Laptop prices are spiking — here’s how to actually shop smart

Prices on student laptops are out of whack. The memory shortage is real and it’s expected to hold through 2027, so don’t expect the bottom to drop. The Verge’s student buying guide says you can still find a mostly tolerable machine for under $500 and a good one for around $700, but the real advice is to bite the bullet and buy a little more power now — especially for a college student. Spending more on something like a MacBook Air buys build quality and headroom that’ll carry you through four years. Lots of Verge writers are still on M1 MacBook Airs from 2020.

The rule of thumb: go with a Mac running Apple silicon or a Windows laptop with Intel or AMD chips from the last few years (nothing older than 2022). Snapdragon X chips are solid too, unless you need specialized software that won’t run on Windows on Arm or you want to game. Aim for 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage if you can — eight gigs works on macOS with the MacBook Neo, but Windows machines struggle with it. For the tightest budgets or younger kids, a quality Chromebook is still the play.

The top pick is the 9/10 MacBook Neo — sharp performance for the price, perfect for middle or high school. It trades off 8GB of RAM, slower storage, and no keyboard backlighting, but the trackpad is the best around and the screen and speakers hold up.

Why this matters for us: a lot of our families are juggling work and tuition, so buying one right now saves a lot of headache down the road.