Photo editing requires a lot of resources that we may not always have on the go. With the exponential development of technology, more powerful laptops are emerging. Laptops are now sufficiently powerful to run programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and other photo editing software with ease. If you’re springing for a powerful machine that can run graphic design software without hiccups, we wrote this guide listing the best laptops for Photoshop.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
While we include a long list and variety of laptops, we have an emphasis on three models we found that fit the following criteria:
- Best Overall
- Best Value
- Best Budget
If you’re not fond of the three models we highlighted as our personal favorite, there are seven more laptops that may catch your attention.
Our Recommendations
- 2021 Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch – Best Overall
- LG Gram 17 – Best In Value
- HP Envy 13 – Best Budget Laptop
- Dell XPS 17 (2021) – Best For The Eyes
- Lenovo Yoga 730 2-in-1 – Best In Sturdiness
- Asus ZenBook 13 – Best In Portability
- Asus ZenBook 14 – Best In Screen Size
- Microsoft Surface Book 3 – Best For Photographers
- Microsoft Surface Pro 6 – Best Lightweight Laptop
- HP Spectre x360 – Best In Battery Life
1. Best Overall: 2021 Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch
Apple’s MacBooks have set a standard for sleek and stylish design a long time ago and MacBook Pro 16 is no exception. It’s portable, thin, stylish, and has a larger screen than the average of 15-inch laptops. It’s perfect to carry everywhere. You can work on vacation, in a café, in a library, pretty much anywhere. Its large screen boasts a 16-inch diagonal and True Tone technology for more vibrant colors and detailed pictures, making it ideal to edit photos in software like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
It features a longer battery life – 21 hours! It also provides double the performance thanks to its 10-core CPU. Meanwhile, its 32-core CPU is able to provide four times the performance – ideal for playing games and for using applications that require intense graphics. Essentially, the Apple Macbook Pro 16 is not just perfect with Photoshop, it is the laptop that will complete your digital life.
Pros
- Beautiful and vivid display
- Top-notch performance
- Large screen
- Stylish design
- Large SSD storage
Cons
- Fairly expensive
2. Best Value: LG Gram 17
Whether you use Photoshop to add more detail to your photographs, make logos or design new things, you know that the screen size is an essential part of its design. That’s why the best value laptop in our opinion is a 17-inch LG Gram 17 – also considered one of the lightest laptops on the market because it weighs only three pounds. You won’t have to worry about transporting the laptop, it weighs less than most of the 15-inch machines.
As mentioned above, it’s equipped with a 17-inch screen with 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio, producing a crisp and detailed picture with accurate and vivid colors. It’s one of the best laptops for photoshop because its screen size offers the tiniest details crucial for the quality of a picture.
When it comes to performance, it exceeds all our expectations. It offers a respectable 8th generation i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD which should be more than enough for your regular work. The only downside is that it only comes with Intel UHD graphics, instead of a dedicated graphics card in addition to the Intel UHD 620. Another minor flaw of this model is its loud keyboard, but unless you type too much and too fast, you probably won’t even notice it.
Pros
- Large, bright, and vibrant display
- Lasting battery life
- High-end performance
- Stylish and portable design
Cons
- No dedicated graphics card
- Loud keyboard
3. Best Budget: HP Envy 13
If you’re restricted on a budget, but also like ergonomic models that can easily fit in your bag, HP Envy 13 is worth checking out. It is portable at 2.8 pounds and has an attractive chassis that makes it featherweight. It is equipped with a 13.3-inch screen.
Depending on which option you pick, you may either choose the 1080p version or 4K option, which is better if you do some advanced editing.
Smaller screens may not be everyone’s cup of tea. After all, we highlighted above how important it is for a laptop suited for photo editing to have a large screen that shows the smallest details. Nevertheless, HP Envy 13 has a bright and very detailed panel perfectly suitable for photoshop despite the size. If you aren’t on the go often, you can easily connect it to a TV or another monitor to see a better picture of what you’re doing.
