Also, keeping in mind the portability factor, we have chosen some of the best laptops from the market that can easily handle graphic designing tasks allowing you to seamlessly do your creative job. However, there are a few factors that you all should consider before buying a laptop, such as:
Processor: Without a doubt, the most important hardware on which most of the performance depends is definitely the processor. As you know, the graphic design software programs are quite heavy, you should go for the laptops that have at least Intel Core i5 or better generation CPUs to have a decent experience with the laptop. RAM: Since heavy software programs generally require a significant amount of your computer’s memory, we recommend choosing laptops that have at least 8GB or 16GB RAM where more amount of memory is always a better option to pick. Display: A laptop that is going to be used extensively for designing, should have a decent-sized display with a color-accurate screen such as an IPS panel. Moreover, we have included laptops with screen sizes varying from 13 inches to 16 inches, so you can pick one according to your preferences.
Apart from these few factors, there’s a lot more that you should know about a laptop. In case you are curious to know what are the remaining things to consider while buying a new laptop, we have included a detailed “Buying Guide” related to laptops. With that said, if you are buying a laptop for the first time, then, reading the buying guide at least once is highly recommended to you so that you can know about the features well and pick the right laptop for yourself. For now, let’s take a look at the list and see what all these laptops have to offer.
Best Laptops for Graphic Design
Best Laptops for Graphic Design Reviews
1. NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3
Best Laptops under $1000 Best Laptops under $700 Best Universal Laptop Charger Best 2 in 1 laptops Best Laptops Under $1200 Best Ryzen 9 Laptops Laptops for Drawing Best Gaming Laptops
Microsoft already has a great reputation out there, but with the release of the new Surface Book, it has made quite a good name in the laptop market as well. Without a donut, the latest Surface Book 3 laptops are the most powerful laptops offered by Microsoft till now, thanks to the 10th Gen Intel Core i7 quad-core processor that comfortably handles any task you throw at it. In fact, it’s a highly suitable laptop for graphic designers as it also comes with a hefty NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q GPU with 6GB VRAM, so loading those heavy software programs never feel like stressing for the laptop. You’ll love how fast this laptop functions and loads everything within seconds, all the credit goes to its 256GB SSD. No matter how many Chrome tabs or programs you load up on this laptop, it comes with 16 GB RAM onboard that never fails to impress. Apart from that, if we talk about the display, there are barely a few laptops out there that come with a 15 inches 4K resolution display, and the Surface Book 3 is definitely one of them. Not only that, the display is actually a touchscreen and can be detached away from the keyboard. So, graphic designers can have the best and most immersive experience while using this laptop for their creative work. Despite having such a powerful hardware configuration, its battery life lasts for about 17.5 hours, which is yet another great feature! However, Due to its slim and lightweight construction, it only has a USB-A, USB-C, and full-size SD card slot. Best Features:
10th Gen Intel Core i7 quad-core processor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q GPU 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD 15 inches 4K resolution touchscreen display Up to 17.5 hours of battery life
Pros:
Slim and Lightweight design Long-lasting battery life Highly responsive on touch input
Cons:
A little expensive
2. Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel Convertible Creator Laptop
Although Acer usually concentrates on making high-end gaming laptops, the ConceptD 3 Ezel is a totally unique piece of engineering offered by Acer that all designers are surely going to praise. It’s solely designed for the creators since it’s a 2 in 1 laptop that comes with a unique hinge-design. So, you can simply turn it into a tablet and take complete advantage of its 14.0″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit IPS panel. The display is extremely beautiful as it covers 100% sRGB and is 340 nits bright. Since the display is a touchscreen, Acer has also protected it with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and provides an anti-glare coating over it as well to prevent scratches. Moreover, the laptop even comes with a Wacom AES 1.0 stylus pen that’ll allow you to draw with perfection. Even the input experience from the backlit keyboard, as well as the trackpad, is quite satisfactory as well. In case you are concerned about the battery life, it delivers a battery life of up to 14.5-hours, which is great for full usage. If we judge it with a laptop’s perspective in mind, it runs on Windows 10 Home OS and is powered by a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H 6-Core Processor that clocks up to 5 GHz. Apart from that, to handle all that heavy designing programs, it also features 16GB On-Board DDR4 Memory and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM. On top of that, one of the biggest reasons why this laptop is so responsive and snappy, it’s the 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD that makes it work fast in all scenarios. In terms of connectivity, this laptop features 2×2 MU-MIMO Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 AX201 802.11ax, and Bluetooth 5.1 also. Looking at the ports, you almost get everything on this laptop as it includes a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1x HDMI 2.0 Port with HDCP Support, and a mini Display Port as well. Best Features:
