Historically, Amazon Prime Day has been a boon for storage deals. For the past few years, we've seen the online retailer knock hundreds off of flash drives, microSD cards, internal and portable SSDs and more for its members-only shopping event. It's no different this year, with devices from Crucial, SanDisk, Samsung and others being heavily discounted for Prime members. Now's a good time to pick up a portable drive for the upcoming school year, an extra SD card for your DSLR or a pricey internal drive for your PS5 while they're much cheaper than usual. Here are the best storage deals we found for Prime Day 2022.

Samsung Pro Plus microSD card

Samsung

Samsung's Pro Plus microSD card in 128GB is half off and down to only $18 for Prime Day. It also comes with an adapter, so you can use it with more types of devices. You'll get read/write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 120MB/s, respectively, and a card that's temperature, magnet- and drop-resistant.

Crucial MX500 SSD

Crucial's MX500 in 1TB is on sale for $85, or 15 percent off its usual price. It’s a good option if you need a standard 2.5-inch drive that works with both laptops and desktops. It also has AES-256 bit hardware encryption and integrated power loss immunity to protect your data.

Samsung 980 Pro SSD

Samsung

Samsung's 980 Pro is one of the best internal SSDs you can get right now and it's 43 percent off and down to $120 right now. That's a great price for the 1TB model, and if you need more space, you can pick up the 2TB version for only $230. It has sequential read speeds up to 7,000MB/s and it'll work with the PS5 as long as you have a heatsink attached.

SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD

SanDisk / Weinberg-Clark Photography

SanDisk's Extreme Pro SSD in 1TB is down to $160 right now. We like its compact, durable design that's IP55 water- and dust-resistant, plus its support for up to 2,000 MB/s read and write speeds.

Samsung T7 Shield

Samsung's new T7 Shield portable SSDs have been discounted for Prime Day. You can pick up the 1TB model for $100 or the 2TB model for $200 — both new all-time-low prices. Samsung just came out with these drives back in April, and they're designed to be more durable versions of the standard T7 series with extra drop protection and an IP65-rated design.

Samsung T7 Touch SSD

Samsung

Samsung's T7 Touch is on sale for $150, but you can clip an on-page coupon to get an additional $22 off the 1TB model.. This portable SSD has a sleek, palm-sized design, optional password protection, read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and a built-in fingerprint reader for extra security.

SanDisk Ultra microSD card

SanDisk

Amazon has knocked 45 percent off SanDisk's 1TB Ultra microSD card, bringing it down to $110. This model supports 120MB/s read speeds and will work in a variety of devices, including the Nintendo Switch.

SanDisk Dual Drive Go

SanDisk

SanDisk's Dual Drive Go is on sale for $50 right now, or 32 percent less than usual. It's a more modern version of a thumb drive featuring a swivel design with a USB-A connector on one end and a USB-C dongle on the other. We like its sleek, portable design, its 150MB/s read speeds and the fact that you'll be able to use it with almost any device.

Patriot Viper VP4300 SSD

Patriot

The Patriot Viper VP4300 SSD in 1TB is on sale for $105. It's our current top pick on our list of best drives for your PS5 thanks to its speedy 7,400 MB/s sequential read speeds and its pre-installed heatsink.

Crucial P5 Plus SSD

Crucial

Crucial's P5 Plus SSD in 2TB has dropped to $190, or 41 percent off its usual rate. It's one of our favorite drives for the PS5 thanks to its 6,600 MB/s sequential read speeds, plus its relatively budget-friendly starting price.

PNY XLR8 CS3040 SSD

PNY

Another one of our favorite PS5 SSDs, the PNY XLR8 CS3040, has dropped to $105. It's an already affordable drive made even better by this sale, and we like its 5,600 MB/s read speeds and its five-year warranty.

Crucial P2 SSD

Crucial

The 500GB Crucial P2 SSD is down to $43 right now, or 23 percent cheaper than usual. This model has read speeds up to 2,400 MB/s and comes with SSD management software that will help you optimize performance and install firmware updates.

Crucial X6 SSD

Crucial

Crucial's compact X6 portable drive in 1TB has been discounted to $80. It supports 800 MB/s read speeds, plus it works with all kinds of machines include Windows, Mac, Android and iPad devices, and even game consoles if you have the right connecting cable.

