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Content creation, whether that's photo or video editing, 3D rendering, or streaming, requires a powerful PC. You see a lot of content creators on the internet nowadays, but making that work happen is challenging, and doing it efficiently means you need the hardware to get things done quickly. If you're trying to grow in this market, you're going to want a powerful PC that can keep up with the demanding workloads you'll be doing.
Now, if you're just getting started, or you just want to dip your toes into some kind of content creation, you might not need a super-powerful laptop. Most of the top-tier laptops you can buy today can handle photo editing fairly well, and video editing, while it may take a while longer, is still doable at lower resolutions. This list features laptops meant for people who want to do this professionally. They all have very fast processors and graphics cards, which means they can handle high-resolution video editing and streaming, 3D rendering, and more without a problem.
So, what are the best laptops for creators right now? Let's dive into it.
Best overall: MacBook Pro (16-inch)
Apple's MacBook family has always struck a chord with content creators, and the MacBook Pro is a prime example of that. Since Apple introduced its own custom processors for it, though, that's more justified than ever, and the latest models with the Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets are absolutely stellar machines in almost every way.
Performance is very important with a creator laptop, and the MacBook Pro delivers. The CPU in the Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max is a 12-core processor with eight performance cores and four efficient cores, delivering an unmatched combination of performance and battery life. You also get up to a 39-core GPU to accelerate those demanding workloads like 3D rendering and video editing. What's more, you can configure this laptop with up to a whopping 96GB of unified memory (RAM) and an 8TB SSD for storage.
Similarly important for content creators is the display, and once again, Apple doesn't disappoint. The MacBook Pro features a 16-inch screen (though there's also a 14-inch model that's just as good), and it comes in a super-sharp 3456 x 2234 resolution. That's probably sharper than you'll ever need for a screen of this size, and there's also a smooth 120Hz adaptive refresh rate to make everything look even better. Apple also uses a mini-LED panel with hundreds of individual dimming zones, offering an experience that's close to an OLED panel, and it can go up to a whopping 1,600 nits of peak brightness.
The only blemish on this screen is the notch in the center, but this notch houses the 1080p webcam, which has great quality, further enhanced by the image signal processor inside the Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. There's no Face ID, however, and you'll have to use Touch ID for authentication.
Design-wise, the 2023 MacBook Pro is the same as the 2021 models, but it looks sleek and feels premium, though some might feel it's a bit boring due to the only color options being Silver and Space Grey. At 16.8mm of thickness and a 4.7-pound starting weight, it's not super light, but about as portable as you can expect for such a capable laptop.
Finally, for ports, there are three Thunderbolt 4 connections, HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack, a full-size SD card reader, and a MagSafe 3 connector. A very solid setup for any long-time Apple user, allowing you to plug in some peripherals without needing adapters.
The combination of performance, battery life, and display in the MacBook Pro is simply outstanding, and it's almost impossible not to recommend it if you want to get into content creation. As long as you can afford it, of course.
Apple MacBook Pro (2023)
The 2023 MacBook Pro offers an unmatched combination of performance and battery life that you can't find on any other laptop, in addition to having a spectacular screen and a premium design.
- Apple's M2 Pro and M2 Max processors offer incredible performance and battery life
- Stunning mini-LED displays with up to 1,600 nits of brightness
- Premium design and build quality
- 1080p webcam enhanced by the ISP in the Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max
- macOS may not run all the apps you're familiar on Windows
- Expensive, especially with upgrades
- The base SSD configuration is slower than the others
Best 17-inch laptop: LG Gram 17
If you're looking for a large laptop to do your creative work, it's hard to top the LG Gram 17. LG has always made the Gram laptops great for creators, but they haven't always had the power for more demanding workloads. Thankfully, the latest iteration addressed that, and it's now a great choice for all kinds of creators.
For starters, the CPU is an Intel Core i7-1360P, a 13th-generation processor with a total of 12 cores and 16 threads, plus boost speeds up to 5GHz, which should deliver terrific performance in day-to-day use, in addition to being solid for creative work, too. This time around, that processor is backed up by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU, and while that isn't the most powerful graphics card around, it will bring a huge boost to performance in things like video editing and rendering, or workloads that require 3D rendering. It makes a very big difference. You also get up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD so you can store plenty of projects before you need external storage.
