At their core, laptops are built to be your PC on the go. Not every laptop is created equal though and some options out there are designed to provide the user as much processing power & speed that money can buy.
While many times, these are designed for a specific audience, many consumers simply want to have the best, most powerful product that they can get their hands on. This revelation led us to wonder what are the fastest & most powerful laptops for graphic designers or any creative in 2022.
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Our goal is to provide you with a list of the laptops out there that put others to shame, but before we get started, what are some of the things you should be looking out for when you start shopping because if you go into it uninformed, you’re just throwing your money away.
Let’s start there!
10 Best Fastest & Most Powerful Laptops for Graphic Designers in 2022
When we started to look around at some of the most powerful laptops that you can purchase these days, we wanted to make sure that we provided you with a complete list of all the options that you have. You can also read our blog on best laptops for students and best laptops for photo editing.
In our estimation, the list below has the most comprehensive collection of powerful laptops available this year. If you’d like to see our review on each, please keep reading below.
- Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 — Most powerful laptop overall (Editor’s Choice)
- ASUS ProArt Studiobook — Best powerful laptop for graphic designers
- Apple MacBook Pro 16″ — Most powerful MacBook Pro
- Acer Predator Triton 500 SE — Slim and powerful laptop for gamers and creatives
- ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE GX551 — Powerful laptop with 2 screens
- Dell XPS 13 — Most powerful Windows laptop
- Alienware Area-51m — Best gaming laptop
- Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 — Best 2-in-1 laptop
- Google Pixelbook — Best Chromebook available
- 2021 Acer AN515 Nitro 5 — Premium gaming and graphic design laptop
What is the fastest & most powerful laptop for graphic design / development / video editing?
Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 is the fastest and most powerful laptop. Check out the table to see a comparison of the other fast and powerful laptops and choose what is right for you.
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Top 3 Best Selling Powerful Laptop Computers
These are the three best selling powerful laptop computers on Amazon right now:
What factors define the most powerful laptop for graphic designers?
While you could walk into any store or go to a website and just buy any laptop, knowing what to consider before you start shopping can help you make a well-informed decision so that you end up getting exactly what you were hoping for. This is what you should consider when you’re looking for powerful laptops:
Size
One of the key advantages of a laptop is the portability that it affords you. However, even though all laptops are portable, some larger sizes can make lugging them around more of a hassle than a convenience. If you travel regularly, choosing a laptop that isn’t too large and has a good battery life is a great combination to have.
Screen
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Having a screen that is comfortable to look at for long periods is a major factor in any decision you make about which laptop to go with. While some prefer having a touchscreen, if you don’t and want to be able to see everything on your screen, you may want to choose a laptop with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 which is also referred to as Full HD. While there are laptops with better resolution, that should be your starting point.
Design
Knowing whether or not you are looking for a laptop with a touch screen or not can help you make a better decision as to the design that you may want to consider. Laptops typically come in two different varieties:
The clamshell design is the traditional design of a laptop, with a hinge at the back and it opens like its namesake, a clamshell. If you’ve ever seen a laptop, then you are pretty familiar with this design while a 2-in-1 design allows you to turn the screen all the way around and turn it into a tablet. Between the two of them, 2-in-1 laptops tend to be more expensive.
CPU
One of the most important components of your laptop is the CPU. This is essentially the brain of your laptop and whether you are listening to music or editing videos, the CPU processes the commands used in those programs. For more powerful laptops, having a CPU that can handle all the programs you can throw at it can make your work easier. We’d recommend a CPU with a multi-core setup. A good rule of thumb is that the more cores you have the better.
RAM
Having RAM is important because it lets you work with more information at the same time but knowing how much you need can be tricky. A good baseline for memory is 4GB. This would be sufficient enough to do things like checking your email, surfing the internet, watching videos, and so on. However, if you do a lot of video and photo editing, going with 8GB may be a good option. The only real trade-off is that with more RAM, the more battery life it uses. So if battery life is a concern, either leave your laptop plugged in or choose less RAM.
