1. The list in brief
2. Best Overall
3. Best Under $1000
4. Best Under $1500
5. Best 2-in-1
6. Best MacBook
7. Best Workstation
8. Benchmark Comparisons
9. Recent Reviews
10. How to choose a laptop for Photoshop
11. FAQs
12. How We Test Laptops for Photoshop
13. Why Trust Laptop Mag
The best laptops for Photoshop offer a seamless editing experience and an exceptional display, meaning high-end hardware. Still, there is a wide range of laptops that can handle Photoshop effectively, so I have options starting at around $1,000 and scaling up to $2,500 and beyond, depending on your needs and budget.
My top pick is the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 due to its outstanding performance and one of the most gorgeous displays on any laptop in 2024. If you need something a little more portable or affordable, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is my recommendation. If budget is no object, the MacBook Pro 16-inch M4 Pro or M4 Max are powerful and long-lasting, while the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 is a high-performance Windows workstation.
At Laptop Mag, we review over a hundred laptops yearly, testing their processing power, graphics handling, and display quality. The laptops on this list combine top-tier displays with powerful CPU and GPU combos to help you find the Photoshop powerhouse you need.
While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, many online retailers' sales are extended through the Holiday season. So, if you need a new laptop for photo editing, you haven't missed your chance.
The Quick List
Best laptop for Photoshop overall
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 features a stunning 16-inch display, an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. It’s got the display and the power to tackle any Photoshop task with ease.
The best laptop for Photoshop under $1,000
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is one of our favorite budget laptops for a reason. Packaging a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, solid integrated graphics, 16 GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, it can easily tackle all your Photoshop needs.
The best laptop for Photoshop under $1,500
The Acer Swift X 14 (2024) offers powerful graphics and performance with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and Nvidia RTX 4070 combination, plus a stunning CineCrystal OLED display panel.
The best 2-in-1 laptop for Photoshop
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) combines a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, 2TB SSD, and 32GB of memory to be a photo editing dream.
The best MacBook for Photoshop
The MacBook Pro 16-inch with the M4 Pro chipset is powerful enough to handle any Photoshop tasks you may need and features an astoundingly bright Liquid Retina display to make your photos look better than ever.
Best workstation laptop for Photoshop
The HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 is a powerful workstation laptop designed to handle 3D rendering, professional-grade photo and video editing, and it has the powerhouse Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada Generation GPU to match.
Madeline Ricchiuto has covered software and hardware of all kinds over the years. She joined Future in 2019 as a tester in the hardware testing lab and moved to Laptop Mag in 2024.
The best laptops for Photoshop in 2024
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Best Laptop for Photoshop Overall
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 is a nearly perfect laptop for content creators thanks to its gorgeous display, strong performance, powerful discrete graphics, and respectable battery life. It also houses a nice bouncy keyboard and is only held back by its minimal configuration options and dismal audio.
✔️You want the power of discrete Nvidia RTX graphics: Combined with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU under the hood of the Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 gets you impressive content creation performance for intricate photo filters, 3D effects, and powerful AI features.
✔️You want one of the most gorgeous OLED panels we've seen: The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i's OLED display panel is stunning, covering an impressive 105.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
✖️ You want to use it for video editing: The Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 has a fantastic display, but the audio is sub-par. You could opt for a set of studio headphones, but, if you're making videos for YouTube or social media, you want to know how your video sounds on laptop or phone speakers. And in that case, the Yoga Pro 9i will only do you a disservice.
✖️You need a budget-friendly laptop: While the Yoga Pro 9i offers incredible value for the money, it isn't cheap. If you're on a tight budget we'd recommend one of the more economical choices on this list.
There's little not to love about the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9. It features a gorgeous display, powerful processor, solid discrete graphics, and enough memory and storage for creators of all skill levels. It even comes with decent battery life and a comfortable, bouncy keyboard.
