Today, laptops offer plenty of functionality that almost match that of desktop PCs. This can make laptop shopping a bit chaotic, and especially when you have a specific agenda for it.
However, one thing is for sure: Video editing, such as with Adobe After Effects, demands specific hardware specifications, that not all laptops can fulfill. We’ve gone ahead and evaluated the the Top 8 Laptops for After Affects.
If you are interested in our criteria for selection, jump to this section below.
Our Product Recommendations
- NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 – Best Overall
- Apple MacBook Pro 13.3″ with Retina Display – Best For Heavy Workloads
- Newest HP Spectre x360 15t Touch 10th Gen Intel i7 – Best For Those Who Require Precision
- Yoga 720 – Best For Multitasking
- Dell XPS 9570 – Best For Creativity
- Razer Blade 15 Advanced Gaming Laptop 2024 – Best Display Rates
#1 –NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3
If you are not only looking for the best laptop for After Effects but also for processing power, the Microsoft Surface Book 3 is the product for you. It is faster than the previous Surface Book 2 and boasts more than 15 hours of battery life. The laptop is robust and portable too. It also offers all the connections you will ever need as well as an SD card slot.
#2 – Apple MacBook Pro 13.3″ with Retina Display
Not a Microsoft Windows fan? You are not alone, especially in the graphic design/videography community. But this is not a problem with the New MacBook Pro, released January, 2024.
The MacBook Pro 13.3″ offers a retina display and a powerful M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and GPU. Its specifications all speak of its competency: 16GB unified memory, 16-core Neural Engine, and 512GB SS storage. Do your heavy workload and expect the MacBook Pro to help you complete it 2.8 times faster than previous generations.
#3 – Newest HP Spectre x360 15t Touch 10th Gen Intel i7
The Newest HP Spectre x360 15t Touch 10th Gen Intel i7 is specially made to change the way you think and work. The craftsmanship given to produce this digital masterpiece will inspire you to equally create your own artistic effects. Its powerful processor and battery life bring you up to speed with excellence and quality. Edit images with precision and creativity.
#4 – Yoga 720
This Lenovo beast has an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti GPU and a Core i9 processor. Harmoniously, the screen pad is built into the touchpad to make multitasking easy. So far, the Yoga 720 is among one of the most powerful pen-enabled PCs while coming with a rather decent price tag when you compare the other laptops we’ve reviewed. Other great features of the Yoga 720 include a long battery life battery and an optional 4K screen model.
#5 – Dell XPS 9570
If power is your priority, the Dell XPS 9570 is the laptop that is sure to fulfill your artistic requirements. Plus, Dell makes it easy for you to work any time of the day, even in the wee hours of the night, thanks to its backlit keyboard. It also boasts 32GB DDR4 RAM and 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX. A built-in integrated widescreen webcam with an HD 720P adds to its functionality.
#6 – Razer Blade 15 Advanced Gaming Laptop 2024
The Razer Blade 15 is not just a gaming laptop, it is the perfect device for After Effects thanks to its 11th Gen Intel Core H Series processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series GPU. Enjoy excellent graphics and refresh display rates of up to 360 Hz. Its speed and performance are concentrated within its fifteen-inch chassis.
That’s it for our list! If you are interested in our selection criteria, read more below:
What Makes a Good Laptop for After Effects?
For the Central Processing Unit (CPU), the more cores your CPU has, the higher the capability to process data and give you a good overall performance. On the other hand, the Random Access Memory (RAM) is crucial as well since this is where data is temporarily stored before being processed. As video files can be large, you’d want a RAM that can have your back all through. However, if your laptop comes with a dedicated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), you can comfortably smile during video editing as the GPU is the all-father in video editing. Thus, it is essential to have a laptop with a dedicated GPU since it handles all things graphics more effectively than laptops lacking GPUs. It would be folly to forget screen resolution as well, especially since 4K videos are gaining popularity by the day.
Boiling down to the actual specifications of the laptop can become a bummer because different people have different needs. If your intended function for the laptop is to create professional videos for a YouTube channel, for instance, your requirements would be higher than that of someone who creates 2-minute videos with the aid of Adobe After Effects. However, it creates a clear picture of what you need to look for when choosing a laptop. With that said, below is a review of some of the coolest laptops for After Effects that would put things into perspective and help you decide.
Are These The Only Factors for Selecting a Laptop?
Certainly not. The features of a good laptop are somewhat simple for less-demanding computer users. Since laptop preferences are often personal, it is important to consider other general specifications before settling for a specific laptop. Things such as the preferred brand, the input, and output ports should also be taken into account as they will dictate the ease with which you can share your content with other people. Details such as physical size, storage capacity, connectivity, and speed of RAM play an important role too, but you can bet that most laptops mentioned above already have the best features.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, if you are looking for a good laptop for After Effects, you will most certainly need one that meets the minimum requirements for the program to run. However, you can never go wrong with a laptop that is already fitted with a GPU. As you have noticed from the laptops reviewed above, multi-core processors and at least 16GB of RAM keep repeating. Hard disk space was not greatly focused on because almost all laptops with the minimum specifications for After Effects come with at least 256GB of Hard Disk Drive space which is considered sufficient for the installation of After Effects and also for storage of video projects. Of course, as with most software products, there is usually a give or take, and Adobe After Effects is no exception. Supposing you fall short of the minimum system requirements After Effects might still run, but the experience may not be all that pleasant. While the general narrative has been to choose a laptop with a decent GPU, you should not forget that a fast CPU will also improve your overall experience during the video editing process.