One thing LG has always done well with the Gram 17 is the display, and that holds true here, too. This 17-inch panel comes in a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you a very big canvas to work on, and the resolution is 2560 x 1600, more than sharp enough for all kinds of work on a display of this size. The screen also covers 99% of DCI-P3, so color reproduction is very good. Above that display, there's a 1080p webcam that comes complete with Windows Hello facial recognition support. This makes it even more convenient to log in to your PC.
On top of offering solid performance and a great screen, one of the highlights of the Gram 17 is in its name — the weight. Despite being a 17-inch laptop with a discrete Nvidia GPU, the LG Gram 17 manages to come in at just 3.2 pounds, meaning it's extremely easy to carry around for something of this size. It's also decently thin, at under 18mm.
As if that's not all impressive enough already, the LG Gram 17 also has a great port selection. It includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. Some might have preferred a full-size card reader, but aside from that, it's very hard to complain about a setup like this nowadays, and you have a lot of options out of the box.
The LG Gram 17 is a phenomenal laptop, and while it's a bit different, you can check out our review of the 2022 model to learn more about it. We'll be sure to have a review of the new version as soon as possible.
LG Gram 17 (2023)
The LG Gram 17 is an impressively light laptop that still packs powerful processors, discrete Nvidia graphics, and a great display for content creation.
- Much more portable than you might expect for a 17-inch laptop
- Great display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 99% coverage of DCI-P3
- 13th-generation Intel processors and discrete Nvidia graphics
- Plenty of ports
- The available configurations are high-end, so the starting price is high
- The magnesium chassis feels cheaper than aluminum
Best dual-screen creator laptop: Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED
If you're looking for something a bit more unique, the Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED fits the bill, and this design has some benefits for content creators. It's also just a great laptop overall, featuring powerful specs and great displays.
Performance-wise, the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED comes with an Intel Core i7-12700H, which has 14 cores, 20 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. That's a very powerful CPU that can handle just about any task you throw at it. Plus, the laptop also comes with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti laptop GPU with 8GB of memory, so this is definitely not lacking in power for all kinds of creative workloads. Additionally, you get 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD storage rounding things out, making for a great experience all around.
What's truly unique about this laptop is its display, or rather, displays. The main screen is a 15.6-inch panel and it's got a super sharp Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolution. It's also an OLED panel, so it can produce true blacks, vibrant colors, and high contrast ratios. This panel also covers 100% of DCI-P3, it's Pantone Validated, and it has a Delta E < 2, so it's very color accurate for creative professionals that need it.
What's truly unique is the secondary display, though. The Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED has a secondary screen, called ScreenPad Plus, above the keyboard, and it has the same width and horizontal resolution (the actual resolution is 3840 x 1100) as the main display. You can use this secondary screen to display more apps, but in some apps, it can also give you extra controls, freeing up space on your main display. For example, you may get a color wheel in Photoshop for intuitive touch-based controls.
A downside of this laptop is that, despite its price, it still has a 720p webcam, so it's not great if you need to hold meetings or if you're interested in streaming content online. It does support Windows Hello facial recognition, though, so you still have that extra convenience.
Design-wise, the Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED has to make some adjustments because of its huge secondary screen on the base. The keyboard is pushed down to the bottom half of the base, and the touchpad is actually on the side of the keyboard instead of below it. The touchpad also doubles as a number pad, something Asus also does often with its Zenbook. Between the powerful specs and the two displays, the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED weighs 5.16lbs, which is quite heavy for its size, but that's understandable with everything going on here.
Finally, for ports, the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That's a solid enough setup that covers most basic needs, and it's about as much as you can ask for when how much is already packed into the base of the laptop.
You can buy the model we described here using the link below, though other configurations also exist.
ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED
The Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED has two screens designed to help boost productivity and powerful specs that make it great for all kinds of creative workloads.
- Dual screens can greatly expand your workspace and help you work much faster
- Very powerful specs for a relatively thin design
- Beautiful 4K OLED display with touch support
- 720p webcam
- Very expensive
- Keyboard and touchpad layout takes some getting used to
Best convertible creator laptop: HP Spectre x360 16
If you're like me, you probably love the idea of a convertible laptop, where touch support is included by default and if you want to, you can use it as a tablet. If you want to combine that with a laptop that works great for content creation, the HP Spectre x360 16 may just be the answer to that.
