Best Laptops for Coding, Programming & Development in 2019
By: Jacob Cass
Tags: Development, Laptops, Gear

Computer programmers use lines of “code” to create computer programs, mobile solutions and also analyze the needs of their clients and create technical solutions to solve their problems. Having an amazing laptop is almost a prerequisite of computer programming and that need led us to create this list of the Best Laptops for Programming, Coding & Development in 2019, which is perfect for coders, programmers, developers and sysadmins.

With the right laptop, programming can be a much easier process so you can help satisfy your clients’ needs but how do you know a good laptop from a bad one? Figuring out what you should look for before buying a laptop for programming is a good place to start.

So let’s start there shall we?

Related posts:

What to Look For in a Programming Laptop

Choosing a laptop for programming can be a tedious process. Sure on the screen, you’re typing in lines of colorful code, but having a laptop with the right combination of features and specs can make every coding session a much easier process.

To help, we created a checklist of the things you should consider when you decide to buy a laptop for programming / coding. While they may not apply to everyone, we feel that it gives a good overview so you can be sure you’re getting the best laptop for your money.

Let’s dive right in.

Mobility

While it’s true that laptops were created with mobility in mind, when you choose a laptop, you want to be sure that is as portable as you need it to be.

If you aren’t going to be very mobile with your laptop, using a laptop with a 15-inch screen may be a good choice as the specs will be better and the larger screen is better for multitasking. If you find yourself being on the move a lot, choosing a laptop with a 13 or 14-inch screen will come with better battery life and also weigh less.

Display

The display is easily one of the most important features of any laptop. When you’re programming applications, you’re going to be staring at the screen for quite a while each day. Being able to see the details clearly is super important.

Choosing a laptop with at least a Full HD display is generally recommended, so you will be able to see each line of code clearly from the start to finish of your day.

Processing Power (CPU)

The performance of your laptop can really be influenced by the CPU inside its casing. Choosing a laptop with a cheap processor can make your work harder. There are many different types of processor that have different specifications. The items you want to pay attention to are the size, number of cores, thermal design power, and frequency.

Finding a laptop with a processor from Intel, either an i5 or i7 with at least 3 GHz is ideal and should more than help you with your programming needs.

Memory (RAM)

In general, a laptop with less than 4GB of RAM should be avoided. Many experts recommend starting with at least 8GB to start. With many applications out that that use large amounts of RAM, choosing a laptop with a small amount will only result in making it harder for you to do your programming. Our suggestion would be to invest in a laptop with at least 16GB of RAM if you can afford it.

Storage Type and Capacity

Solid State Drives, otherwise known as SSD’s should be your number one option in a programming laptop. An SSD will greatly improve the performance of your laptop when compared to a standard hard drive. Operations such as booting up the OS, launching apps, loading projects and even compiling code will go much faster with an SSD.

You want to aim for 256GB as a starting point. Obviously, if you can afford to do so, an SSD with 512GB or 1TB is a better option. For those starting out, choosing one with a smaller capacity is fine as the operating system can exist alongside your apps and the documents you use frequently. Your other items like videos and music can easily be stored on an external hard drive.

Keyboard

Along with the display, the keyboard is indeed the most important part of the laptop. Choosing a laptop that has a low-quality keyboard will affect your work. Even if you say it won’t. Using a keyboard that you aren’t comfortable working on code all day, will become tedious and bother you the longer you use it.

With any keyboard, if you can, you want to give it a test drive of sorts. Try it out first and make sure that when you use it the keystrokes are comfortable and you can reach all of the functions with relative ease. If you think you may find yourself working in low-light conditions, a backlit keyboard can be a lifesaver.

Battery Life

Nothing is worse than being out somewhere, working on a big project and your battery dies. Not everyone wants to keep their laptop plugged in all day long, especially if the programming they do keeps them around the office all day.

A good laptop battery should last at least 6 hours. I know that many of you are saying that you can just check the battery gauge on the screen, but they aren’t always 100% accurate. Doing your research, like reading our list of the Best Laptops for Coding in 2019 can help you get a better idea of the battery life of top laptops.

Operating System

For many, this will ultimately determine which laptop they choose. While Windows users are allocated a lot of options, those who prefer using the macOS may find themselves pretty limited to what the MacBook offers.

Most Windows laptops will run Linux but it is better to buy a laptop that already supports it. Some manufacturers actually offer high-quality laptops with Linux pre-installed. As with battery life, doing the right research can let you know if your preferred Linux distributions will work well.

