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, investing in a powerful PC can be worth it, and to help you out with that, we’ve rounded up the best laptops you can buy if you’re a content creator or creative professional. Show
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. Modern ultrabooks 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. Navigate this article:
Best overall: Dell XPS 17 (9720) When it comes to professional laptops, few have the reputation of Dell’s XPS family, and the XPS 17 in particular is one of the best options for content creators. As you’d expect from a high-end creator laptop, it has powerful specs, a large display, and a surprisingly compact design. First off, the Dell XPS 17 is packing very high-end specs, starting with 12th-generation 45W Intel Core processors up to a Core i9-12900HK. That’s a 14-core, 20-thread processor with boost speeds up to 5GHz, which is already enough to make this one of the most powerful laptops you can buy. You can also add up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card with 60W of power, though, giving you a lot more performance for some rendering tasks. Beyond that, you can configure the Dell XPS 17 with up to 64GB of RAM and a significant 4TB of storage. Both the RAM and storage are upgradeable, too, so you can buy a cheaper configuration and upgrade later. Another important aspect for a creator laptop is the display, and the Dell XPS 17 delivers. It’s got a 17-inch panel, giving you plenty of real estate for your apps, and the tall 16:10 aspect ratio makes it ideal for content creation apps like Photoshop, Premiere, and so on. The base model includes a Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) panel, but if you want the best experience, it’s worth considering the Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) model, since the extra resolution can fit that many more UI elements on screen. The Ultra HD+ panel also covers 100% of Adobe RGB, so it’s great for color-sensitive work. One downside of the Dell XPS 17, particularly if you’re interested in streaming, is the built-in webcam. It’s a small 720p webcam, so it can’t let a lot of light in, and that ends up making the image grainy. It does have Windows Hello facial recognition, though, and you get a fingerprint sensor for that purpose too. In terms of design, the Dell XPS 17 is surprisingly compact for the specs it comes with, and it comes with Dell’s signature dual-tone look. The exterior comes in a “platinum silver” color, while the interior uses a black carbon fiber material for a more unique look and feel. It’s just over 19mm thick, which is impressive for the hardware inside, but it’s still a bit heavy at 4.87lbs. That’s something you’ll see a lot on this list, though. Finally, in terms of ports, the XPS 17 comes with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack, and an SD card reader. If you need some legacy ports, a USB Type-C to Type-A and HDMI adapter is included, which means this covers most of the basics, though it requires you to carry a dongle around. It could be worse, but it could also be much better at this size. Overall, this is one of the very best laptops out there today, especially for content creators. You can buy it below, or check out other configurations on Dell’s website. You can also read our Dell XPS 17 review to learn more about it, or check out the Dell XPS 15 if you want something a bit more compact and you don’t need all that power. Dell XPS 17 (9710)
Best for on-the-go content creators: MacBook Pro 16-inchThe MacBook Pro has long been many creators’ favorite laptop, and with the recent models powered by the Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max processors, that’s completely deserved. These are powerful laptops that compete with the best Windows laptops for creators in terms of performance, but push much further ahead in terms of battery life. It’s not a cheap laptop, but you get what you pay for here. As we’ve mentioned, the MacBook Pro (16-inch) is powered by Apple’s M1 Pro or M1 Max processors, which are based on Arm technology, and thus, they include CPU, GPU, RAM, and more all in one package. The CPU has 10 cores, two for efficiency and eight for performance, and it lives up to some of the best 45W processors on Windows laptops. For the GPU, the M1 Pro has 16 cores, while the M1 Max can go up to 32, and in that maximum configuration, performance rivals many high-end dedicated GPUs on Windows laptops, particularly for content creation. You can also get up to 64GB of unified memory (RAM), which is shared between the CPU and GPU as needed, along with up to 8TB of SSD storage. What’s most impressive about all of this is, because it’s based on Arm technology, these processors are incredibly efficient compared to the Intel or AMD processors you might find elsewhere. And while it’s not the only Arm-based laptop out there, it’s the only one that delivers this kind of performance and battery life in one package. That’s a balance you won’t find anywhere else, so this truly is the ideal laptop for on-the-go creators. That’s not all