The Spectre x360 16 lets you choose what you want to focus on, whether that's the CPU or GPU. If you want a more powerful CPU, the base model comes with an Intel Core i7-12700H, which, as we've mentioned, has 14 cores, 20 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. That's quite a to of performance for tasks that need it. If you want more GPU performance, then you can upgrade to a model with an Intel Core i7-1260P - a 28W processor with 12 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. This is a slightly slower processor, but it's paired with Intel Arc A370M discrete graphics, which can accelerate creative workloads that much more. Of course, you can also configurethe laptop with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, so you're not missing out on anything here.
Moving on to the display, the HP Spectre x360 16 continues to impress. This is a large 16-inch screen and it comes in a 16:10 aspect ratio. But perhaps more importantly, this is a very sharp display right from the base configuration, which HP calls 3K+ (3072 x 1920). It's very rare to see such a high-resolution panel on the base configuration of a laptop, and if you want great image quality, it delivers. But if that's not enough for you, you can always opt for the Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) OLED panel, which is even sharper, on top of having the benefits of OLED like true blacks and high contrast ratio.
HP also didn't hold back with the webcam, and this is one of the best cameras you'll find on a laptop. It's a 5MP sensor capable of recording 1080p video, and it's made even better by the smart features, like auto framing and lighting correction. These help ensure you look the best you can during calls, meetings, or online streams.
You're probably already familiar with the iconic design of previous Spectre x360 laptops, but this one is a bit different from past models. The Spectre x360 16 features less prominent accents, with thinner edges all around the laptop, and surfaces that curve towards those edges to make the laptop a bit more comfortable to hold. However, the dual-tone aesthetic is still here: The classic Nightfall Black model has gold accents around the edges of the chassis, trackpad, and hinges, while the Nocturne Blue model instead uses light blue for those accents, making it a bit more subdued but still interesting. As for portability, this is a large laptop so it shouldn't be too surprising that it starts at 4.45lbs of weight.
Rounding things out with ports, the HP Spectre x360 16 has a solid supply, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. It covers all the basic needs you might have, and it means you can probably go by just fine without any adapters, though you have the option to use Thunderbolt docks, too.
All in all, the HP Spectre x360 16 is a laptop that looks and feels premium, and it has the specs to match that look. Powerful processors with optional dedicated graphics, plus a stunning display make this one of the best laptops for creators.
HP Spectre x360 16
The HP Spectre x360 16 is a powerful, yet premium-feeling convertible laptop with a beautiful design and a sharp display.
- Sharp 16-inch display, with an even better OLED option available
- 5MP webcam is one of the best on any laptop
- The convertible form factor adds some versatility
- Beautiful, but subdued dual-tone design
- A bit on the heavy side
- Intel Arc graphics still need a bit more work
Best creator laptop with an OLED display: Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
Samsung has only made its debut in the creator space this year, but the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is already looking very promising. It's Samsung's most powerful laptop yet, and it comes with an AMOLED display, making it a fantastic choice for anyone wanting that extra power with a beautiful screen for content creation.
Performance-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 ultra is packing Intel's 13th-generation processors, specifically going up to a Core i9-13900H. This is one of the most powerful laptop processors on the market right now, featuring a total of 14 cores and 20 threads, plus boost speeds up to 5.4GHz which should ensure great performance for content creation workloads. On top of that, the laptop includes Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or RTX 4070 graphics, accelerating these tasks even more. This is rounded out by up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for a premium experience across the board.
Of course, as we've mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 ultra also has an AMOLED display, or Dynamic AMOLED 2X, as Samsung refers to it. It's a 16-inch panel with a very sharp resolution of 2880 x 1800, and it also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which is adaptive depending on the situation. AMOLED means you get true blacks and more vibrant colors, and getting that experience by default is really great to see, plus Samsung touts 120% coverage of DCI-P3. Above that display, you'll find a 1080p webcam, though there's no Windows Hello facial recognition here. You'll have to use the built-in fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is a departure from previous Samsung laptops in terms of design. While it looks somewhat similar, it now has an aluminum chassis, which makes it feel a lot more premium and sturdy. The laptop comes in at 3.9 pounds of starting weight, which isn't exactly light, but it's also not heavy for a 16-inch aluminum laptop. It's also relatively thin considering the specs, coming in at 16.5mm.
Coming around to the ports, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra has a very solid setup, too. It gives you two Thunderbolt 4 connections, USB Type-A, HDMI, a headphone jack, a microSD card reader. With a lot of premium laptops sacrificing ports these days, that's great to see.
