Linux may not be the most widely used operating system, but it's certainly catching up to Windows 11. While a laptop supporting Linux out of the box was a rare sight a few decades ago, many laptop manufacturers have started embracing this open-source operating system.

These days, you can even find laptops that run Linux straight out of the box. Factor in the staggering number of laptops that can easily double boot Linux and Windows 11, and you might have a hard time picking a new laptop for your favorite Linux distro. So, I've handpicked some of the best laptops that can flawlessly run Linux to help you narrow down your options.

Our favorite laptops for Linux in 2023

Dell's XPS lineup of laptops is built for high-end users, and the XPS 15 (2023) is no exception. The latest model of the XPS 15 9530 may not run Linux by default, but it's extremely easy to replace the Windows 11 OS with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on this laptop.

Starting with the specs, the laptop provides grade-A performance with up to an Intel i9-13900H processor. With 14 cores and 20 threads, this powerful processor is capable of hitting a turbo clock speed of 5.4GHz. As for the graphics card, the laptop packs up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, which is a great GPU for gaming. Plus, you can get up to a massive 8TB of SSD storage besides 64GB of DDR5 memory that has a clock speed of 4800Mhz,

The base model has a 1920x1200 screen, but you can opt for a gorgeous OLED screen with a display resolution of 3456x2160. While the 60Hz display is nothing to write home about if you're into gaming, the tall 16:10 aspect ratio is perfect for productivity tasks. Unfortunately, the 720p front camera leaves much to be desired.

Design-wise, the laptop sports the same aluminum finish as the rest of the XPS series. At 4.23 pounds, it's not exactly Dell's lightest laptop, but it's portable enough despite its powerful hardware. It also comes with all the necessary ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 connections, one USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack.

Overall, the Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023) is perfect if you want a Linux laptop with well-rounded features.

The Dell XPS 15 9530 may be our favorite laptop for Linux, but the XPS 13 Plus is no slouch either. It even comes with Ubuntu pre-installed, so you can spare yourself the hassle of configuring Linux on your new laptop.

Performance-wise, it's powered by an i7-1360P processor and has an Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU, both of which are great for everyday work. You're also covered on the memory and storage fronts as the laptop comes with up to 32GB DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD.

Dell provides many display options for this laptop: You can choose the cheaper 1920x1200 resolution display or go for the more expensive OLED panel with a 3456x2160 screen resolution. There's also a 3840x2400 IPS option if you value resolution above all else. All XPS 13 Plus models have a 16:10 aspect ratio to improve your productivity.

This premium laptop has a full aluminum body and is available in Platinum and Graphite colors. At 15.28 mm, the XPS 13 Plus is extremely thin. It weighs only 2.77 pounds, so you won't have any trouble carrying it around. Unfortunately, the compact design comes at the expense of connectivity: the laptop only has two Thunderbolt 4 ports.

To summarize, the XPS 13 Plus is definitely not perfect, but it's a great lightweight laptop with powerful specs. What's more, the laptop runs Ubuntu 22.04 LTS right out of the box if you order it from Dell's website.

System76 is a relatively obscure brand that may not be as mainstream as Dell, Lenovo, or HP, but it excels at manufacturing laptops and desktops optimized for Linux. With the Lemur Pro, System76 provides tons of configurations for you to build your ideal portable Linux laptop.

At $1100, the cheapest model has an Intel i5-1335U that offers decent performance with its 10-cores and 12-threads. If you want more horsepower, you can go for the Intel i7-1355U CPU that has the same core count but a higher turbo clock speed of 5GHz. It can be configured with up to 40GB DDR5 memory and a total of 8TB SSD space.

The Lemur Pro has a modest 1920x1080 LCD panel, which is decent enough for the price. The laptop truly shines when it comes to portability. Besides weighing 2.54 pounds, this lightweight laptop is extremely slim with its 16.5mm thickness. Its battery life doesn't disappoint either as the 73 Wh battery can last you for hours before getting depleted.

System76 also gives you the option to pre-install the company's own version of Ubuntu, called Pop_OS. Designed for those working in STEM, creators, and gamers, you might want to give Pop_OS a shot if you want a light operating system that's tailor-made for your Lemur Pro.

In terms of ports, the laptop comes with two USB Type-A connections, a Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI socket, a hybrid headphone/microphone jack, and even a microSD card reader. All-in-all, the Lemur Pro is a solid laptop that's worth buying if you want a compact and portable Linux laptop that can get the job done.

Lenovo's ThinkPad lineup is designed for productivity, so no surprise to see a ThinkPad make an appearance under the category of the best business laptop. What's impressive about the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is that it's Ubuntu-certified, so you can easily install the Linux distro without running into compatibility problems.