that’s impressive with the MacBook Pro, though. The 16.2-inch display is another highlight, being one of the first laptops to use mini-LED technology. That means it can individually dim different areas of the screen, allowing for higher contrast ratios and more vivid colors. It can also reach a peak brightness of 1600 nits (1000 nits sustained full-screen brightness), something else you won’t find on any other laptop. It’s very sharp, too, featuring 3456 x 2234 resolution that results in an aspect ratio slightly higher than 16:10. The cherry on top is support for ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz. The display does have a notch, which some might not like, but it houses the new and improved 1080p camera, which is enhanced by AI processing courtesy of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets. Despite the large notch, there’s no Face ID camera, though, so you still have to use Touch ID to log in. The design of the MacBook Pro may be somewhat boring by now, but it’s premium and sleek. This iteration brings back a physical function row, and it also has some good news in terms of ports. MagSafe charging is back (now even faster), along with an SD card reader, HDMI 2.1, and a headphone jack with support for high-impedance headsets. This is on top of three Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means you can connect up to four external displays (on the M1 Max models), or all kinds of other accessories. This is easily one of the best creator laptops you can find right now, and while the starting price of $2,499 can be a bit prohibitive, you can’t deny the MacBook Pro gives you something you can’t find anywhere else. You can buy it below, or check it out on Adorama to find a few more configuration options. We’ve also reviewed the MacBook Pro if you’d like to learn more about it. MacBook Pro 16-inch
Best dual-screen creator laptop: Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLEDIf 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
Best convertible creator laptop: HP Spectre x360 16If 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
Best creator laptop with an OLED display: Gigabyte Aero 16 OLEDOLED displays have become much more common in smartphones over the past decade, but many laptops still don’t give you that option or don’t include it by default. If you want a powerful creator laptop with an OLED panel, the Gigabyte Aero 16 OLED is one of your best options. First off, in terms of performance, the Gigabyte Aero 16 OLED is everything you’d want in a laptop for content creation. It’s powered by up to an Intel Core i9-12900HK, a 45W processor with 14 cores, 20 threads, and boost speeds up to 5GHz, which we’ve seen a couple of times on this list. That’s already one of the most powerful processors out there, but it’s also backed up by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 105W of power. It also comes with up to 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD for storage. Of course, as we’ve mentioned, the Gigabyte Aero 16 OLED has an OLED display, and as the name suggests, it’s an OLED panel. What’s great about it – aside from the benefits of OLED such as true blacks and high contrast ratios – is that it’s a Samsung panel and it comes in a super sharp 4K (3840 x 2400) resolution, meaning it also has a 16:10 aspect ratio, ideal for creative work and productivity in general. It also has tiny bezels and it’s very color-accurate: It’s rated for Delta E < 1, and it’s certified by X-Rite/Pantone for color accuracy. This laptop’s predecessor made the terrible mistake of not including a webcam above the display, but thankfully, the Aero 16 fixes that. It’s still a 720p webcam, so image quality isn’t the best it could be, but it’s in a much better position, and it supports Windows Hello facial recognition, which is a very welcome feature to have. The design of the Gigabyte Aero 16 OLED is very clean and sleek. It’s a mostly silver laptop, which is somewhat boring, but it works and it fits in anywhere. Oddly enough, the touchpad is black, which you may or may not like, but you can’t deny it’s unusual. This is a thick and heavy laptop, though, measuring up to 22.4mm in thickness and weighing 5.07lbs. But that’s not overly surprising for these specs. It is a bit more odd, however, when you consider there are very few ports built into the laptop itself. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a standard USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack. Gigabyte also includes the Aero Hub in the box, which gives you HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, RJ45 Ethernet, and a USB Type-A port with a single USB Type-C port. It’s nice that this is included with the laptop, but it’s not the most practical way to connect peripherals, especially with a laptop this big. While Gigabyte is mostly known fo its gaming laptops, the Aero 16 OLED is truly a machine made with creative professionals in mind, and it delivers fantastic performance. Plus, that super-sharp OLED panel helps make this one of the best laptops for creators. Gigabyte Aero 16 OLED
