9+ Best Laptop For Hacking 2021 | Pentesting and Ethical Guide

Laptops have become increasingly popular and relevant in recent years time. Today, we have laptops to play games, watch movies, listen to music, whatever. Today we are going to talk about a particular branch of laptops: those used for hacking. So if you are looking for the best laptops for hacking, you have come to the right place.

Many people attribute all kinds of negative synonyms to piracy. This is mainly due to the fear of becoming a victim of piracy. However, there is a world of differences between a “professional” hacker and an “ethical” hacker.

Best Laptop For Hacking

Ethical hackers test the limits of laptop and laptop protection systems, and we’ll be talking about laptops that will help you make it as easy as possible for the least amount of cash. That is why we will talk about these hacked laptops here. Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

Best Laptop For Hacking | Comparison Table 2021

Prices and images pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:

Best Laptop For Hacking | 2021 Products Overview

Hardware requirements for hacking a laptop:

Obviously, you cannot use almost any PC or laptop to learn how to hack, let alone perform the plethora of complex operations on it. You will need a strong processor unit, a solid graphics card, and plenty of rams because most hacking tools will eat you up in no time.

In this section, we will talk about the minimum and recommended requirements in terms of the components your laptop needs for hacking and penetration testing.

CPU power:

Generally speaking, you need at least a gigabyte of CPU to run the most basic hacking and pen testing tools. However, the bare minimum will only get you so far. Most people who really know a thing or two about hacking would recommend at least a 1GB dual-core processor unit (each).

As you get better at hacking, you will start using more advanced hacking tools and emulators. Eventually, you will start using them simultaneously. That is why you have to stock up on quantity and cores if you want to ensure good performance from your laptop.

Graphics card:

It seems a bit paradoxical that a graphics card is needed to hack. Visually, most hacking tools are not “heavy” so some people even ask “is GPU needed?”

Simply put, it is not only necessary, but it can make your hacking life a lot easier. That is, CPUs are multi-core at best, while GPUs have hundreds, sometimes even thousands. These little cores are of course different in many ways compared to CPU cores.

It would be better if you had a decent GPU because this particular component does the instant calculations on thousands of threads. In simple words, the CPU does the “heavy lifting” while the GPU does many smaller operations.

RAM:

Memory is perhaps the most important element of your hacking laptop. It “feeds” the tools it uses, as well as the operating system it is on. It’s pretty safe to say that you won’t even be able to run most hacking tools without at least a gigabyte of RAM.

In this case, “the bigger the better” is the best application. The more RAM you have, the more complex operations you can perform. Most hacking tools gobble up a substantial amount of RAM initially. The further you go, the more threads you use, the more RAM you need. For ethical hacking and pen testing, a gigabyte of RAM would suffice.

Storage:

A 256GB SSD laptop would be good enough in my opinion. If you are on a tight budget, a hard drive will do the job. I will always choose an SSD drive over HDD unless I am on a very small budget.

Network adapter:

You should not use your “normal” internet connection if you want to hack for obvious reasons. First, you will leave a lot of traces online, and secondly, you will need a stable connection, or all your efforts could go to waste at any time.

There are a couple of vital elements that a network adapter must give you if we are to call it “good”. First of all, a reliable adapter has a good antenna (or two in some cases, like Panda’s PAU09).

Second, you will want an adapter that has a sufficient operating range. The higher the range, the more stable the connection will be when it reaches its limit. Lastly, your adapter must be compatible with your laptop (the best connectivity is guaranteed with the USB connection).

Battery Life:

This is a crucial part of any laptop that a lot of people don’t give much thought to before buying a laptop. If a laptop can give you at least 1 hour of battery life while using Kali, then that would be a good option in my opinion. I’ve talked about laptops with good battery life on this list, you should check them out.

What is a good operating system for hacking?

You should not use Windows to hack, either professionally or ethically. Windows will not allow you to play with its source code, while other systems will. That’s one of the main reasons you should try Linux (Kali, specifically) or Mac OS. But if you are thinking about your laptop security, we have a guide for you too.

Linux OS:

Generally speaking, the relatively new software called Kali operates on the Linux operating system. Currently, it is one of the most widely used and recognized hacking programs, not to mention that it is also the most accessible.

Linux is basically an open-source replica of the Unix operating system, so naturally, it offers numerous downloadable programs based on it. However, Linux has a relatively complex user interface and inferior gesture support, which is why more and more people are turning to Mac OS.

Mac OS:

The first good thing about Mac OS is the “amount” of anonymity you can take advantage of. By using this operating system, it will be much more difficult to track it compared to using Linux, let alone Windows operating systems.

Additionally, Mac OS allows you to work in terminal environments. You will be able to access things that are generally inaccessible with any other system. Beyond that point, that also means that Mac OS is a bit more difficult for beginners to use.

Conclusion

Many laptops are labeled “good” or “best for hackers.” The truth is that most of them were “gaming laptops” with high settings. If you are looking for the best hacking laptops, you can go for any of these laptops.

We have selected seven models from six of the biggest names in the industry, knowing they possess the leading technologies. Acer’s Aspire 5 offers a budget and best option; Apple MacBook Air is really adequate but expensive. Now relax and choose, these are among the best laptops for hackers.