Best Laptop For Graphic Design 2023

For a laptop to be considered best for graphic design, it should have a powerful CPU and graphics card for editing and rendering. If the performance of your laptop is not inferior, it is not fir for graphic designing. All the popular graphic design tools we know constantly get new updates, and every time the tools require more power. This begs the existence of the latest internal components in your laptops. In our round-up of best graphic design laptops 2023, you will come across some potent laptops. The laptops have the latest generation processors and graphics cards which will never say no to design tasks.

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Editor’s Top 3 Picks

Apple MacBook Pro

CPU: Apple M1
GPU: Apple M1 (14-core)
Display: 14.2 (3024×1964)

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Dell XPS 17 9710

CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU: RTX 3050
Display: 17.3 (3840×2400)

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Dell Inspiron 15 5000

CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ
GPU: GTX 1050
Display: 15.6 (1920×1080)

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What is the Best Laptop for Graphic Design?

Graphics designing surely is an intensive job, you are constantly dealing with demanding graphics-related programs. For this purpose, it is always necessary to equip yourself with suitable internals on your laptop. Now to answer queries like what is the best laptop for graphic design? What combination of GPU, Display, RAM makes a laptop suitable for graphics designing? Below is a comprehensive buying guide with all those factors discussed.

Specifications

Getting a powerful processor is always necessary for almost every scenario, whether graphics designing, video editing, 3D simulation, video gaming, or any other falling within the same category. Apart from a robust processor, getting a suitable display with size and resolutions, RAM, and GPU should be your following foremost priorities in the best graphics designing laptop.

Large Screen laptops make it easy to deal with many tasks at a time, not making the display congested. Display sizes from 15 to 17 inches are considered the most ideal for graphics design. You should consider that with a large screen, you would be required to compromise the laptop’s portability. Furthermore, it would be a plus if the laptop came with a touch display.

Display Quality is also important to consider in order to get the display ideal. For a moment, if you choose to go with a large display screen and low resolutions (HD, 720p), the display won’t feel effective. It would fall short of providing you with the crispiness that you need in graphic design. According to one’s needs, resolutions like FHD, QHD, and UHD are the best options to go with.

A Graphical Processor is what you would need all the time to have a smooth experience with graphics. Some think that a graphics card is merely used for playing high-end games, but this is not the case. You definitely need a beastly GPU when designing digital masterpieces. There are different categories of GPUs available in the market, from low, midrange, and high-end. Based on how you will be using your laptop, only buy a laptop with the dedicated graphics which you will need. Do not buy something more than you need because a high-end graphics card will definitely increase the overall price of the laptop. Why spend money when you don’t have to?

RAM is the next factor that plays an important role. A laptop with low RAM storage (4GB) isn’t ideal for nowadays demanding workloads. You must keep yourself equipped with strapping RAM storage to keep things going smoothly. 8GB and 16GB are considered suitable RAM storage to handle low to mid-range tasks. If you are in a position to build a workstation for graphics designing, you can choose or upgrade to 32GB and 64GB.

Battery Life is another important factor to consider while buying the best laptop for graphic design. As a creative professional, you won’t prefer always to plug your laptop into sockets. For this purpose, it is important to get a laptop that manages to offer you a battery backup of at least 5-6 hours. Those with 9-10 hours plus battery backup should be considered blessings.

Best Laptop for Graphic Design 2023

1. Apple MacBook Pro (2021)

Insane performance for Design

The Apple MacBook Pro with an Apple M1 chip is a laptop not suitable for ordinary use. It is specifically targeted at creative professionals. If you are a graphic designer, video editor or do similar work, you will love this laptop. Despite its power and performance, the laptop still is a portable one. It sits just 0.61 inches high above the desk and has a weight of 3.5 pounds. And since we are speaking of a 14-incher here, it is very easy to slip into your backpack. The display here is something new. We’ve never heard of this good display even on a MacBook, so it automatically becomes a good option for graphic designers. Speaking of its performance, its 14-core GPU and 8-core CPU deliver on another level. Throw any designing tool at this pretty-looking laptop, and it will handle it like a beast. And for the better part, even with all the power, its whopping 17 hours of battery backup is exceptional. In addition, unlike the last time, you get more Thunderbolt ports, and an HDMI and SDXC card slot.