What is Linux?

If you’re just starting to learn about programming, the term Linux may be new to you. Simply put, Linux is an open-sourced, community-developed OS for computers, servers, mobile devices, and mainframes. Linux is supported on just about every major computer platform, making it one of the best supported operating systems in the world. You can also program and code on Chrome OS or Microsoft Windows.

Dedicated or Integrated Graphics Card

For coding, having a dedicated graphics card isn’t the most important thing to look for in a laptop. We would recommend choosing a laptop with an integrated graphics card and put more money towards either a larger SSD or better processor which will give you a more powerful laptop, making your work easier.

The Best Laptops for Programming in 2019 — Introduction

The market for laptops these days can be very crowded and competitive in order to earn your money. Finding the best laptops for programming gave us a lot of options to consider. However, using the criteria above, we chose the laptops that stood out so you know these are the best laptops for programming.

If you see one that you like from our list below, click the link to learn more, otherwise keep reading to see our in-depth review:

Prices are approximate.

The Best Laptops for Developers in 2019

While on the surface, computer programming is really nothing more than writing lines of text in order for a program or application to work in a certain way. While that may be the case, having a low-quality laptop just won’t help you get that work done and having a beast under the case can take you from someone just starting out to a professional in no time.

The choices on our list are excellent examples of those laptops with a lot under the hood to help you code without running into the problems that can be common with many other laptops.

The best all-around laptop (based on performance, portability and price)

CPU: 8th generation Intel Core i5 — i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 , Nvidia GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 256GB — 512GB SSD | Weight: 2.8lbs | OS: Windows 10

While there are more than enough choices out there for you to choose from, the MateBook 13 from Huawei is easily at the top of the list in our opinion. Reasonably priced, the laptop comes with either a Core i5 or i7 chip, a large SSD for storing all of your files and a beautiful, high-resolution 13-inch screen. Weighing just over 2.5 pounds, it is also a very portable laptop.

While the laptop isn’t available in all parts of the world as of yet, it is still the best overall laptop for programming out there in terms of performance, portability and price.

Learn More

A super-light laptop with an amazing 17" display

CPU: Intel Core i7–8565U (quad-core, 4.6GHz Max Turbo Boost) | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD | Weight: 2.95lbs | OS: Windows 10 Home

With a housing made from a magnesium-carbon alloy, the LG Gram easily lives up to the manufacturer’s tag line of Life’s Good. While many people would assume that any laptop with a 17-inch is both heavy and quite large, the Gram 17 bucks the trend weighing in at just under 3 pounds. The gorgeous, IPS WXGA screen is the icing on a cake with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory and an SSD with 512GB.

More than enough horsepower to handle any integrated development environment.

Learn More

The Best Premium, Yet Affordable Chromebook

CPU: Intel Pentium 4405Y — Intel Core m3–6Y30 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 515 | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 12.5-inch, FHD (1,920 x 1,080) LED-backlit anti-glare | Storage: 32GB — 64GB eMMC | Weight: 2.65lbs | OS: Chrome

Running Chrome OS, which is a super lightweight OS based on the web browser of the same name, the Asus Flip is one of the best Chromebooks you can buy today. The high-quality build along with the components and affordable price cements its place on our list. If you’re into web development, while the Chrome OS doesn’t make many strong programming tools available, it is still one of the best laptops available for your programming needs with a gorgeous screen and the ability to use it as a tablet.

Learn More

The Best Budget Laptop for Programming and Coding

CPU: Intel Core i5–8265U (quad-core, 3.9GHz Max Turbo Boost) | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 256GB SSD | Weight: 3.26lbs | OS: Windows 10

A quality all-around laptop for programming the Inspiron 14 5482 from Dell provides you with the things that everyone should look for in a great laptop: a display that projects in FullHD, a quad-core processor (at least), and a good size of SSD storage. Putting all these things in one case, while making it affordable to those who may be budget conscious is what the laptop does so well.

A quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage on an SSD is a great combination to have right out of the box. While you can upgrade the processor to an i7, the SSD will shrink to 128GB, so you may want an external hard drive for backup.

Learn More

The Best Professional-Grade Laptop for Programmers

CPU: Six-Core Intel Core i7 / Xeon | Graphics: Nvidia Quadro P2000 | RAM: 8–16GB | Storage: 256GB-4TB | Weight: 3.74lbs | OS: Windows 10 Home / Pro

When people think of the term professional-grade, the first image that can come to mind is a big, bulky computer that you have to be stuck at a desk to use efficiently. That’s not the case with the ThinkPad P1 from Lenovo. With its slim design, the amount of power packed inside it is enough to impress anyone.