Storage
When laptops were first created, the only option was to use a hard disk drive to save your data. Thankfully, technology has moved forward. While HDDs are still used in some laptops, they can be inexpensive but noisy and can use a lot of power. The standard these days is solid-state drives or SDD which can be a little bit more expensive but are faster and use less power. Most importantly, they are more reliable than HDD’S.
Connectivity
Most laptops need to connect to something whether it is an external display or USB drive, having the inputs to connect to your laptop is essential. While using an adapter is a good option in a pinch but can become a hassle and much easier to have a laptop with the right connections.
A laptop with a few USB ports, an HDMI port, and if you’re working on photos or video, an SD card slot that makes downloading your work easy is something to keep an eye on when you start looking around.
The Top 10 Best Fastest & Most Powerful Laptops for Graphic Designers & Creatives in 2022
1. Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 (Editor’s Choice)
Most powerful laptop overall
CPU: Intel Core i7-10875H | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super | RAM: 32GB DDR4 | Screen: 17-Inches | Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
This 17.3-inch gaming laptop has a tilted (with RGB backlit) optical-mechanical keyboard, six-speaker Dolby Atmos-tuned sound, a G-Sync screen, and a sleek aluminum-magnesium chassis.
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It also has a strong performance, thanks to the Intel “Tiger Lake-H” processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. Furthermore, it runs quietly and has nearly 8 hours of battery life.
If you’re looking for the fastest laptop in the world with an affordable price tag, this could be your top pick. You work fast and seamlessly without any fear of an increase in the temperature of the system. To maximize your performance it comes with ultraslim innovation which involves the radical AAS Plus approach which opens up with a large 12mm intake behind the keyboard which allows the intake of airflow to for improving the cooling system, reduce noise, and decrease the skin temperature.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Excellent overall performance | ➖ No high refresh rate (but good enough for creative work) |
| ➕ Vivid 1440p G-Sync screen | |
| ➕ Perfect build quality | |
| ➕ Quiet cooling system | |
| ➕ Luxurious speakers | |
| ➕ Great battery life |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with ROG Boost
- Intel Core i7-10875H
- 17.3" 300Hz 3ms Full HD IPS Display
- 32GB DDR4 3200MHZ RAM | 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD | Windows 10 Professional
- Thunderbolt 3 | Gig+ Wi-Fi 6
2. ASUS ProArt Studiobook
Powerful laptop for graphic designers
CPU: Intel Core i9 9th Gen | Graphics: Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000 | RAM: 64GB | Screen: 15.6” 4K UHD | Storage: 1TB
Equipped with NVIDIA’s class-leading Quadro RTX 6000 pro graphics, this creation by Asus is breathtakingly powerful. Designed for creative professionals, this 15.6-inch laptop is grabbing the headlines. From the durability offered by Gorilla Glass 5 to the oh-so-nice specifications, this top piece even has a modern cooling system when working long hours. Loaded with multiple ports, connectivity with different devices is never an issue with this beast. The battery life might be an issue on the go but is perfect for heavy office and home usage.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Unique design | ➖ Not really a mobile workstation. For optimal use, it needs to be plugged into a wall outlet. |
| ➕ Amazing graphical performance | |
| ➕ The fingerprint sensor is available |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- Perfect Mobile workstation for 3D Animation, Data Science, Product development, Architects
- 15.6'' 4K UHD display (3840*2160); 100% Adobe RGB; Pantone validated color accuracy; Delta E<1 with Narrow Bezels
- Intel Core i9-9980HK Processor (16M Cache, up to 5.0 GHz) with Windows 10 Pro
- Unbeatable performance with NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 with 24GB GDDR6 VRAM - RTX Studio Ready
- Fast storage and memory featuring 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD and 64GB DDR4 RAM
3. Apple MacBook Pro 16″
Powerful MacBook Pro for creatives
CPU: 9th-Gen 8-Core Intel i9 2.4GHz | Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8GB | RAM: 64GB | Screen: 16-Inches | Storage: 2TB SSD
Apple’s MacBook Pro 16 is a popular and powerful choice among graphic designers and creatives. With a larger screen than previous models, it gives you more space to work. The performance is top-notch while maintaining the iconic slim and light design. It is really fast, has a powerful battery life for work on the go, and is equipped with great speakers, plus storage. Whether you want to run high-end apps for long hours or want to do basic office work, this powerful beast is capable of it all.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Great “Retina” display | ➖ Battery is glued |
| ➕ Amazing speakers | ➖ Keyboard keys have less “travel” than earlier models |
| ➕ Lightweight and sleek | ➖ SD Card slot is not available |
| ➕ Solid battery life | |
| ➕ Thunderbolt 3 connectivity |
Latest Price on Amazon:
5. Acer Predator Triton 500 SE
Most powerful laptop for gamers and creatives
CPU: 5 GHz core_i9 | Graphics: GeForce RTX™ 30 Series graphics | RAM: 32 GB DDR5 | Screen: 16 Inches | Storage: 1 TB
The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is a more powerful version of the Acer Predator Triton 500, with up to a 12th generation Intel Core i9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPU, and 32GB of RAM. This is without a doubt one of the most powerful gaming and creative laptops on display at CES 2022.
