You need the best laptop for law school. This will be your every day, every class, study computer. Our top pick of the best laptops for law school is the Apple MacBook Air 13 inch. If instead you’re looking for the best tablet for law school, check out the Microsoft Surface Pro.
The right laptop will increase your law school grades, improve your job prospects, and improve you life. We can’t understate it enough. A law school laptop will be your most important purchase. That is, unless, you prefer to go with a law school tablet.
The formula for finding a laptop isn’t complicated. You want to choose from laptops that have sufficient computer memory, are easy to carry around, wi fi enabled, and up to date with the latest software.
Best Laptops For Law School
| Rank | Brand | Laptop | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Apple MacBook Air Jump to Review |  | CHECK |
| 2. | Dell XPS13 Jump to Review |  | CHECK |
| 3. | Asus ZenBook Jump to Review |  | CHECK |
| 4. | Lenovo IdeaPad Jump to Review |  | CHECK |
| 5. | Acer Aspire Jump to Review |  | CHECK |
Top Laptops for Law Students
These laptops are five of the best laptop computers we reviewed. Each of these could be a great laptop depending on your needs. Each one is a best buy and has an in-depth review linked below.
1. Apple MacBook Air 13 in.
The Apple MacBook Air is the best laptop for law school because it is lightweight and performs the best. The Air is a premium laptop for law school students that will perform with all the bells and whistles a law student may desire. Most importantly, law students won’t run into performance problems because Apple makes their MacBook laptop the highest quality machine on the market. It is even capable of powerful photo editing and video editing. For students looking for an even more powerful machine, they should check out the MacBook Pro. Huge storage means you’ll likely never need an external hard drive.
Click HERE for the in-depth review of the MacBook Air.
✅ Reasons to Buy
- Lightweight – this laptop easily be carried around all day without tiring these college students out.
- Thin – laptop fits easily into a backpack, between some notebooks, or even inside a medium to large sized purse. This gives it an advantage over the MacBook Pro model.
- Battery – you never have to worry about hauling the charger to class or the library because this thing will stay powered for 18 HOURS! Plenty of laptop charge time to study and attend class before heading home. Useful for if you ever want to stream movies while studying.
- Power – you won’t find a better performing laptop for that is this fast and reliable. The newest versions include the M2 Chip which means 8 core processors providing unrivaled speed.
- Great built-in microphone and Apple’s renowned camera technology that can even do image processing to improve video quality in low-light. This is huge for any law school classes that meet online such as over Zoom.
- Compatible – any laptop software you need in law school and even for taking the bar will have Mac compatible software and the regular operating system updates that Apple sends to their products ensure you will never have a software issue while in law school.
❌ Reasons not to buy
- Price – if you are on a strict budget, this may not be for those law school students.
⚖️ Bottom Line – Apple MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is the best laptop for law school and will serve you well through three years and beyond. Law students will be worry free knowing that the MacBook Air laptop will always perform during your law school exams, install any software necessary, and will travel to and from class and the law library with ease. As an added bonus, Apple products are still very much “cool” in law school and you will notice that many of your peers share a similar laptop. This will be beneficial when you forget a charger and need to borrow one from them or have a computer question they may be able to solve.
2. Dell XPS 13
Dell’s XPS 13 follows right behind the MacBook Air as the best laptop for law school because this high performance laptop will also give you everything you need in law school and beyond. The intel core i7 processor is more than enough to meet your needs and every model of the laptop includes significant memory.
Click HERE for the in-depth review of the Dell XPS 13.
✅ Reasons to Buy
- Size – 13 inches and 2.8 lbs makes this one of the most compact law school laptops available.
- Processing Power – 11th generation intel core processor and improved structural design to dissipate heat ensures the Dell XPS 13 laptop runs smooth and quiet in your classes.
- Blue light protection – law students spend tons of time in law school straining their eyes reading and writing papers. Any amount of protection you can get, especially from blue light that comes from electronics will spare you eye strain and perhaps a migraine or two.
- Structure – machined aluminum, carbon fiber palm rest, impact and scratch resistant glass means this Dell laptop is as sturdy as they come.
❌ Reasons not to buy
- Price – as is the case with the more premium laptops for law school from the industry giants, the price can be a little higher. However, when you take into account how much longer this laptop will last, the price can certainly be worth it for a law student.
