MacBook Air, long lasting battery, great performance, ease of use
I second MacBooks. I am primarily a Linux guy but the low power consumption of Apple Silicone is downright freaky.
This is the way, and exactly what I would recommend. Apple laptops are insanely efficient with their battery and performance per watt.
The only other thing that really tries to rival it would be the new Surface Laptop with the Qualcomm Snapdragon, but that’s because it’s just a MacBook Air clone that runs Windows instead. By all accounts, I’ve heard it does very well, but at least the MBA I’m completely confident.
Also good build-quality and some good super tough case options.
I would not take a laptop backpacking, but if I had to, I suppose I'd probably try to use something small and ARM based to get better battery life (but, more likely, I'd just use a phone instead which is smaller and waterproof).
It kinda depends on what exactly you need to do though. Can you provide us with more details? What do you need the laptop to do?
What kind of backpacking are we talking here? Going into the wild for weeks or months at a time? Going on a little vacation through cities in Europe?
I think it's safe to assume they mean the "through various countries" type of backpacking. I'm not sure anyone doing the other type of backpacking is bringing a laptop.
No one has asked the important question: what do you need the laptop to do on this camping trip? The answer to that will drastically change the answer to your question
i'd really consider just taking a phone instead, if possible.
Depends. What would be your use cases, budget?
+1 Depends the use case.
- For writing/reading? A pen and a notebook: weeks/months autonomy, lightweight, works also when under the rain or in cold and almost unbreakable. Ditto for a paperback book or two.
- For photo? A Mac (with an added mate screen protector, to reduce light reflection on that glossy screen: less reflection means less need to put brightness at max = even better autonomy). A secondhand M1 Air would be great and a lot cheaper too than a newer one (and you won't miss much from the newer models if you're doing digital photo on the go).
The backpackers/thru-hikers I've heard of tear pages out of their guidebook to save weight after they've hiked past that part.
OMG don't.
I'd probably prefer a laptop with a larger battery capacity than weight. Ultimately though what are you using it for? To check your email? Are you gonna be browsing youtube on your wifi hotspot? I'd probably not bring a laptop at all and instead prefer just the phone unless I'm planning on making pitstops at places with wall outlets and wifi.
honestly depends on what you'd use it for
if games + small work - steamdeck
otherwise idk
MacBook is light and functional. If you want even lighter, a foldable phone like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold might do the trick. That way, you only have one device to lug around, instead of carrying both a laptop and a phone.
I use a small GPD win laptop. It can game and it’s super small, I think 7 inch touchscreen. Battery last a few hours and recharges with USB-C (I use solar to charge it). I run Linux on it now and it’s been good. I upgraded the SSD to 1tb Samsung NVMe, and it’s nice the laptop has a micro SD slot to empty my camera and drone.
Or a MacBook Air if you want a larger screen.
Lenovo thinkpad x1 carbon.
Surface pro is less than 2lbs with around 15 hours or battery time. The only real complaint I have is they don't work well in your actual lap. The detachable keyboard and kickstand makes it a little awkward to balance on your knees. But it also functions just like a tablet, so unless you need to do a lot of typing then it shouldn't be a problem.
A phone with a Bluetooth keyboard.
