Best laptops for Blender
3D modeling is a very heavy task for today's computers. It requires the best specs you can get in a laptop: not only a fast processor but also a high performance graphics card and sufficient memory. Modern 3D modeling applications offer graphics card acceleration to reduce rendering time.
A few years ago, 3D rendering was mostly done on workstations or large servers. Today, there are many good laptops that can handle Blender and similar applications. Here are some important things to look for in a 3D rendering laptop (if you are more interested in specific laptop suggestions you can jump right to the recommendations further down this page).
Processor
The processor (or CPU) is one of the most important components for 3D modeling. You can’t really upgrade the processor on laptops, so you need to get a laptop with a sufficiently fast CPU. Many operations in Blender has a good support for multi core CPUs. Intel’s hexa core i7 CPUs are usually a solid choice for 3D rendering in laptops. However, not all laptop i7 CPUs have six cores. The ones ending in U have fewer, for example the i7-8550U (four cores) or the older i7-7500U (two cores). The newer 8th gen U series would be fairly good options as well. However, for a better performance, make sure you get a laptop CPU that ends in H, like the i7-9750H with six cores.
Graphics card
The graphics card (or GPU) can help to speed up 3D rendering. Most 3D modeling applications offer some GPU acceleration. Blender offers this for some operations, which can me much faster than CPU rendering (sometimes 10 times faster).
For Blender it makes sense to get a really strong GPU (ideally a GTX 1660Ti or better). Since you normally can’t upgrade the GPU on a laptop, you need to pick a laptop with sufficient GPU when you buy it.
Memory
While memory (or RAM) doesn't really improve speed, it is important to get sufficient RAM for 3D modeling. 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 rendering. It makes sense to get at least 8 GB of RAM for Blender. 16 GB would be even better, especially for production grade rendering.
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. 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 a 256 GB SSD at the very least.
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.
3D rendering is often not that disk intensive, 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.
Screen
Laptops usually either have a TN or an IPS display. Generally, IPS screens have a higher color accuracy and wider viewing angles. Because of that, it makes sense to get an IPS screen for 3D modeling. It is not always clearly specified what kind of screen a laptop has. If that is the case, you can assume that it has a rather poor TN screen. Always ensure that the laptop has an IPS screen.
Screen resolution also matters for 3D modeling. Generally, at least full HD (1920 ×1080 pixels, or 1080p) is recommended. You could also get a higher resolution screen if you prefer that. However, these come in different qualities. The so called pentile matrix screens are not true 4k and should be avoided. If you want a higher resolution screen, the Aero 15 recommended below has a true 4k screen.
Laptop recommendations for Blender
1. Budget laptop for Blender
The Acer Aspire E 15 is our favorite budget laptop for Blender. It comes with a quad core i5 CPU and 8 GB of RAM, which is quite good at this price point. It also has an IPS screen for wider viewing angles and better colors. The MX150 will be useful for any GPU accelerated rendering jobs. The base configuration is a 256 GB SSD, and 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 Blender
The Eluktronics MECH-15 is our top pick if you want a high performance in Blender 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 (you can also upgrade RAM later on if required). It also has a 512 GB SSD for speed. You can add additional storage later on if required. The GTX 1660Ti GPU will be great for GPU rendering, and it can also handle gaming and VR if you are interested in that. Finally, this laptop also has a good build quality and a high quality 72% NTSC IPS display.
3. High performance and very portable laptop for Blender with great battery life
If you travel with the laptop on a daily basis you may want something with long battery life. In that case the Gigabyte AERO 15 would be a great option. It has the same CPU/GPU, so rendering performance should be about the same. However, it comes with a 94 Wh battery (seems people get around 8 hours of battery in practice).
4. High performance for Blender with a 4k screen
The Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED has an even stronger CPU/GPU (useful for Blender) compared to the AERO 15 above. It also comes with a true 4k screen (an OLED panel), which is great if you are rendering in higher resolutions.
5. High performance MacBook for Blender
If you prefer a MacBook, the Apple MacBook Pro also has a good performance for Blender, with an i9 CPU and a Radeon GPU. This Radeon GPU is not as fast as the NVIDIA GPU of the Windows laptops above though, so you would not get quite the same performance for Blender. It has a "Retina" 2880 x 1800 screen, which is a very good display with a high color accuracy. This MacBook is very durable and it has a long battery life.
6. Extreme performance laptop for Blender
If you want the best Blender performance in a laptop, the PROSTAR Clevo P775TM1-G would be a powerful option. It has a desktop grade i9-9900K (eight cores), which is even faster than the i7-9750H. More importantly, it also has the stronger RTX 2070 GPU. This combination should result in the fastest rendering times for both CPU based and GPU based rendering. It comes with 32GB of RAM, which should be plenty even for heavier rendering. This configuration has a 1 TB SSD and a 2 TB SSHD for additional storage.