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You need a reliable video editing laptop to create special effects on 4K or raw HD videos. While you may argue that it’s possible to trim small clips using cheap laptops, it’s essential to note that such laptops do not have fast processors, high-resolution displays, or discrete solid graphics. And the best laptops for video editing have discrete graphics cards.
A discrete graphics card is standalone hardware that you can easily connect to a particular port on your PC’s motherboard, or sometimes it comes as part of the motherboard for some laptops. You need a color-accurate display and high brightness level to edit well. A laptop with powerful components can easily handle system-sucking programs such as Adobe After Effects or DaVinci Resolve.
Each pick on our list of the best laptops for video editing has its plus points. These laptops are also excellent for carrying out other creative tasks, making picking the right one more daunting than just looking for a more specialized machine.
That’s why we’ve curated options to fit your price points perfectly. So, here are the best five laptops for video editing for you to consider.
Top Picks: Best Laptops for Video Editing
- Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M2 Max
- Up to 22 hours of battery life
- 12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores, and up to 32GB of unified memory
- 1080p FaceTime HD camera
- Features a MagSafe charging port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack
- Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M2 Pro
- 12 CPU cores, up to 19 GPU cores, and up to 32GB of unified memory
- Up to 18 hours of battery life
- 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
- 1080p FaceTime HD camera
- Acer Predator Triton 300 SE
- 14-inch WUXGA LCD Display
- Intel i7-12700H Processor
- 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD Storage
- Windows 11 Home
- 16GB RAM
- Alienware x17 R1
- 11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H
- Killer AX 1675 + Bluetooth 5.2
- NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus
- Dell XPS 15
- Intel Core i7
- 16:10 FHD+ edge-to-edge display
- Eyesafe display technology
- Quad speaker design
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We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Best Overall: MacBook Pro Laptop M2 Max 2023 (16-inch)
- Up to 22 hours of battery life
- 12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores, and up to 32GB of unified memory
- 1080p FaceTime HD camera
- Features a MagSafe charging port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack
MacBook Pro M2 Max is the new king of MacBook. Thanks to an M2 Max chip, this laptop allows you to handle demanding projects confidently. It comes with CPU cores (12), GPU cores (19), and 32 GB of unified memory.
With MacBook Pro M2 Max, you can edit all day, thanks to a remarkable battery life of up to 22 hours. It is fully compatible with all your Pro apps, including Xcode, Affinity Designer, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Microsoft 365. It might not be dramatically faster than the M1 Max version, but it’s an all-rounded laptop with the power to edit all-resolution videos.
Aside from its powerful chipset, MacBook Pro M2 Max gives you a captivating 16-inch display, a super comfy keyboard, and powerful audio. You’ll also love this laptop more as it works well with all Apple devices.
This means that you can quickly copy something on your iPhone and paste it onto MacBook Pro 16. The laptop is built to last, and its free software updates assure the smooth running of things and security for years to come.
Best Value for Money: MacBook Pro M2 Pro Chip (14.2-inch)
- 12 CPU cores, up to 19 GPU cores, and up to 32GB of unified memory
- Up to 18 hours of battery life
- 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
- 1080p FaceTime HD camera
MacBook Pro M2 Pro boasts excellent performance and battery life. The extremely capable machine has an outside that’s similar to the 16-inch M2 Max version, with a combination of brilliant speed and a super-bright screen. You’ll fall in love with its class-leading trackpad and keyboard, while its reasonable selection of ports gives it a premium look and feel, befitting its performance and price.
MacBook M2 Pro operates on a MacOS 13.2 Ventura like recent models. While it is not so different from Windows, this laptop promises useful screen-sharing capabilities and a host of proximity features so you can easily use your iPad or iPhone as your second screen, or control it remotely.
The laptop features a beautiful pro display made of liquid retina XDR, more than 1000 nits of brightness to give you stunning HDR content, and pro reference modes for work on the go. You can also connect all you want, as the laptop has a MagSafe charging port, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, and three Thunder 4 ports. You’ll also enjoy wireless connectivity through Bluetooth 5.3 and WI-FI 6E.
The unibody enclosure makes it exceptionally durable. The free software updates ensure your operations run smoothly and securely for years. You’ll find this excellent video editing companion for $1,948.64.
Best Budget VR-Ready Laptop: Acer Predator Triton 300 SE
- 14-inch WUXGA LCD Display
- Intel i7-12700H Processor
- 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD Storage
- Windows 11 Home
- 16GB RAM
Acer is best known for making high-quality and affordable laptops. While its gaming laptop versions can get a little pricey, Acer Predator Triton 300 SE is one of the best laptops for video editing that perfectly fits in the company’s cozy corner of excellent quality products packaged in an affordable package.
Unlike other computers, this version features an impressive stylish metal chassis, a host of gaming features, including built-in overlocking and NVidia-G-sync, and a vibrant screen. Its overall performance might not match that of a Mac Pro.
Nevertheless, it does an excellent job at providing a fingerprint reader, a higher screen refresh rate of 240HZ, a 1080p webcam, and a longer battery life. Acer Predator Triton 300 SE features minimalistic branding with just two predator logos, one below its display and the other on its lid.
It has impressive connectivity featuring a USB-C port with a Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 video output, Thunderbolt 4 support, and two USB 3.2 Gen-2 Type-A ports. The slim Spartan-styled computer will handle all your multi-tasking concerns and empower your creativity at all levels.