The base model of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 has an Intel Core i5-1335U processor, which is a fast 10-core and 12-thread CPU for most business-oriented tasks. You also get the option to upgrade to an i7-1370P vPro processor if your budget allows it. The base model has 16GB of DDR5 memory, but you can go up to 64GB if you pick the i7-1370P model from Lenovo's website. Additionally, you get up to a 2TB SSD for storage.

Coming to the display, the 16:10 aspect ratio is good for productivity, but the screen resolution could have been higher than 1920x1200. You get a 1080p webcam above the display, which is perfect if you want to use the laptop for video conferencing.

Like most business laptops, the ThinkPad Carbon X1 values portability, with the base model weighing just 2.48 pounds. It also has all the essential ports, including two USB Type-A connections, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI port, and a headphone jack.

All-in-all, Lenovo's ThinkPad Carbon X1 is an easy recommendation if you want a decently powerful business laptop that can run all your favorite Linux apps.

There aren't that many convertibles that can run Linux without coming across compatibility issues. Fortunately, Dell's Latitude 9440 is a solid Linux-capable laptop that packs top-of-the-line hardware for your computing needs.

For starters, the laptop is powered by the latest 13th-gen Intel processors, going up to an i7-1365U with support for vPro. Armed with 10 cores and 12 threads, the processor delivers great performance for everyday tasks. In addition to its power-efficient U series processors, the Latitude 9440 has a 60Whr battery which can provide long battery backup. You also get up to 32GB LPDDR5 integrated memory and a 512GB SSD to store all your favorite Linux apps.

The display on the Latitude 9440 is a sharp 14-inch panel with a 2560x1600 screen resolution. Its tall 16:10 aspect ratio provides a larger viewing area, and you even get pen support. The 1080p webcam is perfect for video conferencing, and the laptop even has Zoom shortcuts built into the trackpad for added convenience.

Despite its high-end specifications, the laptop weighs 3.38 pounds thanks to its lightweight aluminum chassis. As for the connections, you're looking at three Thunderbolt 4 ports and a universal audio jack. Clearly, it lacks a dedicated HDMI port, but you can use a Thunderbolt dock to increase connectivity options.

While it's a bit expensive, the Latitude 9440 is an amazing laptop that you should keep an eye on if you're in the market for a convertible that can run Linux with ease.

Framework has a reputation for manufacturing laptops with high reparability and upgradability, and the Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition is perfect for users who like to customize their laptops. Unlike the other laptops on this list, this DIY laptop does not ship with an OS, meaning you'll have to manually install the operating system.

From a performance standpoint, you have plenty to choose from as the Framework 13 features the latest processors from AMD and Intel. The base model from Team Blue is powered by Intel's i5-1340P CPU, but you can upgrade to the i7-1370P if you want a higher turbo clock speed and two extra performance cores. The Intel models may not support DDR5 memory, but you get up to 64GB of DDR4 3200MHz RAM that's good enough for most tasks. Meanwhile, the AMD version doesn't provide that many options as it only comes with a Ryzen 7 7840U and Radeon 700M integrated graphics. The AMD model also provides a maximum memory of 64GB, except this time it's DDR5 instead of last-gen RAM sticks. The base models come with up to 2TB of SSD storage, and you can expand the storage capacity by another 1TB using Framework's expansion cards.

The Framework 13 doesn't compromise when it comes to the display. In addition to its high screen resolution of 2256x1504, the tall 3:2 aspect ratio is perfect for productivity tasks. Customizability is the name of the game with this laptop as you can use the screwdriver that's included with the laptop to open it and replace its RAM, storage, webcam, and even the display. Unfortunately, you can only buy it from Framework's website, where it's frequently out-of-stock, so you might have to wait for some time before you can order it.

Design-wise, the Framework Laptop 13 is reasonably thin and very portable. The Framework 13 is rather unique when it comes to ports. Instead of a fixed port layout, you can instantly swap the connections on the laptop using Framework's port expansion cards.

Pair this up with its high compatibility with a bunch of Linux distros, and it becomes hard to find a more customizable and upgradable Linux laptop than the Framework 13 DIY Edition.

Linux isn't the best OS for gaming, but with recent advancements like Proton, it's possible to play your favorite games on a Linux distro without taking a significant hit to the FPS. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) stands out among other gaming laptops due to its compatibility with Linux drivers.