It all comes together to make a great laptop for creative professionals, though it's not exactly cheap. You can check it out below.
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is a premium laptop with a stunning 120Hz AMOLED display and powerful specs for content creators.
- 16-inch AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate by default
- Powerful 13th-gen Intel processors and Nvidia 40 series GPUs
- Premium build quality and a compact design
- A little expensive
- No Windows Hello facial recognition
Best business laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5
Business and content creation don't have to be mutually exclusive, and Lenovo has done a good job of creating a laptop that can cater to both sides. The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 is a surprisingly powerful machine with the iconic ThinkPad design and features.
Performance-wise, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme is every bit a creator laptop as the best laptops on this list. It comes with 45W Intel processors up to a Core i9-12900H, a CPU that includes 14 cores, 20 threads, and boost speeds up to 5GHz, but also supports Intel's vPro technologies for business. Backing that up, you can configure it with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti laptop graphics card with 16GB of memory, ideal for creative workflows and more. Aside from that, you can configure this beastly machine with up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage, with a caveat - if you equip the laptop with a GeForce RTX 3060 or above, you're limited to a single SSD slot, and thus, only 4TB of storage.
For the display, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 packs a 16-inch panel and it has the tall 16:10 aspect ratio that's increasingly popular in laptops. The base configuration is fairly basic, being a Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) panel with 300 nits of brightness. However, you can upgrade to a Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) panel, which also has a 165Hz refresh rate, making it a bit more suitable if you also want to play games in your free time. If you're solely focused on creative work, there's an even better Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) panel with 600 nits of brightness, including optional touch support. You'll be very well served either way, so the upgrade is totally optional.
The ThinkPad X1 Extreme also doesn't cut corners with the camera. You get a 1080p camera by default, so you can expect to look quite good in meetings and video calls in general. It's a hybrid sensor, too, meaning you get Windows Hello facial recognition right out of the gate.
In terms of design, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 is everything you'd expect from a ThinkPad. It's a black laptop with red accents, and it even includes classic features like the red TrackPoint and the mouse buttons above the touchpad. The lid of the laptop also comes in a carbon fiber weave style if you upgrade to a 4K panel for a more unique touch. What's impressive here is that the laptop measures just 17.9mm thick, and it starts at 4.14 pounds of weight, which is surprising considering both the specs and the additional bells and whistles and the inclusion of the ThinkPad features we've come to expect.
Finally, in regards to ports and connectivity, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme has a fantastic setup including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and an SD card reader. That covers most basic needs, and as a bonus, this is the only laptop on this list that offers optional cellular network support. You can configure it with a Fibocom FM350-GL 5G modem for fast connectivity on the go, but there's another caveat related to the GPU - picking the GeForce RTX 3060 or higher models removes the space for the cellular modem, so you can't get the best GPU alongside 5G support.
Like many business laptops, the best option for buying the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme is straight from Lenovo's website below.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 comes packing Intel's top-tier laptop processors and high-end RTX graphics. It all comes wrapped in a classic ThinkPad design, too.
Best laptop for gamers: Razer Blade 16
Razer has been making great laptops that bridge the gap between gaming and content creation for a while now, but with its 2023 models, it's become better than ever. The Razer Blade 16 is one of the company's most powerful gaming laptops ever (alongside the Blade 18), while retaining the clean aesthetic Razer is known for.
For starters, the processor inside the Razer Blade 16 is an incredibly powerful Core i9-13950HX. That gives you a whopping 24 cores and 32 threads, giving you performance levels that one could only dream of for a laptop until recently. If that's not enough, the laptop also comes with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, which can use up to a massive 175W of power, the maximum allowed by Nvidia's design. This is an extremely powerful laptop, and it can also be configured with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage.
The display plays a big part in content creation, and Razer does a good job of catering to both gamers and creators. The base model has a Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS panel with a 24Hz refresh rate, which makes for a fantastic gaming experience already, while the 100% coverage of DCI-P3 is ideal for content creators. But if you want more, Razer also offers the option for a dual-mode mini-LED panel, which can dynamically change its resolution and refresh rate. For content creation, you can enable the 4K 60Hz mode for extra sharpness, and for gaming, you can enable a Full HD 240Hz mode so your games look that much smoother.
