The 3 Best Laptops For Photo Editing of 2024

The best laptop for photo editing we've tested is the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024). This premium model provides an amazing user experience. Its Mini LED display is sharp and superbly calibrated out of the box, so you can get right to work without further calibration. It's also bright enough to combat glare in well-lit settings. The only downside is that it doesn't have full coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, as it can't reproduce the highly saturated greens. Performance is fantastic—the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips have more than enough processing power to handle the most complex photo editing tasks.

The M4 MacBook Pros bring a few upgrades and new features, including a higher peak display brightness of 1000 cd/m² in SDR (when viewing content outdoors) and an optional nano-texture display finish—both will help with visibility in well-lit settings. You also get Thunderbolt 5 on the Pro and Max models, allowing you to transfer files at up to 120Gbps, three times faster than Thunderbolt 4. If you want more screen space to view your photos or put tools on the side for easy access, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024) is also an excellent choice. It's a bulkier device, though, and it's more expensive.

On the Windows side, we recommend the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024). Also a 14-inch model, this compact gaming laptop is well suited for photo editing. It has plenty of processing power to provide a smooth experience and sports a gorgeous OLED display with near-full Adobe RGB coverage, making it suitable for those in print photography. Plus, it can double as your gaming rig, as there are far more games for Windows than macOS. The overall user experience is great, but some things aren't quite as good as the MacBook Pro, like its relatively short eight-hour battery life and non-haptic touchpad. Another downside that might be a dealbreaker is that its OLED display flickers at 120Hz, which may bother some people.

If you don't need a discrete GPU for your workflow, get the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) instead. Like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) mentioned above, this premium 2-in-1 convertible has a beautiful OLED display with near-full Adobe RGB coverage. The display supports pen input if you prefer working with a stylus; depending on your region, the pen may not come in the box. You can get it with the same Intel Meteor Lake CPUs (up to a Core Ultra 7) and up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. It has an excellent haptic touchpad, an outstanding 4k webcam, and a decent port selection with two Thunderbolt 4 ports. One thing to know: the OLED display has a 480Hz flicker frequency, so it may cause eye strain if you're sensitive to it. The base model starts at $1450 USD (MSRP), though you can often find it on sale on HP's website, which is also the place to get this laptop if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

For Mac users, we recommend the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024). This premium ultraportable sports a large, bright 15-inch display that lets you work more comfortably. However, it's an IPS panel, so the contrast ratio is worse than the picks above, and it doesn't have full Adobe RGB coverage (it's missing highly saturated greens). Still, it offers a fantastic user experience. It has a sturdy build, all-day battery life, and a fast M3 SoC that can easily handle photo editing tasks. This is a fanless device, so you don't have to worry about loud fan noise distracting you from your work. Its port selection is its biggest weakness, as it only has two USB-C ports. Also, while it can output to two external monitors, it can only do so with the lid closed.

The best budget laptop for photo editing we've tested is the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024). Though more affordable than our picks above, this 14-inch ultraportable still packs more than enough processing power to handle most photo editing tasks. It's available with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, up to a Core Ultra 9 185H, and up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. The latter is user-replaceable, and there are two M.2 2280 slots, so you can easily store thousands of photos on the device, eliminating the need for an external drive. The Meteor Lake CPUs sport an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which will speed up many AI features in photo editing apps, like object removal and image generation.

You can choose an FHD+ IPS or a 2.8k OLED panel for the display. The OLED is sharper and better suited for color-critical work, but remember that it's susceptible to permanent burn-in and will drain the battery faster. Build-wise, this laptop feels pretty sturdy despite having a little more plastic in its construction than the picks above. It has Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a fingerprint sensor for quick logins, and a wide port selection, including two Thunderbolt 4s, a MicroSD card reader, and an HDMI. Battery life is excellent at around 11 hours of light use—you can charge the laptop via USB-C.