AI-powered BeFake Is A Real App, Not A BeReal Parody…and It Has $3M In Funding
BeFake, a social networking app that combines concepts from popular Gen Z app BeReal along with AI technology, has netted itself $3 million in seed funding to create an AI-augmented social network. The app's name, a clear reference to BeReal's authentic photo sharing among friends, is meant to suggest it does the opposite. Instead of showing what you're up to right now, BeFake users also snap photos with both the front and back cameras, but then customize their photos using AI technology using either in-app presets or custom prompts.
The app is the creation of Alias Technologies, an applied AI company that uses generative media and multi-modal AI systems to create social media applications.
Alias was founded in 2021 by Kristen Garcia Dumont and Tracy Lane, the former executive team behind the gaming giant Machine Zone which was acquired by AppLovin in 2020. At Machine Zone, Dumont served as CEO leading the development and launch of two profitable mobile games, including World War Rising and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, grossing north of $1 billion. Lane, meanwhile, was the former COO, where she handled community, moderation, compliance and platform partnerships.
Image Credits: BeFake
Now the founders want to riff on the real-time social network BeReal's concept of push notification-driven posting with their own app, which instead leverages Alias' AI technology that lets users input text prompts to turn their photos into AI-augmented visuals. The idea is to let users express not necessarily their total authenticity, but rather their authentic creativity.
Despite being in a seemingly different market from gaming, Dumont says there's a lot more overlap between the two industries than some may realize.
"We leveraged AI for monetization," she explains. That is, "What's the right thing to offer a player…when do you offer a sale, what do you put in the sale, how does the sale look, what's the best way to monetize that specific user?," Dumont continues. "But we also then started to leverage it in terms of player matching."
What they found was that when the algorithms worked, players were better retained and created relationships with each other, even though they were strangers from different parts of the world.
The idea of gamers making connections with one another without using their real-world identities then planted the seed for BeFake.
"They have a separate digital identity that they leverage. And to see that the magical connection develop because algorithms got it right was definitely a spark moment," Dumont notes.
Image Credits: BeFake
Image Credits: BeFake
With BeFake, the mechanics are similar to other front-back apps like BeReal or its older precursor, Frontback. Users first capture front and back photos from their phone, but then either pick out a preset or type out their own prompt to create an AI image.
The app offers both style prompts and custom location prompts, which include things like fantasy imagery or letting you put yourself on the top of Mount Everest, for example. Otherwise, users can type out their own prompts to create images of themselves in scenarios they imagine.
Under the hood, the company is using Stable Diffusion with a custom denoising loop. Its pipeline's proprietary components are focused on the fact that the app is meant to be a social network. That means it needs to work with all kinds of different photos, like candids, zoomed-in photos, photos with multiple people and so on.
Image Credits: BeFake
And unlike some other AI apps on the market, BeFake doesn't require users to upload dozens of selfies to get started. Plus, it applies its AI-powered changes in less than 30 seconds — and usually in less than 10. However, users spend, on average, at least 10 minutes per session as they design their AI creations.
The augmented photos can be shared with friends or in the main discovery feed where AI creators could build a following, or they can post to other social networks. You also can toggle back and forth from the normal photo to the AI version, which can be fun. The company believes its concept will make for a more interesting feed than on BeReal as every photo will look unique.
Image Credits: BeFake
Asked why they picked the name "BeFake," which obviously makes the app sound like a parody of BeReal as opposed to a more serious attempt to build a standalone social network, Dumont explained they were attempting to reject current social media — the "whole concept where you either need to Facetune yourself or perfectly curate yourself."
She says even BeReal is fake, as its users started to curate their "real" moments on the app.
"It was hurry, run downstairs and pretend you have 20 friends. Brush your hair, take a side pic, right? It was anything but being authentic," she says. "So it's less about BeReal and it's much more about this full and total rejection of the authenticity movement, which is inauthentic," Dumant adds.
As BeFake was launched on the App Store and Google Play just this month, the company is declining to share downloads or user adoption metrics, but notes that it's seeing triple-digit week-over-week growth so far.