Rami Tabari said in our review, "I love a display with a little kick. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i’s 16-inch, 3200 x 2000, 165Hz panel is gorgeous. It’s reasonably bright and offers a vivid wave of color."
The Yoga Pro 9i covers 105.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is well above the premium laptop average (91.2%). Its display is far better than similar laptops like the HP Spectre x360 16 (87.1%), Dell XPS 14 OLED (79.9%), and Apple MacBook Air (77.8%).
The Yoga Pro's powerful combination of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card provide enough power for even the most demanding projects. The Yoga Pro 9i also lasted a respectable 9 hours and 51 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which is far more than many similarly packaged laptops.
The Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 base model costs just $1,482 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The fully specced $2,043 version provides an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with an RTX 4060 GPU and a 16-inch, 3.2K, Mini-LED display. Our preferred middle-of-the-road spec costs just $1,784.
See our full Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 review.
Best Laptop for Photoshop Under $1000
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) combines a powerful Intel Core Ultra 100H series processor, strong Intel Arc integrated graphics, 8-16GB of DDR5 memory, and up to 1TB of storage with a gorgeous 14-inch FHD OLED touchscreen. And the starting configuration comes in at just $799.
✔️You want the best value of performance, crisp OLED visuals, and wallet-friendly price point: Not only is the starting configuration just $799, the upgraded spec is just $1,049 and the Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) is frequently discounted in sales. And with an Intel Core Ultra 100H series processor and crisp 14-inch FHD OLED touchscreen, who can argue with that pricetag?
✔️You prefer long battery life over pure GPU power: The Zenbook 14 OLED lasted nearly 16 hours on our battery test, which is enough to work untethered for an entire day even with high-intensity programs like Photoshop open in the background.
✖️You need powerful 3D rendering capabilities: The Zenbook 14 OLED only has an integrated Intel Arc GPU, so while it can handle basic Photoshop tasks like object selection, and adjusting brightness and color levels, it will be a bit slow with 3D rendering. If you need a lot of 3D effects, we recommend opting for a laptop with a discrete GPU.
✖️You need a high panel brightness to work outdoors: The Zenbook 14's OLED panel is more than enough to handle most indoor glare, but if you need to work outside under the bright sun it's 339 nits of full-panel brightness just won't cut it. We recommend opting for a non-OLED display if high peak brightness is necessary for your workflow.
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is one of those laptops that can do just about anything, and it continuously astounds us just how budget-friendly this absolute powerhouse is. With power performance, solid graphics, and almost 16 hours of battery life, we have good reason to love the Zenbook 14 OLED as much as we do.
Madeline Ricchiuto said in our review, "The display panel on the Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) looks incredible. Watching the new trailer for Chris Pine vehicle The Poolman gave us crisp, vibrant colors, particularly in the scenes shot outdoors in LA during what appears to be a Lunar New Year celebration."
Starting at just $799, this laptop has a powerful Intel Core Ultra 5 135H processor with 8GB of DDR5 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch FHD OLED panel. But if you can flex your budget just a bit more to the higher-end spec, at just $1,049, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB of SSD storage.
The Zenbook 14 OLED's display could be brighter and more vibrant, but with a DCI-P3 rating of 79.8%, it is comparable to most other laptops in its category, such as the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 (77.8%) and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405M (81.7%).
But the Zenbook 14 OLED is more than its display panel. Surviving a shocking 15 hours and 52 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, it is one of the longest-lasting Intel laptops we've seen this year. Considering how budget-friendly this laptop is and how well it handles Photoshop, you can't go wrong with it.
See our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) review.
Best Laptop for Photoshop Under $1500
The Acer Swift X14 (2024) starts at just $1,099 though we recommend going at least for the $1,299 spec as it gets you an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor and Nvidia RTX 4050 discrete graphics card. But the ultimate selling point of the Swift X 14 is its 14-inch CineCrystal OLED display panel.