2. Dell XPS 17 9710

A 17 incher on Steroids

For graphic design folks, we have added a 17-incher in our round-up. This one is an absolutely stunning large-screen laptop. You won’t need a monitor, the 17-inches (3840×2400) touch screen display is on another level of visual experience. And despite all the power, large size and huge display, the laptop is rather sleek. With its 11th Gen Intel processor and an RTX 3050 GPU, which has its own 4GB GDDR6 memory, the graphical performance of this laptop does not let you down in any tool or design scenario. The battery backup of new laptops, especially the high-end ones, has gone up. The average for such laptops is 13 hours and above. This one, however, rests at 11 hours and does not come as a surprise considering all the internals and a huge touch-enabled display. What’s new is that you only get 4 USB-C ports, all of which are Thunderbolt 4 enabled, but this requires you to use a docking station in some situations.

3. Dell Inspiron 15 5000

Budget Laptop, Dedicated GPU

The Dell Inspiron 15 5000, next on the list of best laptops for designers, is a perfect all-rounder with a 7th generation processor and powerful dedicated graphics card. You might get disappointed with its dim display and not a comfy keyboard. Apart from that, the laptop comes with a decent and good-looking build. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 comes with a large 15.6 inches FHD display screen that depicts vivid and glossy colors.

Dell Inspiron 15 5000 comes with a chunky design and has been extensively criticized for its plastic deck. Also, the screen might feel a bit sturdy with huge thick bezels around the display screen. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 weighs almost 5.66 pounds and is 0.9 inches thick. Coming toward its specifications, the Inspiron 15 comes with a 7th generation Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor. For multitasking, the machine must be equipped with a well capable RAM. The Dell Inspiron 15 has 8GB of DDR4 RAM storage that provides smooth multitasking performance. Furthermore, the system comes with 128GB of lightning-fast SSD to save your important files and provide decent processing speed. This best laptop for graphic design 2023 holds many useful input/output ports, including 3 x USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, SD card reader, headphone jack, and Ethernet jack. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 provides 8 hours of battery backup life to help professionals work longer than ever before.

4. Asus ZenBook Pro Duo

Powerful Beast, In & Out

The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, with its dual 4K display, robust core i9 processor, massive storage options, RAM and SSD, is setting benchmarks so high for its competing best laptops for designers. Professional graphics designers, artists, media content creators, etc., love ZenBook Pro Duo’s dual-screen feature, which brings massive multitasking convenience. Furthermore, with both OLED 4K resolutions touch screens, the laptop radiates perfect captivating scenes with vibrant colors and sharp details.

Speaking about the design of this best laptop for graphics designing might feel a bit chunky because of its 5.4 pounds weight and the dual screens along with a keyboard. The laptop’s display is encased in narrow bezels. This multitasking monster is meant to offer you room for working with many things at a time. Its 9th generation Intel Core i9-9980HK processor provides you with the sheer firepower to handle your intensive programs. The ZenBook Pro Duo offers you a massive 32GB of DDR4 RAM storage to manage all your workload at once smoothly. Further, it comes with a massive 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD (Solid-state drive) to store files and provide lightning-fast data processing speed. This top-rated laptop for graphic design comes with an incredible set of input/output ports to connect everything important for enhancing your creativity. The ports include a 2 x USB Type-A gen2 3.1 port, USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 known for fast file transferring (40GB’s/Sec), an HDMI 2.0 port, and an audio jack. The ZenBook Pro Duo isn’t impressive with a battery backup, but it’s equally justifiable with a 4K dual screen. It provides a battery backup of almost 4 hours.

5. Apple MacBook Pro (2019)

Macbook on Steroids

The Apple MacBook Pro 16 is a fantastic choice for creative professionals with great power potential under its deck. Whether you ask for performance, glossy looks with design, sparkling large display screen, latest ports for faster file transfer, or extended day battery life, the MacBook 16 won’t surely disappoint you in any department. This best MacBook for graphic design comes with a massive 16-inch Retina display screen with 3071 x 1920 resolutions that produce 500 nits of brightness and true-to-life colors with the help of the P3 color gamut.

The display screen is encased in four-sided narrow bezels, making it even more immersive. Though the Apple MacBook Pro costs way more than others on the list but pays for the price with actual workstation-like performance. This best laptop for graphic design produces ultimate performance with its 9th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB fast RAM storage that provides smooth multitasking performance while dealing with commanding programs at a time. The MacBook 16 holds 512GB of lightning-fast SSD to save your files. You are getting a powerful AMD Radeon 5200M graphics card that provides a lag-free experience when dealing with extensive graphics. A useful combination of input and output ports are as crucial as any other specification in the best laptop for graphics designing, as they provide you with a room to connect essential display peripherals. The MacBook 16 Pro holds 4 USB Type-C ports of Thunderbolt 3 standards. The laptop is built with a magical keyboard of 1 mm key travel for fast and convenient typing. The top-rated Apple laptop for graphics designers, the Apple MacBook provides 11 hours of long-lasting battery backup.