BeFake generates revenue through subscriptions, which allow users to pay for the compute time to create the AI images so they can post outside the time window or more than once per day. The subscriptions cost $2.99/week, $9.99/month or $99.99/year. However, the company does send a consistent push notification daily to alert users to a 20-minute block of time when they can use the app to make their AI images for free.
Going forward, BeFake founders believe their background in gaming will help them stay relevant, as they learned you have to quickly adapt to users' evolving tastes in order to retain them in the long term.
Image Credits: BeFake
"Part of what we've built under the hood is the ability to deploy changes to the app almost on a dime, similar to gaming so that we can respond to consumer tastes," Dumont says.
"The moat with most AI apps is not going to be the underlying technology. We have a proprietary portion of our pipeline. I'm sure other people do as well. But what you want to be able to do is leverage open source tools. And as the open source tools get better, so do you because you get to leverage those," she continues. "So you don't want to be too precious about your engineering pipeline. Your moat is your community — that's the moat in AI apps. So we're very focused on building out that community and in order to do that you need to be able to be hyper-responsive to your community."
One way the company is already moving in this direction is by learning what AI images users liked to make its algorithms better.
The 12-person, remotely-distributed company is also today announcing it's backed by $3 million in seed funding led by Khosla Ventures. Other investors in the round include Next Coast Ventures, Maveron Ventures, Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale and WS Investments. The round closed in April 2022, but hadn't yet been reported.
Some Singles Are Done With Dating Apps
Participants at a speed dating event in London. Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images
It's a Tuesday night at a dimly lit bar in Manhattan. Around 30 singles are nervously sipping their drinks — or more nervously slamming them. They're here for a speed dating event called We Met IRL, as in, we met in real life.
The evening starts with an ice breaker. Half of the group gets cards with a question and the other half gets matching answers.
"So mine was: 'What's the typical New York breakfast?' And I go, 'Who has bacon, egg and cheese?'"
Sofia Fernandez is 25 years old and it's her first time speed dating. She's done with the apps.
"I'm trying to find a more organic way to kind of meet new people," she said.
She's likely not alone. According to Morgan Stanley, the top dating apps reported slowing revenue growth last year, while the dating app market becomes oversaturated with options. Meanwhile, Eventbrite said that in the first half of this year, the number speed dating events listed on its site went up more than 60% compared to the year before.
When Fernandez said she's done with the apps, she means done — deleted. She was going on date after date with people she had very little in common with.
"I think it's very easy to hide behind a phone," she said, "so it's easier for people to be someone more interesting or someone else."
On the apps, it's not hard to bend the truth. It's easy to, say, pretend you have white teeth by using the Facetune app. It's also easy to pretend you're looking for something serious when you really just want a fling. One recent survey of 1,400 Tinder users found that nearly half weren't actually interested in finding dates and two-thirds were already in a relationship.
Across the room, 36-year-old Ariel Ventura echoed that sentiment. He said a lot of people on the apps are just messing around. What's he looking for?
"Ultimately, I think what most people are looking for — their significant other," he said.
The daters move from table to table while the event's founder, Maxine Williams, flutters around the bar. She started We Met IRL in 2022 for people like her, who find the apps exhausting.
"We're just always on our screens," she said. "I log off work and, 'Oh, I want to date someone.' Like, get back on your phone and swipe, swipe, swipe, and hope that you can get from 'Hey, hey, how's it going?' to a date and a relationship. Like, it just seemed impossible."
Dating felt like a part-time job, so Williams actually made it one. She runs a couple of events a month with two employees. Tickets are $25 per person.
But speed dating isn't the only old school method having a renaissance. Matchmakers are also coming back. A company called Three Day Rule said its client base has grown 60% since 2020, and it's gotten younger.
"These are the people that have been dating online since college," said matchmaker Erika Kaplan. "So all of these people coming to us at 27, 28 have been dating online, using apps for about a decade already, and they're sick of them."
