Best Laptops for Linux Operations – The Linux OS is versatile – meaning it can be designed to cater to developers and business people alike. The best part of all – it’s free to use, and there are loads of Linux distributions (“distros”) with huge communities that support its development.
The Linus operating system is an open-sourced one which is free. Coders mostly prefer it. If you’re looking for a laptop to run Linux on, this guide will help you find the right device in no time.
You should know that except Dell, no other major brand offers Linux as their base Operating System right out of the box. However, this is no cause for concern, since it is effortless to install Linux on almost any laptop.
However, there are a few laptops on the market that have locked their Operating System to Windows.
Therefore, installing Linux on them is out of the question.
It makes compatibility one of the most significant factors in deciding if you’re going to purchase a particular computer or not.
However, there are a ton of other factors to consider when you’re buying a new laptop for Linux operations.
The XPS 13 Developers Edition comes with Linux out of the box (or Windows, if you choose)
Comes with a fingerprint reader, making for enhanced security and ease of access. It weighs 2.75lbs making it easy to carry.
The XPS 15 is the first large device on this list at 15.6″. It’s big on size, and delivers well performance-wise too
The laptop comes with Windows 10 loaded, meaning that you’ll have to install a Linux distribution yourself. It looks clean and smooth and doesn’t have any unnecessary physical features.
Upgrades are made easy with a 3-screw panel at the bottom. The panel enables you to switch your storage drive and upgrade your RAM.
The Spectre is a hefty laptop, weighing 4.78lbs that also carries a hefty price. However, the laptop also packs a lot of power.
Dell’s Precision 5540 offers insane performance and complete compatibility.
comes with Chrome OS; however, you may load any flavor of Linux you please, and it’ll run flawlessly.
With a terrific display and design, the System76 Lemur 14″ Laptop is one of the best buys if you are looking for a Linux supported laptop.
With a sleek and slim design along with high-end features, the Lenovo ThinkPad has already won many users. It is regarded as one of the sturdiest laptops that one can own.
Extra features: backlit keyboard, body is lightweight, weighing 2.7lbs
Dell’s XPS line is known as one of the most polished and premium ranges of mobile computers built. It comes with a 13.3-inch touchscreen display. It has an ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels for clear and crisp image delivery. The bezels are thin, giving the laptop an 80.7% screen-to-body ratio. The build quality is impeccable.
It is powered by an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8550U Processor, which works at a speed of 4.0 GHz with the turbo boost technology. The Intel UHD Graphics 620 graphics card is integrated into the laptop, providing you with quality performance.
With a storage capacity of 1 TB SSD and 16 GB LPDDR3 RAM, the laptop is well priced as compared to the features it provides.
The backlit keyboard makes it easier to type in dim surroundings. The body is lightweight, weighing 2.7lbs. One downside is that you don’t get a fingerprint reader on this device.
You get incredible battery life – on paper, Dell claims 21 hours of battery. However, you get a decent 10-11 hours of regular use out of the device before you need to charge.
The system is super snappy, and boots and resumes almost instantly thanks to the SSD. The RAM is huge, and won’t slow you down even if you multi-task a lot.
The XPS 13 and XPS 13 Developer Edition are two different devices and have some subtle hardware differences. This may make it challenging to run Linux on the XPS 13. Ensure that you know what edition you’re buying.
Extra features: comes with a fingerprint reader, making for enhanced security and ease of access. It weighs 2.75lbs making it easy to carry.
Although the MacBook Air can run Linux well, setting it up can be challenging. Do not buy a MacBook for Linux if you’re a novice and don’t know how to set things up properly
The display is one of the best you’ll find on a laptop – super vibrant and bright. The stereo speakers are surprisingly active for the small form factor.
Hardware-wise, it packs a punch – the Dual-core 8th-Generation Intel Core i5 Processor and Intel UHD Graphics 617 graphics card deals with heavy loads brilliantly. You may purchase a laptop with up to 1TB of SSD storage and 16GB of RAM, which keeps storage worries at bay and makes for effortless multitasking.
The laptop has a 13.3-inch retina display, which uses True tone technology for delivering about 48 percent more colors as compared to a non-retina display. It has little bezels on the edges due to which the display stretches right to the corners of the screen.
Apple claims that you’ll get up to 12 hours of battery life. However, you can expect around 7-8 hours of use before needing to charge. It also supports touch ID for enhanced convenience and experience.
The device’s shortage of ports can pose a problem if you use drives and cables regularly. Having to carry dongles around can be annoying.