Other highlights of Envy 13 include a powerful 8th generation i5-8265U which can reach speeds of 3.9 GHz in Turbo Boost, 8GB of RAM which is easily expandable to 16GB, and 256GB SSD. Additionally, you can squeeze 512GB or 1TB SSD storage for a little higher price. It’s equipped with Intel UHD 620 graphics and Nvidia GeForce MX250. Lastly, the FHD model has a great battery life, reaching nearly 11 hours of use, while the stronger 4K squeezes fewer hours.
Pros
- Lightweight and attractive
- Vivid display
- Great battery life
- Strong performance
Cons
- Small display
- A tad weaker battery life on the 4K model
4. Honorable Mention #1 -Dell XPS 17 (2021)
Dell XPS 17 is living proof of a laptop’s powerful performance thanks to its 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor. Pursue all your creative leanings with its NVIDIA RTX graphics. Its stunning screen provides edge-to-edge viewing because of its more than 921k pixels. Work for as many hours as you want because of its Eyesafe technology – it decreases the entry of blue light to the eyes while still retaining its vivid visuals.
Pros
- A great variety of spec variations.
- Stylish design
- Vivid and bright screen
Cons
- Not the lightest model
5. Honorable Mention #2 – Lenovo Yoga 730 2-in-1
Lenovo Yoga laptops have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years because they are adjustable and customizable. For photo editing, designers are often looking for a combination of both. Lenovo Yoga 730 isn’t just any 2-in-1 laptop you’ll have to take extra care of not to damage. It’s a mix of stylish, durable, high-end performance, and not overly priced.
It’s compact and weighs only 2.5 pounds. It has an IPS touch-screen display with good brightness and a vivid enough color specter to meet any of your demands. Its performance will, not only provide a great Photoshop experience but serve well in day-to-day use, coding, writing, and more, thanks to a powerful trackpad and comfortable keyboard. It folds well and has an 8-hour battery life which should be enough to complete all your daily activities.
In terms of performance, it’s equipped with a 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. There are no discrete graphics, but Intel HD 620 should be more than enough to handle most of your graphics workload. Lenovo Yoga 730 may not be the best choice for advanced photoshop performance, but it’s great for those who are after 2-in-1 experience and sturdy design.
Pros
- Stylish, customizable, and flexible
- Bright display
- Decent performance
Cons
- No discrete graphics card
6. Asus ZenBook 13
Asus ZenBook laptops gained huge popularity over the last few years thanks to its top-notch performance, ergonomic quality and sleek design. One of the best assets for every designer who is looking for the best laptops for Photoshop is that despite the screen being smaller, it boasts a 1920 x 1080 display with near-perfect viewing angles via IPS technology.
It weighs 2.6 pounds which makes it enough thin to fit in a backpack and carry it wherever you want. It has an all-aluminum body which makes it more portable and durable in the process. It has various accessories, like Micro HDMI, built-in fingerprint readers, and more.
When it comes to performance, it runs with Intel Core i5-8250U, an 8th generation chipset with 3.4GHz speed at Turbo performance. It runs 8GB of RAM and 256GB SATA 3 M.2 SSD for faster access and transfer speed. It also lasts a long time and can run the whole day thanks to 12 hours-long battery life.
Although it could boast a larger screen and dedicated graphic card like most of the models we highlighted, we still find Asus ZenBook 13 to exceed all our expectations in terms of finding a dedicated and reliable machine.
Pros
- Sleek and stylish design
- Strong performance
- Various accessories
- Long battery life
Cons
- Smaller screen
- No dedicated graphics
7. Asus ZenBook 14
The larger sibling of ZenBook 13 has much more to offer. First, it boasts an innovative design with a numeric dual-function trackpad which is something we aren’t used to seeing, as well as a sleek chassis and much more flexible use.
It has a 14-inch screen with wide viewing angles and full HD resolution. It also boasts the NanoEdge bezels which offer more screen size. The keyboard also saw various enhancements like improved typed position which is great for extended times of use. It also boasts a better cooling system for more reliable and extended use and a new audio system.
When it comes to performance, it boasts a Core i7-8565 quad-core processor with a speed up to 4.6GHz with Turbo Mode. It is equipped with 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD which offers spacious and swift performance. The screen is bright and colorful, while performance is powerful and ideal for designers and photographers who regularly use photoshop. It has a powerful battery life and offers a respectable performance of 12 and a half hours.