The laptop is equipped with a last-gen Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and a Radeon RX 6800S graphics card, which can run most modern games with tweaked settings. Although Asus has released newer versions of these laptops that feature the latest Nvidia GPUs, the 2022 lineup of Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptops is better for Linux as AMD drivers have better compatibility with most Linux distributions. There is also a large community supporting this (and other) Asus laptops. These laptops also come with a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and up to 16GB of DDR5 memory that's upgradable to 32GB.

The major highlight of the laptop is its ROG Nebula mini-LED display which has a 2560x1600 screen resolution and a tall 16:10 aspect ratio. On top of that, the screen's 120Hz refresh rate provides better visual clarity to help you stay at the top of your game. Sadly, the 720p front camera is still a letdown.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is also fairly thin, measuring 18.5mm in thickness. Weighing 3.64 pounds, it may not be the most portable laptop, but it's lighter than your average gaming laptop. The port selection here is great as you get two USB Type-A connections, two USB Type-C ports, an HDMI socket, and a headphone jack.

All things considered, the Asus ROG Zephyrus (2022) is a powerful laptop that doesn't cut any corners when it comes to gaming on Linux.

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The Dell Precision 7780 is very different from the rest of the laptops on this list as it's specifically designed to handle professional workloads instead of day-to-day tasks. Dell also gives you the option to pre-install Ubuntu 22.04 on the Precision 7780.

On the performance front, you can get up to an Intel i9-13950HX processor which has 24 cores and 32 threads, with a turbo clock speed of 5.50GHz. It's not the cheapest processor, but you get amazing performance for the price, especially on Linux. Pair this up with a high-end RTX 5000 Ada GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and you get a really powerful machine on your hands. As if that's not enough, the Precision 7780 can be outfitted with up to 128GB RAM and 16TB worth of SSD storage.

The base model of the Precision 7780 comes with a 1920x1080 screen, but Dell provides some display options for you to choose from. You can even go for a 3840x2160 WLED panel display that has a 120Hz refresh rate.

Weighing over 6.7 pounds, the laptop isn't exactly designed with portability in mind. In its defense, the sheer processing power of this workstation makes it difficult to pack all that hardware inside a lightweight chassis. Rounding up the connections, it has two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support and another Type-C connection with DisplayPort Alt mode. Additionally, it has two USB Type-A ports, an SD card slot, a headset jack, and an HDMI 2.1 connection.

With a high price tag and specific use case, the Precision 7780 Workstation is not for everybody. But this powerful laptop is what you should get if you want a solid Linux workstation that can handle computation-heavy tasks with ease.

Not everyone is willing to spend thousands of dollars to use a Linux-powered laptop, Luckily, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is a versatile laptop that doesn't compromise on performance.

The 2023 iteration of the Spin 714 houses a fast Intel i5-1335U processor that has two P-cores and eight E-cores with respective max turbo frequencies of 4.60 GHz and 3.40 GHz. The lack of DDR5 memory is disappointing, but the 8GB LPDDR4X RAM is sufficient for multitasking. You also get 256GB of SSD storage for an all-around decent experience.

As for the display, the Spin 714 has a solid 14-inch 1920x1200 LCD panel with a larger 3:2 aspect ratio to match all your productivity needs. This budget convertible has a high-resolution 2K webcam that's one of the best on this list.

The laptop is also very thin, measuring just 18mm in thickness, and it's easy to carry it around as it barely weighs 3.02 pounds. It has two USB Type-C connections, one USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port, and a headphone and microphone combo jack, so you won't require external docks or USB hubs if you wish to plug in your peripherals.

It ships with ChromeOS, so you can easily run Linux apps by setting up a Linux development environment from the Developer options. The Acer Chromebook Spin 714's versatile design, hassle-free Linux experience, and solid performance make it one of the very best options for a Linux laptop in the $700 price range.

The best laptops for Linux in 2023: Summary

That's it for this list! The laptop you should choose for Linux boils down to your proficiency with the OS and your specific hardware needs. If you want a powerful laptop and are willing to put in some effort to set up Linux, then you should look no further than the Dell XPS 15 9530. The combination of a stunning OLED screen, powerful CPU, portable design, and great battery life makes it our favorite laptop for Linux.

For users who want a Linux-powered system for professional workloads, no laptop comes close to the Dell Precision 7780 Workstation. Sure, it's not the most portable laptop, but thanks to its top-notch Intel processors and Nvidia Ada GPUs, it can run all graphically-intensive apps with ease.

But if you don't wish to break the bank over a laptop, then the Acer Chromebook 714 is a worthy alternative. With its high-resolution webcam, long battery life, and fast performance, it's easy to recommend this laptop to beginners who wish to dip their toes into the Linux ecosystem.