Extra features: The XPS 15 is the first large device on this list at 15.6″. It’s big on size, and delivers well performance-wise too
The 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H quad-core processor is powerful and can handle the heaviest workloads. It also has a discrete graphics card – the robust Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics card which will give any graphic intensive workloads a substantial boost.
The laptop has a 15.6-inch infinity-edge full HD display. The anti-glare display screen works on IPS technology for enhanced clarity of images and videos. It also has a backlit keyboard along with a fingerprint reader.
Linux works flawlessly on the XPS 15. However, you may face some driver issues for the discrete graphics card on some Linux distros.
The integrated graphics card is compatible with all flavors of Linux though.
The laptop has a 97Wh battery, which delivers terrific battery life. It also has a slot for adding in another drive, in case you need more storage space. There’s an extra slot for RAM too.
The screen is sharp; however, it is no match for a 4K display. However, the slightly lower resolution makes for better battery life.
The fans can be a little loud for some users. Also, the device is quite heavy at 4.5lbs. It’s powerful and compatible, but loud and heavy.
Extra features: Aspire E 15 is a perfect laptop for Linux – it’s decently powerful and offers great value for money.
The laptop comes with Windows 10 loaded, meaning that you’ll have to install a Linux distribution yourself. It looks clean and smooth and doesn’t have any unnecessary physical features.
The Acer Aspire E15 comes with a 15.6-inch full HD display. The widescreen LED-lit IPS display has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
It is powered by 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U Processor, which works at a speed of 4.0 GHz with the turbo boost technology. Further, it features a dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 graphics card and 256 GB SSD storage offers ample space for storing all your necessary documents and files.
Upgrades are made easy with a 3-screw panel at the bottom. The panel enables you to switch your storage drive and upgrade your RAM.
Linux support is excellent across the board, and you’ll face no compatibility issues whatsoever.
The keyboard is backlit, and the trackpad is excellent. Booting times are fast too!
The display is good looking but is not as bright as you would expect. You’d need to have the brightness turned up to use the laptop at any point.
The features and Linux support are astounding in this affordable device.
Extra features: Aspire E 15 is a perfect laptop for Linux – it’s decently powerful and offers great value for money.
The laptop comes with Windows 10 loaded, meaning that you’ll have to install a Linux distribution yourself. It looks clean and smooth and doesn’t have any unnecessary physical features.
The Asus ZenBook comes with a 13.3-inch full HD display. The wide view display has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and a nano-edge bezel making the screen stretch to the corners for a more immersive experience.
It comes packed with high-end features like 8th generation Intel Core i7-8550U Quad-Core Processor with 6M cache and works on a speed up to 4.0 GHz with the turbo boost technology.
The 256 GB SSD and 8 GB LPDDR3 RAM offers added smoothness to its operation and performance while also storing all your documents seamlessly.
Upgrades are made easy with a 3-screw panel at the bottom. The panel enables you to switch your storage drive and upgrade your RAM.
Linux support is excellent across the board, and you’ll face no compatibility issues whatsoever.
The 50Wh lithium-polymer battery of the laptop ensures up to 14 hours of continuous usage. It also features a fast charge technology to charge the laptop in a matter of 60 minutes fully.
The keyboard is backlit, and the trackpad is excellent. Booting times are fast too!
The display is good looking but is not as bright as you would expect. You’d need to have the brightness turned up to use the laptop at any point.
The features and Linux support are astounding in this affordable device.
Extra features: The Spectre is a hefty laptop, weighing 4.78lbs that also carries a hefty price. However, the laptop also packs a lot of power.
The display looks fantastic on this laptop, and the WLED backlighting makes it bright as well. It comes with Windows 10 loaded and also includes an HP active stylus.
It has loads of ports – one Thunderbolt 3, one USB 3.1 Type-C, one USB 3.1 Type-A, an HDMI slot and a headphone/microphone combo.
The laptop has an impressive 13.3-inch display, which has a full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. It is a touchscreen display with IPS technology, which offers hands-on control of the device to the user.
This laptop is a high-end model at an affordable price when it comes to the features it offers. It comes with an 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor, which works on four cores and has 8 MB smart cache memory. It speeds up to 4.0 GHz with the turbo boost technology.
It comes with a 512 SSD and 16 GB DDR4 RAM for enhanced performance and faster response time.
The Spectre is super durable and runs Linux perfectly. It is also upgradable, and you may add more RAM sticks or replace the storage drive if you wish to do so.
The screen can flip all the way, and it can also be used as a tablet.
One downside that a lot of customers complain about is the loud fans. The Spectre can get loud, even when under literally no load which can be annoying.
