A few years ago, recommending a MacBook Air to most buyers felt like a safe bet. Today, however, buyers have more choices than ever, from Snapdragon X Elite laptops to AI-powered PCs and premium ultrabooks. If someone asked you for a laptop recommendation today, would you still point them to a MacBook Air or suggest something else?
With LPDDR5X RAM and high-NPU chips like the Snapdragon X Elite being used commonly, what is the most reliable budget laptop that can actually run local AI models without lagging?