LaCie Rugged Mini HDD

LaCie

The 1TB LaCie Rugged Mini hard drive is down to $55 right now, or 35 percent less than usual. This drive works with Windows and Mac devices, although you'll need to reformat it to use it with the latter, plus it has built-in password protection and shock- and drop-resistant design.

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Whenever I'm away from my desk and dual monitors, it feels like an out-of-body experience. I’m constantly yearning for just a little more screen space. But when you're traveling, what are you supposed to do? Sure, you can get a portable monitor, but that's kind of bulky and largely redundant when you're at home. Instead, consider the ROG Zephyrous Duo 16, because after a couple generations of refinement, it feels like Asus is starting to hit its stride with its funky dual-screened clamshells.

You get a big 16-inch main display with high refresh rates, top-notch gaming components and a 14-inch secondary screen for all your multitasking needs. And while I certainly wouldn't call it petite, the Zephyrus Duo 16 isn't that much bigger than a traditional 16-inch thin and light, despite packing desktop-level performance. Really, the main factor preventing it from being a great mobile gaming battle station is its price. That’s Because With a starting price of $2,500 (or closer to $4,000 for our loaded review unit), the Duo 16 definitely ain't cheap. 

Design

As part of ASUS' ROG family of gaming notebooks, the Duo 16 has aggressive styling, though most of the fireworks are only visible once you open the lid. ASUS’ dual-panel setup is a bold move at reducing anxiety caused by limited screen real estate. However, it does come with some drawbacks. Because the ScreenPad Plus dominates the upper half of the laptop's deck, ASUS had to shove the touchpad in the bottom right corner. And measuring barely more than two inches wide, things can definitely feel cramped. Then you factor in half-sized arrow keys, shortcuts and media controls, and there's a lot going in not a lot of space.

That said, Asus does its best to make the most of those areas, with the touchpad pulling double duty as a number pad. All you have to do is tap the shadowy icon in the top left for a second, and voila. 

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Still, there's no hiding the Duo 16's somewhat bulky chassis, which weighs over 5.5 pounds and measures 0.8-inches thick. These dimensions are right on the edge of being able to fit into a typical laptop sleeve, so anyone planning on buying a Duo 16 will want to make sure their bag of choice has plenty of room. 

On the bright side, Asus has plenty of room for a healthy amount of ports, including two USB-A, two USB-C, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card reader and even a full-size Ethernet jack. My only complaint is that because of the ScreenPad's complicated hinge, the location of the proprietary power plug on its left side can be a bit awkward. I really wish they had found room for that somewhere around back.

Display(s)

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

OK, let's move on to the Duo 16's displays, which provide a really compelling one-two punch. The main 16-inch display features a speedy three-millisecond response time. On higher-end models like our $4,000 review unit, you even get a mini LED panel that puts out an impressive 700 nits of brightness. And that's coming from a screen with a matte finish, which typically lowers light output a touch. Meanwhile, thanks to a color gamut that Asus claims covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum, the Duo 16's primary display is just as good at pumping out vivid colors in games as it is replicating accurate ones in Photoshop. 

However, the laptop's real party trick is its 14-inch ScreenPad Plus, which supports touch and offers a 1950 x 550 resolution on the base model, or 3840 x 1100 pixels on upgraded configs. Our review unit's ScreenPad registered 300 nits on our lightmeter, which isn't nearly as bright as the main screen, but it’s good enough. 

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

To get the most use out of its secondary display, ASUS packed the ScreenPad Plus with a ton of nifty features including shortcuts to performance and lighting settings, customizable window layouts, and the ability to mirror your phone's screen, though that last one can be a little janky. Heck, there's even a secondary numpad tool, in case the one built into the touchpad isn't enough. And on the Duo 16, Asus upgraded the ScreenPad’s hinge so that it rests at a steeper angle when open, which improves both ergonomics and cooling. 

Now all that’s nice, but for me, the best use of the ScreenPad Plus is simply providing extra room for social media, streaming video services, or anything else you want to keep in sight, while keeping my most important apps up top. When I'm gaming, the main screen is where the action is at, while having Discord and YouTube open down below are great for chatting with friends and staying entertained during loading screens. And if I'm working, the ScreenPad is perfect for stuff like Slack that doesn’t require constant attention.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Also, because the ScreenPad Plus is configured in Windows as a generic display, that means you can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly move apps from your main display to the secondary screen or snap them to the side as needed. Is it as good as having a full second monitor? No, but it's enough to make things a lot more comfortable. 