Matchmaking isn't exactly affordable. Three months at Three Day Rule includes a photoshoot and three dates, for $5,900. And the company doesn't share a success rate.
But it's a method some people feel they can trust, as trust in the apps deteriorates. And as the apps look for more ways to profit off users, introducing subscriptions and tiered services.
"They function, right, by wanting people to stay single. That's their client base," said Stephanie Tong, an associate professor at Wayne State University who researches social media and relationships. "But once you're not single, you exit the app."
Tong doesn't know if apps deliberately give people mediocre matches to keep them on their platforms. But the bottom line is, in some ways, technology has made dating harder. There are scammers and Photoshop — and now Chat GPT.
"So one of the things we start to wonder is if all these profiles, they're AI-assisted, they might all start to sound the same," said Tong.
As if it isn't already generic enough out there in the app world. That, or everyone really does know the best spot in town for tacos and tequila, like their bios claim.
Back at the bar, the speed dating event is coming to a close. A few people are leaving with phone numbers, including Ventura, the 36-year-old searching for his soulmate.
Meanwhile, Sofia Fernandez's evening didn't end as she'd expected.
"No, I didn't get any numbers, but it's OK. I got my foot in the water," she said, before her mood shifted. "Oh! I got the bartender's number. So that's good. He was cute."
Hey, she still met someone — off the apps and in real life.
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Best Laptop Of 2023
$630 at HPHP Pavilion Aero 13 (2023)
Best Windows laptop for students
$900 at DellDell G15 Gaming Laptop
Best budget gaming laptop
Show more (7 items) What is the best laptop overall?The Apple MacBook Air M2 continues to hold the top spot on our list of the best laptops 2023. It's a solid choice for most people, with a great combination of everything we look for when we're testing: reliable everyday performance, long battery life and a design that works for a broad range of users. And it's now available in a larger, 15-inch size with the same great performance and features. The latest MacBook Air starts at $1,199, though, which is why we still recommend the MacBook Air M1 as a lower-cost alternative to the newest Air model, as it's still an all-around excellent laptop. For those looking for a cheaper option, HP's Pavilion Aero 13 is an excellent 13-inch, 2.2-pound laptop starting at $880, but frequently available for less than $600 and, in our tests, punches above that price in performance.
At CNET, we test all kinds of laptops -- from budget models for everyday tasks to high-performance laptops for gaming and content creation and everything in between. Each member of our team has decades of experience testing and reviewing laptops. We conduct performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use. This helps us find not only the best laptop overall but also the best laptop for your needs and in your price range.
Also read: How We Test Computers
Best laptops of 2023FILTER BYALL
16+ inches
14 inches
13 inches
Battery Life/Runtime 1,039 minutesWeight 2.7 poundsDisplay size/type 13.6-inch 2560 x 1664 Liquid RetinaProcessor tested Apple M2 8‑coreGraphics tested Apple M2 8‑core
Thanks to a new design, a larger display (13.6 inches versus the previous 13.3 inches), a faster M2 chip and a long-awaited upgrade to a higher-res webcam, the 2022 version of the MacBook Air remains our top choice for the most universally useful laptop in Apple's lineup, with one caveat. At $1,199, the $200 increase over the traditional $999 MacBook Air starting price is a disappointment. That's why you'll still find the M1 version of the Air retains a spot on our best laptop list. Still, we like everything else about it and it's our first choice if you're considering an Air and don't mind spending more.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 611 minutesWeight 2.6 poundsDisplay size/type 13.4-inch, FHD+ 1920x1200Processor Tested Intel Core i5-1230UGraphics tested Intel Iris Xe Graphics
The Dell XPS 13, like the MacBook Air, is a perennial favorite for its size, weight and performance as well as overall good looks. Plus, despite its sub-$999 starting price, this sturdy little laptop is thinner and smaller than past versions and packed with excellent components. The design is great (though there's no headphone jack; a USB-C adapter is included instead) and the battery life is long. And, if the 13-inch display is too small for your needs, the XPS line includes 15- and 17-inch models.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 1,026 minutesWeight 2.8 poundsDisplay size/type 13-inch, 2560 x 1600 IPS LCDProcessor tested Apple M1 8‑coreGraphics tested Apple M1 7-core
