Best Laptop For IB Students – In-Depth Buying Guide 2022

The best laptop for IB students isn’t a Chromebook. First, let’s agree on that. You need a multitasker with good battery life for a smooth experience.

If you’re an international Baccalaureate student, then congrats. You’ve done well in choosing a great curriculum to prepare for college. And this program is pretty heavy on liberal arts subjects. That means you’re going to be dealing with lots of documents and statistical sheets along the way.

You’re going to do everything on this laptop, from searching up things to typing long assignments. So, it’s crucial that your laptop performs well and lasts long.

Today, we’ll discuss your options and how you can manage a great laptop without spending too much.

Who Are IB (International Baccalaureate) Students Actually?

IB, short for International Baccalaureate, is an international education program quite similar to the Cambridge Assessment program. The difference is in the focus of education.

Which section of students attends International Baccalaureate programs

Students who are still unsure about what area/science/discipline they want to study usually take the IB diploma route. It helps them get a good grounding in social skills along with much-needed digital competencies

The IB platform usually attracts students who wish to study in the United States of America. But that has changed a lot over the last few years due to the nature of education.

Top 6 Best Laptops for IB Students In April 2022 – An Overview

Choosing a good laptop is tough. But here’s a selection of laptops that might be what you’re looking for.

1. Alienware m15 – Our Top Pick

When there’s no bar to hold, this is what you get. Some might be wondering what is Alienware doing on a student’s laptop recommendation list. Yes, Alienware is a brand of gaming laptops. But the computing power and sheer product quality make it a top choice for any task.

You’ll never find a low-end Alienware laptop. Core i5 is the minimum threshold nowadays. This specific laptop boasts a 10th gen Intel Core i7 10870H, which is on par with its desktop counterparts.

Yes, it might be overkill for most tasks. But trust me, you won’t need any more computational power for the next couple of years.

As an IB student, I’m certain you’ll be dealing with lots of open tabs on google chrome. And Microsoft’s applications as well. A laptop with lower than 8GB ram would experience lots of screen freeze. So, the 16GB DDR4 ram on this laptop is perfect.

I think we all agree about the importance of SSDs in computers. It makes a lot of difference. And having 256GB SSD storage is more than enough. This laptop has 1TB of SSD storage. Your study files and software can’t fill up this space throughout your IB years, even if you try.

In terms of battery, it’s quite average.  It lasts 4 and a half hours for simple Microsoft office and web surfing, and only 1 and a half on the gaming test. Well frankly, with a 3070 RTX card, you can’t expect a better battery life.

Short Verdict

2. ASUS ROG Strix G15 – Best All-Rounder Laptop 2022

This one’s my favorite. Of course, I love AMD’s Ryzen processors for being a value product. But no, being a Ryzen-based laptop isn’t the reason behind it. The Asus ROG Strix G15 is the best laptop for IB students considering all the feature points. So, what’s so good about it?

Right of the bat, I just have to mention its battery life. The laptop holds a 90whr battery, despite that, it has one of the quickest charging times. But that’s not what’s amazing about it.

With more than 11 hours of battery life for office work, it competes with the best Ultrabooksout there. Don’t forget that it also comes with a 3070 RTX inside.

Why is it so battery-efficient? Maybe the answer lies in its processor. Ryzen processors are highly energy-efficient. This one is powered by Ryzen 9 5900HX, an 8 core CPU scoring more than 10th gen i7 processors.

You thought 16 gigs were enough? With regards to its multitasking ability, this laptop comes with a whopping 32 gigs of memory. You can keep multiple software and browsers open without facing a still screen.

Oh, and never worry about storage space again. You’re getting a PCIe SSD storage of 1 terabyte. We used to think 256 gigs of SSD storage was enough.

Short Verdict

3. Acer Predator Helios – Best Super Fastlaptop 2022

If you want a top-of-the-line laptop with the latest offering from Intel, Acer’s Predator Helios is a good candidate. Acer’s predator series has gotten a lot of good remarks over the years. It’s also quite cheap compared to the ultrabooks of the same quality.

Intel’s latest offering is the 10th gen CPUs. And among them, the i7-11800H is the most powerful with 8 physical cores. And that’s what is inside this Helios model. What can’t it do? From video processing to 3D modeling, everything can be run on it.

To match with its computing power, the laptop has 16 gigs of DDR4 memory installed in it. You can increase it up to 32 gigs if you need to. However, it won’t come to that. If you aren’t going to run simulations, 16 gigs of ram are more than enough for day-to-day functionality.

For storage, you’re getting a 512GB PCIe SSD. It’s not NVMe, but you won’t be complaining, that’s for sure.

In terms of battery performance, it has a respectable 7 hours of battery life. Amazingly, even 7 hours of battery life is deemed average these days. That’s how far the bar has been raised.

The keyboard on this unit was okay — nothing too impressive, but also nothing to scoff at.

Will you be carrying your laptop around? If that’s the case, this laptop will lose points. It is not a light laptop. Rather it’s more of a portable stationary machine.

