The best laptop for photo editing can rival traditional desktops when it comes to raw horsepower. Here are our top picks.
If you’re in the market for the best laptops for photo editing, then you’ll need the best processor, the best graphics card, and the fastest RAM. But, you’ll need more than that. After all, great performance is just the first part of having an uninterrupted workflow for a photographer. Besides having a lot of power, a great laptop for photo editing needs to have an excellent display, particularly one that reproduces contrasts and colors accurately so that whatever you’re working on translates properly. And, since you’ll most likely be working with photos in a higher resolution, you’ll need a SSD that’s fast and has an adequate amount of storage. A laptop for photographers will also need to be comfortable to use, so a quality keyboard and trackpad are vital. Lastly, there are some other features to consider, such as the amount and type of ports available so that you can connect your peripherals. Though most photographers will gravitate towards one of the best MacBooks, there are plenty of top-notch Windows alternatives that can handle your projects as well. A number of them even make our best laptops list. Whatever notebook you end up choosing, you’ll end up with an excellent portable for photo editing. They’ll handle anything you can throw at it, whether you use Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or a free photo editor to do your editing. Make sure to check out our exclusive price comparison tool to find the best deals on a photo editing laptop. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, some great Black Friday Laptop Deals might help you save some money when pressing that buy button. There are a number of reasons that the MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2021) is such a fine machine for photographers and photo editors. From the inclusion of an SDXC and 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports to an extremely stunning display with a very wide color range, not to mention its incredibly powerful internals, it’s a pleasure to work on. It also comes with a stellar battery life that won’t throttle your performance when unplugged so it’s ideal for using in the field as well. Of course, it comes with quite the price tag but that’s too be expected for a laptop as powerful as this. The MacBook Pro has truly made its complete transformation as a laptop for creative professionals with the launch of the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) and its 16-inch counterpart. Armed with the new M1 Pro and M1 Max, this compact laptop impresses with breathtaking power – the kind that deserves the most intensive creative workloads – and an equally breathtaking battery life. Of course, Apple then rounds it all out with its XDR display with 1600 nits of peak brightness and a wide color gamut, an SD card slot, an HDMI port, and three Thunderbolt 4 ports (all of which can stay available thanks to MagSafe charging being back.) If you’re looking for the best laptop for photo editing overall, look no further. One of the most powerful mobile workstations out there, the Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021) comes with a lot of power, a gorgeous display, and a whole lotta ports. Best yet, it’s priced well below its less-powerful rivals, making it a better proposition even if you have a more flexible budget. It isn’t by any means perfect. The battery life could use a bit of a boost, for example. But, for how much you’re paying and for the other things you’re getting in return, it’s a minuscule sacrifice. The Dell XPS 15 might just be incredible enough to tempt hardcore Mac users. It’s easily the best laptop for photo editing at present, and in a lot of ways, the best laptop (period). Combining staggering power in a stylish thin and light chassis, this laptop doesn’t hold back when it comes to internals and features that improve your computing experience overall. Among those amazing features are a gorgeous bright display with 500 nits of brightness, an extremely comfortable keyboard, impressive speakers, and a terrific trackpad. We’re not saying that this laptop is perfect, but our coveted 5 out of 5 rating should speak for itself.