Despite the availability of the new bigger and better M2 MacBook Air, the M1 MacBook Air (one of the first to switch from Intel to Apple silicon) is staying around and that's a good thing. As Apple's entry-level laptop it is still our go-to recommendation for a MacOS laptop for basic everyday use. It has great performance and long battery life -- up to 18 hours -- and is a solid choice for school or work.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 640 minutesWeight 2.2 poundsDisplay size/type 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS LCDProcessor tested AMD Ryzen 5 7535UGraphics tested AMD Radeon Graphics
HP packed a lot of value into the Aero 13: Eye-pleasing magnesium-aluminum chassis, strong processing performance, long battery life, a bright, colorful display and a weight of just 2 pounds (0.94 kilogram). Amazingly, with all that it offers, it doesn't break the bank in terms of price at around $800 well configured, but it is frequently discounted for hundreds less.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 420 minutesWeight 3.9 poundsDisplay size/type 15-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 IPS displayProcessor tested Intel Core i7-1260PGraphics tested Intel Iris Xe Graphics
The Acer Aspire 5 continues to be one of the best Windows laptop deals around. Available in 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch sizes, I am partial to the 15.6-inch size because it's relatively compact and lightweight but still full-featured. Acer has a wide range of configurations to choose from, starting under $500. This budget laptop also features a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, Ethernet and an HDMI port. Aside from internal components, the Acer Aspire 5 has changed little since we first reviewed it in 2020. However, the components inside continue to improve, continuing to deliver excellent performance and features for its price.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 521 minutesWeight 3.3 poundsDisplay size/type 14-inch 2560x1600 touch IPS LCDProcessor tested Intel Core i5-1235UGraphics tested Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Most Chromebooks fall below $500, and for general use, they're all most people will need. However, Google's ChromeOS is capable of doing much more than it could more than a decade ago when it first appeared. Consider this HP the MacBook Pro of Chromebooks: beautiful design, excellent display, keyboard and touchpad and enough processing power to take advantage of today's ChromeOS features. And if you're an Android phone user, it's the perfect companion. But, it is $1,000, and if that's more Chromebook than you need, check out our full list of the best Chromebooks we've reviewed.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 524 minutesWeight 1.2 poundsDisplay size/type 13-inch 2880 x 1920 IPS LCDProcessor tested Intel Core i7-1185G7Graphics tested Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Although this Microsoft Surface laptop is not the Surface Laptop, the Surface Pro continues to hit all the right notes if you're looking for a do-it-all Windows tablet that doubles as a Windows laptop. Microsoft updated it for the Surface Pro 9, but little has changed beyond a processor upgrade from 11th-gen Intel Core processors to 12th-gen chips, as well as an option for a Microsoft SQ 3 processor with 5G wireless. If you were contemplating a Pro 8, it's still around but now with a lower price, and is our go-to choice. However, here's our review of the Surface Pro 9 so you can see how they measure up.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 611 minutesWeight 3.1 poundsDisplay size/type 14-inch 2880 x 1800 touch OLEDProcessor tested Intel Core i7-1360PGraphics tested Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Lenovo's flagship 14-inch Yoga 9i Gen 8 is everything we loved about last year's model but made new for 2023 with 13th-gen Intel processors that improve performance. The design features comfortable, rounded edges, a beautiful OLED display and excellent audio, making it a fine choice for work, video conferences and entertainment. And, because it's a two-in-one, you get the added flexibility to use it as a tablet, and Lenovo includes an active pen and a laptop sleeve to complete the premium package.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 249 minutesWeight 8.9 poundsDisplay size/type 18-inch 2560 x 1600, 16:10 QHD+, 165Hz DisplayProcessor tested Intel Core i9-13980HXGraphics tested Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
