Best laptops for audio production

Processor

The processor (or CPU) is the most important component for audio production. Since you can’t really upgrade the processor on laptops, you need to get a laptop with a sufficiently fast CPU. Applications like FL Studio have a good support for multi core CPUs. However, some operations are single threaded, so you need a CPU that has both a good single thread and multi-thread performance. In practice, you could look at hexa core CPUs and choose the one with the fastest single thread performance. The 8th gen U series CPUs, for example the i7-8550U, are quad core CPUs. They would be decent options. However, for the very best performance, make sure you get a laptop CPU that ends in H, like the i7-9750H with six cores. They are normally the best choice for music production in laptops.

Graphics card

The graphics card (or GPU) is rarely used for music production other than rendering the user interface. Because of that, integrated graphics should generally be more than enough. However, laptops with powerful hexa core CPUs tend to come with fairly good dedicated GPUs as well. This does not hurt (especially if you plan on doing some gaming as well), but there is no need to spend extra on a really powerful GPU (e.g. a RTX 2070) for music production.

Memory

While memory (or RAM) doesn't really improve speed, it is important to get sufficient RAM for music production. If you don’t have enough RAM, they system will start swapping to disk, which will make the computer very slow. However, once you have sufficient RAM, adding more will not really speed up the laptop. It makes sense to get at least 8 GB of RAM for audio production. 16 GB would be even better, especially if you use lots of samples and orchestral simulators.

Storage

When it comes to storage there are two factors to consider: speed and capacity. Most laptops either come with a hard drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). SSDs are faster than HDDs, so they are generally preferred in laptops. They are also quieter than HDDs, which is an important aspect for music production. However, SSDs also tend to be smaller than HDDs, so you have to get a drive with sufficent capacity for your files. How much you need depends on your projects. Generally, you will probably need at least 256 GB.

There are two main types of SSDs: NVMe and SATA. NVMe SSDs are faster in benchmarks, but for most applications the difference is not that significant in practice. It is more important to ensure that you do have an SSD (because they are much faster than HDDs) than the type of SSD you get.

Audio production is often not that disk intensive (it is more about CPU), so you can probably use an HDD if you want to get more storage at a lower price. Also, it is often possible to upgrade laptops with an SSD later on if you prefer that. However, if you rely on streaming samples it could make sense to get an SSD right away for a better performance. Also, higher end laptops tend to come with SSDs pre-configured, which certainly does not hurt.

Screen

Laptops usually either have a TN or an IPS display. Generally, IPS screens have a higher color accuracy and wider viewing angles. While this is not essential for music production, it still makes sense to get a good screen, especially if you use the laptop for hours in a row.

Laptop recommendations for audio production

1. Budget laptop for audio production

The Acer Aspire E 15 is our favorite budget laptop for audio production. It comes with a quad core CPU and 8 GB of RAM, which is quite good at this price point (you can upgrade it to 16 GB later on if required). It also has an IPS screen for wider viewing angles and better colors. The base configuration is 256 GB SSD, which should provide more than sufficient speed for audio production. You can add an HDD later on if you need more storage. This laptop also has a good cooling system and a long battery life.

2. High performance laptop for audio production

The Prostar Clevo NH58RAQ is our top pick if you want a high performance audio production laptop at a reasonable price. It comes with the latest generation i7-9750H CPU, which is possibly the best CPU you can get at this price point. The 16 GB of RAM should be more than enough for larger projects. It also has an SSD that should provide excellent speed for streaming samples and heavy audio production operations. Finally, this laptop also has good build quality and an IPS screen.

3. High performance and very portable laptop for audio production with a great battery life

If you travel with the laptop on a daily basis you may want something more portable than the laptop above. In that case the Gigabyte AERO 15 would be a great option. It has the same CPU and RAM, so audio production performance should be about the same. However, it is a bit more portable at only 4.4 lbs. The 94 Wh battery is larger as well (seems people get around 8 hours of battery in practice).

4. High performance for audio production with a 4k screen

The Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED has an even faster i9-9980HK CPU. It also comes with a true 4k screen (an OLED panel), which is one one of the best screens you can find in laptops today.

5. High performance MacBook for audio production

If you prefer a MacBook, the Apple MacBook Pro with an i9 CPU also has a great performance for music production. It has a "Retina" 2880 x 1800, which is a good display with a high color accuracy. This MacBook is very durable and it has a long battery life.

6. Extreme performance laptop for audio production

If you want the very best audio production performance in a laptop, you may want to look at the PROSTAR Clevo P775TM1-G. It has a desktop grade i9-9900K eight-core CPU, which is almost twice as fast as typical high performance laptop CPUs for multi-threaded workloads. It also comes with 32 GB RAM, which should be great for most audio production applications. It has a 1 TB NVMe SSD for speed and a 2 TB SSHD for additional storage. This is basically a powerful desktop in a laptop format.