2024: The Best and Worst in Hardware (Premium)

For laptops, PCs, Macs, chips, peripherals, and other hardware, 2024 was the best of times, and 2024 was the worst of times. And in prepping my year-end wrap-ups for 2024, I found that it was a big enough year that I needed to expand on the collection of articles I usually write. And so this article, which began as a "best laptop of 2024"-type post, now highlights the best and worst hardware moments I experienced in 2024, some personally and some industry-wide.

Note that hardware in this case is limited only to those devices one uses personally. Sorry, Nvidia.
✍️ Reviews, I've made a few
I may as well start with the laptop and PC reviews. I typically estimate that I write about 12 laptop reviews each year. But I've already written 20 laptop and PC reviews this year, and will likely get a few more done before New Years: I have six new hardware devices in-house as I write this, including four laptops and one all-in-one PC, plus one tablet and one e-reader.

My 2024 laptop and PC reviews are, in chronological order:

HP Spectre x360 14

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus

HP Envy Move

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16

Apple MacBook Air 15-Inch M3

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12

Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 14 Gen 9

HP ZBook Firefly 14 G11

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 Gen 9

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7

HP EliteBook Ultra

HP EliteBook 1040 G11

Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 Snapdragon

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1

Lenovo ThinkBook x13 Gen 4

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2

HP OmniBook Ultra

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i 15 Aura Edition

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid
👍 No regrets: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
Surface Laptop 7 isn't perfect: It lacks a fingerprint reader and presence sensing capabilities, for example. But with this laptop, Microsoft delivered exactly what I wanted: A MacBook Air-alike with a large display, Snapdragon X/Arm internals, killer performance, battery life, compatibility, efficiency, and reliability, a terrific keyboard with a near-perfect typing experience, and the clean software experience I hope to see on all PCs. I spent way too much on this PC and I couldn't be happier: It's the best laptop of 2024, and my best purchase of the year too. I only wish I could have gotten it sooner.
👎 Nothing but regrets: Apple iPad Air 13-Inch M2
Looking back on this, I'm having trouble reconciling my decision to purchase an Apple iPad Air 13-inch M2 to replace my aging 11-inch iPad Air 4th generation (2020). I mean, I can rationalize it. I had to keep resetting my old iPad Air because it kept slowing down. Between 2023 and 2024, I'd really started preferring larger-screen 15-16 inch laptops, so maybe a larger iPad made sense too. And while Apple had dashed my hopes of a more sophisticated iPadOS at WWDC 2024 in the wake of releasing new M-based iPad Pro and iPad Air models, it would have to come around to reality at some point, right?

Maybe it will happen s...