Short Verdict

4. Acer Nitro 5 – Best Backlit Keyboard Laptop 2022

Acer nitro is another series that has made its name in the laptop scene. Yes, the series received its fair share of criticism over the years, but it seems they have turned it around. With the newer gen processors, it still has powerful computing power but with a more refined portable performance.

I’m not particularly a fan of Intel’s offerings with the Ryzen being around. But you can’t ignore the high performance of the 10th and 11th gen processors. The 10300H processor inside this Nitro 5 is one of those laptop processors that can rival its desktop version. You won’t be running out of speed with any software.

What I didn’t expect was such a low amount of memory. I know 8 gigs are enough for daily study tasks, but at this level 16 gigs were expected. However, you still have the option to add more in the future.

Then with regards to storage capability, it’s fitted with a 256 gig NVMeSSD. It’s the fastest form of storage available on the market. For a gaming-oriented laptop, this is a bad configuration.

But the highlight of this laptop is its backlit keyboard. It’s not an RGB keyboard (which is a plus for me), but it lets you work in the dark efficiently.

This Acer laptop also scored 7 hours in the battery test. The test was done at an office level, not gaming. So, it will come down a lot in the gaming test.

Short Verdict

5. HP Pavilion x360 – A Long Life Battery Laptop 2022

The title says it all. This HP x360 has the longest battery life in this lineup. HP Pavilion is a famous product line for delivering a good amount of features within an affordable price range. I feel this laptop is more suited to a student’s needs than those above.

Why I’m saying, this is because of its touchscreen and the ability to use it as a tablet. You can rotate the screen 360-degree to convert it to a laptop. With the 12” display, the size is quite manageable.

The new x360 laptops have stylus support and come with a stylus as well, depending on where you live. And that is a blessing for students if they want to take notes on the go.

To add to that, the laptop is extremely lightweight, weighing just over 1 kilogram. That being said, it’s not the slimmest of laptops.

But the overall build quality and design make it an easily handleable device. It won’t take up much space in your backpack. So, carrying it around and holding it in one hand won’t be much of an issue.

As for the processor, it has an Intel core i5 10210U chip inside. It’s accompanied by 8 gigs of ram and 512 gigs of NVMe storage. Looking at that config, I think performance isn’t going to be an issue.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the battery life on this device goes well over 12 hours. It should run you through a whole day with basic typing and web surfing.

Short Verdict

6. MSI Modern 15 – Best Affordable Laptop 2022

Those are great laptops on their own terms. But if they are making you check your bank account, you might want to go down a few steps and make a few sacrifices and stick to basic features. This MSI Modern 15 laptop could be what you want.

What do you need for your studies? A good and efficient processor? This laptop has that. Powered by Intel’s 10th gen Core i5 10210U, you can use all the necessary software without any hiccups. The U model processors are extremely efficient, and that helped a lot to give the laptop respectable battery life.

The 52whr-rated battery inside this laptop has been tested to last for up to 9 hours. It does come down to 4-5 hours when you are using the internet and doing multiple tasks at once. Even that is good enough for the price you’re paying.

It’s been echoed all over the tech industry that having 8 gigs of ram should be made a minimum standard. And fortunately, all laptops at this level come with 8 gigs, as does this laptop from MSI.

More memory would be future-proof, but it’s not going to matter unless you’ll be playing games with programs running in the background.

And for storage, you’ll be getting 256 gigs of NVMe SSD storage. It’s not a lot but shouldn’t be an issue if you use an external hard drive for keeping large multimedia files.

Short Verdict

FAQs On Best Laptop for IB Students

1. Are those laptops worth the money?

Laptops are an investment. If you want to continue using the same laptop for a couple of years without having to compromise on performance, these laptops are worth it.

2. Do IB students need a powerful laptop?

If you look at the IB curriculum, you wouldn’t see any task that will need a lot of computational power. But you’ll need good battery life and a good keyboard. However, it’s always going to be a good investment if you get a powerful laptop.

3. Which is the best budget laptop for ib students?

The 10th gen intel core i5 processors are revolutionary. For an IB student, the MSI Modern 15 laptop with a 10th gen core i5 is a great budget option.

4. Can I use a gaming laptop for IB students?

A laptop is a laptop. If it can run games, it will run Microsoft office applications and multimedia needed for the IB curriculum. But it’s not ideal since it’s generally bulky and doesn’t have good battery life.

5. How much RAM do I need for an IB student’s laptop?

I’d say 8GB ram is the bare minimum for any laptop these days. Since you’re going to be typing and googling a lot, you’ll be keeping a lot of tabs open. And that requires a good amount of ram. I’d suggest getting 16GB of total memory if you can.

Final Words: Best Laptop for IB Students

I hate it when people suggest Chromebooks for College students. While they are good, they aren’t future-proof and can’t handle complex multitasking. The best laptop for IB students should be able to perform everything from typing to high multitasking with 30-40 tabs open at once. And these laptops can do all that.

Eric Jaxson

My name Is Eric Jaxson, and I am the creator of Laptops Wise, your one-stop blog for all your laptop’s guide, reviews, laptop accessories and user experiences, and a place to help you get the right laptop and the better experience possible read more….