocurrencies have all but died off. That’s not to mention that some cryptocurrencies are just easier to mine on mobile hardware than others.
You should also think about the warranty of the laptop you’re looking at. You’ll be putting it through a ton of stress while mining, so you want to make sure your investment doesn’t burst into flames.
Hold on, you might be saying. “Why would you even use a laptop for mining?” Well, the best mining laptops are much more compact and portable than a giant mining rig, so you can get some mining done on the road, without having to travel in a caravan. Read on to find the best mining laptops you can buy today.
Gaming laptops are a great choice for mining laptops, as they usually come with graphics cards that can help mine. This makes the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming laptop a great option for a mining laptop. It offers absolutely fantastic value for money, especially compared to other gaming laptops. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphics chip is a good performer when it comes to mining, and it's backed up ably thanks to the Core i5 CPU. Battery life on this laptop is also superb.
Read the full review: Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming
If you’re looking for the best laptop for mining, you’ve likely had your eyes on a bunch of thick, bulky behemoths. But, these days, you can get a huge amount of performance out of a thin and light gaming machine like the 2019 Razer Blade. Packed with Nvidia Turing graphics and Coffee Lake processors, you’ll be able to make your ROI in no time. Just be ready for that hefty price tag.
Read the full review: Razer Blade
Razer has finally brought us a full desktop replacement that doesn’t look like a desktop replacement. Coming in at just 0.88 inches thick with the option between a 17-inch 1080p display running at 120Hz or a 4K touchscreen panel with G-Sync, the Razer Blade Pro also brings the company’s ultra-low-profile mechanical switches to a laptop for the first time. And, when it comes to mining, this is a great choice, as it features a powerful GPU,combined with a great processor and plenty of RAM.
Read the full review: Razer Blade Pro
If you’re still trying to mine cryptocurrencies in 2018, you’re going to need something incredibly powerful – it’s getting harder and harder to make a buck. Luckily, the MSI GT75 Titan has all the power you could hope for in a laptop – as long as you have the space. This is a gigantic desktop replacement laptop with all the horsepower that brings. Just don’t expect to be able to travel with this thing easily.
Read the full review: MSI GT75 Titan
The fantastic Dell XPS 15 is great for mining, thanks to its discrete GPU. Plus, it has a stylish, ultra-portable design, so it can easily be carried around with you if you need to get some mining done while traveling. And, thanks to Dell’s fantastic build quality and customer support, it’s not only an efficient mining machine, but you can rely on it as well.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 15
There's no way around it – laptops are expensive, especially if you need powerful hardware. So, if you’re looking to save some cash to make your ROI easier to obtain, the HP Pavilion 15 is a great option. This mid-range laptop has a respectable amount of power, while keeping the price at an approachable level. The low cost means you have less of an initial outlay to make back, but because it doesn’t exactly feature the fastest GPU, you shouldn’t expect to buy that castle you had your eyes on with it.
Read our hands-on review: HP Pavilion 15
Thanks to Nvidia Max-Q tech, the Asus Zephyrus GX501 combines the beloved thinness of the best Ultrabooks with the performance that can make some serious cash while mining. It’s powerful, thin and basically silent if you don’t like noise during your everyday routine. It costs a pretty penny, but it could be a wise investment for a sharp miner.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501
If you’re looking for a laptop for mining, raw horsepower means a lot. And, if that’s all you need, and you don’t really care about being able to fit the laptop in your backpack, then you’ll want to take a look at the Asus ROG G703GI. With up to an Intel Core i9 processor, 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, you should be able to reach unbelievable hash rates. This is great news, because with how much this laptop costs, you’re going to need all the help you can get to reach your ROI.
Read the full review: Asus ROG G703GI
Over the last decade, we have fundamentally changed the way we use our laptops – thanks in large part to 2-in-1 laptops. The best 2-in-1 laptops come in every size and shape, and there’s nothing like flipping your laptop into tent mode to take in some Netflix after a long study session.
Some of the top 2-in-1 laptops, like the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, will come strapped with the best processors, and will be among the best laptops on the market right now. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for this convenient form factor.
Most of the best 2-in-1 laptops are going to be convertible, meaning their keyboard flips around the back, in order to transform into a tablet. There are a few 2-in-1 laptops that approach it differently, namely the Surface Book 2. Microsoft’s convertible has a detachable keyboard, and its high resolution PixelSense display is held up by sheer magnetic force.
No matter how they implement the 2-in-1 functionality, these flexible laptops will usually have stylus compatibility – even if it’s becoming more rare to find a stylus included in the box. So, to help you find the best 2-in-1 laptop for your needs, we’ve gathered up every convertible notebook we’ve reviewed recently, with all their pros and cons taken into consideration.