Webcam and sound

The Duo 16 makes it easy to log in using facial recognition with its 720 webcam and Windows Hello support. Unfortunately, image quality is mediocre at best, and as I've said before, 1080p should be the baseline for all modern laptops — especially one this expensive. 

Thankfully, the Duo 16 boasts a powerful six-speaker setup with support for Dolby Atmos, so you get a performance mode in games that focuses on delivering accurate directional sound, along with a bunch of intelligent and preset EQs for movies and music. You even have the ability to create custom audio profiles, though, I wish the Duo 16 offered just a bit more low-end thump. 

Performance

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

While a base Duo 16 only comes with an NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, our fully-loaded review unit features an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX chip and an RTX 3080 Ti graphics card, not to mention 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. So it probably won't be a surprise when I tell you this thing is basically the fastest laptop we've tested this year. It notched top scores in Geekbench 5's compute test, 3DMark's TimeSpy Extreme and more. 

Naturally, the Duo 16's gaming performance is also rather strong, hitting 145 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider on highest settings and 85 fps in Metro Exodus on high. And that was with both games running at 2560 x 1600. So really, the only limiting factor regarding performance is how much you're willing to shell out for high-end components. 

I also want to mention that while the Duo 16 normally keeps its thermals and fan noise in check, under full load, things can get a bit raucous. At full blast, you might hear a high-pitched whine coming from the vents that can get a little annoying. But you can always adjust that by going into ASUS' Armoury Crate app. There's even a custom fan curve setting if you want to dial things in manually. Alternatively, you could just put on some headphones and make the fan noise someone else's problem, not that I've ever done that. 

Battery Life

The obvious downside to having a laptop this big and powerful is weak battery life. With both the main display and the ScreenPad enabled, the Duo 16 lasted just three hours and 45 minutes on our local video rundown test. That's an hour and a half less than the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE and the Razer Blade 15, which themselves aren't exactly shining examples of longevity. So you better make sure you save room for the Duo 16's two-pound power brick in your bag too.

Wrap up

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Look, with a base price of $2,500 that quickly climbs above $3K when well equipped, it's going to be tough to fit the ROG Duo 16 in most people's budget. On top of that, it's big, heavy and short on battery life. But for the kind of people who constantly find themselves seeking more screen space — especially when out and about — Asus' innovative setup gives you more usable display area in less space than practically any other laptop maker. And while its keyboard and touchpad are cramped, combining big performance with a truly unique design feels like we're seeing an evolution of the desktop replacement notebook happen in front of our eyes. That means this thing will be a rather niche device, but if you're looking for something to cure your dual-screen FOMO, Asus's ROG Duo 16 does it better than anything else on the market. 

Apple's 13-inch 256GB MacBook Pro M2 may have worse SSD performance than the equivalent M1 model, according to testing by YouTube sites Max Tech and Created Tech seen by MacRumors. The $1,300 base model showed around 50 percent slower read speeds (1,446 MB/s compared to 2,900 MB/s) with write speeds 30 percent lower. 

Max Tech opened up the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 and found that it only had a single 256GB NAND flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips like the previous M1 model. That would mean the drive can only use two lanes in parallel, so performance is restricted to the speed of a single lane. 

The higher-end 512GB and 1TB models don't appear to suffer from the issue, and many review units (like our own) shipped in a 1TB configuration. The slower disk speeds on the 256GB model could affect app loading times, file transfers and data fetching. Overall performance could also take a hit as the virtual memory (used when RAM is full) will be slower, and the base model only has 8GB of RAM. 

It's not clear why Apple changed the configuration on this model, though the global chip shortage may be a factor. In any case, it's something to consider if you're looking at buying the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2. 

If you're looking to upgrade to a speedy, compact desktop, Apple's Mac Mini M1 is a good option. The machine is back on sale at Amazon right now for $570 thanks to a coupon that knocks $99 off its price. That's the lowest price we've seen on the desktop that runs on Apple's M1 chipset, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Yes, we're on M2 machines at this point, but only a couple of Apple computers run on that updated processor (and only the M2 MacBook Pro is even available right now). The Mac Mini M1 remains the most affordable way to get an M1 device in your home, too, as the latest iPad Pros that share the same processor start at around $799. The desktop is powered by an eight-core CPU and eight-core GPU, plus a 16-core Neural Engine. While we haven't given the Mini M1 the full review treatment, you can expect it to run similarly to the MacBook Air M1, which is speedily and efficiently.

While the Mac Mini M1's design isn't anything to write home about, that almost works to its advantage. Apple didn't change much from the Intel version, keeping the machine a sleek, square box interrupted only by a couple of ports: two Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A connectors, an Ethernet port, one HDMI port and a headphone jack.

The biggest issue we have with the desktop is its lack of upgradeability — its RAM and storage are soldered in place, so you're stuck with the amount that you initially purchase. RAM is arguably more crucial than storage here, since you can always connect an external SSD to the Mini M1 if you need to offload important files. If those limitations don't bother you, the Mac Mini M1 could be a great replacement for your aging desktop.

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Say hello to Apple's most baffling laptop, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. It was already a confusing computer when we reviewed the M1 model in 2020 andit was out-shined by the fan-less MacBook Air. But now that there's a new MacBook Air with a bigger screen and a more modern design, the 13-inch Pro seems a bit like a relic from another era. It’s from a time when Apple had to build machines around Intel's hotter and less efficient chips, instead of taking full advantage of its own hardware.

To be fair, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is still a very nice computer, and the M2 chip gives it a decent performance boost. But it's also something I can't really recommend, not when the new Air offers so much more, and the 14-inch MacBook Pro has a far better screen, plus ports professionals actually need. Apple claims the 13-inch MacBook Pro continues to be one of its most popular models, and that's not too surprising since it's the cheapest "Pro" notebook in its lineup. Still, it's 2022, and this MacBook Pro design has been around for years. Popularity is no excuse for being lazy.

Now, I suppose it makes sense that Apple would coast a bit. The MacBook Pro's unibody aluminum case still outshines the vast majority of PCs on the market. And, given the many design and supply chain constraints we're facing amid the ongoing pandemic and chip crunch, it was probably smarter for Apple to focus on the new Air, as well as the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros. It's just a shame that those priorities left the 13-inch model with the same chunky-bezeled display and anemic port selection we've seen for years.

And no, the Touch Bar doesn't help the situation at all. Just when we thought we'd rid ourselves of Apple's second screen misfire, it's back to torture us again with disappearing function keys and constantly shifting app shortcuts. It's almost as if Apple had some leftover Touch Bar stock it just had to unload, and we’re paying the price. Developers aren’t doing much more to take advantage of it, so in several years it'll just be a useless appendage, like the last protohuman with a tail.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Now that I've gotten my frustrations out, we can talk about what's good: Apple's new M2 chip. It offers 8 CPU cores and up to 10 GPU cores, which Apple claims will deliver 18 percent faster multithreaded performance, and up to 35 percent faster graphics speeds. The real upgrade for Pros, though, is that it now supports up to 24GB of RAM (instead of being limited to 16GB), and also has double the memory bandwidth. Together with support for ProRes encoding and decoding, the M2 should make the MacBook Pro a far better option for video editors who don't want to make the leap to the pricier 14-inch model.

Our review unit, which featured the M2 chip (10 GPU cores) with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, was noticeably faster in just about every benchmark. It scored almost 9,000 points in Geekbench 5's multi-core test, whereas the M1 MacBook Pro was closer to 7,000 points. The M2 chip also blew away the M1 in Geekbench's Compute benchmark, as well as Cinebench R23, where it scored 1,300 points higher than the M1 machine. The performance bump isn't enough to dump the M1 MacBook Pro if you've already bought one, but it's still nice to see Apple make some decent gains with its sequel chip.

Here's the thing: we haven't benchmarked the new MacBook Air yet, and based on my experience with the last model, I expect it to score about the same as the MacBook Pro. Once again, Apple's big selling point for this computer is that it has a fan and more elaborate cooling system, allowing it to handle sustained workloads like video encoding or 3D rendering. The MacBook Air is still fan-less, so it will likely throttle performance significantly as it gets warmer.

So sure, if you're a professional, the MacBook Pro is still a better bet. But if you need a computer for serious work, one that'll deliver far better performance today and last you a lot longer, it may make more sense to save up and invest in the 14-inch MacBook Pro. I realize for many consumers, that's not an easy choice to make. The 13-inch model starts at $1,299, while the cheapest 14-inch offering is $1,999.

