With remote work becoming normalized in 2022, there will be a lot of professionals who are looking for a high quality laptop to use. Businesses have embraced the idea of flexible and remote work over the last 2 years, and with that, employees have become used to much more freedom when it comes to how they work.
We reached out to some companies to get perspective on remote work. One company we reached out to is TechQuarters – an IT support provider London businesses have been relying on particularly during the last 2 years. They have helped many customers equip their employees with the tools needed for remote work. The reason laptops are particularly popular is because many individuals appreciate the mobility – whether it’s so that they can work in different spots in their home, or so they can go to a co-working space.
Important Qualities for Remote Work Laptops
When you’re looking into purchasing a laptop to support your remote work, there are a few different qualities that are worth considering. This will help you decide what brand and model is best for you.
- Size and Weight – laptops tend to have either a 13-inch screen, a 15.4-inch screen, or a 17-inch screen. Though there are other sized laptops available. The weight of the laptop is also worth considering, although higher spec laptops will usually be heavier (which is somewhat unavoidable if you want a powerful laptop).
- Operating System – the choice for operating systems are fairly limited. Nowadays, the choice is either Windows or MacOS. When we asked the company that provides IT support services in London, they stated that the latest versions of Windows (namely Windows 10 & 11) are well suited for professionals. However, MacOS is great for creative professionals. There are many different brands of laptop that support the Windows OS, whereas MacOS can only be found on Apple computers.
- Battery Life – the downside to the mobility you get from laptops is that their power supply is limited. Some laptops will have a better battery life than others. If you anticipate working whilst travelling, battery life will be important.
- Speed & Multitasking – the speed and performance of a laptop is linked to your laptop’s central processing unit (CPU). The more powerful the CPU, the faster it will be, and the more processes it will be able to run simultaneously – which means that you will be able to use more applications at once.
- Storage – there are two types of storage: Hard Disk Storage (or Local Storage) and Random-Access Memory (or RAM). The hard disk storage is where all files will be saved and stored on your computer. Whereas RAM is used by apps and the operating system for saving short-term memory, which enables them to run more quickly. The more RAM your PC has, the smoother your PC will perform.
- Connectivity – you might have peripheral devices you want to use with your laptop – such as a mouse and keyboard, or a pair of headphones, or perhaps you need to be able to read SD cards. Check that the laptop you want to use has the connectivity ports you need; some laptops – especially smaller models – don’t have very good connectivity anymore.
Ideal Laptop Specs for Remote Work in 2022
So, with all of those different considerations in mind, what are the ideal specs for work laptops in 2022? Below are the minimum requirements that you should aim for, no matter which brand of laptop you pick.
- Battery Life – a good work laptop should have a minimum of 8 hours battery life.
- Size & Weight – laptops with a screen size of 13-inches provide a good balance of mobility and usability; and a weight of 1.5kg or lower will ensure the laptop is easier to carry around with you all day.
- RAM and Local Storage – in terms of internal storage 256GB should suffice (in general, it is better to use cloud storage for file management). In terms of RAM, 8GB would be suitable, but 16GB will give you very smooth performance.
- CPU – as mentioned before, the central processing unit governs how well your laptop performs. There are 2 main brands of CPU to look at: Intel and AMD. You should look for a laptop that contains at least an Intel Core i5 processor, or an AMD Ryzen 5.
