No matter what kind of photographer you are, whether you’re a seasoned pro or a budding amateur, having the right laptop for photo editing can make a huge difference to your photo editing and productivity. There are many modern laptops out there that combine portable designs with incredible screens and powerful components. So if you travel a lot you’ll know that having a bulky computer that weighs a ton isn’t exactly the best or the most professional way to edit your photos.Â
So, what makes a good laptop for photo editing? Besides from it having an amazing screen with a good color gamut and color accuracy, you’ll want to make sure it’s lightweight and easy to transport. You’ll also want to make sure it has a large screen size, a decent amount of RAM (at least 16GB but 32GB would be ideal), a powerful processor such as an Intel i7. It’s also wise to check what charging capabilities they have Type C USB charging is wonderful as you can charge on the go in a car or even from a power bank.
If you’re after the best laptops for photo-editing in 2022, that will make your snaps really stand out, then you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our list of the nine best travel laptops for photographers.
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HP Spectre X360
HP Spectre x360 13 – CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Evo Platform| Graphics: ‎Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 2TB SSD| Size: 7.7 x 12 x 0.7 inches| Weight: ‎2.78 pounds
Built for life on the move the HP Spectre x360 13 touch screen laptop is a great mid-range laptop. Priced at around $2,500 it’s hardly going to break the bank. Its sleek, elegant design and powerful performance helps keep up with your daily hustle. Its amazing battery life, which claims to last up to 22.5 hours, means you can work all day without the worry of your battery dying on you mid edit. Remember though that high-performance tasks such as photo editing or video editing can reduce your laptop’s battery life.
HP Spectre X360 15
HP Spectre x360 15 – CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H| Graphics: GeForce GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q design (4GB)| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 4TB| Size: ‎8.91 x 14.17 x 0.79 inches| Weight: ‎4.23 pounds
HP also has an ultra-high range spec laptop, the HP Spectre x360 15. Priced at around $3,600 it offers a 15-inch 4K AMOLED touch screen display with an ultra-wide view angle. HP’s Bright view technology provides crisp and bright colors (400 nits) making it perfect for photographers. With the powerful performance of an Intel Core i7-10750H for the most demanding photo editing software, and the lighting fast 4TB M.2 NVMe SSD, you won’t be struggling for storage space.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga
CPU: Intel Core i7-8665U|Graphics: ‎Intel UHD Graphics 620| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 512GB | Size: ‎0.61 x 8.58 x 12.71 inches| Weight: ‎4.6 pounds
The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga is a fantastic mid-range laptop. Priced at around $2280 it won’t break the bank. Offering a 14-inch screen with 2-in-1 capabilities allows you the freedom of a tablet and a laptop in one place. This laptop has a thin, lightweight design making it easy to transport and perfect to take with you on the go. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga features the renowned 360-degree hinge to accommodate your style. With a substantial battery lasting up to 18 hours and a rapid charge boost for when you’re laptop needs some extra juice, you’ll be editing your photos all day.
MacBook Pro 2019
CPU: 8-core Intel Core i9|Graphics: ‎Intel UHD Graphics 630| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 1TB | Size: ‎9.68 x14.09 x 0.64 Inches| Weight: ‎4.3 pounds
A known favorite for most photographers and videographers is the Macbook Pro 2019. Costing around $2,500 you will get a 16-inch retina display so you can view your photos in high definition. It produces 500 nits of brightness for spectacular highlights, brilliant whites, and deep blacks. The P3 wide color gamut enables true-to-life images and videos making it perfect for a photographer. With the Intel Core i9 processor with up to 8 cores and 16 threads of processing power, you’ll maintain higher performance for longer periods of time.