The latest games and high-end graphic applications, on the other hand, look fantastic on the laptop’s 16-inch 16:10 (2,560 x 1,660 pixel) display. This machine has a refresh rate of 240Hz and a reaction time of 3 ms. The laptop also has a triple-fan cooling system, and Acer’s Vortex Flow technology helps the airflow generated by those fans reach critical components.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Great design and build quality | ➖ Upgradeability suffers, with there being zero SODIMM slots for future RAM upgrades |
| ➕ Great battery life (up to 11 hours and 29 minutes) | |
| ➕ Amazing CPU performance |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- Extreme Performance: Compete or create with impressive power and speed of the 12th Generation Intel Core i9-12900H processor, featuring 14 cores and 20 threads to divide and conquer any creative task...
- RTX, It's On: The latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (16GB dedicated GDDR6 VRAM) is powered by award-winning Ampere architecture with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, Ray Tracing Cores, Tensor Cores, and...
- Blazing-Fast Display: This 16" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) DCI-P3 100% IPS LED-backlit NVIDIA G-SYNC display featuring 16:10 aspect ratio, an incredibly fast 240Hz refresh rate and 500 nit brightness for the...
- Internal Specifications: 32GB LPDDR5 memory (Maximum 32GB); 1TB PCIe Gen 4x4 SSD
- Prioritize Your Speed: Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro with Ethernet E3100 and Wi-Fi 6E AX1675 lets you use Wi-Fi and Ethernet at the same time, and have total control over priority traffic to maximize...
5. ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE GX551
Fast and powerful laptop with 2 screens
CPU: Ryzen 9 5900HX | Graphics: GeForce RTX 3070 | RAM: 32 GB DDR4 | Screen: 15.6 Inches | >Storage: 1TB
At first glance, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE GX551 appears similar to its predecessor, but it’s outfitted with a more powerful AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, which is a significant performance improvement. Another noteworthy feature is the convenience of the two screens: a 15.6-inch 120Hz 4K display and a touchscreen tilted above the keyboard.
The cooling system has been improved, now using liquid metal, which was previously only found in ROG laptops with Intel processors, and the power supply has also been upgraded. There is Dolby Atmos certification and a microSD 4.0 slot, and all ports are UBS 3.2.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Great design | ➖ No webcam |
| ➕ IPS 4K panel with 100% Adobe RGB coverage | ➖ Small touchpad |
| ➕ Great RGB backlit keyboard |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- ROG ScreenPad Plus: 14-inch secondary touchscreen display | Game, Stream, Create, and more!
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6 with ROG Boost
- Latest 5th Gen AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX Processor (16M Cache, up to 4.5 GHz)
- 300Hz 3ms 15.6” Full HD 1920x1080 IPS-Type PANTONE Validated Display
- 32GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM | 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
6. Dell XPS 13
The most popular Windows laptop
CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: up to 32GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x | Screen size: 13.4″ | Storage: up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe
Dell’s XPS 13 laptops are among the best in the world for graphic design, and the latest edition continues this outstanding legacy. It has a slim and light design that makes it convenient to carry around, but it’s strong enough to do graphic design chores without breaking a sweat.
