After years of shortages and product delays, the PC industry slammed on the gas pedal in 2022, unleashing bleeding-edge hardware at a truly frenetic pace.
A wave of long-lasting, heavy-hitting laptops started the year with a bang. Then the battle turned to desktops, where Intel, Nvidia, and AMD rolled out new generations of processors and graphics cards alike, bolstered by delightful advances in SSDs and new monitors that push pixels harder than ever before. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.
We tested some truly impressive hardware this year—but you’ll only find the absolute greatest on this list. And that’s not all: Our top picks include the best software available, because what you use all that computing power for is just as vital.
For this list, we asked PCWorld’s tech experts to share their favorite picks in their areas of expertise. Without further ado, this is the best PC hardware and software of 2022 and 2023. Yes, we’re looking forward to next year, because until even newer products begin launching in 2023, many of the champions on this list will remain very relevant for months to come.
We’ve also rounded up our favorite work-from-home tech of 2022 if you’re interested in a more productivity-focused look at the year’s best options.
BEST THIN-AND-LIGHT LAPTOP: DELL XPS 13 PLUS
If you’re on the hunt for a truly spectacular ultraportable, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is the laptop to target. It’s featherlight at under 3 pounds, the 13.4-inch 3456×2160 OLED display is a real sight to behold, and the Intel Core i7-1280P CPU delivers leading-edge performance. That’s the full package right there. It has enough oomph to whiz through photo editing work as well as day-to-day tasks like browsing the web and checking e-mail. And the hidden haptic trackpad—a unique design choice that’s different from previous iterations—helps the Dell XPS 13 Plus look truly sophisticated. You really can’t go wrong here.—Ashley Biancuzzo
BEST GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4090
It’ll cost you a small fortune to get your hands on one, but the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 deserves the highest accolades possible. Nvidia’s 40-series flagship is blow-your-hair-back-and-melt-yourface fast—so fast, it unlocks experiences never before possible.
With the RTX 4090—and the RTX 4090—you can max out a.
