The 4 Best Laptops For Video Editing - Summer 2023 Reviews

The best laptop for editing videos we've tested is the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023). This mobile workstation has a sturdy all-aluminum build, provides an amazing user experience, and has more than enough processing power for video editing. It sports a Mini LED display with full DCI P3 coverage, a spacious and tactile keyboard, and a gigantic, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. Like most Apple products, the display's factory calibration is near-perfect, so you can get right to work without worrying about calibrating it. You also get plenty of ports, including three USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI, and a full-size SD card reader. If you want more screen space and don't mind paying more, you can get the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023). It's the same device but with better-sounding speakers and a slightly longer battery life.

For Windows users, get the Dell Precision 5570 (2022), a 15.6-inch mobile workstation with Intel 12th Gen processors paired with an NVIDIA RTX A1000 or A2000 GPU. Like the MacBook Pro 14, it provides a premium user experience with a nice display and a comfortable keyboard. You only get three USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, though, and its battery life is much shorter at only six to seven hours of light use. Lastly, this laptop is hard to find through third-party sellers and marketplaces, so it's best to get it directly through Dell.

If you don't want to spend too much on a premium laptop like the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021), check out the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022). Yes, gaming laptops are excellent for video editing because there are many similarities in hardware requirements. It's particularly true with the G14, which sports a sharp 16:10 QHD panel with full DCI P3 coverage. Its factory calibration is good, but fine-tune it before you do any color work. It has a powerful 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU, and you can choose between an AMD Radeon RX 6700S or 6800S GPU, both of which have enough horsepower to handle video editing.

There are a few downsides to know about. First, this laptop gets hot and loud under load. You can change the fan settings if it bothers you but at the cost of some performance loss. Second, the USB-C ports support USB 3.2 Gen 2 data transfer speed much slower than USB4 or Thunderbolt 4. ASUS promised an update to add USB4 support, but the firmware is still developing. Lastly, you can only get this laptop with 1TB of storage. The SSD is user-replaceable, so you can always replace it with a larger capacity drive.

If you prefer working on an Intel/NVIDIA system, the ASUS TUF Dash F15 (2022) is a good alternative. It's available with Intel 12th Gen processors and NVIDIA discrete GPUs, including the RTX 3050, 3050 Ti, 3060, and 3070. The top-end QHD display has full DCI P3 coverage, but it doesn't get as bright as the G14's, so you might have some visibility issues in well-lit rooms. There are also other tradeoffs, like its shorter battery life and lack of biometrics.

The best budget laptop for video editing we've tested is the HP Victus 15 (2022), a 15.6-inch gaming laptop. It has fast Intel 12th Gen H-series CPUs and various NVIDIA discrete GPUs, from a GeForce GTX 1650 to an RTX 3050 Ti. The GPUs are entry-level models that can do the job, but you might experience some stutters when manipulating complex, high-resolution footage. Memory and storage max out at 16GB and 1TB, respectively; however, they're user-upgradeable, so you can add more later to suit your needs.

The main downside of this laptop is that it's only available with 1080p displays, and only the top-end option has full sRGB coverage, so it's best suited for someone who already has an external monitor. You get a varied port selection with two USB-As, one USB-C, an HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and an SD card reader; however, the USB-C doesn't support charging or Thunderbolt 4. Battery life sits around six hours of light use, but you can expect it to be a little more than an hour if you edit videos.

The Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022) is a great option if you only edit videos as a hobby. Its M2 chip has media encoders and decoders that significantly boost performance in tasks like video editing. There are also media engines for Apple's own ProRes format. It has a sharp and bright display with full DCI P3 coverage, and its factory calibration is superb out of the box. Port selection is its main weak point; it only has two USB-Cs and can only support one external display.

The battery lasts around 11 hours of light use or a little less than three hours when performing intensive tasks like video editing. You can get up to 24GB of memory and 2TB of storage; just remember that these components aren't user-replaceable. Also, the base 256GB storage option has slower read and write speeds, so if you often transfer files, it's worth upgrading to one of the larger-capacity options.

If you want a larger screen to work more comfortably, you'll love the newly-released Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023). It's the same device as the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air but with a 15.3-inch display and better speakers. Unlike its smaller sibling, you don't need to upgrade to the more expensive model to get an M2 SoC with ten GPU cores, giving you slightly better graphical performance than the base 13-inch model, which has eight GPU cores. Besides the $200 USD price increase over the 13-inch model, the other tradeoff is the battery life. It lasts around eight to nine hours of light use, about two hours shorter.