You're wondering what the best computer for students is, and that comes with a lot of questions. Is a desktop or a laptop better? Should I get Mac or Windows? How much should I pay? Well, being a student once (it's been a few years), I know the queries, and I now have over a decade of expertise to point you in the right direction.
After testing a wide selection of Windows PCs, Macs, all-in-one computers and more over the years, my team of PC experts and I know the territory and are here to help find the right computer for you. Better yet, you'll be happy to know that the PCs you'll find today can easily breeze through research, study, write-ups and deadlines at school and college. Oh, and some gaming in your downtime, of course.
I'm a big believer in the Apple iMac M4 for students, as that's the type of computer I would adore for writing up papers, editing images and even gaming. But it's not "one size fits all," as there are plenty of other options to choose from to make the most of your needs. So, let's dive into finding the best student computer to get you through your studies.
I'm Darragh, Buying Guide Editor here at Tom's Guide, and in my days as a student, I wish all of these PCs were around to get me through the pain of scrolling through websites for research and writing up papers. Students can now make the most of speedy, high-end performance in the latest computers without emptying their wallets, and after years of testing PCs, my team and I have a good gauge of the best ones to pick.
The best student computers right now
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The best student computer overall
Apple's iMac recently received a shot in the arm known as the M4 chip, and the boost in performance helps cinch its place at the top of our charts as the best student computer you can buy today.
I recommend this Mac to students and families because it offers a beautiful 24-inch 4.5K display, an excellent 12MP webcam with support for Center Stage and Desk View (which means it can follow you as you move around in front of it, or send a separate video feed of what's on your desk in front of you when FaceTiming) and a great six-speaker sound system built in. Plus, this is the first model that comes with an optional nano-texture coating on the glass, which makes it more glare-resistant for an extra fee.
Of course, it's not a perfect computer. There's no option to adjust the height of the display or order it with a VESA mount, so extraordinarily tall or short folks may need to awkwardly rearrange their desk to get it seated in a comfortable position. And there's no HDR support and no option to get it with a touchscreen or an OLED/mini-LED screen, which handicaps that luscious 24-inch 4.5K display.
But none of those flaws keep it from being the best student computer for most folks on the market.
With Apple's price hikes now official, the iMac M4 has seen a $200/£200 increase. Now, it starts at $1,499/£1,499, which means it isn't quite the value-buster it once was. That said, we still recommend it as the best student computer for most, considering the performance it offers. What's more, for students, Apple's Education Savings means you can get this for less.
- Read our full Apple iMac M4 review
The best Windows student computer
For students who prefer (or require) Windows but are fans of the iMac setup, look no further than the Lenovo Yoga AIO 27. Truly, this is the "iMac killer," and when it comes with a built-in Qi phone charger in its base, you know it has the best interests of students in mind.
The all-in-one PC comes with everything you need right out of the box, and that includes an impressive wireless keyboard with satisfying clicks (number pad included, by the way). Its mouse could use a little work, since it's a battery-powered peripheral that relies on a USB dongle plugged into the Yoga’s base, but at least it lasts 12 months and is highly responsive.
With its 27-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) IPS display, you can expect crisp, colorful visuals no matter what you view, and that includes gaming. Yes, the Yoga AIO 27 can play titles, albeit more less-demanding PC games. It shows the power of the Intel Core Ultra 7 255H CPU, which this laptop comes packed with (at its higher configurations), and that punchy performance will blaze through workloads when studying or working on a project.
Impressively, the Yoga AIO 27's display can also be adjusted 90 degrees to transform into a vertical powerhouse, which makes it versatile for different areas of study. The icing on the cake is that it's a stunner in any desk setup.
It's not perfect, as the screen's brightness is slightly dimmer than its competition, the 5MP webcam won't do you justice when on video calls and you can't adjust the height as much as you'd want. Regardless, when it comes to delivering Windows at its finest, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better all-in-one PC at this price, and that's an important factor for students.
- Read our full Lenovo Yoga AIO 27 review
The best MacBook for students
The Apple MacBook Neo redefines the value student laptop with its featherweight 2.7-pound chassis and a battery that sailed through 13 hours of continuous web browsing in our testing. If you’re tired of lugging a heavy machine or searching for outlets between every class, this is the kind of all-day companion that earns its “ultraportable” tag.