⚖️ Bottom Line – Dell XPS 13
Dell is known for the premium quality products they make. The XPS is no different. We appreciate the 13 inch model and how much power and performance is packed into such a small laptop. The engineering and structural integrity make this laptop a long term option for even the clumsiest of law students.
LSS Hack: Be sure to check the Dell Outlet for increased savings on the Dell XPS! You can often find refurbished Dell laptops for a nice discount that are good as new!
3. ASUS ZenBook
The ZenBook is a close runner up of best laptop for law school because it matches the MacBook and Dell XPS 13’s portability and processing power at a slightly lower cost. Also, ASUS makes incredible gaming laptops and therefore law students can rest easy knowing the ZenBook has quality parts under the hood.
Click HERE for the in-depth review of the ASUS ZenBook.
✅ Reasons to Buy
- Lightweight – one of the lightest laptops out there at 2.62 lbs. You’ll never get tired carrying it around.
- Thin – fits easily into a backpack, between some notebooks, or even inside a medium to large sized purse.
- Battery life – law students never have to worry about hauling the laptop charger to the library because this thing will stay powered for 22 HOURS! Therefore, plenty of charge time to study long hours and attend class before heading home.
- Charge time – fast-charge mode can get the laptop battery level to 60% in only 40 minutes.
- Ergolift hinge – when the laptop is opened, the keyboard tilts to place your wrists at an optimal angle for typing. This will come in handy when you are typing away on your laptop for hours on those essay exams.
- ASUS AI noise cancelling technology – uses proprietary algorithms to filter out background noise. Perfect for online lectures or video calls on this great laptop.
❌ Reasons not to buy
- Price – if you are on a strict budget, this may not be the best laptop for law school for you.
- No headphone jack – a USB-C converter is included though.
⚖️ Bottom Line – ASUS ZenBook
ASUS is known for their incredible gaming laptops so you don’t have to worry about the performance this ZenBook can provide. At a more affordable cost than some of the highest tier laptops, this is an amazing option for law students. The lightweight, portability, and battery life make this one of the best deals. Any law student rocking the ASUS ZenBook laptop will be free from computer worries during their three years.
4. Lenovo IdeaPad
Lenovo’s IdeaPad is a powerhouse of a laptop at a more affordable price. We love the biometric fingerprint reader that ensures only you can start the laptop. The backlit keyboard makes typing in a dark classroom easy. Most importantly, the one touch webcam privacy shutter ensures you don’t have hackers watching you or you mistakenly join an online class with the camera on before you’re ready.
Click HERE for the in-depth review of the Lenovo IdeaPad.
✅ Reasons to Buy
- Anti-glare screen – this is a huge bonus for law students in a nice climate and want to study outside on the laptop. The anti-glare screen ensures you’ll be able to watch law school lectures and see your notes even on the sunniest of days.
- Thin – 0.67 inches means this laptop fits easily into a backpack, between some law school notebooks, or even inside a medium to large sized purse.
- Privacy shutter – a built-in shutter that blocks the webcam ensures you will be safe from the prying eyes of hackers. You won’t be one of the law students that always has a sticky note taped to their laptop.
- Memory and performance options – Lenovo offers many different options on this laptop to suit your needs. The IdeaPad comes in 256 GB, 512 GB, and even 1 TB options.
❌ Reasons not to buy
- Battery – only 14 hours of average battery. Plenty to last you an entire day of studying, but not as long lasting as some of the other law school laptops.
- Screen size – 14 inches is a bit bigger than some of the other laptops on our list.
⚖️ Bottom Line – Lenovo IdeaPad
The Lenovo IdeaPad will provide a solid machine for a decent price compared with other law school laptops on the market. Law students will never worry about memory or storage because the IdeaPad laptop comes in multiple models that each have sufficient memory for every law school need. The backlit keyboard, biometric finger scanner, and privacy shutter on the webcam provide nice additional touches that distinguish it from other great laptops for law school out there.