It also has one of the greatest screens you’ll find on a laptop, ensuring that your projects seem fantastic. The battery life on the new Dell XPS 13 is also outstanding, so you’ll be able to work on it for hours without having to plug it in.
It’s a bit on the pricey side, but it’s well worth it for graphic designers looking for the best laptop for their business.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Remarkable design | ➖ The sound quality is not great |
| ➕ Impressive 16:10 display | |
| ➕ Great battery life |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- WINDOWS 11: Free Upgrade to Windows 11 when available (see below)
- 13.4-inch FHD (Full HD 1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 500-Nit Display
- 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1185G7 Processor (12MB Cache, up to 4.8 GHz)
- 16GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x , 512 GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics with shared graphics memory
Dell XPS 13 Review
Want a closer look at this fine laptop? Check out this Dell XPS 13 review video:
Video credit: Dave2D/YouTube
7. Alienware Area-51m
The Best Gaming Laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-9700 – i9-9900K | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 – 2080 | RAM: 16GB – 64GB | Screen: 17.3″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS – 144Hz IPS NVIDIA G-SYNC | Storage: 1TB SSHD – 2TB RAID0 SSDs + 1TB SSHD
The Alienware line of laptops is marketed as the best laptops for gaming and the Area-51m is no exception. The Area-51m offers those looking for the best components a choice between the 7th- and 9th-generation Intel Core processors as well as a range of GeForce RTX GPU’s from Nvidia. Storage on the Area-51m can range from a modest 1TB SSHD up to 2TB RAID0 SSDs plus a 1TB SSHD for all of your files and programs. The only real downsides to the laptop are that it can get very hot and very expensive. If you’re in the market for a laptop from Alienware, the price may not be that much of a concern.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Excellent graphics | ➖ No MicroSD Card Slot |
| ➕ Great performance overall | |
| ➕ Lightning-fast SSDs | |
| ➕ Can upgrade major components |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900K (8-Core, 16MB Cache, up to 5.0GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
- 17.3" FHD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz Anti-Glare IPS Display w/ NVIDIA G-SYNC + Tobii eyetracking technology
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)
- 32GB (2x16GB) 2400MHz DDR4 Memory
- 2 X 256GB PCIe Solid State Drive (R0) + 1TB (+8GB SSHD) Hybrid Drive
8. Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
The Best 2-in-1 Laptop
CPU: Intel Core i5-i7 | Graphics: Radeon RX Vega M GL Graphics with 4GB HMB2 Graphics Memory | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
The laptops that Dell manufactures give their owners many options and the XPS 15 2-in-1 offers that same benefit with a beautiful design and power to match. Packed with the new Kaby Lake G-series CPUs along with a Radeon RX Vega M GL Graphics card that will make all of your photos, videos, and animation pop off the 15-inch monitor. With up to a terabyte of storage available, the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 can give you the best of both the laptop and tablet worlds.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Impressive design and build | ➖ Mediocre battery life |
| ➕ Great performance | ➖ Keyboard has a short travel |
| ➕ Latest Intel-AMD processor | |
| ➕ Thin bezels |
Latest Price on Amazon:
9. Google Pixelbook
The Best Chromebook Available
CPU: Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 12.3-inch QHD (2,400 x 1,600) LCD touchscreen | Storage: 128GB – 512GB SSD
When the Chromebook line of laptops was first released, many saw them as a novelty or low-priced consumer option. As Google has continued to release the laptop they have gotten much better, the Pixelbook is a great example of that. Packed with the ChromeOS, the laptop doesn’t come with a stylus like many other options in the Chromebook line but has two Thunderbolt ports for fast file transfer and connecting your accessories. The biggest surprise from the Chromebook is the battery life which can last up to 8 hours. The only downside, if there is one l, is the price. While Chromebooks can be budget-friendly, the Pixelbook is much more expensive than others in the line.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Dedicated Google Assistant button | ➖ The stylus is not included |
| ➕ Excellent design | ➖ Audio performance is poor |
| ➕ Great display | ➖ Pixelbook pen lags |
| ➕ Powerful processor | |
| ➕ Lightweight |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- Meet google pixelbook, the high performance chromebook. It’s the first laptop with the google assistant built inches press the google assistant key on your keyboard or say "Ok google" to get...