General productivity for studying and beyond feels speedy, too. The A18 Pro chip and a Geekbench 6 score of 3,535 translate to responsive multitasking — we found the Neo can handle multiple open apps and browser tabs without bogging down. Even better for essay marathons: the keyboard feels snappy (you'll have to pay extra for a backlit keyboard, though).
The 2408 x 1506 Liquid Retina display is crisp and bright, making everything from readings to video calls easy on the eyes. The built-in 1080p webcam is decent for the price, while the surprisingly powerful speakers impressed us, as audio during a movie trailer came through rich and clear. Jumping between apps and streaming content, you'll find that the Neo stays responsive throughout.
Of course, you do trade away some premium touches, like no Touch ID (you'll have to pay extra again) or Thunderbolt support. But for students who want a MacBook that’s light, lasts all day and won’t slow down during a busy semester, the Neo is the best blend of portability and power you can get this year.
Since Apple's price hikes across Macs, the MacBook Neo now starts at $699/£699 after a $100/£100 increase. That means you'll have to pay even more for Touch ID and a backlit keyboard. However, for students, Apple's education savings bring it back down to $599/£599, so it's worth getting discounts where you can!
- Read our full Apple MacBook Neo review
The best Windows laptop for students
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x leads as our top Windows laptop pick for students, thanks to its outstanding 16 hours and 29 minutes of battery life (that's one of the best laptops for battery life!) That’s enough to get you through a full day of classes, study sessions and late-night catch-ups — no outlet required.
Performance is more than up to the mark for daily coursework, as we found the Slim 3x has the muscle for browsing, research and multitasking. We also found it handled routine tasks like writing papers, streaming Netflix and replying to emails smoothly, which is exactly what you want in a campus companion.
Now, the Arm-based Snapdragon CPU that delivers such impressive battery life isn’t suited to gaming or heavy creative workloads, and you may run into app compatibility issues with some specialized software. If your studies require demanding graphics or niche programs, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
Still, with a 15.3-inch touch display and such robust battery performance, the IdeaPad Slim 3x covers the basics for most students — long campus days, group projects and plenty of productive screen time. For the price, it’s the Windows laptop we’d recommend first for anyone focused on value, portability and all-day reliability.
- Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x review
The best gaming computer for students
Honestly, it's hard to go wrong with this fully customizable, mini powerhouse. The Framework Desktop gives you the choice of the parts you want and the price you want to pay, now starting at $1,269. For students, that's a boon to start off with, and you're in need of something stronger to blaze through work and certainly gaming, just configure it to your liking and your budget.
Even the base configuration boasts ample performance to breeze through all kinds of work assignments, whether that be for the plentiful tabs when studying or more demanding creative work. That's thanks to the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 CPU onboard, along with the 32GB of DDR5X RAM. Even for gaming on the side, the Radeon 8050S integrated graphics can handle the latest PC titles with smooth, solid 60 FPS and beyond (thanks to AMD's FSR frame boosting tech).
Need more power? The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with its Radeon 8060S can more than handle what you throw at it. One downside is that RAM isn't upgradeable, so the configuration you get is the RAM you'll have to stick with.
Either way, if you're working your way through a single-player masterpiece or climbing the ranks of a competitive multiplayer title between studies, the Framework Desktop has you covered. Even better, you can customize its look to your liking to give it a splash of personality, all while not taking up much room on your desk.
- Read our full Framework Desktop review
The best mini PC for students
Mini PCs have become mainstream, and I can see why with the Mac mini M4. Not only is this small powerhouse the cheapest of Apple's Mac lineup, but for students who just want a neat, compact and lightweight computer on their desk, especially if they already have a monitor and other PC peripherals, it offers just the solution.
It's everything we loved about the Mac mini with M2, but now it's faster thanks to Apple's custom M4 chip. You'll even be playing games, multitasking while studying and editing photos and videos with this small beast.
For most schoolwork, the Mac mini M4 should be more than capable enough. Of course, you'll need to hook it up to your own monitor, keyboard and mouse, but that's par for the course when purchasing PCs. Plus, it gives you freedom of selection to choose your add-ons of choice, thanks to its many ports. Just be aware this mini PC isn't upgradeable, so the configuration you get is the one that stays.