All-in-all though, the laptop is the right choice for power users looking for a performance-oriented device.
Extra features: Dell’s Precision 5540 offers insane performance and complete compatibility.
It is a beast of a device that supports all Linux distributions flawlessly. It is Red Hat 8.0 certified and will give you no software compatibility issues whatsoever.
The device comes with Ubuntu 18.04 preloaded, and you’re free to load whatever flavor of Linux you love.
The Dell Precision 5540 comes with a 15.6-inch OLED display. The wide view display has a Full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The picture clarity and color representation are excellent on this laptop.
It comes loaded with Windows 10 Pro operating system but can be changed as per your requirement. The NVIDIA professional graphics and Intel Core Xeon processor delivers the power needed to operate heavy applications and data programs seamlessly.
The laptop is the most powerful device on this list – it has an Nvidia Quadro T2000, which a workstation graphic card. This feature, paired with an i5 makes for an ultra-powerful machine.
You may upgrade the RAM on this device up to 64GB, and you may also add a drive if you’re looking for more space.
It is portable – however, it is also cumbersome at about 4lbs.
Extra features: comes with Chrome OS; however, you may load any flavor of Linux you please, and it’ll run flawlessly.
The small form factor makes for great portability – it’s slim at 0.5” thickness, and you can operate Linux on the go for long periods with the decent battery life. The unit weighs 2.8lbs.
With an immersive 12.3-inch touchscreen display, the Samsung Chromebook delivers high-end visuals with premium clarity and accurate color representation. The LED display has a 2400×1600 pixel resolution.
The other attributes of the laptop include Intel Core M3 Processor 6Y30, which powers the laptop for enhanced performance. The 4 GB RAM and 32 GB storage allow you to store your essential files and documents.
Then again, this laptop is for those who know what they’re doing, since Chrome OS is not as mainstream as Windows or macOS, things may go wrong.
Overall, the Chromebook Pro is a stylish and ultra-portable laptop for Linux experts on the move.
With a terrific display and design, the System76 Lemur 14″ Laptop is one of the best buys if you are looking for a Linux supported laptop. It works on a new operating system that has been developed by System76. It has a compact and sturdy design.
It comes with a 14-inch Full HD display that works on IPS technology for improved picture quality and clarity. It has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
This laptop is powered by an Intel i3 processor, a 16 GB Dual Channel DDR4 RAM, and a 500 GB SSD drive. It is a perfect choice for all coders who are looking for a laptop with a Linux operating system.
With a sleek and slim design along with high-end features, the Lenovo ThinkPad has already won many users. It is regarded as one of the sturdiest laptops that one can own. It comes with a 14-inch full HD LCD, which has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
The 6th Gen Intel i5-6200U processor powers the laptop for improved usage and performance. It works at a speed of 2.8 GHz with the turbo boost technology. It has a 3 MB cache memory. The Intel HD Graphics 520 along with the dual-channel 4GB DDR3L SDRAM and 500GB 7200rpm Hard Drive couple up for professional usage.
It has a battery life of up to 8 hours of continuous usage. It is an excellent option for all users looking for a Linux supported laptop.
No single laptop is perfect for all users. However, this list captures the best laptops for all kinds of users.
If you’re used to a MacBook, go for the MacBook. If you’re a power user, the Precision and the Spectre are great options. If you’re on a budget, the Aspire E 15 will get the job done, and if you’re primarily looking for portability, the ZenBook is a fantastic option.
Making a purchase will be easier when you evaluate your requirements across your budget. All the best!
There is a chance that a laptop with Windows has driver incompatibilities for Linux. It means that even if you get Linux running on the computer, there will be some issues – you may not get any sound or the Wi-Fi card may not work.
However, the Linux community takes rapid action, and most hardware receives support a few months post-launch.
Looking up Linux compatibility on the device you plan to buy is a good idea before investing.
Ideally, a laptop that you’re buying for Linux must have a blank hard drive – without Windows loaded. It saves you money since software costs are added on and borne by customers.
However, most brands do not supply laptops with Linux out of the box (barring Dell).
Also, you can wipe the drive already present and install Linux.
A laptop doesn’t need to have bleeding-edge technology to be able to run Linux. Most Linux distros still support hardware from years ago. Getting anything relatively new is alright.
Moreover, it’s highly inadvisable to impulse buy when you’re looking for a laptop to run Linux on.
Do your due diligence, and don’t buy the first thing you see – you might end up regretting it later.
Here’s a list of the best laptops for Linux operations on the market right now.
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