But move beyond their base specs (the 13-inch starts with an anemic 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage), and the cost difference is less stark. Bumping both systems up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage raises the prices to $1,899 and $2,199, respectively. At that point, you might as well spend $300 more for the vastly more powerful 14-inch MacBook Pro with the better display.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

After all, every other "Pro" Apple device has a ProMotion screen, which delivers high refresh rates for silky smooth scrolling. Why should the 13-inch MacBook Pro be left out? Its Retina Display still looks fine, but my eyes have been spoiled by Apple's modern screens. Omitting ProMotion is even more glaring now that Microsoft squeezed fast refresh rates into the Surface Laptop Studio. And we've seen plenty of gaming laptops, like the ASUS Zephyrus G14 and Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, that can easily double as productivity machines with fast screens.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Those computers also have far more ports that professionals would actually use. I was disappointed to see Apple reduce the 13-inch MacBook Pro to 2 USB-C ports back in 2020. Today, it just doesn't make sense for a "Pro" product. You'll lose one port whenever you're charging, and basically demands that you invest in a USB-C mini-hub. Anyone working with photos or video will need one of those accessories anyway, since there's no SD-card reader. (At this point, I'm grateful Apple is still including a headphone jack.)

There are elements of the 13-inch MacBook Pro I still like. Apple's build quality remains impressive, the keyboard and trackpad are fantastic, and the MacBook's speakers sound good enough to fill a small room. The battery life is also solid, lasting more than 17 hours in our benchmark. If you didn't know what you were missing from the other MacBooks on the market, then I'm sure you'd be happy with the M2 MacBook Pro.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Personally, though, I just want better for potential MacBook buyers. Why should they be stuck with the chunkiest screen bezels in Apple's laptop lineup? Why don't they deserve a high refresh rate screen? Shouldn't Apple devote more attention to one of its best-selling machines? The 13-inch MacBook Pro is fine, like I said. But it should have been so much more.

The word basic gets a bad rap. But there's something to be said for simple devices that deliver everything you need without a bunch of costly extras. So while the new Surface Laptop Go 2 isn’t as flashy as the Surface Studio or as flexible as a Surface Pro 8, it delivers all the essentials for a very affordable price. And thanks to a refreshed CPU, upgraded storage, redesigned fans and a starting price of just $600, now you get even more for your money. 

Design

Not a lot has changed about the design, and I don't care because it's basic in the best ways. You still get that super minimalist Surface aesthetic in a light 2.5-pound body. Microsoft uses aluminum on its lid and deck, but a plastic bottom helps keep its price down. Inside, the 12.4-inch PixelSense display has slim bezels, and while the Laptop Go 2's keycaps and touchpad are a bit smaller than what you'd get on a bigger Surface, it never felt cramped. That said, I think not adding backlighting to the keyboard was a bit too frugal on Microsoft's part. It's 2022: Backlit keys should be standard, regardless of price. 

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Now, I must admit that the port selection does feel a bit limited. All you get is one USB-A connection, one USB-C socket, a headphone jack and a magnetic Surface Connect slot. My ideal laptop has at least three USB ports. And unlike its bigger siblings, the Surface Laptop Go 2 doesn't have a bonus USB-A port on its power brick, which would be really handy for when you want to recharge an extra accessory. On the bright side, the Laptop Go 2 does support USB-C power delivery, so if you want, you can easily switch out Microsoft's included brick for a third-party charging adapter.

I also want to mention that while our higher-end review unit does come with a fingerprint sensor built into its power button, you won't get that on the base model. Again, I know Microsoft is trying to keep costs down, but this should really be available on every config.

Display, webcam and sound

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

As for the display, Microsoft stuck with the same 1,536 x 1,024 touchscreen it used on the old model. No, it’s not even full HD, but colors are vibrant, and while Microsoft claims a brightness of 330 nits, our review unit actually registered a much more impressive 375 nits. So kudos to Microsoft for exceeding its nominal specs. Would I prefer a slightly higher resolution? Of course. But on a 12.4-inch screen, things still look pretty crisp. From a normal viewing distance, you don't really notice the lower pixel density. 

Microsoft also says the Laptop Go 2 speakers are 24 percent louder than before, and that feels about right. You're not going to see any obvious speaker grilles because everything is hidden beneath the keyboard. But audio still comes through quite clearly, even if the soundstage comes off a bit shallow with less detail in the highs and lows that I’d like. But on a system that starts at $600, I'm satisfied. 