We've named it the best mini PC you can buy right now, especially for its price for well under $1,000.
- Read our full Mac mini M4 review
The best computer for DIYers
The Raspberry Pi ushered in a new era of DIY tech, and the $35-$55 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B pushes that to new heights with a more powerful processor, 4K video output and an improved part selection. While this incredibly affordable DIY PC is powerful enough to work as a standalone PC in a pinch if you want to install Windows on it, that's not really the ideal way to use this computer.
Instead, the Raspberry Pi 4's real value for students lies in how many projects you can build with it. While it's nothing more than a fancy circuit board out of the box, once you kit it out with a power supply, monitor(s), and whatever input devices you prefer, you can turn it into everything from a tiny PC to a web server to a home media center or a retro gaming machine.
If you want a ready-made PC for homework and papers, you'd be better off with another PC on this list, but if you want a cute little DIY PC board you can use for all sorts of cool student projects, you can't go wrong with the Raspberry Pi.
- Read our full Raspberry Pi 4 Model B review
Also tested
Frequently Asked Questions
Which type of computer is best for students?
The best computer for students depends on the type of course or studying they're doing. Generally, the computers should have enough performance for daily computing tasks, such as browsing the web, writing documents and multitasking with ease. For laptops, they should also come with long battery life to last a full day of classes, at the very least.
However, some students require more power for demanding apps. This can include for graphics-intensive work, photo and video editing, coding and more. This means they require a strong CPU and GPU, along with a lot of RAM (at least 16GB). However, the more powerful they are, the more costly the purchase.
That said, many PCs we've selected for this guide are up for this task, but for even stronger options, you'll want to check out the best laptops for engineering students.
Is Mac or Windows better for students?
It's an age-old argument, but neither Mac or Windows is better than one another. It entirely depends on your preference in operating systems, along with your ecosystem of devices, budget and what your course requires. Each come with their own set of perks.
Buy a Mac if you are comfortable using Macs or are already embedded in the Apple ecosystem. While macOS is not as robust as Windows when it comes to apps and gaming, many people find it easy to use and it's tightly integrated with Apple's other products, so your iPhone, iPad and AirPods will seamlessly work with your Mac.
Buy a Windows PC if you need access to the widest selection of apps, are not tied down to any particular ecosystem, want the best gaming experience and are looking for the broadest selection of laptop designs. Only Windows computers come with features like touchscreens, high-speed displays or the option to transform into a tablet. However, they typically have worse battery life than MacBooks (but not always).
How often should you replace a computer?
You should replace your computer on average every four to eight years, but this entirely depends on your needs when it comes to performance, usability and battery life for laptops.
Computers are expensive devices, so they are meant to last you a good long while. If your PC still performs well by doing all the tasks you need it to, without any major slowdowns or shutdowns, then you can hold off getting an upgrade. However, PCs may start to struggle to keep up with demands as new software updates, more demanding apps and higher-performing CPUs, GPUs and more release over the years.
If you start noticing sluggish performance, components (like a webcam, keyboard, etc.) failing or the operating system becoming unsupported (such as Windows 10 ending support or Intel-based Macs losing support), this would be a good time to replace your computer. Of course, if you're just looking for an upgrade or better performance for your studies, then it's always worth checking out the latest PCs to buy. These will last you for years to come, especially throughout your education.
How we test the best student computers
As we test and review all sorts of computers — such as best all-in-one computers, best gaming PC and best mini PCs — we run a series of standardized tests to measure how each machine performs, what it's best suited to and what sort of capability you get for the price.
These standard tests include generalized performance benchmark tests, like Geekbench 6 (for processor performance), 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (for graphics) and a custom file transfer test to measure hard drive performance.
Gaming-oriented benchmarks test the performance of systems using current games, measuring the frame rates each desktop will produce in games like Tomb Raider, Doom: The Dark Ages, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more. We'll also run individual game tests and the SteamVR performance test to evaluate how well-suited they are to the unique demands of virtual reality.
Most importantly, we spend a ton of time simply using each desktop computer for everyday activities. We watch movies, do work, play games and blast music on the speakers, all to get a better sense of which ones are worth your money.