0″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit IPS panel Intel Core i7-10750H 6-Core Processor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4 GB VRAM 16GB On-Board DDR4 Memory 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD 2×2 MU-MIMO Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 AX201 802.11ax Up to 14.5 hours of battery life
Pros:
Stylish Design Ample amount of storage space High performance with powerful 6 core processor
Cons:
A little bulky
3. Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop
If you are looking for a laptop to play games as well as do your graphic designing work on the side, the Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop is one of the best and affordable laptops out there. The reason why it’s priced a little less than other options is that it comes with a 9th Intel Core i5-9300H Processor. However, it’s an H-series processor, so you’ll never feel it lacking any power or performance and will always provide you a brilliant experience. On top of that, the Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop also features a fantastic NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU that feels no stress delivering 100+ FPS, even when you play Triple-A games. Apart from that, playing heavy games or multitasking heavily on this laptop is never disappointing as the 8GB DDR4 RAM keeps everything under control while the 512GB NVMe SSD ensures that everything loads up quickly and provide you a snappy experience. If we take a look at its design, the chassis has a brushed-metal finishing that looks quite premium, and the blue accent lighting on the keyboard makes it look overall aesthetic. Taking a look at the display, this laptop has a beautiful 15.6 inches Full HD (1920×1080) IPS panel that is perfect for almost everything. In fact, if you love watching movies, you’ll definitely enjoy the sound from its Dolby Audio speakers. Although gaming laptops are not well-known for having great battery life, this one lasts up to 9 hours on continuous usage, which is quite decent. Best Features:
9th Intel Core i5-9300H Processor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU 8GB DDR4 RAM 512GB NVMe SSD 6 inches Full HD (1920×1080) IPS display Dolby Audio Speakers Up to 9 hours of battery life
Pros:
Ideal for gaming as well as graphic designing Decent battery life Premium build quality
Cons:
Slightly heavy
4. HP Pavilion Gaming 15-Inch Micro-EDGE Laptop
HP has quite a good reputation in the market for selling high-end, affordable laptops, and this time we have come up with the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15-dk0020nr, which is extremely affordable yet performs brilliantly. For fast and easy multitasking, HP has equipped this laptop with a top-of-the-line 2.4GHz 9th Intel Core i5-9300H Processor, which supports Intel’s Turbo Boost technology. Along with that, you get to experience realistic high-performance gaming with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU that features 4GB dedicated GDDR5 VRAM. Looking at the other performance aspects of this laptop, the 8 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM allows you to seamlessly multitask on this laptop without causing any interruptions. In case you need more memory, HP has also left 2 additional memory slots so users can upgrade it later on. Moreover, the Windows 10 Home OS boots up quite quickly, thanks to the 256GB NVMe SSD, and the overall performance of the laptop feels snappy as well. Taking a look at the display, it’s quite bright, and colors look very vibrant with a good range of contrast. It is because the laptop features a 15.6-inch FHD (1920×1080) IPS Anti-Glare micro-edge WLED-backlit Display that has a 60Hz refresh rate. That said, you can enjoy all the AAA titles on this gaming laptop and have a totally fun experience. On the sides, plenty of connectivity ports are offered by HP, including a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 3x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and a headphone-microphone combo. If you are concerned about its battery life, it can last for about 8 hours on casual usage. However, if you play games or use them for any other heavy task, the battery won’t last for that long. Best Features:
9th Intel Core i5-9300H Processor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU 8GB DDR4 RAM 256GB NVMe SSD 6 inches Full HD (1920×1080) IPS display Full-size Backlit keyboard
Pros:
Affordable gaming laptop Features a high-performance GPU Does not heat up very fast
Cons:
Battery Life is average
5. 2019 Apple MacBook Pro
There’s no doubt that Apple is certainly one of the most popular brands among graphic designers as it offers a wide range of user-friendly MacBook, and iPad options equipped with top-notch hardware to provide the best in class performance. Since the Apple Macbook Pro is the best that Apple serves, you should definitely check it out if you want a high-performance laptop. The 2019’s Apple Macbook Pro is still a capable enough machine to handle graphic designing tasks as it comes with a 9th Gen Intel Core i9 octa-core processor. Apart from that, it boasts a total of 16GB onboard RAM and a 1TB ultra-fast SSD that makes everything on this laptop load faster and snappy. Speaking of the GPU, the Macbook Pro has an AMD Radeon Pro 5500 M Graphics with GDDR6 memory that is perfect for any kind of graphic-intensive job. The laptop is almost built like a tank as the quality of the chassis is very premium. Although the keyboard lacks tactile feedback, the large-sized trackpad, on the other hand, is simply the best and has no competition! In addition, the 16-inch Retina display of this laptop features P3 wide color gamut and has 500 nits brightness. Also, it carries a 100Wh battery that can keep this laptop powered up for up to 11 hours, even on heavy usage. The only downside that we feel about this laptop is that it comes with only 4 USB Type-C Thunderbolt ports, no other ports are available. Best Features:
16-inch Retina display 9th Gen Intel Core i9 octa-core processor 16 GB RAM 1 TB SSD storage AMD Radeon Pro 5500 M Graphics Up to 11 hours of battery life
Pros:
Superior build quality Slim and stylish appearance Has fast and reliable Thunderbolt 3 ports
Cons:
A bit costly
6. 2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop
Since Apple has engineered their own CPU, we had the first glimpse of it inside the 2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop, which resulted in a brilliant way for the brand as it was a huge success for them. That said, if you are looking for an Apple laptop, but have a slightly low budget in hand, you can go for the 2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop. The major highlight of this laptop is the Apple M1 Chip which has 8 cores and is almost 3.5x faster than the previous generation models. Moreover, the new CPU from Apple is not at all power-hungry and allows the laptop to last fairly for about 18 hours. In fact, you can use the laptop for heavy multitasking since macOS is quite forgiving, and 8 GB RAM is good enough to handle the workload without any hassle. One big reason why this laptop feels so responsive while using it is all because of the 256GB SSD storage. In addition, a special feature about this laptop is that it features an 8-core GPU, along with a 16-core Neural engine that allows multiple dedicated apps to use Machine Learning and do basic tasks like retouching photos, on its own automatically. Moreover, the 13.3 inches Retina display has brilliant clarity and supports P3 wide color gamut that helps it showcase true-to-life colors. Best Features:
Latest Apple M1 chip 8-Core GPU 3 inches Retina Display 8 GB RAM 256 GB SSD Storage Up to 18 hours of battery life
Pros:
Very compact and lightweight Brilliant performance Excellent battery life
Cons:
Only has Type-C ports
7. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 15″ Touch-Screen
If you are not looking forward to having a 2 in 1 laptop, like the previous one we discussed, Microsoft also has a pretty good lineup of Surface Laptops that are equally powerful and reliable. Although it does not have that 2 in 1 function, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 still has a 15.5 inches touchscreen panel with a resolution of 2496 x 1664. The touch input is extremely responsive, and you can even get a Surface Pen separately to take full advantage of the screen and draw on it more precisely. As far as the performance is concerned, it runs using a 2.1 GHz Ryzen 5 2600X processor, which is quite decent as we look at the pricing of this laptop. On the other hand, the combination of 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD storage completes this powerful package. If we speak about the GPU, it features an integrated AMD Radeon Vega 9 coprocessor that is highly appreciated for its fast performance. However, it does not match the performance level that a dedicated GPU usually offers. Still, the performance is decent enough, and it can manage most tasks easily. In fact, the battery life of the laptop is pretty good as well since it can last for about 11.5 hours on continuous usage. Apart from that, its thin metallic body gives it a premium look. But, that thin form-factor leads to one downside as it only has a USB-C port, USB-A port, and an SD card slot, nothing else. Best Features:
5 inches touchscreen 1 GHz Ryzen 5 2600X processor 8 GB RAM 256 GB SSD storage AMD Radeon Vega 9 GPU Up to 11.5 hours of battery life
Pros:
Premium build quality Lightweight and travel-friendly Responsive touchscreen
Cons:
Sometimes overheats
Buying Guide for the Best Laptops for Graphic Design
Graphic Designing software programs like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDraw, etc., are a few of the most popular ones that most people are using these days to make creative digital artworks. However, these kinds of software require your PC to have a decent set of configurations to run smoothly and properly. That being said, if you are looking for a laptop that can handle such heavy software and let you work seamlessly, you should keep in mind a few things while buying a new laptop. In this buying guide, we will tell you about all the important factors to check in a laptop to know if it’s suitable for your work requirements or not. Hence, don’t miss out on reading this buying guide until the end as it contains quite essential information about laptops that will help you choose the best one for yourself.
Processor
Whenever you look out in the market for a new laptop, the firstmost specification that you should be checking is the processor of the laptop. Since we are looking for a laptop that is ideal for graphic designing, you can choose any laptop that features Intel Core i7 or even the i5 processors as they are powerful enough to handle such tasks. On the other hand, processors from other brands such as Apple’s M1 chip or AMD’s Ryzen series are equally powerful and highly recommended if you want to extensively use design software programs. Also, don’t forget to check the core count of the processors, as more cores simply mean better performance. For instance, a chipset with 6 cores will generally handle tasks more easily than a CPU that only has 4 or 2 cores.