✔️You want powerful, reliable performance on a budget: The Swift X 14's mid-range configuration is an incredible value for the power of an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, and 14-inch CineCrystal OLED display. While you can upgrade it to our top-line configuration for $1,699, you don't need the extra power for most Photoshop tasks.
✔️You need a laptop with a discrete GPU that won't break your back carting it around: Weighing an astonishingly light 2.6 pounds, the Swift X 14 is incredibly portable, and its 14-inch chassis will fit in most laptop bags or backpacks. So, you don't have to worry about wrecking your posture if you take the Swift X 14 on a plane or to a work event.
✖️You need a laptop that can go a full day away from an outlet: If your work frequently takes you away from power outlets, the Swift X 14 may not be the ideal content creation laptop. While its 7.5 hours of battery life is impressive considering the discrete Nvidia RTX GPU it houses, the Swift X 14's battery won't make it a full workday if you've got power-hog applications like Photoshop open all day.
✖️You need a more powerful GPU than an RTX 4070: The Swift X 14 can be configured with an RTX 4050 to an RTX 4070, but if you need a workstation-level GPU for your content, it's best to opt for a dedicated workstation laptop as the configurations of the Swift X 14 top out with the RTX 4070.
With the base model starting at just $1,099, the Acer Swift X 14 is a powerful, budget-friendly option for someone who needs a bit more 3D rendering capacity for their Photoshop needs. The mid-range model combines a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with a workhorse Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, plus 16 GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and retails for just $1,299. This mid-range model will get you similar performance at a lower cost without making any sacrifices to the display.
Madeline Ricchiuto said in our review, "The glossy CineCrystal OLED display on the Acer Swift X 14 looks fantastic to the human eye. The colors are bright and vivid, though the display panel does suffer from glare, especially with overhead office lighting."
However, if you'd like more memory, storage, and a more powerful GPU, you can get our preferred Swift X 14 configuration for just $1,699. That gets you an Nvidia RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.
The CineCrystal display on the Swift X 14 is rated by Acer to 100% coverage on the DCI-P3 format. Our lab display test measures OLED panels a bit differently, so our testing indicated that the Swift X 14 covered 79.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro (81.4%) and HP Spectre x360 14 (85.8%) outperformed the Swift X 14 in our lab testing, but the Swift X 14's display looked incredible to the eye. In addition, the Swift X 14 offers a powerful Nvidia RTX 4050 to 4070 GPU, making it a better fit for more in-depth Photoshop work.
Based on the Laptop Mag battery test, the Swift X 14 with an RTX 4070 GPU can last for 7 hours and 33 minutes while surfing the web at 150 nits of brightness. While that isn't the best battery life for a laptop on this list, it's not bad for a laptop packing a discrete GPU and OLED display panel.
See our full Acer Swift X 14 review.
Best 2-in-1 Laptop for Photoshop
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) is a perfect storm of performance, impressive battery life, and a gorgeous OLED display. It may be a bit pricey, but the benefits far outweigh the minimal drawbacks and nearly $2K sticker price.
✔️You want a sleek, portable 2-in-1 for the ultimate photo editing flexibility: With a sleek, modern design and sturdy 2-in-1 hinges, the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) offers the best combination of fine-tuned touchscreen controls and a full keyboard and touchpad setup. And it weighs just 3.2 pounds.
✔️You want excellent performance and a stunning 2.8K OLED: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor and 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen combination on the HP Spectre x360 can handle just about any photo editing you may need to handle.
✖️You need more than a few ports: The HP Spectre x360 has had a port shortage for quite some time now, which makes it a difficult choice if you need a lot of accessories for your photo editing setup. Of course, you can always add more ports with a portable docking station.
✖️You need more than 11 hours of battery life: If you plan to work overtime on location frequently, you may find that the impressive 11 hours of battery life the HP Spectre offers isn't enough. In which case we do have some other options for you on this list.
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) has 2-in-1 flexibility to be a fantastic portable photo editing laptop. With a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen, a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD, this laptop is a clear win for HP and a great choice for Photoshop enthusiasts. It has all the power of a high-end laptop with the fine-tuned touchscreen finesse of a tablet.