The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro can go head-to-head with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and for a substantially lower cost. Though it’s limited to only one configuration, albeit across two different sizes, the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is as powerful as it is pragmatic. Defined in part by its inclusion of the S-Pen, this heavy-hitting hybrid is every bit as capable as Microsoft’s Surface Book and without the need to recharge its stylus.
Read the full review: Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
It might strike you as odd that a Chromebook is on a list of the best 2-in-1 laptops, especially rated so high, but the Google Pixelbook merges the two so flawlessly. It’s a wonderful device that takes the Chrome OS platform and elevates it to levels never seen before, or even since. The Google Pixelbook is packed with powerful internals and supports full Android apps, tearing down the walls that prevented Mac and Windows faithful from embracing the best Chromebooks.
Read the full review: Google Pixelbook
We get it, the Pixelbook is enticing, but it’s also out of your price range. In that case, the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 is a choice alternative. Having introduced a touchscreen and convertible design to Google’s cloud-based Chrome OS, the Asus Chromebook Flip is made better by its compatibility with Android apps. That’s right, just like the Pixelbook, you can use the Asus Chromebook Flip for Google Play apps, albeit after installing an out-of-the-box update.
Read the full review: Asus Chromebook Flip
If you’ve been looking for one of the best 2-in-1 laptops, but you also kind of wanted something with some serious horsepower, you’re in luck. The Dell XPS 15, already one of the best Ultrabooks you can buy today, has been transformed into one of the best 2-in-1 laptops – with discrete class Radeon RX Vega graphics to boot. What this means is that you can get a beautiful 2-in-1, without sacrificing sheer power. And, while that means it’s a bit expensive on the high end – it’s totally worth it.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
The original Surface Book was great enough, so when we first heard that a 15-inch Surface Book 2 was on the way, our expectations went sky-high. Microsoft’s second 2-in-1 laptop isn’t perfect, but it’s still an impressive device. This 2-in-1 laptop isn’t just gorgeous, but it’s packed with 8th-generation Intel processors and Nvidia 10-series graphics for gamers and creative types alike. When you take that power and pair it with its nifty convertibility – it’s easy to see why it’s a winner.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Book 2 (13-inch)
While it doesn’t offer the same level of graphics performance, the Lenovo Yoga 920 is a much more affordable alternative to the Surface Book 2. For anyone who’s looking for value, rather than a detachable screen, the Lenovo Yoga 920 has a lot to offer. The design, for example, is less pronounced and has the subtlety of a more traditional Ultrabook. Meanwhile it’s thin and powerful at the same time.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga 920
To be fair, we loved the 13-inch Surface Book already, so when we first caught word that a 15-inch Surface Book 2 was in the works, our expectations were amplified. In the end, Microsoft’s second 2-in-1 laptop isn’t perfect, but it is an impressive feat held back by a handful of (frankly necessary) concessions. For starters, this machine features cutting-edge 8th-generation Intel processors and Nvidia 10-series graphics for gamers and creative types alike. Pair that with its nifty convertibility, and we have ourselves a winner.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Book 2 (15-inch)
If you’re in the market for one of the best 2-in-1 laptops, but want to save a few bucks, look no further than the Lenovo Flex 6 14. For less than $1,000, you’re getting specs that will be able to handle most common workloads life throws at it – in a chassis that doesn’t just look good, but is rigid and even supports the Lenovo Active Pen. The only real downside here is the tinny speakers and the lack of Thunderbolt 3 – but even that’s not enough to hold it back from – especially at its bargain price.
Read the full review: Lenovo Flex 6 14
The HP Spectre x360 isn’t just one of the best HP laptops, but with its strikingly thin frame, it’s one of the best 2-in-1 laptops on the market right now. It’s packing all the power offered by the 8th-generation Kaby Lake R processors, so despite its slim build, the HP Spectre x360 can stream 4K video and even run some games at 720p. And, unlike many of the best 2-in-1 laptops, the stylus is in the box.
Read the full review: HP Spectre x360
For years, HP’s Spectre line of Ultrabooks and 2-in-1s has been all about elegance and performance, and the 2018 HP Spectre x360 15 is no different. Packed with an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia MX 150 graphics and 16GB of RAM, you’re going to be able to do anything your work day throws at you – even up to some light gaming. However, the Spectre x360 is a bit heavy for a 2-in-1, so you likely won’t be using it in tablet mode very often, instead putting it in tent mode to watch some movies on its gorgeous 4K panel.
Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 15 (2018)
Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article
Amazon Web Services this week started to offer M5ad and R5ad Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances powered by custom AMD EPYC 7000-series processors and featuring faster local storage.