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The Laptop Go 2's webcam is still just 720p, but Microsoft says there's a new sensor inside that improves contrast and color saturation. And you know what, it does. I still maintain that a 1080p webcam should be the minimum. But unless you're livestreaming on Twitch or something, which is sort of outside the system's intended use case, this webcam is plenty capable.         

Performance                                                  

The most important improvements on the Surface Laptop Go 2 are to its performance. Microsoft has upgraded to an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, which isn't cutting edge, but has more than enough oomph to ensure general productivity feels snappy. Compared to a bigger machine like the HP Spectre x360 with an i5-11390H chip, the Laptop Go 2’s scores were only around 10 percent lower on general performance tests like PCMark 10 and Geekbench 5. Though its lack of discrete graphics holds it back during more demanding tests or workloads.

Sadly, Microsoft stuck with just 4GB of RAM on the base model, which is a bit skimpy, and is probably why the company sent out a higher-spec model with 8GB of RAM for review. And if you decide to pick one up, you should probably pay $100 for that upgrade. Meanwhile, the biggest change is that the Surface Laptop Go 2 now comes with a 128GB SSD standard, instead of the 64GB eMMC drive you got before. So you get faster storage and more of it, even on the base model.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

In the real world, the Surface Laptop Go 2 has no issues quickly switching between a bunch of browser tabs, multiple office apps and more – which is really all I'm asking for in a system like this. And thanks to its integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, you can even do some light video editing and casual gaming, though anything more is definitely pushing it. 

Battery life and thermals

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Battery life on the Surface Laptop Go 2 is strong, lasting 14 hours and 43 minutes on our video rundown test. That’s even longer than what you get with more expensive Surfaces, including the Surface Pro 8 (13:06) and the Surface Laptop Studio (12:24). However, if longevity is your main concern, the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 still has a bit of an edge with a time of 15:25 on our test. 

I also appreciate that Microsoft made efforts to reduce the system's fan noise, by as much as 10 decibels at max speeds. In normal use, the Laptop Go 2 is actually rather quiet, often running completely silent if you're just browsing the web, and rarely rising above a whisper unless you're doing some serious multi-tasking. In some respects, this laptop seems like the ideal candidate for a fully fanless design. That said, Windows machines don't have access to the same kind of super-efficient chips you get from something like an M1 MacBook Air. But let's not forget, an equivalent MacBook Air also costs $200 more than the Surface Laptop Go 2. 

Wrap-up

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

And in a way, that’s important context when comparing Microsoft’s most travel-friendly notebook to more expensive rivals. For someone like me who uses a desktop at home, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is a great travel companion and I'd much rather drag it around than the bigger and heavier Intel MacBook Pro 13 I got assigned for work. Sure, it’s not quite as powerful and it’s got a lower-res screen, but it has more than enough performance for working on the go. It's also a great machine for students or anyone who just wants a well-designed no-frills notebook that's easy to carry. It doesn’t have an IR webcam for facial login or a stylus like you get on more sophisticated Surfaces, but that's okay. Even if you pay for an upgraded model (which I highly recommend), the Surface Laptop Go 2 is still super portable, very affordable and even kind of stylish, while also having all the basics down pat.

You won't have to wait too long to buy a Mac with an M2 chip inside. Apple has announced that it will start taking orders for the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 on June 17th, with customers getting their orders on June 24th. The system starts at $1,299 ($1,199 for education) with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro offers a simple performance boost over the M1 model, for better or for worse. You'll still get the familiar design, the Touch Bar and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. It's still a capable machine with 20 hours of battery life, but this isn't a major overhaul.

In a sense, its greatest rival will come from Apple: the still-to-be-released MacBook Air M2. You won't get a cooling fan or the longest possible runtime, but you will get a larger screen, a MagSafe power connection, more free ports and a slimmer, lighter chassis. The 13-inch Pro is best for those who need sustained computing power for long periods, but can't rationalize the cost of the 14-inch system.

How can Dell improve on its already excellent XPS 15? By adding the latest hardware from Intel, whose new hybrid chips promise far better multitasking performance than before. We loved the XPS 15's updated design when it debuted two years ago, and last year, Dell added an OLED screen option, which led us to call it “practically perfect” in our review. At this point, we're running out of superlatives. Still, it's worth noting that the XPS 15 continues to be the 15-inch notebook that every PC company aspires to make.