Rami Tabari said in our review, "A culmination of greatness comes along once in a while to grace my presence, and today that’s the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)."
The 14-inch 2.8K OLED display is stunning, covering 85.8% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and fills every pixel with the expected OLED vibrance. With an average peak brightness of 366 nits, this powerful and portable 2-in-1 has a high-quality display that will make editing your photos on the go a breeze.
While the $1,858 price tag may be steep for some, getting an impressive OLED panel with a high-performance Intel CPU, upgraded RAM, and 2TB of storage space for under $2,000 feels like a steal. While the Spectre x360 lacks a discrete GPU, Intel's most recent Arc iGPUs handle even multi-layered Photoshop work with ease.
While some 2-in-1 laptops sacrifice batter life to fit in a slim convertible chassis, the HP Spectre x360 14 gets you the best of both worlds, lasting an impressive 11 hours and 1 minute on the Laptop Mag battery test. While 11 hours of battery life isn't the longest battery capacity for a laptop on this list, it's more than enough for a full day of work. Combined with the versatility of the convertible hinges and its vivid OLED display, the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) is the ideal 2-in-1 for Photoshop.
See our full HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) review.
Best MacBook for Photoshop
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro is the latest iteration of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, and while it comes with a steep price tag, you get incredible performance, unbelievable battery life, and an astoundingly bright Liquid Retina XDR display.
✔️You want one of the most powerful laptops we've ever tested: The MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro has so much raw power, that it nearly doubles the premium laptop average for pure CPU performance and is one of the highest-scoring laptops we've seen.
✔️You need a laptop that can last almost a full day away from an outlet: While I doubt anyone will be working 20-hour days, just in case you do, the MacBook Pro 16 M4 has incredible battery life. The Mac lasted almost 21 hours on our web surfing battery test, which was significantly longer than Apple claimed.
✖️You need to remain on a tight budget: Like all MacBooks, the MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) costs about as much as a month's rent in New York City. If you need a more budget-friendly option with serious power, we've got a few solid options on this list that cost significantly less.
✖️You aren't a fan of macOS: This is a caveat with every MacBook, but if you don't like macOS, it's better to opt for a Windows laptop rather than install Windows on your Mac. Partitioning your hard drive or dual-booting your system can get you some extra Windows compatibility, but it will slow down the MacBook and make the M-series chipset less effective.
For Apple users and design enthusiasts, the 2024 MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Pro CPU reigns supreme for photo editing. While pricey (starting at $2,499), it offers powerful performance and a seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem. Opting for a 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM configuration delivers ample storage and smooth Photoshop performance, making it a compelling choice for creative professionals though upgrading the memory and storage capacity can get pricey.
Sean Riley said in our review, "The 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro is more laptop than most people need, but that likely won't stop you from wanting one, and after a week with it, I can't blame you."
With any configuration of M4 chip, you’ll get a brilliant 14-core Apple M4 Pro CPU, a 20-core Apple GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, and a gorgeous 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. Our lab benchmarking rated the 16-inch Liquid Retina panel at covering 81.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which is on the high end for laptops on this list. The MacBook Pro also scored well on the brightness test, with an average of 565 nits, which is much brighter than the category average of 391 nits.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro (2024) is a smart choice for Photoshop because of its beautiful, bright display and powerfully smooth internal specs. However, there’s another crucial spec to consider: battery life. MacBooks are known for having great battery life, which is a fantastic feature for those wanting to use Photoshop on the go. The 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted an amazing 20 hours and 46 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, significantly longer than it's workstation laptop competitors.
See our full MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023) review.
Best Workstation Laptop for Photoshop
The HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 has more power under the hood than just about anyone would ever need for photo editing. However, if you also want to do some video editing, some intense design work, and you can afford it? There ZBook Studio has everything you need.
