Do you work remotely? If so, you’re certainly not alone. Since early 2020, when COVID-19 spread across the world, many businesses made the decision to close their offices and send their employees to work from home. 2 years later, many people are still working remotely. But what are the implications of this for the individual? One of the things that we have seen many businesses mention is that the use of laptops has increased among employees, now that they are working remotely.
Why Do Remote Workers Prefer Laptops?
It seems that desktop PCs are not the preference for employees in 2022 – most people who work from home (which is larger proportion of the global workforce than it used to be) are using laptops. We spoke to an IT support provider London businesses used in 2020 when they needed to go remote; in fact, TechQuarters, the business in question, went remote themselves, and has stated that they have no intention of going back to the office.
When asked, TechQuarters stated that laptops offer a level of mobility and flexibility that has become a priority with remote work. Remote workers aren’t necessarily working from home exclusively; many of them are opting for co-working spaces alongside working from home, in order to get a change of scenery and to get out of the house. This means they need to be able to commute easily, and a laptop supports that better than a desktop PC.
Important Qualities for a Work Laptop
- Size and Weight – A remote worker may go to different spots in their house throughout the workday; or they might even go out to a co-working space. This means the size of their laptop, and its weight, is important. Obviously, a tiny laptop may not be nice to work on for long hours, but a massive laptop will be harder to lug around. Lots of manufacturers nowadays are able to fit a lot of power into a lightweight device.
- Specifications – Of course, the power of your laptop is an important consideration. Some remote workers may have high-demand workloads – such as video editors, or visual effects engineers, in which case they will need a laptop with a powerful processor, lots of RAM, and a decent graphics card. Internal storage may also be a factor (although when we asked the company that provides outsourced IT support London businesses rely on, they stated that it is also better to use cloud storage). If your business uses Microsoft apps then having a Microsoft Partner on board is not a bad idea – you could lean on their support and guidance as to what is best for an Office 365 Company to be using for example.
Best Laptops for Work?
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
In many ways, this model is one of the best all-round business laptops you can get in 2022. Featuring an 11th generation Intel processor (with a choice between i5 and i7), up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of
Solid-State Storage, a beautiful 14-inch Full HD display, and power speakers, this laptop has the power to support your work.
The Lenovo ThinkPad series are long been preferred by businesses, due to their military-grade strength cases, high-quality keyboard and subtle aesthetic.
- Dell XPS 15
For any worker that prefers the Windows OS, and needs a system with enough power and design considerations to support creative work, the Dell XPS is one of the best choices on the market. The current model sports a 12th generation Intel Core processor; a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX video card; up to 64 GB of DDR5 RAM, and up to 2TB of m.2 solid-state storage. All of these spec mean that the laptop is powerful enough to run industry-level creative software, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, or even 3D modelling and CGI software. The new Dell XPS laptop can also be shipped with an UHD 60Hz display.
- Apple MacBook Pro
Apple are well-known for their high quality products, and the Apple MacBook Pro is one of the most popular laptops in the world because of this. Sporting the proprietary Apple M1 Pro chip, which combines an octo-core CPU, a 14-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine, the Apple MacBook Pro is built for creative professionals that want to mobility and flexibility. Any remote worker that uses an iPhone or iPad will definitely appreciate the benefits of the Apple Ecosystem, and would do well to opt for a MacBook Pro.