One of the first of the new generation of 18-inch laptops, the m18 can get expensive if you push it up to a high configuration -- an RTX 4090 and Core i9-13900HX will get you to $3,300, without even a lot of memory or storage. But if the big screen is most important to you, it starts at $2,000 with a respectable i7-13650HX and RTX 4050. And don't expect great battery life, plus the fans can get loud when you're pushing it.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 307 minutesWeight 2.8 poundsDisplay size/type 15-inch FHD 1920 x 1080, 120Hz displayProcessor tested Intel Core i5-12500HGraphics tested Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
Dell's G15 has been a favorite budget gaming laptop for the past few years, along with the HP Victus line. It was joined this year by a 16-inch version, the G16. We tested both and were impressed with what each offers.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 1,474 minutesWeight 4.8 poundsDisplay size/type 16-inch 3456-by-2234 Liquid Retina XDRProcessor tested Apple M2 Pro 12-coreGraphics tested Apple M2 Pro 19-core
Apple's 2023 update to its flagship MacBook Pro 16-inch line is a modest refresh from the more significantly redesigned 2021 model; notably, it upgrades to the latest generation of M2-class processors, Wi-Fi 6E and HDMI 2.1. With those updates, it gains support for displays up to 8K/60Hz and 4K/240Hz as well as variable refresh rates. The combination of the old and new enhances the veteran laptop's chops as a powerhouse computer for creation and development work.
Read moreBattery Life/Runtime 634 minutesWeight 4 poundsDisplay size/type 16-inch 3K 2880 x 1800 AMOLED displayProcessor tested Intel Core i7-13700HGraphics tested Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050
Samsung (with help from Intel and Microsoft) has created a near-seamless experience for using the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra with its other Galaxy devices. That means you can do things like quickly share files between your Galaxy phone, Tab or Galaxy Book, use the Galaxy Book's keyboard and trackpad to control your other devices, instantly pair your Galaxy Bud earbuds as soon as you put down your phone and open the Galaxy Book, and the list goes on and on.
Read more Other laptops we've testedLG Gram 17 (2023): The Gram is amazing for its size and weight, but its dGPU is a generation behind, and the price is high.
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16: The 14-inch Yoga 7i has long been a favorite for offering more for less. The "more" on this version includes a 16-inch display with a low resolution that makes text fuzzy and it's an awkward size for a two-in-one.
Asus VivoBook F1502ZA: We liked the design and comfortable keyboard on our review unit, but its performance and display came up short.
Acer Swift X 14: The 14-inch Swift X delivered excellent performance and an OLED display in a small package and with plenty of ports to boot. Its design, keyboard, touchpad and speakers didn't match the rest of the package.
Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Much like the Acer Swift X, the Slim Pro 7 gets you good performance in a small body, but the other parts aren't quite as nice.
HP Dragonfly Pro: While we really liked this 14-incher's design and the performance was good, some of its other features such as the display didn't live up to its price.
Asus Vivobook 16X OLED: Outside of its affordability for a big 16-inch OLED display, this Vivobook was a letdown.
HP Victus 15: HP's entry-level gaming laptop is a bargain, but the Dell G15 outclasses in design and features.
How we test laptopsThe review process for laptops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.
We test all laptops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the laptop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a laptop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price.
The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our How We Test Computers page.
Factors to considerThere are a ton of laptops on the market at any given moment, and almost all of those models are available in multiple configurations to match your performance and budget needs. So if you're feeling overwhelmed with options when looking for a new laptop, it's understandable. To help simplify things for you, here are the main things you should consider when you start looking.
PriceThe search for a new laptop for most people starts with price. If the statistics chipmaker Intel and PC manufacturers hurl at us are correct, you'll be holding onto your next laptop for at least three years. If you can afford to stretch your budget a little to get better specs, do it. And that stands whether you're spending $500 or more than $1,000. In the past, you could get away with spending less upfront with an eye toward upgrading memory and storage in the future. But laptop makers are increasingly moving away from making components easily upgradable, so again, it's best to get as much laptop as you can afford from the start.