HP Zbook Studio x360 G5
CPU: Intel Core i7-8750H|Graphics: ‎NVIDIA Quadro P1000 Integrated Graphics| RAM: 64GB DDR4 SODIMM| Harddrive: 2TB SATA SSD| Size: ‎9.65 x 14.17 x 0.35 inches| Weight: ‎5 pounds
Reimagine your creative process with this ultra-high-end, versatile laptop. The HP ZBook Studio x360 G5 is the next best thing to replacing your desktop computer. Priced at around $5,000 it’s most definitely an investment that will last you several years. The powerful performance of the Intel Core i7 processor will allow you to perform multiple high-demanding tasks at once, while the 2TB hard drive will provide ample storage space for all your awesome photographs. Immerse yourself in color with the HP DreamColor Matte 15-inch 4K touch screen. Seamlessly edit and render multi-layered files with the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 integrated graphics, optimized for stability and performance with professional software. This laptop will allow you to perform all the tasks your desktop computer did, while on the move.
MSI Prestige 15
CPU: Intel Core i7-10710U |Graphics: ‎NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650| RAM: 32GB| Harddrive: 1TB NVMe SSD| Size: ‎‎20.39 x 13.11 x 3.9 inches| Weight: ‎3.6 pounds
The MSI Prestige 15 is a great all-rounder and at around $1,800 it’s great value for money also. Verified by CalMAN, the Prestige 15 delivers true-to-life images with MSI’s exclusive True Pixel Display. With its 4K resolution and 100% Adobe RGB you’ll be able to visualize your images exactly how they are meant to be seen. The Intel Core i7 processor delivers heavyweight performance with a lightweight design to enhance your style and will keep you in the flow wherever you go. Sporting a Mirco SD card reader with multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports, the Prestige supports power delivery through ports for quick charging to devices, fast transfer of data, and allows you to connect multiple displays for the best functionality money can buy.
LG Gram 17
CPU: Intel core i7-1165G7|Graphics: Intel Xe Graphics| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 2TB | Size: ‎14.97 x 10.24 x 0.7 inches| Weight: ‎2.98 pounds
As a photographer, you need a laptop that will be able to keep up with you. The LG Gram 17 was designed to do just that. The cutting-edge Intel Core i7 processor and advanced graphics will enable you to edit, design, and multitask with ease. The LG Gram has a large 2TB NVME SSD so you won’t be short on space for all your photos. The large battery will keep you working for hours without the need for a charge. Its super lightweight design makes it perfect for transporting around the world. Its 17-inch, 2K, 16:10 ratio screen is designed with productivity in mind. The super-thin 4-way bezel provides an immersive experience. See your photos accurately with a wide color gamut and twice the resolution of full HD. Priced at around $1,900 it’s a great affordable laptop.
Asus Zenbook Pro Duo UX581
CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H|Graphics: ‎NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060| RAM: 16GB| Harddrive: 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD| Size: ‎14.1 x 9.7 x 0.9 inches| Weight: ‎5.5 pounds
The dual-screen design on the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo UX581 makes this laptop great for photographers and graphic designers. The 14-inch screen pad plus gives you endless ways to optimize your multi-tasking experience by either extending the screen or allowing you to split windows and apps on both displays. The ability to split or extend the screen makes it great for photo editing tools like photoshop. The 15-inch 4K UHD OLED, 4-way NanoEdge display allows you to bring your photos to life and view them in ultra-vivid colors and deep blacks, with a cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. As a photographer you’ll know that having the most comfortable design in a laptop is key to your performance and Asus have thought of that, they provide a detachable palm rest to help enhance the ErgoLift tilting keyboard to give you the most comfortable experience yet. Priced at around $2,300 you’ll be hard pushed to find a better laptop that was built with photographers and designers in mind.
Acer ConceptD 7 Pro
CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H|Graphics: ‎NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 with MAX-Q Design with 16 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM | RAM: 32GB| Harddrive: 2TB | Size: ‎14.11 x 10.04 x 0.7 inches| Weight: ‎2.2 pounds
Acer is well known for its gaming laptops but the ConceptD 7 Pro was built for photo editing. The lightweight, thin, and powerful design can be transported anywhere and can keep up with the demand for photo and video editing. It has an amazing 15-inch 4K IPS display that is Pantone-validated gives you stunning high-quality images. It even comes with a three-month complimentary Adobe Creative Cloud Membership. It has a 100% Adobe RGB color gamut of 400 nits meaning brighter colors. With a 2TB hard drive you’ll never be short of space and transfer data super fast with the Thunderbolt 3 port. Connect up peripherals using a number of different ports as well as fast charging via USB.