- Features 7th gen intel core i7 processor, 16gb ram and 512gb for storage. The long lasting battery delivers up to 10 hours of use and it’s fast charging so you can get 2 hours of use in 15 minutes
- 4 in 1 design adapts to whatever you’re doing with laptop, tablet, tent and entertainment modes. Access to favorite apps including google drive, g mail, YouTube, ever note, slack, infinite painter,...
- Pixelbook's super thin and lightweight design measures 10.3 millimetre and weighs 2.45 pounds. Features a 12.3 inch 360 degree touchscreen display, a sleek aluminum body, corning gorilla glass and a...
- Powered by chrome OS with automatic software updates so you’ll always have the latest virus protection. It starts up in less than 10 secs, stays fast throughout the day, and won’t slow down over...
10. 2021 Acer AN515 Nitro 5
Premium gaming and graphic design laptop
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H | Graphics: NVidia 1650 Graphics | RAM: 8GB | Screen size: 15.6-inch | Storage: 1TB
The Acer Nitro 5 AN515-43 is a premium graphic designing and gaming laptop that is packed with powerful features. With a beautiful exterior design and smart technologies, it helps in creating impressive graphics. The CoolBoost technology further makes it super reliable and smooth for getting work done without overheating. The 3.7 GHz processor and latest GPU give you super speed to edit images, render videos, create animations, and do much more. If budget is not much of an issue, you should definitely give this beast a try.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ The cooling system is great | ➖ Noisy |
| ➕ Great battery life (11 hours) |
Latest Price on Amazon:
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600H Mobile Processor (6-core/12-thread, 19MB cache, up to 4.2 GHz max boost) with Radeon Graphics | Windows 10 Home
- 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit IPS Display with 144Hz Refresh Rate | 16:9 aspect ratio
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM
- 8GB DDR4 3200MHz Memory | 256GB NVMe SSD (2 x PCIe M.2 Slots - 1 Slot Open for Easy Upgrades) & 1 - Available 2.5" Hard Drive Bay
- 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz featuring 2x2 MU-MIMO technology | LAN: Killer Ethernet E2600 Gigabit Ethernet LAN | Bluetooth 5.1
What is the most fastest laptop for graphic design?
If you’re looking for the most powerful laptop for graphic design, check out our comparison table below to see what’s best for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best high-performance laptop?
ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo SE GX551 is the best high-performance laptop.
Which is the best premium laptop for graphic design?
Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 is the best premium laptop for graphic design on our list.
What is the highest processor speed for a laptop?
The 10th-generation Intel Core H-Series is the processor, allowing gaming and content creation laptops to reach clock speeds of up to 5.3 GHz.
What makes a computer run faster - RAM or processor?
The processor makes a computer run faster. RAM has got nothing to do with making your software or applications run fast. What a good RAM does is allows your processor to run more processes or apps at the same time, so the processor can provide fast speed for all applications.
Why should I choose the ASUS ProArt Studio book for graphic designing?
ASUS ProArt Studio book is one of the best laptops with a unique design. It has an excellent graphical performance and a modern cooling system. It is one of the best choices for multiple tasks such as Data Science, 3D Animation, etc.
The Fastest, Speediest, Quickest & Most Powerful Laptops in 2022
Finding not only a powerful laptop but one that can provide you with hours and hours of use so you can do everything you need can feel like your options are a dime a dozen. Knowing what to look for so you can get exactly what you need to get the job done the first time. We hope that our list of the Most Powerful Laptops in 2022 has given you some ideas and opinions for your next laptop. You can also read our blog on best samsung laptops.
Do you have a quick laptop that you think is amazing but it’s not on our list? Let us know about it in the comments below!
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