The Razer Blade 16 is much more powerful than its predecessors, and as a result, it is a bit bulkier. This model comes in at just under 22mm of thickness, and it starts at 5.4 pounds of weight. It's harder to carry than the Blade 15 of years past, but considering the specs you get here, it's decently portable. And it still has the clean design language Razer is known for, with a plain black chassis accented by the green Razer logo and an RGB keyboard.
As for ports, there's plenty of connectivity here. You get one Thunderbolt 4, one regular USB-C port, three USB Type-A connections, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. You have plenty of options for connecting peripherals, with Thunderbolt 4 support giving you docking options if the included ports are somehow not enough.
The Razer Blade 16 isn't a cheap laptop, especially with the configurations available at launch, which are very high-end models. However, in terms of power, it's hard to match this machine, and it's worth it if you want the best experience.
Razer Blade 16
The Razer Blade 16 is one of the most powerful gaming laptops on the market, with a 24-core CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU, plus great display options for both gamers and creators.
Best workstation: Dell Precision 7770
If power is what you want, you're not going to find more of it than what you can get with the absolute beast that is the Dell Precision 7770. Mobile workstations are all about power, and less about mobility, but they are easier to carry than a desktop PC. If that's the kind of thing you're looking for, then this is certainly the laptop for you - if money isn't an issue, of course.
To start off, the Dell Precision 7770 is powered by Intel's HX series, and it's the only laptop on this list to do so. These are 55W CPUs - nearing desktop power levels - and it reflects in performance, too. You can go up to an Intel Core i9-12900HX, which has 16 cores, 24 threads, and boost speeds up to 5GHz. It's an absolute beast of a laptop processor, though it doesn't come cheap. And because it's focused on creative work, the Precision 7770 can also be configured with professional Nvidia RTX A5500 graphics with 16GB of memory. On top of that, a whopping 128GB of maximum ECC RAM and up to four 4TB SSDs round out the insane specs inside this laptop.
Oddly enough, the display doesn't necessarily match these insane specs, at least not on the base level. It's a 17.3-inch panel and it comes in the more traditional 16:9 aspect ratio, which may seem a bit odd for a workstation. The base model also only has Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) so it's not the sharpest panel around. But if you do want a top-tier display, you can upgrade to a 4K (3840 x 2160) panel, which also has a 120Hz refresh rate, making for a fantastic visual experience on this screen. All display configurations cover 99% of DCI-P3, so at least color reproduction is very good across the board, which is important if you're a creator.
The webcam is a 1080p sensor, and that's the default configuration, so video and image quality from it should be good no matter what other choices you make. Windows Hello facial recognition is optional, however, so you'll need to pick a configuration with an IR camera if you want it.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, but these incredibly powerful specs come at a cost, and that's portability. This is a very large laptop, and it's really more of a workstation you can take from one office to another, not something you want to carry on a backpack while traveling. It's 26.7mm thick and starts at 6.66lbs, so it's really no joke. Aside from that, though, it looks pretty good, with a clean design featuring a silver exterior and a black keyboard deck that gives it some personality.
Finally, there are the ports, and there's a lot of them. Two Thunderbolt 4, one standard USB Type-C, two USB Type-A, HDMI, RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader make up the standard ports. And if you want, you can also add a Smart Card reader, too. There's really no shortage of ports here, and if you somehow need more, Thunderbolt 4 is right there so you can plug in a docking station.
This really isn't a laptop for everyone, but for the small minority who need uncompromised power in a relatively portable form factor, the Dell Precision 7770 is an amazing laptop. For 3D artists and designers, there's not much better than this.
Dell Precision 7770
The Dell Precision 7770 is a beastly workstation with incredible specs packed into a large, yet sleek-looking chassis.
- Powerful configuration options, including up to 128GB of RAM and 16TB of SSD storage
- Up to a 16-core Intel processor and Nvidia RTX A5500
- More ports than the majority of laptops
- Extremely expensive, especially with upgrades
- Bulky and hard to carry
- For something this powerful, it may make sense to wait for newer hardware
Those are what we'd consider the best laptops you can buy if you're a content creator looking for a new rig. The MacBook Pro is very hard to dethrone with its combination of incredible performance and battery life, though you may not like macOS if you're more used to Windows. If I were buying a new laptop from this list, I'd probably go with the HP Spectre x360 16 thanks to that convertible form factor, which has a versatility that's very valuable to me. However, a powerful machine like the Razer Blade 16 is also very tempting.