Pros
- Stylish and sturdy chassis
- Beautifully-designed display
- Powerful performance
- Innovative
Cons
- Uses outdated ports
8. Microsoft Surface Book 3
Microsoft Surface notebooks are ideal for photographers and designers and is one of the best laptops for Photoshop. They are ultra-thin and slim and perfect if you’re changing locations. Surface Laptop 2 weighs 6.85 pounds.
Its screen is a masterpiece, boasting beautiful color variations, vibrancy, and bright tones. It is great for editing photos in Photoshop, drawing in Illustrator, and other photo-editing software thanks to the unprecedented details.
If you’re using Photoshop more for drawing and creating digital art than editing photographs, this laptop is the right one for you.
Pros
- Slim and compact
- Sharp and precise display
- Long battery life
Cons
- Gets too hot to the touch
9. Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Another Microsoft Surface model offers the versatility of a powerful Photoshop workstation and a tablet, with a little more powerful specs. It weighs only 1.70 pounds, being among the lightest laptops we reviewed in this article. Just like its sibling, it is equipped with a vibrant and bright display, ideal for drawing and photo-editing.
It runs 8th Generation Intel Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and runs 256GB of SSD storage, which is a tad better than the model we highlighted above. The only drawback that they share is the lack of a discrete graphics card. You can work on it the whole day, given it runs with an all-day battery which can last up to 13 hours, regardless of workload.
Pros
- Sleek and flexible design
- Long battery life
- Respectable performance
Cons
- No graphics card
10. HP Spectre x360
HP Spectre x360 takes HP’s laptop performance to the next level as a result of ultra-thin design, powerhouse specs, and sharp resolution. Despite being only 13.3-inches, it offers full HD resolution, as well as UHD resolution depending on the model. Touchscreen also makes a lot of things easier.
Specs-wise, it runs an i7-8550U chipset and 16GB of RAM. Depending on which option you choose, you can choose between 256GB and 2TB of SSD, although that will affect the price. Its long battery life in combination with the killer performance is ideal for photographers, but it’s fairly expensive.
Pros
- Sleek design
- Sharp and vivid screen
- Great performance
Cons
- Overpriced
Finding the Best Laptop for Photoshop: Things to consider when buying
When on the look for a laptop you’ll use for drawing or editing photos via photoshop, illustrator, or similar software there are important factors to consider. We pinpointed those we found the most crucial.
- It’s important to look for a larger screen, preferably 15-17-inch, although smaller screens will suffice with the right resolution.
- Storage is an important factor to consider. However, it’s better to have a 256GB SSD than 1TB hard drive at low speeds.
- Preferred graphics should always be a discrete graphics cards. Intel’s integrated graphics have reached peak performance over the last years, but they still aren’t as reliable as discrete graphics processors.
Professionals who love doing all sorts of stuff with Photoshop appreciate the importance of owning or using the right laptop. To this end, most experts – including beginners too – do everything in their powers to find the best laptop for Photoshop. Obviously, you can use just about any laptop to Photoshop any photo of your choice. Nevertheless, some laptops do a much better job than others. For this reason, it is crucial that you find the best one. The choice of the laptop also depends on whether you edit photos using Photoshop for fun or for a living.
Know what to look for in a laptop for photo editing first before spending your money on it. Here are reviews of some of the best laptops to buy and use with Photoshop.
Conclusion
As we reach the end of the best laptops for the Photoshop list, we made sure to highlight the best-performing models and showcase their capabilities. When choosing the right laptop for Photoshop, it’s understandable that some important features may be lacking compared to other features. It’s okay to sacrifice specs for the sake of some other feature, like lower storage for a better screen. In the end, the final decision comes to individual consumers and demands they want to meet with a certain laptop.
Therefore, you now possess all the bits of information needed to make an excellent choice. With this information, you should no longer feel confused trying to select and buy the best laptop for Photoshop. As shown above, you have access to a wide array of products you can buy at affordable rates. You could also stop worrying about money and spend all you have on the laptop of your choice if you consider it a must-have for your work. With these laptops, you now have the main tool needed for installing and using Photoshop to impress your family, friends and clients alike.