Until about 15 years ago, the term “laptop” meant one thing: a portable PC that unfolds to reveal a screen on one half and a keyboard on the other.
But with the launch of Apple’s iPad in 2010, PC vendors’ subsequent push into touchscreen designs, and the continued maturation of the PC market, the definition of “laptop” has broadened. Choosing a laptop isn’t just about tech specs and build quality. It’s now about the fundamental shape of the thing.
Let’s try to break it all down with a taxonomy for every kind of laptop you can buy today.
Further reading: PCWorld’s top laptop recommendations
Clamshell laptopsDominic Bayley / IDG
Dominic Bayley / IDG
Dominic Bayley / IDG
The most conventional category of them all, clamshells do not flip, bend, or transform. They merely focus on letting you work with a keyboard and trackpad (or mouse) with the most efficient designs possible.
Even here, though, we can define a handful of subcategories:
Beyond the basic clamshell, many PC makers offer laptops that can transform into tablets for drawing, taking notes, reading ebooks, and playing touchscreen games. While there are many kinds of 2-in-1 laptops, they mainly fall into two camps: convertibles and detachables.
ConvertiblesIDG / Brendan Nystedt
IDG / Brendan Nystedt
IDG / Brendan Nystedt
With convertible laptops, the keyboard section is permanently connected to the screen, but it folds out of the way so you can lay the screen flat in your lap or on a table. While convertibles are heavier and bulkier than detachable laptops, they feel more like traditional clamshells when used in laptop mode. (They do, however, tend to be bulkier than non-convertible laptops.)
Within the convertible subgenre, there are a couple of subtypes:
Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
With detachable laptops, the screen portion pulls apart from the keyboard and becomes a standalone tablet. This gives you an uncompromised tablet experience, but with some trade-offs on the laptop front: Because all the computing components must sit behind the screen, it can be top-heavy and may need its own kickstand, so it’s more cumbersome to keep on your lap. Detachables may also be less performant than standard clamshells, whose components can use all the space under the keyboard to dissipate heat.
Detachables themselves fall into a few subcategories:
Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Mattias Inghe
Want something a little more unusual? Laptop makers have started experimenting with new kinds of laptops that involve multiple screens or foldable display tech.
These devices tend to be much pricier than traditional laptops, and they can sometimes feel like solutions in search of a problem. It’s not unusual for laptop makers to abandon or overhaul their ideas after a generation or two, so these experimental laptops are best-suited for folks who don’t mind living on the bleeding edge.
Let’s break down the different types: