For business users and IT Departments, having a secure laptop is essential. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the most secure business laptops available in 2024, each equipped with cutting-edge security features to safeguard your digital life.
No review like this would be proper without mentioning that all systems must be properly secured and managed. The biggest threat to IT security is the user, followed by your administrator.
Apple MacBook Pro (2023)
The MacBook Pro is fortified with Apple’s custom-designed M3 chip for enhanced security, featuring a Secure Enclave coprocessor for secure boot and encrypted storage. The Macbook Pro offers up to 16 CPU cores and 128GB of memory and 22 hours of battery life. It’s a powerhouse of a laptop and probably the best notebook computer on the market right now. Their only real downside is that many folks don’t know how to properly manage MacBooks at scale.
Purism Librem 14
Purism has been making highly secure Linux devices for years. You might have read about their secure Linux phones. They’re also the sponsor of the privacy focused Linux distribution PureOS.
The Librem 14 offers a 10th gen i7 processor and up to 64GB of RAM. The aluminum chassis is lightweight. Custom security features unique to the Librem include the open source Coreboot BIOS, Physical kill switches for camera/mic and wireless networking, and Intel Management Engine’s backdoor has been removed. Pureboot and Librem Key ensure that your laptop hasn’t been tampered with. Delivery is also claimed to be “Interdiction Proof.”
The Purism Librem is the most secure laptop available for sale, assuming that you can properly use and manage it. But keep in mind that parts are hard to get and build quality isn’t great. If this matters to you, look at a major manufacturer. You’re most likely to be happy with the Librem only if your overwhelming priority is hardware security.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (11th Gen)
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon boasts robust security features such as the match-on-chip fingerprint reader and optional human presence detection, ensuring secure and convenient user authentication. You can also use the built in ePrivacy Screen to keep people from snooping on your work by standing nearby.
We’ve long admired the x1 Carbon as one of our favorite laptops for business users, given its long battery life and slim form factor. Lenovo rates it as up to 13 hours, but I’ve never gotten close to that number with comfortable settings. But it can charge up to 80% in an hour. Hands down, the ThinkPad Carbon X1 is the best notebook for users who can’t depend on having a desk during the workday.
The carbon fiber chassis is the real innovation here. It’s extremely lightweight. Users love the x1 Carbon for it’s Linux support, too. I personally have one at my house running Pop_OS!, and it’s very responsive and secure.
The big downside of the x1 Carbon is the soldered memory. It would be awesome if they were upgradable to help extend its usable life. Still, x1 Carbon users remain very loyal to this Ultrabook.
System76 Pangolin 16
System76 are the folks that created the popular Linux distro Pop_OS! They’ve created one of the best desktop environments for Linux and put it on top Ubuntu LTS, offering security features like privacy, encryption and firmware updates front and center. A rather unique security feature of the Pangolin is the physical kill switch for the camera. You can literally turn it off using a physical switch on the side of the computer. What a great idea! Not only does this ultra portable notebook have a strong magnesium alloy chassis, it also boasts a 16″ screen. Such a large display is quite a luxury while laptop displays are standardizing at 14″.
If you have some Linux chops, Pop_OS! will be simple to control (or replace). And if you’re coming from Windows or MacOS, it should be easy to learn. Since it’s based on Ubuntu LTS, you’ll find plenty of support in their forums.
Dynabook Portégé X40L-K
The Dynabook Portégé X40L-K features a webcam with a privacy shutter, TPM 2.0, and a fingerprint reader for secure authentication, ensuring data protection and privacy for its users. Dynabook also provides it’s own BIOS for all models, while many other vendors rely on third parties to create their BIOS.
We’re big fans of Dynabook at Inacom. Our users often cite they love the lightweight design of the Portégé and the long battery life. So it has become one of our preferred business laptops. If you’d like more info about them, check out our Dynabook Review.
Dell Latitude (2024)
The Dell Latitude series of business notebooks incorporates Dell’s advanced security suite, including a fingerprint reader, Windows Hello, and optional TPM 2.0 for secure data encryption and protection. Dell also includes advanced BIOS protection and stores credentials on an isolated security chip, which are unique features.
HP EliteBook (2024)
HP’s Elitebooks integrate HP Sure Sense, a deep learning AI-based technology for defense against malware. Sure Recover helps end users re-image an infected notebook using a network connection. Sure Click opens files in micro-virtual machines to protect against malicious macros and the like. Finally, Sure View provides protection against prying eyes by implementing a software enabled privacy screen. We’ve always liked the spill proof, backlit keyboard, long battery life, and extremely strong cases that come with the Elitebook series.
There are many flavors of HP Elitebooks available for sale, so which one do you choose? I really like the HP Elitebook 845 series. HP is currently selling the 11th Generation (G11), but you can save about $100 if you go with a G10. The only difference is a modest processor bump.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
The Surface Laptop 5 features enterprise-grade security by way of virtualization technologies and UEFI to provide more contorl through SEMM and DFCI cloud-based management. Figure Microsoft is going to ensure the best integration with Microsoft’s Windows and InTune platforms. Surface also offers Windows Hello face authentication, a TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security, and BitLocker encryption to keep your data safe from unauthorized access.
These laptops leverage a range of security measures, including biometric authentication, encrypted storage, and advanced malware protection. With these features, they provide a high level of security for users, ensuring the safety and privacy of their valuable data. Of course, these notebooks will only be as secure as they are configured to be. If you’re local to the Delmarva region, we’d love to provide computer support to your organization to ensure your new and existing laptops are as secure as possible.