Pick your color from silver, sparkly silver, or titanium gray. Acer Predator Triton 300 SE runs on a Windows 11 operating system, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070Ti, with 8GB dedicated memory.
Best Gaming Laptop for Video Editing: Alienware X17
- 11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H
- Killer AX 1675 + Bluetooth 5.2
- NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus
If you have been wondering whether Alienware laptops are good for video editing, we assure you that they are excellent at it. We understand how resource-intensive video editing is and the fact that it requires plenty of RAM, a powerful processor, and a bigger screen.
Alienware X17 is known for gaming. But the laptop is designed to be multi-functional. It’s part of the brand’s X-series and the thinnest gaming machine ever produced. The laptop is enhanced with an exclusive thermal cooling material, Element 31.
Alienware X17 raises the bar of gaming. Its ultra-premium system is 0.8 inches thick and has many fixings, including NVidia GeForce 3080 GPU, Intel Core i7 processor, and dual SSDs. The 17. inch laptop boasts a 4K display, a cherry MX keyboard, and powerful speakers.
While gaming laptops are not known for their security features, Alienware X17 has implemented several measures to keep you safe. The Webcam is Hello compatible to allow for face recognition logins.
Its system is fitted with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), a secure cryptoprocessor to protect your system from hackers and malware. Something as powerful as Alienware will cost you a pretty penny. An RTX 3060 will cost you $1,799, while the RTX 3080 version goes for $2,199 on Amazon.
Best for Windows Video Editing: Dell XPS 15 (2015)
- Intel Core i7
- 16:10 FHD+ edge-to-edge display
- Eyesafe display technology
- Quad speaker design
Dell XPS 15 is one of the best Dell laptops that is deceptively compact and well set up for video editing. For seamless video editing, you need a good CPU and a powerful GPU to speed up your video rendering times. Thankfully, Dell XPS 15 meets all these requirements. The laptop has the best configuration, including Intel Core i7-11400H CPU.
Dell XPS has no dedicated CPU, which is excellent, especially when working with 4K videos. Its base configuration has 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage and a GeForce NVidia GTX 1650Ti graphics card. You’ll also get excited because of its 62% larger touchpad, 5% larger screen, and Integrated Eyesafe display technology.
If you decide this is your to-go laptop for your video editing rig, you can find it on Amazon for $1,999. The configurations we have listed promise you a great experience. However, if you need to customize each component to your style further, you can fully configure your Dell XPS 15 on the Dell website.
How to Pick the Best Laptops for Video Editing: Step-by-Step Guide
Dealing with heavy files and 4K footage can be challenging if you don’t have the right system. Here are four things to consider when choosing a video editing laptop:
- How much storage and memory you need
- The processor and graphics card
- Display and resolution
- Sound cards and audio drivers required
How Much Storage and Memory You Need
While you can easily use external storage to store your files and footage, you still need sufficient SSD space on your laptop. 1 TB SSD space is highly recommended. But if you are working on a tight budget, a 512 GB would still do.
You need more RAM if you’ll be working on memory-intensive tasks, such as 4K videos. They require 32 to 64 gigs of RAM. We highly recommend the latest RAM configuration, DDR4, which allows for higher bandwidth.
The Processor and Graphics Card
The CPU is the portion of a computer that processes instructions. If you prefer Windows laptops, Intel Core i5 and i7 processors are sufficient. i9 processors are an excellent option for the MacBook Pro series.
Laptops have two types of graphics cards: discrete graphics and integrated graphics, which share resources such as memory and storage with the CPU.
Laptops ideal for video editing should have a discrete GPU with its memory for powerful image processing (VRAM-video random access memory). Go for a laptop with 4-8GB dedicated VRAM.
Display and Resolution
When editing videos, you should consider how they will be viewed. Hence the need to keep in mind display resolution and screen quality. While most laptops come with LCD screens, we highly recommend a UHD display for crisper video resolutions, as found in premium laptops.
Sound Cards and Audio Drivers Required
You need to invest in a laptop with the requisite audio hardware and the latest sound chip or sound card. Audio drivers are essential in sending, receiving, and mixing audio from various interfaces to ensure you only get the authentic sound for the video. Realtek HD audio drivers are the most common, but most laptops come pre-installed with sound drivers and cards.
What to Know Before Buying a Video Editing Laptop
Most modern laptops should be in a position to edit videos. But you’ll need more high power to edit 4K videos with instant rendering speeds comfortably. The best video editing laptops need increased power, usually attached to a higher price tag.
Using Video Editing Laptops: What It’s Like
By now, you know that for a laptop to edit videos effectively, it needs a powerful processor and loads of RAM. You also need to ensure that your laptop has a sound graphics card to handle the intense processes of video editing software. It’s also paramount to check for extra features that may come in handy and try out a few laptops before settling on one.
Video editing is resource intensive, whether you have a separate video card or not. Video editing will put almost all your resources to task based on the laptop version, which could cause everything else to run slowly.
When all your laptop components are being used heavily, it’s normal for your laptop to generate a lot of heat. Video editing can make your laptop even hotter if you use it on your lap. To prevent your laptop from overheating, we recommend that you invest in a cooling pad, regularly clean your vents, and monitor your laptop’s temperature for quick action.
Overheating can cause damage to your laptop’s internal components, but before that, it should strive to shut itself down. It’s essential to note that it is normal for your computer to run warm, even when you place it on your lap to use it.