Generally speaking, the more you spend, the better the laptop. That could mean better components for faster performance, a nicer display, sturdier build quality, a smaller or lighter design from higher-end materials or even a more comfortable keyboard. All of these things add to the cost of a laptop. I'd love to say $500 will get you a powerful gaming laptop, for example, but that's not the case. Right now, the sweet spot for a reliable laptop that can handle average work, home office or school tasks is between $700 and $800 and a reasonable model for creative work or gaming upwards of about $1,000. The key is to look for discounts on models in all price ranges so you can get more laptop for less.
Operating systemChoosing an operating system is part personal preference and part budget. For the most part, Microsoft Windows and Apple's MacOS do the same things (except for gaming, where Windows is the winner), but they do them differently. Unless there's an OS-specific application you need, go with the one you feel most comfortable using. And if you're not sure which that is, head to an Apple store or a local electronics store and test them out. Or ask friends or family to let you test theirs for a bit. If you have an iPhone or iPad and like it, chances are you'll like MacOS, too.
But when it comes to price and variety (and, again, PC gaming), Windows laptops win. If you want MacOS, you're getting a MacBook. While Apple's MacBooks regularly top our best lists, the least expensive one is the M1 MacBook Air for $999. It is regularly discounted to $750 or $800, but if you want a cheaper MacBook, you'll have to consider older refurbished ones.
Windows laptops can be found for as little as a couple of hundred dollars and come in all manner of sizes and designs. Granted, we'd be hard-pressed to find a $200 laptop we'd give a full-throated recommendation to, but if you need a laptop for online shopping, email and word processing, they exist.
If you are on a tight budget, consider a Chromebook. ChromeOS is a different experience than Windows; make sure the applications you need have a Chrome, Android or Linux app before making the leap. But if you spend most of your time roaming the web, writing, streaming video or using cloud-gaming services, they're a good fit.
SizeRemember to consider whether having a lighter, thinner laptop or a touchscreen laptop with a good battery life will be important to you in the future. Size is primarily determined by the screen -- hello, laws of physics -- which in turn factors into battery size, laptop thickness, weight and price. And keep in mind other physics-related characteristics, such as an ultrathin laptop isn't necessarily lighter than a thick one, you can't expect a wide array of connections on a small or ultrathin model and so on.
ScreenWhen it comes to deciding on a screen, there are a myriad number of considerations: how much you need to display (which is surprisingly more about resolution than screen size), what types of content you'll be looking at and whether or not you'll be using it for gaming or creative work.
You really want to optimize pixel density; that is, the number of pixels per inch the screen can display. Though there are other factors that contribute to sharpness, a higher pixel density usually means sharper rendering of text and interface elements. (You can easily calculate the pixel density of any screen at DPI Calculator if you don't feel like doing the math, and you can also find out what math you need to do there.) We recommend a dot pitch of at least 100 pixels per inch (ppi) as a rule of thumb.
Because of the way Windows and MacOS scale for the display, you're frequently better off with a higher resolution than you'd think. You can always make things bigger on a high-resolution screen, but you can never make them smaller -- to fit more content in the view -- on a low-resolution screen. This is why a 4K, 14-inch screen may sound like unnecessary overkill, but may not be if you need to, say, view a wide spreadsheet.
If you need a laptop with relatively accurate color, that displays the most colors possible or that supports HDR, you can't simply trust the specs -- not because manufacturers lie, but because they usually fail to provide the necessary context to understand what the specs they quote mean. You can find a ton of detail about considerations for different types of screen uses in our monitor buying guides for general purpose monitors, creators, gamers and HDR viewing.
ProcessorThe processor, aka the CPU, is the brains of a laptop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows laptops. Both offer a staggering selection of mobile processors. Making things trickier, both manufacturers have chips designed for different laptop styles, like power-saving chips for ultraportables or faster processors for gaming laptops. Their naming conventions will let you know what type is used. You can head to Intel's or AMD's sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Generally speaking, though, the faster the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be.