The P1 is the only programming laptop that offers a professional-grade Xeon processor that has up to six cores along with an Nvidia Quadro P2000 graphics card and 64GB of memory. Easily upgradable to 4TB of SSD storage for all of your important files. The design of the keyboard is excellent, like many other Lenovo laptops. The overall design is built to survive the light knocks, thanks in part to its semi-rugged casing. This is definitely one professional-grade laptop that deserves your attention.

Learn More

The Best MacBook for Programmers

CPU: 6-core Intel Core i7 — i9 | Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 540X — 560X, Intel UHD Graphics 630 | RAM: 16–32GB | Screen: 15.4-inch, 2,880 x 1,800 Retina display | Storage: 512GB — 4TB SSD || Weight: 4lbs | OS: MacOS

Simply put, the MacBook Pro is a beast. If you’re developing software to be used on the Mac Operating System, you owe it to yourself to get this laptop now instead of later. With a hex-core processor, RAM that is available in sizes from 16 to 32GB and a large range of storage size options, the MacBook is in a class by itself and can handle just about anything that you can throw at it.

The only real downside? The price. If you can afford it now, we suggest you get yourself one, especially if you’re programming for the MacOS. If you can’t, start saving your money and get one as soon as possible.

Learn More

The Best Tablet for Programmers

CPU: 5th-Generation Intel Core i5-i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8–16GB | Screen: 12.3-inch, 2,736 x 1,824 PixelSense display | Storage: 128GB-1TB SSD | Weight: 1.73 pounds | OS: Windows 10 Home

Sometimes, carrying around a laptop no matter how light it is can still be bothersome and for those looking for a better option may want to consider the Surface Pro 6 from Microsoft. Doubling as a tablet and laptop, the Surface Pro has a quad-core processor, large amounts of RAM which will let you code anywhere you can find a good table to sit at.

Just remember that this tablet doesn’t come with the Type Cover, so you will have to pay a little extra for that. It’s a lot easier to do programming with a keyboard than a touch screen.

Buy on Amazon

The Best Android Development Platform for Programmers

CPU: Dual-core Intel Core i5- i7 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615 | RAM: 8–16GB | Storage: 128–512GB SSD | Weight: 2.42lbs | OS: Chrome OS

When Google first introduced the Chromebook, it was to offer consumers an affordable and reliable laptop compared to the others on the market. While there are iterations of the Chromebook that are great for programming, the Pixelbook was designed to compete with the Apple of the laptop world.

Supporting Google’s Android Studio development tools, the Chrome OS is on par with any standard Windows laptop. It is also going through a beta phase for Linux support as well. With a choice of either 8 or 16GB of RAM, up to a 512GB SSD and a dual-core Intel Core I7, the Pixelbook has the specs that you are looking for when programming. And when you’re not in full programming mode, the Pixelbook folds down into a tablet which is used in conjunction with a stylus. While it may not have the foothold the bigger companies do, the Pixelbook from Google has certainly put them on notice.

Learn More

The Best Portable and Affordable Laptop for Programming

CPU: 2.4–2.7GHz Intel Core i3-i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 940MX | RAM: 4–16GB | Storage: 128–512GB | Weight: 2.75lbs | OS: Windows 10 Home Pro

Coders and programmers tend to have a negative stereotype of someone who is tied to a desk all day and night in a dark office or bedroom. That stigma does not apply at all these days as many regard programming to be a very social profession, whether working as part of a team or leading a group to accomplish an important goal.

With the Zenbook UX-430 from Asus, the lightweight, slim design and portability make it an excellent choice for those who are going to spend a lot of time going from one conference room to another. With storage options for 128–512GB and Ram from 4 to 16GB, it can be hard to believe that the Intel Core i7 powered laptop weighs under 3lbs.

Learn More

Choosing the Best Programming Laptop for Your Needs

There are a lot of things that you should consider before buying a laptop for programming. While many of these can relate to the CPU, the amount of RAM or storage, or even price, the biggest consideration should be your comfort level. If you aren’t comfortable using the laptop you have for programming, it can make your work suffer. Choosing one that fits your needs and makes you feel comfortable using it is key.

We hope that our list of the Best Laptops for Programming, Coding & Development in 2019 has given you some idea of the options that are out there for you to choose from. Do you have a programming laptop that you swear by, but don’t see it on our list?

Let us know in the comments below.