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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Alex Wawro

When should you upgrade your laptop? Here's how long it should last

Laptops Apple Avi Greengart Dell Intel Corporation Tom Guide Acer Lenovo Microsoft Windows
Macbook Pro 16 vs. XPS 15

I write about computers for a living, which means I find myself fielding a fair number of tech questions from friends and family. 

Many are about which is the best Windows laptop or best MacBook to buy, but just as often I'll get asked whether it's time to upgrade or not. I started to get a lot more of these questions after Windows 11 debuted in 2021, because Microsoft decided to give the latest version of Windows some slightly obnoxious system requirements that ensured many laptops and PCs made before 2018 can't run it.

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