By 2025, a minimum of 30–50 TOPS (trillion operations per second) or higher of AI performance is widely regarded as the benchmark for seamlessly running advanced on-device AI workloads, from real-time language processing to generative AI tasks. This threshold ensures devices stay future-proof as applications grow more demanding. With the shift toward edge computing, prioritising speed, privacy, and offline functionality, choosing hardware that balances power and efficiency is critical.
SurveyTo help you out, we’ve curated a list of top-tier AI laptops launching in February 2025, evaluating their Neural Processing Units (NPUs), thermal designs, and overall performance to match the needs of professionals and creatives alike.
1. Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i features the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and close to 34 TOPS of AI performance, which is at the lower end of the recommended AI performance requirements. It will be able to run DeepSeek R1; it can run the smaller 7B–13B parameter models. Similarly, it can run lightweight models (1–7B parameters) like Microsoft Phi-3 Mini, specialized optimized models like Stable Diffusion Turbo (Lite), and some mid-tier LLMs with tradeoffs (3–8B).
On top of that, the laptop features a 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM running at 7467MHz, and a 1TB SSD. The keyboard is reminiscent of a ThinkPad, ensuring an excellent typing experience.
Also read: Best Laptops for AI Developers
2. ASUS VivoBook S14
The VivoBook S14 from ASUS comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 CPU, and the processor has 50 TOPS of AI performance, which is very good. Using this, you can run small-scale and mid-scale LLMs like Mistral 7B and Falcon 7B/13B, respectively. Moreover, it can also run large-scale LLM models like LLaMA 2 30B, but you will have to offload computations or use extreme quantization, such as 2-bit.
The laptop itself is also a pretty solid machine, featuring 24GB LPDDR5X RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 3K 14-inch 16:10 OLED display for enhanced productivity. It also offers plenty of ports, including Type-A, Type-C, HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a MicroSD card slot.
Also Read – Best Gaming Notebooks
3. MSI Prestige 13 AI+
This 13-inch laptop comes with the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor, featuring a whopping 120 TOPS of AI performance. Mind you, this AI performance is solely from the processor and not a combined AI score that includes the GPU’s AI capability as well. With 120 TOPS, the MSI Prestige 13 AI+ can run large models like LLaMA 30B with some quantization, while small and mid-scale models like LLaMA 7B and Falcon 13B can run pretty well with high precision and easy optimization.
4. ASUS Zephyrus G16
An AI-powered CPU and GPU is a deadly combo, which is why the ASUS Zephyrus G16 has a total AI performance of 371 TOPS. As a result, it is capable of running models up to 13B smoothly at full precision. It can handle 30B models with 4-bit quantization. Moreover, it can attempt 65B models, but with extreme 2-bit quantization and offloading. For best AI performance, I’d recommend going with Mistral 7B, LLaMA 2 13B, and Mixtral (12.9B MoE) with optimized 4-bit quantization.
As for the laptop, it is a great piece of hardware. It is well-built, features a great keyboard and trackpad, and has a gorgeous 2.5K OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, both of which deliver a combined 371 TOPS of AI performance.
5. 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro
If you’re a macOS user, then the only sensible option for you is to get the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro. It is reasonably priced, and the base model itself comes with a 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB SSD combination.
As for the processor, the M4 features a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine, all of which deliver a combined 38 TOPS. While this isn’t as impressive compared to some of the latest chips from Intel and AMD, it can still run Mistral 7B, Phi-2, and LLaMA 2 7B (4-bit) smoothly, handle LLaMA 2 13B and Mixtral 12.9B (4-bit) with optimizations, but struggles with LLaMA 2 30B+ due to slow inference. For the best performance, use Metal-optimized AI frameworks like Core ML and quantized models.
Whether you’re dabbling with small-scale AI or tackling full-fledged LLMs, these February 2025 laptops pack enough TOPS to keep you ahead of the curve. Balancing power and portability, they’re built to future-proof your workflow as on-device AI becomes ever more vital. Good luck choosing the perfect machine for your next AI adventure!
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Yetnesh Dubey
Yetnesh works as a reviewer with Digit and likes to write about stuff related to hardware. He is also an auto nut and in an alternate reality works as a trucker delivering large boiling equipment across Europe. View Full Profile