Best business laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5Business 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 4.14lbs 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
Best laptop for gamers: Razer Blade 17 (2022)If you’re both a content creator and a gamer, then the latest Razer Blade 17 is the best option for you. It’s the only laptop on this list that already has a 2022 refresh on the way, so in some ways, it’s the best option you can get right now. That’s because it’s already been upgraded with Intel’s latest 12th-generation Intel processors, and it comes with up to an Intel Core i9-12900HK with 14 cores and 20 threads, capable of boosting up to 5GHz. Additionally, the Razer Blade 17 (2022) comes with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, which is a significant upgrade over the RTX 3080 used in previous generations, and it has 130W of maximum power. On top of that, it comes with 16GB of DDR5 RAM (which you can upgrade to 64GB) and 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage (upgradeable up to 8TB with two M.2 slots). On the display side of things, the Blade 17 has three options available. It’s a 17.3-inch panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, but the resolution and refresh rate varies depending on your needs. You can get the Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel with a 360Hz refresh rate if you’re more of an esports gamer, go for the middle ground with a Quad HD (2560 x 1440) 240Hz panel (a cheaper 165Hz option is also available), or opt for the Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) option with a 144Hz refresh rate, which is the ideal option for creators. This panel also covers 100% of Adobe RGB, making it even better for color-sensitive work. All configurations of the Blade 17 also come with a 1080p webcam that supports Windows Hello, which is very much welcome and somewhat rare to see on a gaming laptop. This means you can feasibly stream gaming sessions online with the built-in webcam if you don’t have an external one. Design-wise, the Razer Blade 17 isn’t a super compact laptop, as you’d probably expect from a 17-inch machine. It measures just under 20mm thick, and its weight starts at 6.06lbs, which isn’t very light, but it’s also not outrageous. It’s a standard Razer affair in terms of looks – an all-black laptop with a green Razer logo on the lid and an RGB backlit keyboard that’s still subtle enough to not be obnoxious in a public setting. As for ports, the Razer Blade 17 isn’t lacking in options. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1, 2.5Gbps RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and an SD card reader, so it covers just about every need you might have. This is a great setup, as you’d expect for a large 17-inch laptop. The Razer Blade 17 (2022) is a fantastic machine for gaming and one of the best laptops for creators, too. If you want something a little more compact, the Razer Blade 15 has very similar specs (but a slightly less powerful GPU). Razer Blade 17
Best workstation: Dell Precision 7770If 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
Those are what we’d consider the best laptops you can buy if you’re a content creator looking for a new rig. The Dell XPS 17 kind of offers a perfect balance of powerful specs, a compact and stylish design, and a fantastic display. It does have a downside in its camera, but there’s a good chance if you’re a professional streamer, you’ll have an external webcam (or you’re willing to buy one) anyway. Personally speaking, my favorite laptop on the list is the Surface Laptop Studio, though it’s true I wouldn’t be doing heavyweight content creation on it. If these all seem like more than what you need, maybe stop by our list of the best laptops you can buy right now. We have something for all kinds of different needs there, so you might find a better fit for you. Which is the best laptop for cybersecurity students?5 Best laptops for cybersecurity students and professionals in.... MSI GL62M 7REX ( Best laptop for cybersecurity students) ... . Acer Aspire V 17 Nitro Black Edition. ... . HP Pavilion Power 15 Power Gaming Notebook. ... . Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook Laptop. ... . Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14″ Laptop.. What laptop do I need for cybersecurity?Best Laptops for Cyber Security. Do I need a powerful laptop for cyber security?A laptop with 8GB of RAM is sufficient, but a laptop with 16GB is preferable. Also, a laptop with a powerful graphics chip and GPU is necessary for cybersecurity. The Intel Core i7 processor is the best choice if you want to use it to run programs that require advanced security.
Is a MacBook good for a cybersecurity student?Is MacBook Air good for cyber security students? The MacBook Air is one of the most secure devices available today. And as a cybersecurity expert, a fast laptop like the Macbook air would be a safe choice.
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Best laptops for cyber security students 2023
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