Laptops have become an essential tool for creative professionals. Whether you’re a graphic designer, photographer, videographer or artist, having the right laptop can make a huge difference in your ability to bring your visions to life. The latest models offer powerful specs, brilliant displays, and long battery life – everything you need to unleash your creative potential.
In this blog post, we’ll count down the top 5 best laptops for creative professionals in 2024. We’ll look at key factors like performance, display quality, portability and price. Read on to find the perfect laptop to supercharge your creative workflow.
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Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021)
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is a powerhouse laptop built for creative professionals. It comes equipped with Apple’s blazing fast M1 Pro or M1 Max chips, up to 64GB of unified memory and a stunning 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display. This combination of performance and gorgeous visuals makes it an excellent choice for tasks like video editing, 3D modeling, animation, photography and graphic design.
Some key features of the 16-inch MacBook Pro:
- Available with M1 Pro or M1 Max chip: Offers up to 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU for lightning fast performance. Can handle multiple heavy creative applications with ease.
- Up to 64GB of unified memory: Massive memory capacity ensures smooth multitasking and working with large files.
- 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display: Beautiful and color accurate screen with extreme dynamic range, 1 billion colors and 1600 nits peak brightness. Perfect for HDR content creation.
- Multiple ports including SD card slot, HDMI and Thunderbolt 4: Allows for easy connectivity and transferring of files.
- Up to 21 hours of battery life: Excellent battery allows for all-day use away from a power outlet.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro has immense power for tackling any creative workload. The stunning display combined with awesome performance makes it the best laptop for creative pros in 2024. The only downside is the high price, starting at $2499. But for serious creators, it’s worth every penny. Being expensive, your search history may include lots of ‘where to sell my laptop’ to give away your old PC or laptop.
2. Dell XPS 15 (2022)
The latest Dell XPS 15 continues to be an amazing Windows laptop for creative professionals. The 2022 model comes equipped with 12th gen Intel Core i7 or i9 processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, a gorgeous 15.6 inch 4K+ OLED touch display, and beefy performance for tackling demanding creative tasks.
Some important highlights of the Dell XPS 15 (2022):
- 12th gen Intel processors: Available with up to i9-12900HK CPU which is blazing fast and perfect for creative workflows. Handles CPU intensive tasks like 3D modeling, CAD and video editing easily.
- RTX 3050 Ti 4GB GPU: Makes the laptop capable of GPU accelerated tasks like 3D rendering and GPU based AI/ML workloads. Can even handle some light gaming.
- 15.6 inch 4K+ OLED touch display: Vibrant 4K OLED panel with touch support, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, 500 nits brightness and HDR 400 True Black certification. Excellent for photography, video and graphics work.
- Superb build quality: Machined aluminum chassis with carbon fiber or glass fiber interior. Stunning and slim design with choice of colors.
- Thunderbolt 4 ports: For superfast data transfers and connectivity. Can also charge devices and connect external monitors.
Priced at around $1999, the Dell XPS 15 combines performance, display quality and premium build quality. Easily among the best laptops for architects, designers, illustrators and other creative professionals and searching for ‘where to sell my laptop’ is better to afford this laptop.
3. LG Gram 17 (2022)
The LG Gram 17 is an ultra-lightweight 17-inch laptop that offers an excellent combination of portability, display size and performance. Weighing just 2.98 lbs despite the large screen, it’s extremely easy to carry around in a bag or backpack.
Here are some of the key features of LG Gram 17:
- 17 inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS display: Large, sharp and vivid 17-inch screen with 16:10 aspect ratio. Provides ample screen real estate for creative software.
- Intel 12th gen processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics: Latest CPU and GPU deliver good performance for creative apps and some light graphics work. Configurable up to i7-1260P.
- Up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD: Fast and ample memory for smooth creative workflows.
- 80Wh battery for up to 19.5 hours usage: Excellent battery life rating thanks to the low power consumption Intel processor. Easily lasts a full work day on single charge.
- Weighs just 2.98 lbs: Extremely portable for a 17-inch laptop. Can be easily carried around without any fatigue.
If you need a big screen laptop with great portability and don’t require heavy duty performance, the LG Gram 17 is a suitable choice for graphic artists, designers and other creative pros. It provides desktop-like screen space in a super lightweight chassis. Priced at around $1549, it gives excellent value for money. To ensure that price is not an issue, creative professionals search for ‘where to sell my laptop’ so that they can increase the budget.
4. Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio is a highly capable portable workstation built for creative professionals who demand both performance and versatility. Its standout feature is the dynamic woof hinge that allows adjusting the touchscreen into laptop, stage or studio modes.
Here are some of its best features for creative work:
- Hinge allows laptop, stage and studio modes: Adjustable design lets you sketch, draw and paint in studio mode, perfect for digital art creation.
- 11th gen Intel quad core processors and NVIDIA RTX GPUs: Excellent performance for running intensive creative software and workflows. Configurable up to i7-11370H CPU and RTX 3050 Ti GPU.
- 14.4 inch 120Hz touch display: High refresh rate provides a smooth stylus input experience. Vibrant and accurate colors.
- Thunderbolt 4 ports for fast data transfers: Help speed up file transfers and connections with external storage or displays.
- Long battery life of up to 18 hours: Enables all-day unplugged creative work.
Starting at $1599, the Surface Laptop Studio is pricey but offers one of the most flexible and powerful platforms for unleashing creativity through digital drawing, painting, 3D modelling or video production. This makes the laptop expensive and you can start searching for where to sell my laptop to get it under budget. The unique hinge and touchscreen combined with strong performance make it one of the top laptop picks for creative pros in 2024.
Comparison of Key Specs
Here is a table comparing some of the key specs of the top 5 creative laptops:
| Laptop | CPU | GPU | RAM | Storage | Display | Battery Life | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 16″ | Apple M1 Pro/Max | Up to 32-core GPU | Up to 64GB | Up to 8TB SSD | 16″ 3024×1964 Mini-LED | Up to 21 hrs | 4.7 lbs | $2499+ |
| Dell XPS 15 | 12th gen Core i7/i9 | Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti | Up to 32GB | Up to 2TB SSD | 15.6” 3840×2400 OLED | Up to 12 hrs | 4.3 lbs | $1999+ |
| LG Gram 17 | 12th gen Core i7 | Intel Iris Xe | Up to 16GB | Up to 1TB SSD | 17″ 2560×1600 IPS | Up to 19 hrs | 2.98 lbs | $1549+ |
| Surface Laptop Studio | 11th gen Core i7 | Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti | Up to 32GB | Up to 2TB SSD | 14.4” 2400×1600 IPS | Up to 18 hrs | 3.83 lbs | $1599+ |
| Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel | 11th gen Core i7 | Nvidia RTX 2050 | 16GB | 512GB SSD | 15.6” 3840×2160 IPS | Up to 9 hrs | 4.63 lbs | $1699 |
Conclusion
The latest laptops provide exceptional performance and stunning displays to meet the needs of today’s creative professionals. After considering your specific workflow and usage needs, the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch, Dell XPS 15, LG Gram 17, Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel stand out as some of the top options to unleash your creative potential. Just don’t forget to properly sell your existing laptop once your new powerhouse creative machine arrives! Sell use electronic devices