6. Asus Vivobook Pro 17

17 inch Graphic Design Laptop

The Asus Vivobook Pro 17 is next among these powerful graphic design laptops. It is a machine with fantastic performance, classy looks, a 1080p massive display, exciting and easy to type-on backlit keyboard. The only flaw you may witness in Asus Vivobook Pro 17 is its short-term battery life. The laptop’s display radiates amazing colors with enough details making a better overall multimedia experience.

The ASUS VivoBook Pro 17 weighs around 4.85 pounds, measures 0.8 inches in thickness, and comes with plastic frames around the display screen. Furthermore, it has a brushed aluminum lid. From a portability point of view, the laptop is just fine with its weight but has a huge display. Speaking about the specs of this graphic design laptop, it comes with a handy Intel Core i7-8565U processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB of fast SSD. The Nvidia’s GeForce MX150 graphical processor is there to help the creative professional with smooth and rich graphics. Getting a useful plethora of input and output ports is indeed a plus. The VivoBook 17 provides a USB Type-C port, USB Type-A 3.0, an HDMI, and a headphone/microphone jack. It also comes with a tremendous ergonomic backlit keyboard with well-placed keycaps. The ASUS Vivobook 17 Thin lasts almost 4 hours with a single recharge.

7. Microsoft Surface Book 2

Detachable, with Stylus

Microsoft Surface Book 2 is another best graphic design laptop 2023 with a powerful processor, greater display performance, and above-average battery life. The Microsoft Surface Book 2 can be used in tablet, laptop, and studio mode because of its flexible hinges and overall ergonomic design. For professional graphics designers, it is necessary to get useful resolution to enhance their creativity. The Surface Book 2, with its 3240 x 2140 resolutions 15.6 inches display screen, radiates accurate colors and great details.

The Microsoft Surface Book 2 design, thanks to its flexible hinges that make it easy for us to use the laptop in several modes. Also, the brushed aluminum deck looks amazing with a backlit punchy keyboard with an exceptionally low key-travel. Next comes the Microsoft Surface Book 2 specification. It comes with an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8650U processor that perfectly works for low-end to high-end workloads. Graphics designers must look for demanding RAM to deal with ongoing intensive tasks. The Surface Book 2 holds 16GB of massive RAM storage and 512GB of SSD (Solid-state drive). The story doesn’t end here; this best graphic design laptop for students is equipped with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card to assist professional gamers. Surface Book 2 provides a useful number of input/output ports, including two USB 3.1, USB Type-C 3.1, SDcard reader, microphone/headphone jack. One thing that is impressive about the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is its long-lasting battery life. It provides 17 hours of battery backup on a single recharge.

8. Asus ROG Strix Scar III

Gaming/Graphics Duo

Even though the Asus ROG Strix Scar III is made especially for high-end video gaming, it equally contributes solid performance to a graphics designer. Asus ROG Strix Scar III is one of the best laptop for video editing and graphics designing with raw performance. Its huge battery backup, powerful graphics card, 240Hertz refresh rate, low key-travel keyboard, and decent speakers all put together to give you a complete package. The 15.6 inches FHD (full high definition, 1920 x 1080) resolutions display radiates vividly bright colors with a response time of 3 milliseconds and a smooth refresh rate of 240hertz.

The Asus ROG Strix Scar III packs a premium aluminum brushed design with a gray hood. The laptop with RGD lights around its deck seems interesting. The carbon fiber deck makes the overall design more attractive. The laptop holds a 9th generation Intel Core i7-9750H sturdy processor, massive storage options with 16GB RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD (Solid-state drive) to hold your files and provide a rapid fast processing speed. The ROG Strix Scar III for gamers and creative professionals, it has Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. Furthermore, the machine offers you a decent combination of ports, including 3 x USB Type-A ports, mini DisplayPort, microphone/headphone jack, USB Type-C, an HDMI port, and a power jack. The laptop comes with a satisfying keyboard that possesses low key-travel. Speaking about battery backup, with this many powerful specifications, you can’t expect a laptop to provide you with a long day battery life, Strix Scar III offers you 5 hours with a single recharge.

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Conclusion

Choosing the best laptop for graphic design 2023 isn’t surely an easy job for a layman. It urges to be fully clear with requirements. For this purpose, we have included a list of the 8 best graphics designing laptops each discussed in detail from design to specifications. Furthermore, a useful guide is included with all key factors that can easily lead you to the best pick.
Good Luck!