While Apple laptops are widely considered among the best on the market, they still have a small market share compared to its rivals. In other words, Apple might be the biggest company in the world, but with its largest focus on the iPhone and iPad, its computers amount to just 15% of the market. 

When it comes to the reality of the laptop world, brands like Dell, HP, and Microsoft have come a long way in recent years, and their market positions are showing. While Apple still leads the way with battery life, computers from these other companies have recently revealed upgraded screens and designs that are true rivals to Apple for most laptop owners. 

10. Razer

• Laptop brands: Razer
• Best model(s): Blade 16, Blade 18
• Types of laptops: Gaming

Gaming Royalty

Between its computer accessories like mice and keyboards, Razer has established itself as a premiere, if not the premiere, brand for gaming laptops. Its combination of performance and hardware is a fantastic experience that any serious gamer must consider. If you want to game on your laptop, Apple is already not an option, which means that brands like Razer have a real opportunity to steal Apple customers who are fed up with not having a computer that can both game and go online. 

9. Alienware

• Laptop brands: Alienware
• Best model(s): X16 R2, M16 R2
• Types of laptops: Gaming

A Gaming Powerhouse

Unfortunately, Apple stopped focusing on gaming for years with its computers and lost the race to Windows. As a result, brands like Alienware popped up with computers that can do pretty much what Apple can do regarding productivity but can also play the best PC games on the market. It’s hard to argue that Alienware doesn’t make some of the best gaming computers, especially considering price-to-performance. 

8. Dell

• Laptop brands: Inspiron, XPS, Latitude, G Series
• Best model(s): XPS 13, XPS 16, XPS 14
• Types of laptops: 2-in-1, gaming, everyday use

The Best Overall Laptop

In today’s laptop space, Dell’s XPS lineup, specifically the XPS 14 and XPS 16, best competes with Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup. However, Dell takes it up a notch with 4K displays, excellent configuration options, the best touchpad ever made, and battery life that gets better and better with every new model release. Plus, it’s hard to ignore how good Dell’s 4K OLED touch screen is with everyday use. 

7. Samsung

• Laptop brands: Galaxy Book
• Best model(s): Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, Galaxy Book3 Ultra
• Types of laptops: 2-in-1, everyday, Chromebook

Apple’s Biggest Rival

In the grand scheme of things, given the company’s competition with Apple in the smartphone and tablet space, Samsung may be Apple’s biggest rival in computers. Samsung has even taken a page from Apple’s design philosophy to make its laptops thin and portable. However, Samsung has its own skill set and can create an exceptional laptop with a terrific display that can easily handle everything from gaming to everyday use. 

6. MSI 

• Laptop brands: Stealth, Crosshair, Raider, Titan, Crosshair, Sword, Cyborg, Katana, 
• Best model(s): Katana 15, GT77 Titan, Raider GE67 HX
• Types of laptops: Gaming, powerful, intensive tasks

The Unknown Brand

It’s tough to believe that an unknown brand like MSI could be better than an Apple laptop, but when it comes to gaming, MSI easily wins more praise than Apple. MSI’s quality has improved over the last few years, which speaks well to the brand’s now-released machines with monitors like the MSI Titan 18 HX’s 18-inch 4K+ display, which looks fantastic while playing even retro games. MSI laptops can make something special when paired with the latest processors and GPUs. 

5. HP

• Laptop brands: Envy, Spectre, OmniBook, Pavilion 
• Best model(s): Envy 13 x360, Envy 16
• Types of laptops: 2-in-1, gaming, business, family-friendly, every day

Industry Giant

One of the oldest names in computers on this list, HP is a staple name in the laptop space. If you want a laptop that does pretty much anything, there is a better-than-good chance that HP makes a model that will work. Whereas Apple focuses specifically on certain use cases, HP wants to cast as wide of a net as possible with pricing that works for every budget. You have something for the creative types, the gamers, the nothing-but-homework machine, and many more. 

4. Acer

• Laptop brands: Swift, Nitro, Chromebook, Aspire
• Best model(s): Swift Go 14, Aspire 3 Spin 14
• Types of laptops: 2-in-1, everyday, family-friendly

Budget-Friendly Goodness

There is little question that given the price of Apple laptops, it’s looking to grab as much market share as it can toward the high end. On the other hand, you have Acer, which offers many budget-friendly models in its Swift and Aspire lineups. Acer machines are great for everyday use, at a price tag that is frequently half of what Apple asks. 

3. ASUS 

• Laptop brands: ROG, Zenbook, Vivobook, Chromebooks, ProArt
• Best model(s): ROG Zephyrus G14, TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition
• Types of laptops: Gaming, everyday, fashionable

ASUS Makes Everything

While Apple wants to be the class leader in just one segment of the laptop world, ASUS wants to dominate the whole space. This is why it has made several different laptop models, including the Vivobook, which is focused on a youthful vibe and is very much a space that competes with Apple. ASUS also hopes its ProArt laptop will attract Apple customers who have traditionally gravitated toward its laptops for creative work. 

2. Lenovo

• Laptop brands: ThinkPad, Yoga, Legio, ThinkBook, LOQ
• Best model(s): ThinkPad P1 Gen 7, Legio Pro 5 Gen 8
• Types of laptops: Enterprise, consumer, gaming, everyday

The Business Giant

When it comes to Apple’s biggest competitors in the enterprise space, Lenovo is at the very top. Over the years, this company has used its ThinkPad lineup of laptops to propel itself into tens of thousands of small to large business IT departments. In addition, Lenovo also excels at producing gaming laptops that Apple cannot rival. There’s just something great about Lenovo’s reputation, as you will immediately feel comfortable purchasing from it. 

1. Microsoft

• Laptop brands: Surface
• Best model: Surface Pro
• Types of laptops: 2-in-1, traditional, consumer and business-friendly

The Next Best Thing

Just as Apple makes the best computers for its software, the same can be said about Microsoft. While more powerful computers are available over Microsoft’s Surface lineup, it’s hard to beat the software and hardware integration that the company can use to create best-in-class batteries, screens, and hardware. Best of all, multiple computers in the Microsoft Surface lineup double as both laptops and tablets.

 

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