Apple makes its own chips for MacBooks, which makes things slightly more straightforward. But, like Intel and AMD, you'll still want to pay attention to the naming conventions to know what kind of performance to expect. Apple uses its M-series chipsets in Macs. The entry-level MacBook Air uses an M1 chip with an eight-core CPU and seven-core GPU. The current models have M2-series silicon that starts with an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU and goes up to the M2 Max with a 12-core CPU and a 38-core GPU. Again, generally speaking, the more cores it has, the better the performance.
GraphicsThe graphics processor (GPU) handles all the work of driving the screen and generating what gets displayed, as well as speeding up a lot of graphics-related (and increasingly, AI-related) operations. For Windows laptops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU.
Because the iGPU splits space, memory and power with the CPU, it's constrained by the limits of those. It allows for smaller, lighter laptops, but doesn't perform nearly as well as a dGPU. In fact, there are some games and creative software that won't run unless they detect a dGPU or sufficient VRAM. Most productivity software, video streaming, web browsing and other nonspecialized apps will run fine on an iGPU, though.
For more power-hungry graphics needs, like video editing, gaming and streaming, design and so on, you'll need a dGPU; there are only two real companies that make them, Nvidia and AMD, with Intel offering some based on the Xe-branded (or the older UHD Graphics branding) iGPU technology in its CPUs.
MemoryFor memory, we highly recommend 16GB of RAM (8GB absolute minimum). RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up fast. After that, it starts swapping between RAM and SSD, which is slower. A lot of sub-$500 laptops have 4GB or 8GB, which in conjunction with a slower disk can make for a frustratingly slow Windows laptop experience. Also, many laptops now have the memory soldered onto the motherboard. Most manufacturers disclose this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, assume it's soldered and can't be upgraded.
However, some PC makers will solder memory on and also leave an empty internal slot for adding a stick of RAM. You may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or find the laptop's full specs online to confirm. And check the web for user experiences, because the slot may still be hard to get to, it may require nonstandard or hard-to-get memory or other pitfalls.
StorageYou'll still find cheaper hard drives in budget laptops and larger hard drives in gaming laptops, but faster solid-state drives (SSDs) have all but replaced hard drives in laptops. They can make a big difference in performance. But not all SSDs are equally speedy, and cheaper laptops typically have slower drives; if the laptop only has 4GB or 8GB of RAM, it may end up swapping to that drive and the system may slow down quickly while you're working.
Get what you can afford, and if you need to go with a smaller drive, you can always add an external drive or two down the road or use cloud storage to bolster a small internal drive. The one exception is gaming laptops: We don't recommend going with less than a 512GB SSD unless you really like uninstalling games every time you want to play a new game.
Laptop FAQsHow much do good laptops cost?
Setting a budget is a good place to start when shopping for the best laptop for yourself. The good news is you can get a nice-looking, lightweight laptop with excellent battery life at prices under $500. If you're shopping for a laptop around $500 or less, check out our top picks here, as well as more specific buying advice for that price range.
Read moreWhich is better: MacOS or Windows?
Deciding between MacOS and Windows laptop for many people will come down to personal preference and budget. Apple's base model laptop, the M1 MacBook Air, starts at $999. You can sometimes find it discounted or you can get educational pricing from Apple and other retailers. But, in general, it'll be at least $1,000 for a new MacBook, and the prices just go up from there.
Read moreAre Chromebooks worth it?
Yes, they are, but they're not for everyone. Google's Chrome OS has come a long way in the 10-plus years since they arrived and Chromebooks -- laptops that run on Chrome OS -- are great for people who do most of their work in a web browser or using mobile apps. They are secure, simple and, more often than not, a bargain. What they can't do is natively run Windows or Mac software.
What's the best laptop for home, travel or both?
The pandemic changed how and where a lot of people work. The small, ultraportable laptops valued by people who regularly traveled may have suddenly become woefully inadequate for working from home. Or maybe instead of needing long battery life, you'd rather have a bigger display with more graphics power for gaming.
Read moreWhich laptop is best for gaming or creating?
You can play games and create content on any laptop. That said, what games you play and what content you create -- and the speed at which you do them -- is going vary greatly depending on the components inside the laptop.
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