5. Acer Aspire
Acer’s Aspire is one of the most affordable laptops for law school you can buy for a brand new machine and great operating system. We love the built in BlueLightShield™ that protects your eyes during those late nights studying for exams. Although the Acer laptop does not have the computing power or memory as some of the other options, it will certainly get the job done for law school. However, if you want something that will last beyond your law school years and work for you bar, you may want to consider other options because the default software on the Inspire is Windows 10S which may not work for some bar exam softwares.
Click HERE for the in-depth review of the Acer Aspire.
✅ Reasons to Buy
- Affordable – Coming in at around the $300-$399 price range (Check current price here) this is one of the best deals on a laptop you can get for law school.
- Purified Voice technology – built in noise filtering ensures that you come across smooth and crisp on those online classes and video meetings.
- Blue light protection – you’ll spend a lot of time in law school straining your eyes to read and study. So, any amount of protection you can get, especially from blue light that comes from electronics will spare you eye strain and perhaps a migraine or two while taking notes.
- Keyboard – the keyboard has a soft touch and great feedback that rivals even the more expensive laptops.
❌ Reasons not to buy
- Weight – at 3.96 pounds this is one of the more heavy computers. Weak arms should think twice before purchasing.
- Battery – only 10 hours of average battery life. Plenty to get you through an entire day, but you won’t want to forget your charger often.
- Screen – 15.6 inches is a on the larger size for what you may want to bring to class and fit on a desk.
⚖️ Bottom Line – Acer Aspire
In conclusion, the Acer Aspire is incredibly affordable for a law school laptop. It will serve your law school needs well. If you only intend to use your laptop for law school, then the Acer Aspireis a great option and you’ll carry around an extra $1000+ in your pocket compared to your classmates with the more expensive brands. However, the price brings some drawbacks and that means this laptop likely won’t last as long as other laptops because of the reduced memory and computer power.
What Laptop Specifications Do I Need For Law School?
- Easy to carry – College students want lightweight, compact, and portable. Law students will be traveling to and from school, the library, and favorite study spots. You may want your law school laptop to fit in your backpack or a large purse. Additionally, most law students don’t want a laptop that takes up too much desk space or creaks every time it opens. The best law school laptops are under 3 – 3.5 lbs in weight and about 13 inches.
- Up to date operating systems – Law students need a good laptop that can run newer operating system because law schools require downloading specific testing software. The law school software will be typically be compatible with laptops running recent versions of MacOS and Windows operating system. Additionally, the best laptop for law students includes enough power to handle multitasking and quick start up. A 3.5 GHz CPU with at least 8GB of RAM should be sufficient for the best laptops for law school.
- Memory – Law students will see 256 GB recommended hard drive, but at least 128 GB should do the trick for laptop memory. Law School laptop storage requirements are not too high. Each of these laptops have more than enough memory without the need for an external hard drive.
- Battery – Law students need a law school laptop with sufficient battery life. Do not buy laptops that have a battery life of less than 8 hours.
- RAM – Make sure your laptop has at least 8 GB random access memory (RAM) storage. Cloud storage capacity is also a good idea, especially if you will be syncing your laptop with a tablet or other mobile device.
- Display – Aim for a laptop with a minimum of 13 inches of display screen so you can view your law school online lectures easily with more screen space.
- HDMI Port – Check to make sure your laptop has additional HDMI ports with Bluetooth and WiFi 6 connectivity. You don’t want a laptop with only one hdmi port or only a usb c port unless you have additional adapters for your external devices.
Check your school IT website for recommended laptop specifications.
However, if you need to drop the technical specifications down a little to save money, rest assured you will be at little disadvantage if you rock the bare minimum of a refurbished 1.3GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 with only 4GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. (Note, the refurbished laptops sell out super fast. But search your favorite laptop brand refurbished and you can find many great deals)
Conclusion – Best Laptop For Law School
As you can, see there are many great laptops. For the 2024-2025 school year, the best buy is the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch. The Dell XPS 13, ASUS ZenBook, Lenovo IdeaPad, and Acer Aspire are also top choices. Be sure to check out the full reviews of all the laptops above. The in-depth reviews include videos, specifications, and more for each of the best laptops.
If you are a budget-conscious law student, check out our best laptops under $400 guide. Or, if you have a larger budget look at the best laptops under $800 guide.
Finally, check out our rating guide for a detailed description of how the LSS Team rates products! We hope you find the right laptop for your needs based on our authentic reviews.