RAM
Graphic Design software programs bite up a lot of space of your computer’s primary memory, especially when you are using multiple tools, and playing around with effects. That being said, you should be looking for laptops that come with at least 8GB RAM or more. To be on the safer side and freely multitask on the laptop without worrying about the lag issues, you must go for the laptops that offer 16GB onboard RAM. Although if you don’t have the budget for a 16GB model, you can look for the laptops that have 8GB pre-installed RAM, and expansion slots available so that you can upgrade them later on.
GPU
While looking for a laptop ideal for graphic designing, checking the GPU is as important as the processor. The GPU unit of the laptop is majorly responsible for how your laptop performs while you play around with designing software programs. In case you use the laptop for architecture designing, or anything else that involves 3D models, having the support from a powerful GPU makes a huge difference. That being said, you can look for the laptops that come with decent GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q, or the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU as they are some of the best value-for-money options that you can rely on. These GPUs are not only powerful enough for graphic designing work but can also provide you with a decent gaming experience as well, without hiking up the overall laptop’s cost.
Storage
While making a choice about the Storage option, the important part is to choose the right type of storage rather than concentrating on the amount. If you come across options where one laptop has an HDD, and the other has an SSD. Blindly go with the SSD laptop until and unless you need plenty of storage space. The SSD drives perform almost 3x faster than a mechanical hard drive, so it’s the best choice to pick if you want your laptop to perform fast and snappy. On the other hand, if we talk about the storage space, even the 256GB SSD is good if you are good at management. Otherwise, if you like to keep a lot of movies and other useful large files, either choose a laptop with 512GB or 1TB SSD. Or you can simply get an external HDD as they are not very expensive either.
Operating System
Choosing the operating system depends on what kind of Graphic Design software programs you want to use. If you generally use the design software that comes in the Adobe suite, it’s better to stick to a Windows laptop. On the other hand, even macOS has pretty good graphic design software options. So, in case you want to try them out, you can go for the MacBook options as well. However, do note that you can find a variety of good software programs for Windows available for free. But, in the case of macOS, you’ll definitely need to spend some extra money to use the software programs, essentially the good ones.
Display
If you are getting a new laptop for graphic designing work or any other creative tasks, it’s highly recommended to choose a laptop that has a high resolution as well as good color accuracy. When it comes to offering good color reproduction, with a brilliant range of contrast, IPS panels work the best. However, the size and the resolution may vary depending on the overall pricing of the laptop. If you are buying an expensive one, you will surely find a higher resolution display. On the other hand, even in the budget-friendly laptop, you will get at least a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution display which is good enough.
Battery Life
No matter how powerful the laptop is, if its battery life is poor, you’ll have a hard time working on it. That being said, never forget to check for the battery life, especially if you like to go out frequently and work on the go. In general, an average laptop’s battery usually lasts for about 7-8 hours. So, if you come across any options that have better battery life and last for more than 8 hours, you are going in the right direction. In the list mentioned above, we have even mentioned some of the best options that last for about a full day of usage.
Warranty
Since you spend a significant amount of your hard-earned money on a laptop, better to spend on the one that comes under a warranty. In case the laptop malfunctions or any hardware part stops working or gets damaged somehow, getting it fixed becomes easy if the laptop is under the warranty period. In fact, you’ll not even have to pay any extra charges for the repair. If you take a look at the list, we have mentioned laptop options only from the top brands as all of them offer a standard 1-year warranty for their laptops.
Conclusion
Choosing the right laptop isn’t as hard as some people think, especially when you already have a list of all the best laptops that are available in the market. As we have discussed all the details and specifications along with pros and cons about each laptop, you can simply compare them and choose the best one, whichever suits your budget. If you don’t know much about laptops, don’t forget to go through the buying guide as it contains all the information that you might need to pick a good laptop for yourself. Although all the laptops are perfect in their own way, we have a few good recommendations that you all should definitely check out:
In case you are looking for a laptop that can be used as a tablet also, the NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 laptop comes with a beautiful 15.6 inches screen and is powered by a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor coupled with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. Moreover, it delivers a whopping battery backup of about 17.5 hours, so it’s a perfect laptop for you if you like to work for longer hours. On the other hand, if you like playing games in your spare time, Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop is truly a decent option to pick. It features an Intel Core i5-9300H Processor along with 8GB DDR4 RAM, and 512GB Nvme SSD for fast performance. Moreover, thanks to the dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, you can run almost any game or any of your favorite graphic design software. If you are finding a travel-friendly and compact laptop option, we would suggest the 2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop as it comes with the latest powerful Apple M1 Chip, along with 8 GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. Moreover, it has a smaller 13 inches Retina display that looks quite brilliant as well. Despite having a small footprint, it carries a massive battery that provides 18 hours of battery life.
Comment * Name * Email * Website
Δ
