The smartest laptop to buy in 2026 may not be a 2026 laptop. That’s why PCWorld’s laptop deals roundup has become one of the most useful things we publish.
Now, more than ever, I’m convinced that the latest laptops — and, heck, even the latest tech products — simply don’t offer enough real-world improvement to justify their higher prices. Indeed, cheaper laptops from previous years often deliver better alignment between performance and pricing.
Some of this, you already know. Do the vast majority of PC users need the latest and greatest keyboard? Or the newest mouse? Of course not!
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Laptops hew more closely to this principle than you might think. I knew when I tested a dirt cheap, 7-year-old laptop a few months ago that it would be one of the most important stories I would write all year. That testing exposed one of the fundamental mistruths the PC industry often makes — that newer is better.
Yes, with a laptop a full seven years old, “performance” fell. Benchmark scores were half that of a modern PC. But even then, the actual difference in time wasted was about the time you took to read this sentence. Saving files increased by a few seconds, but boot time actually fell.
Decades ago, generation-over-generation differences between processors were more profound. But in recent years, those processor iterations have been much more incremental, or even muddied. Take, for example, my analysis of the best battery life while streaming. Right now, the leader isn’t the current Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, but rather the older Snapdragon X1 Elite.
But, wait, it gets even trickier: While laptop performance inches up from generation to generation, the pricing increases in chunks. This is more true than ever, considering what the AI boom has done to the costs of memory and storage, and thus laptop pricing in general.
Counterintuitively, you can use this pricing dynamic to your advantage. Sure, an older laptop from 2025 or even 2024 will have decreased performance, but it usually isn’t by that much. And that same “lesser” laptop will come with memory and storage priced at pre-AI boom levels, meaning retailers and vendors will feel more comfortable selling at a discount.
So, let’s circle back to the central point: Bookmark our best laptop deals page, and check back regularly.
I’m sure laptop makers will argue there are still reasons to buy the absolute latest laptop. Newer models have the highest-resolution, highest-refresh rate OLED screens. They also have the latest in I/O. OK, sure. But it’s difficult to argue that there’s any “must have” laptop technology that’s brand new for 2026.
So, I stand by my belief that discounted older laptops are your best bets. When buying one, prioritize 16GB of RAM, at least 512GB of storage, a good (1080p or higher) screen, a recent-enough processor, and a real warranty from a major retailer. Be flexible on the CPU generation. Be much less flexible on memory.
And be smart! Some configurations, with a historically unpopular 256GB SSD, can be augmented by an external hard drive or cloud storage. But others, such as configurations with 8GB of RAM, probably should be avoided altogether.
Basically, the industry wants you to ask, “What’s new?” I think the better question is, “What’s still great — and finally affordable?”
In the news:
- Speaking of laptop storage, Microsoft discovered (and fixed) a bug that can quietly consume up to 500GB of your laptop’s SSD.
- AI and productivity overlap to some extent, so I’d encourage you to sign up for Ben Patterson’s Prompt Mode newsletter. I’ve always manually managed my email, but he tapped Claude to do the work for him.
- Hate YouTube ads? DuckDuckGo is taking on Google and YouTube and blocking them. This ain’t over.
- Microsoft is adding Cloud Rebuild, a feature that promises to fix your PC even when it won’t boot.
- One of the scary parts of testing hardware is simply making sure that I’m getting the performance I should. One of the gotchas: older USB-C cables. Check ’em!
Productivity tip of the week
My wife has been out of town taking care of an ailing mother for about a month, leaving me to play single parent to two teen boys. My tip this week has been to enforce a practice that some parents already know: no chores, no Internet. I’m perfectly fine with cooking, cleaning, and tossing in the occasional load of laundry, though both kids also know how to cook, wash, and put away their clothes.
The kicker is the “please dos:” Please take out the trash, please clean your bathroom, please do the dishes, so we all don’t get overwhelmed. In cases where that doesn’t happen, I’ve simply been relying on my Wi-Fi network’s phone app. No chores, no Internet!
Identify (and label) their devices, then add it to a block list. Phones are a challenge, since the cellular connection will kick in. But you can’t play an Internet-connected game like Roblox without an active Internet connection. That usually does it.
Thanks for reading!
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