The 5 Best Laptops For Music Production - Fall 2024

The best laptop for music production we've tested is the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023). This exceptionally well-built device has plenty of processing power for even the most demanding music production workloads. It also provides a great user experience with its sharp display, spacious keyboard, and gigantic touchpad. Its excellent port selection makes it easy to plug in your production station, keyboard, audio interface, etc. There's even a high-output 3.5mm headphone jack for hard-to-drive cans. Although this laptop has cooling fans, they never get loud, so you don't have to worry about your microphones picking up the noise. The main downside is that you're paying for graphical performance that you don't necessarily need in music production. If you want more screen space and don't mind paying more, get the larger Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). It's the same device but with better-sounding speakers.

For Windows users, we recommend the HP OMEN Transcend 14 (2024), a 14-inch gaming/workstation laptop. It's available with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, which are more than adequate to handle difficult production tasks with tons of tracks, plugins, and sound effects. There's a discrete GPU (options range from an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 to 4070); again, it isn't necessary for music production, though it may come in handy if you also work on music videos. It has a nice OLED display, a responsive touchpad, and a wide selection of ports to connect external monitors and peripherals. It has cooling fans, but like the MacBook Pro, they're very quiet under load. The main drawback of this laptop is its short 6-to-7-hour battery life. Another minor complaint is its mediocre webcam.

Check out the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) if you want great performance but don't want to spend as much. Although it isn't as powerful as the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) above, it's still fast enough to handle music production. Plus, as a fanless device, you don't need to worry about fan noise ruining your recordings. It has a large 15-inch Retina display (not Mini LED, sadly) and a gigantic haptic touchpad, and its build is just as premium and sturdy as its Pro siblings. One thing to note is the RAM isn't user-replaceable, so you'll want to get a model with enough upfront. Also, its port selection is limited to two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3s, so you'll likely need a dock. There's support for two external displays, but only with the laptop lid closed; this might be too limiting if you're used to working with multiple displays.

We recommend the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) for Windows users. This premium 2-in-1 convertible offers plenty of performance, with the same Intel Meteor Lake CPUs (up to a Core Ultra 7) as the HP OMEN Transcend 14 (2024) above. You can configure it with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, and the storage is user-replaceable, so you can add more depending on your needs. Unlike the MacBook Air, this laptop has a cooling fan; it isn't super loud but is audible nonetheless. As for the user experience, it has an outstanding 2.8k OLED display, an excellent haptic touchpad, and a decent port selection with two Thunderbolt 4 ports. The battery lasts around 11 hours of light use, which is impressive for a Windows laptop. One thing to know: the OLED display flickers, so it may cause eye strain if you're sensitive to display flicker. You can get it directly from HP if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

If you want a more modest mid-range model, check out the HP Pavilion Aero 13 (2024), a 13-inch ultraportable. One significant trade-off at this price point is the build quality. With a mixture of recycled aluminum and plastic, the chassis has significantly more flex. Also, the finish is prone to scratching from everyday use, which is unfortunate for a device that prioritizes on-the-go use. Another minor complaint is the touchpad; it's plastic and doesn't track continuous inputs all that well, like when dragging and dropping items across a long distance.

This laptop offers a lot of great features, though. It's configurable with AMD's Zen 4 Ryzen CPUs that can handle moderately demanding workloads, and you get 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The RAM isn't user-replaceable, which may be an issue if you use a lot of different plug-ins and samples. For the display, you can choose between FHD+ or QHD+ IPS panels; they are bright and sharp. You also get a 1440p webcam with facial recognition support for quick logins and a wide port selection with four USBs and a true HDMI 2.1 port. Battery life is great at around 10 hours of light use—you can charge the laptop via USB-C, so proprietary chargers are no issue here.

The best budget laptop for music production we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). Like our mid-range pick, this is a 16-inch model, but it isn't a 2-in-1, so you lose the tablet functionality. You still get a nice keyboard, a large touchpad, and decent performance from its AMD Ryzen CPU. Its fingerprint sensor allows you to log in quickly, and its battery lasts around eight hours of light use. Ports include three USB-As, a USB-C (not Thunderbolt 4 or USB4, sadly), and an HDMI.

As this is a budget model, there are a couple of compromises. First, the display only gets to about 250 cd/m² at full brightness, which is fine for most indoor settings but not for sunny environments or outdoors in broad daylight. Next, the USB-C port doesn't support video output, meaning you can only use the HDMI port to connect to an external monitor. Lastly, you can only get 8GB of memory. If you want 16GB, you must upgrade it via the empty SO-DIMM slot.

If you like the 2-in-1 tablet form factor, get the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021). You can detach the keyboard to make it easier to hold as a tablet or save space and pop it back on when you need to type something out. Its 3:2 display looks sharp, is bright enough to combat glare, and supports pen input. You get an excellent 1080p webcam for video calls and a Windows Hello IR camera for quick logins. The battery is short at seven hours of light use, but luckily, the power adapter is fairly compact, and you can also charge via its USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports. Regarding ports, expect to buy a dock because it only has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, a headphone jack, and a proprietary Surface charging port. Unfortunately, the keyboard and stylus are purchased separately.

As this is a model from 2021, there are newer versions. The recently released Surface Pro 11 offers OLED or IPS displays, new Snapdragon X Elite SoCs, and the latest Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. We'll release our review soon, so check back for more details! In the meantime, you can still save a good chunk of cash with the Surface Pro 8 since it's an older device and often on sale.