A big reason for that is the XPS 15’s recent redesign, which dramatically narrowed the bezels and gives the entire computer a more modern look. You can practically date laptops by the thickness of their ugly display borders. Even though I've seen it in various forms over the last few years, I still love the way the screen just flows into the lower keyboard area. And while it sounds like a cliche, those razor-thin borders truly make the screen look like it's floating.

Every other aspect of the XPS 15's case also feels like it's honed to perfection, from the aluminum exterior to the smooth carbon fiber around the keyboard. I'm sure Dell will eventually give us an XPS 15 Plus that takes design cues from the newer XPS 13 Plus, but the standard model still has a level of polish that goes beyond most Windows laptops.

The big selling point for the XPS 15 this year is Intel's new 12th-gen hybrid processors. Thanks to their combination of high performance and efficient cores, they're far more capable than last year's when it comes to juggling a bunch of work. And those low-power cores come in handy for saving battery life. Together with NVIDIA's 45-watt RTX 3050 Ti GPU (which was also in the model we covered last year), the XPS 15 is now even more of a genuine powerhouse.

Our review machine, equipped with a Core i7-12700H, 16GB of RAM and that NVIDIA GPU, scored 17 percent higher than last year's model in the PCMark 10 benchmark and 40 percent faster in Cinebench's multithreaded test. In the real world, those scores mean that the XPS 15 could end up saving you hours when it comes to editing huge video files or rendering 3D projects. The new CPU also gave the XPS 15 a slight leg up in some complex games like Halo Infinite. I reached a steady 60fps while playing in 1080p with medium settings, whereas the last XPS 15 struggled with complex shooters while using the same GPU. (It was fine for a low-impact game like Overwatch, but that was about it.)

The XPS 15's 3.5K OLED display remains a knockout, with excellent color reproduction, black levels and all of the bonuses you'd expect. Still, I'd love to see Dell push this display further, especially after both Apple and Microsoft squeezed high refresh rate screens in competing notebooks. Having that extra bit of smoothness while scrolling through websites (and taking on the occasional enemy Spartan in Halo Infinite) would make the already great XPS 15 experience even better. (Not to mention more future-proof.)

Everything else we loved about the XPS 15 last year remains intact. The keyboard feels comfortable and responsive, the trackpad is luxuriously smooth and large, and the quad-speaker system sounds great. The XPS 15 also has most of the ports you'd need to get some serious work done. That includes three USB-C ports (two of which support Thunderbolt 4), an SD card reader and a headphone jack. There's a USB-C to HDMI and USB Type A adapter in the box, but you'll still need additional dongles (or a USB-C mini-hub) if you want Ethernet and multiple Type-A ports.

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I'm glad Dell is sticking with the SD card slot, which will make it easy to offload photos and video. It’s also nice to see the XPS 15 make some battery life improvements. In our  benchmark, it lasted 13 hours and 12 minutes, a huge improvement from last year when it clocked under 10 hours.

Despite my gushing, there's still some room for improvement. While the keyboard, trackpad and wrist rest feel great, they also look a bit gross after light use. I'd love to see some sort of oleophobic coating that doesn't need so much wiping down. And of course, having more useful ports wouldn’t hurt either.

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The XPS 15 starts at $1,449 with a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, but as usual, we'd recommend bumping up those specs a bit. You'll want at least 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a Core i7 CPU to make this computer last for several years. Our review unit came in at $2,253 – a relatively modest price given the hardware you get. Still, I'd spend a bit more to squeeze in a larger SSD and potentially more RAM, especially if you're constantly juggling large files.

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At this point, the XPS 15 is the closest Dell has come to delivering a near-perfect workhorse machine. It's beautiful exterior hides tremendous power for serious tasks, but it can also handle games when you need some downtime. And on top of that, it packs pretty much every feature we'd want in a modern laptop, especially if you opt for that gorgeous OLED display. Just like Apple, Dell proves that a good design can last for years.

Apple's MacBook Air M2 might just be the start of a broader laptop renaissance. Bloombergsources claim Apple plans to release a 15-inch MacBook Air as soon as spring 2023. The company might return to tiny laptops, too. It's reportedly working on a new 12-inch laptop that could debut in late 2023 or early 2024 — if you miss the 2015 MacBook but wish it had modern hardware and a good keyboard, your dream could be fulfilled.

To no one's surprise, the sources also indicate Apple is planning to launch updated 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros in late 2022 with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. These might slip into early 2023, however. The new Max chip would offer up to 12 processing cores and 38 graphics cores versus the 10 processing cores and 32 graphics cores of the M1 Max.