✔️You want a laptop built for Photoshop, video editing, 3D rendering, and more: If you can think of a workstation task, the HP ZBook Studio can handle it. While HP has clearly packaged this laptop for photo and video editing with its vivid display and loud onboard speaker system, it's got the raw power to chew through just about any workload.
✔️You need a workstation that is as portable as it can get: The ZBook Studio 16 G10 weighs just over 4 pounds and is just 0.8 inches thick, making it as portable as a computing powerhouse can get.
✖️You need plenty of battery life: Because it bosts an incredibly powerful Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada Generation GPU, our ZBook Studio review unit lasted just 6 hours on our web surfing battery test. While that is decent for a laptop with a powerful discrete GPU, it won't get you through a workday untethered.
✖️You don't have a laptop fund of at least $4K: Even the lower-end configuration options of the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 are expensive. Sure, HP often runs the ZBook on a discount, but even then you could buy a decent used car for the price of this workstation. It is a beast of a machine for someone who needs laptop flexibility and desktop performance and doesn't need to worry about a budget.
The HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 is an absolute powerhouse workstation that can handle anything from 3D rendering and neural filters to lens blur and AI generation. If you need Photoshop's more advanced AI features, you'll want a discrete GPU since Photoshop tends to run its AI workloads through the GPU rather than the CPU or NPU. A dedicated workstation GPU will do a much smoother job than a gaming-focused RTX GPU, which is why the RTX 4000 Ada Generation GPU on the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 makes this machine more powerful than most Photoshop users will ever need.
Madeline Ricchiuto said in our review, "The HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 is lightweight, thin, and powerful without too many additional sacrifices."
But if you flex out of Photoshop and do some 3D rendering in Blender or AutoDesk Maya, or if you plan to use CAD, the HP ZBook Studio is a one-stop shop workstation. The ZBook Studio starts at just $3,201 though the model we reviewed retailed for $8,905. So you can get the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 for less than the price of a used car, but it can be configured to be the absolute top-of-the-line spec if that's what you need.
The customization options spec options range from an Intel Core i5-13600H to an Intel Core i9-13900H processor, an optional discrete GPU up to the Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada Generation, RAM configurations from 16-64 GB, storage configurations ranging from 512GB to 2TB, and a 16-inch display at either WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution to WQUXGA (3,840 x 2,400) resolution.
Of course, with such a high price tag on this dedicated workstation, you'd expect a good display, and our lab confirmed that the ZBook Studio offers a high level of visual fidelity. Covering 117.3% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with a Delta-E accuracy of 0.34, the ZBook Studio has a much more vibrant display than competitors like the ThinkPad P16 Gen 1 (DCI-P3 83.7%, 0.22 Delta-E), ZBook Fury 16 G9 (DCI-P3 107.5%, 2.4 Delta-E), and ZBook Power 15 G10a (76.3% DCI-P3, 0.14 Delta-E).
With an Intel Core i9-13900H processor and Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada Generation GPU onboard, our review model lasted only 6 hours and 1 minute on the Laptop Mag battery test; different configurations may have a longer battery life. Then again, you're not likely to take the ZBook Studio 16 G10 anywhere you don't have outlet access because this is a workstation laptop for the Photoshop professional and not someone who just needs to lightly retouch a few vacation photos.
See our full HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 review.
Benchmark Comparisons
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 | Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) | Acer Swift X 14 (2024) | HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) | HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 (Higher is better) | 12,141 | 12,707 | 13,114 | 12,358 | 22,822 | 14,532 |
| Handbrake time ((MM.SS), lower is better) | 03:53 | 06:36 | 05:21 | 07:30 | 02:38 | 04:37 |
| Battery life - Web surfing (HH.MM) | 09:51 | 15:52 | 07:33 | 11:01 | 20:46 | 06:01 |
| SSD transfer speeds (MBps, higher is better) | 2,100 | 1,236 | 1,804 | 1,362 | Row 3 - Cell 5 | 1,945 |