The tech firm had reportedly considered releasing a 15-inch MacBook Air this year, but scuttled those plans to concentrate on the 13-inch model it just unveiled this week. Murmurs of a larger Air circulated in March, when Display Supply Chain analyst Ross Young said one might be in the works.

A larger Air wouldn't be surprising. Apple confirmed at WWDC 2022 that the Air was its best-selling laptop, and a 15-inch version could appeal to buyers who want a larger screen but don't need the performance and features of the more expensive MacBook Pro line. It would also make sense in light of iPhone 14 rumors that suggest you won't have to buy a Pro model to get a giant screen. Simply speaking, Apple might be ending its long-time strategy of restricting large displays to its priciest devices.

The Surface Laptop Go line holds an interesting position in Microsoft’s notebook lineup. It’s not quite as cheap or portable as the Surface Go 3 and it’s not as powerful or flexible as the Surface Studio. But a recent component refresh has added new life to a very travel-friendly system.

Starting at $600, the Surface Laptop Go 2 costs $50 more than the outgoing model. That gets you an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Now it might seem strange that Microsoft didn’t opt for a newer 12th-gen chip, but the company says it really wanted to keep the cost of the base model down, and going with a slightly older processor could have factored into that. The big upgrade, though, is Microsoft has finally ditched the 64GB of eMMC storage that came on the original Surface Laptop Go, which on its own is worth a $50 price hike.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the choice of an 11th-gen CPU was made due to considerations regarding battery life and thermals. A lot of 12th-gen chips tend to run hot and are somewhat power hungry. For the Surface Laptop Go 2, Microsoft says it was able to increase the notebook’s total runtime slightly by 30 minutes to 13.5 hours on a charge, while also reducing fan noise by up to 10 decibels at max speeds. And in my experience, that noise reduction is rather significant, with the system rarely rising above a whisper unless you're doing something more intense like gaming or editing a video.

The new Surface Laptop Go 2 shares a lot of features with the previous model. The design is basically the same, which is fine by me – the clean lines and minimalist aesthetic still look great. There is a new sage green finish that I’m rather partial to. But if that hue doesn’t do it for you, the laptop is still available in platinum, ice blue and sandstone.

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The Surface Laptop Go 2’s 720p webcam is the same resolution as last year. However, Microsoft says it switched to a new sensor that offers improved image quality. And thus far, I’ve found that even though the camera isn’t full HD (which should be the bare minimum nowadays), you do get better color saturation and contrast. So while it’s not ideal for live streaming, it’s good enough for your average video call.

The other area where I wish Microsoft had upgraded a bit more is the Laptop Go 2’s screen. It’s still the 12.4-inch 1536 x 1024 PixelSense display, which is well short of full HD. On a smaller screen like this, the lower resolution looks nice at normal viewing distances, though people with good eyesight will probably still be able to discern individual pixels. Thankfully, colors are punchy and its 330 nits of brightness means you won’t have much trouble seeing it in a sunny room.

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Microsoft also says the Surface Laptop Go 2’s speakers are 24 percent louder. Like before, the drivers are hidden underneath the keyboard (which sadly still isn’t backlit). And while I have no doubt about those volume claims, its audio profile sounds a bit flat, lacking punch in both its highs and lows.

As before, there’s also a fingerprint sensor that works with Windows Hello. But it’s important to note you only get this option on more expensive configs – it’s not available on the base $600 model. Another small bonus is that the Laptop Go 2 is more repairable than before. For regular people, Microsoft says the Laptop Go 2’s SSD, Aurflink cable, keyboard and trackpad, and even the display are user-replaceable. The battery can be swapped out as well, but only by authorized service providers.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Finally, port selection on the Surface Laptop Go 2 has stayed the same, with one USB-A and one USB-C port, along with a headphone jack and a Surface Connect Port. And sadly, unlike more expensive Surfaces, the power brick on the Laptop Go 2 doesn’t have an extra USB-A port for charging peripherals, which would have been really handy on a system with just two USB ports.

OK, so that’s about it. Not a ton has changed on the outside, but on the inside the Surface Laptop Go 2 got some much-needed refreshes. The new 11th-gen Intel chip should provide a notable boost in performance, and an extra half hour of battery life is always nice. But I’m going to need a little more time to see how this thing really holds up as a primary work machine, so stay tuned for a full review coming soon.

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