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1. Best overall: MacBook Air (M2)
2. Best for Windows: ASUS ProArt
3. Best power: MacBook Pro (M3)
4. Best under £650: Acer Chromebook Plus
5. Best for portability: Dell XPS 13
6. Dual screen: ASUS Zenbook Duo
7. Best for stylus: Surface Laptop Studio 2
Also tested
How to choose
How we test
FAQs
To use all of Photoshop's newest and most power-hungry features, you'll need a powerful machine. And can also be true if you work with a lot of layers. But not everyone's workflows will need so much power from Photoshop, so this list includes a mix of laptops that should suit the needs of diverse users.
We've tested every laptop on this page, putting them through demanding benchmark tests to define what kind of user they will work best for. Our team of expert reviewers have assessed the display quality, screen size, speed, battery life and more when adding the picks to this list, which includes options from Apple to ASUS. Of course, if you need more from a screen, the best monitors for photo editing will be a great companion.
If you want a laptop but don't yet have the software, make sure to check out our Adobe Creative Cloud discount page, and our best photo editing software. We'd also recommend considering the best drawing tablets if you prefer editing with a stylus.
Quick list
Best overall
We think the MacBook Air M2 is perfect for Photoshop. The 13-inch screen is a stunner, the chassis beautifully built and the M2 chip provides ridiculous performance for what is an entry-level laptop by Apple's standards. The battery life also blows most Windows laptops completely away.
Read more below
Best Windows
Our reviewer loved this laptop so much that he said it could "handle anything you could possibly ask of it". With a whole host of powerful tech packed inside it, we also love the glossy screen. Sure, the battery life is a little short but if you have the means of charging it up it's a real winner.
Read more below
Best for power
Apple's MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) is the one for high-level Photoshop users. Our reviewer loved the blisteringly fast M3 chip, and was impressed by its 22-hour battery life. He also rated the screen for its colour depth and brightness – ideal for photo editing.
Read more below
Best under £650
You can run Photoshop on Chromebooks now (well, a version of it), as there's a new ChromeOS-compatible version of Photoshop available to use on the newest, most powerful Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook Plus, which can be had for under £/$500.
Read more below
Most portable
What makes the Dell XPS 13 9315 the best portable laptop for Photoshop is that it's a 2-in-1 laptop, so you can remove the keyboard if you prefer and carry it around like a tablet, while using Photoshop via the touchscreen. It works great with Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as all general laptop work.
Read more below
Best dual-screen
It looks unique, with not one, but two full-size screens to work on. With its fantastic update from the already-innovative Zenbook Pro Duo, the latest Duo is also the greatest so far, and completely eliminates any need for an external monitor...
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Best laptop for Photoshop
We specifically tested the MacBook Air M2 on Photoshop before giving it a glowing near-perfect report. That's why we're convinced that this is the best laptop out there for Adobe's flagship software.
Though the MacBook Air isn't the most powerful of Apple's lineup, it's more than capable of running demanding Photoshop workflows – including the new AI tools, and as many layers as you can throw at it.
It also has an acceptably bright (500 nits) LED-backlit display, which comes in 13-inch or 15-inches. There are brighter out there, but we think this is perfect for all Photoshop tasks. Add to that an amazing battery life that lasted over 16 hours in our tests, and you've got yourself a cracking laptop.
When we had hands on this laptop, it was a brand new model, with a brand new price tag that didn't equate to great value for money. However, two years after it's release, you'll be able to find some good bargain on it, and it's consistantly around $150 under the original retail price.
Find out more in our full MacBook Air (M2, 2022) review.
Best Windows laptop for Photoshop
If you’re serious about working in Photoshop and need a laptop that can offer as much power as you can handle, look no further than the ASUS ProArt Studiobook OLED (H7604). It’s loaded with powerful components that should be able to perform almost any task asked of it in Photoshop.
It offers an Intel Core i9 CPU, one of the most powerful processors on the market. It’s perfect for chewing through large batches of photos and AI-powered image edits in Adobe’s popular app. And with up to 64GB of memory backing it up, you shouldn’t experience slowdowns, however many layers you've added to the document.
The large OLED display is gorgeous to look at and its high resolution is ideally suited to editing your images in close detail, with 100% DCI-P3 colour coverage making sure the images pop as they should. And there’s even up to 8TB of storage – enough for the heftiest photo libraries.
Read our ASUS ProArt Studiobook OLED (H7604) review for more information.
Most powerful laptop for Photoshop
If you're a power user the newest MacBook Pro is absolutely the best machine you can buy for Photoshop – if you want a big screen. The M3 chip will easily handle the most demanding workflow, which Rob put to the test with a host of software more demanding than Photoshop.
We love the display, which is perfect for photo editing, and reaches 1,600 nits of peak brightness (the average is 500 nits) – so there's no squinting to see the detail in your edits. The Liquid Retina XDR panel with mini-LED tech achieves deep blacks and bright whites, and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio so you'll know your photos are as accurate as they can be.
We also love the 14-inch M2 model from 2023 if portability is more your priority, and a 13-inch version from 2022 as well – these will handle Photoshop with ease, and will be cheaper if that's a concern for you.
Read our full review of the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M2, 2023) to find out more about why we rate this laptop.
Best laptop under $650 for Photoshop
What? A Chromebook? For Photoshop? Have we finally lost it?
Nope, you can do that now, for real. The new Acer Chromebook Plus 515 has double the power of the previous generation of top-end Chromebooks, and now there's a ChromeOS-compatible version of Photoshop out to match that laptop perfectly.
We're currently testing the new Chromebook Plus, but our initial impressions are positive enough to warrant it a place on here as the best Photoshop laptop you can score for under £650. In fact, at the time of writing, you can get this one for £/$499, which is a very good price for something that runs Photoshop without a hitch...
Best Photoshop laptop for portability
The Dell XPS 13 9315 is a 2-in-1 laptop, meaning you can separate the display from the keyboard and use the former as a standalone tablet. That gives it a whole new perspective on Photoshop work. We found that Photoshop and Illustrator worked incredibly well on this device, and works well with all your usual web browsing and document creation.
You could use the detached screen as a reference screen for your main image-editing workstation, or get drawing on your creations using a stylus. It’s a laptop that can fit around the way you want to work.
It’s not the most powerful device in this round-up, but it’s also one of the more affordable offerings. Not everyone needs something to power through incredibly heavy-duty Photoshop workloads, after all; sometimes, your image-editing tasks are more lightweight. If that’s the case with you, Dell’s laptop could be perfect.
Read our full Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 review for more.
Best dual-screen laptop for Photoshop
Most laptops only have one screen. Why would you need more? Well, Asus makes a very strong case for having two by way of its Zenbook Duo OLED laptop. Not only does it have a bright, beautiful 14-inch OLED display up top, but lift away the keyboard and another full-size 14-inch OLED display reveals itself.
This second screen makes it a perfect Photoshop laptop. You can move a reference picture onto it while you work on image adjustments on the 'main' display, for example. Or you can move your toolbars to the second screen and use it as a control panel. It even has built-in settings for Photoshop, as well as a slate of other Adobe apps. It has a speedy processor, too, great for lovers of double-monitors who move around a bit.
2024 has brought us a new version of this laptop, and it has impressed us so much that we gave it a rare full house in our full review. Check out the Asus Zenbook Duo OLED review for more details on this fantastic laptop.
Best laptop with a stylus for Photoshop
If you like using your stylus when editing images in Photoshop, say hello to the very best choice. Boasting a super-sharp 3:2 screen with a slick 120Hz refresh rate and support for your choice of MPP stylus, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has unusual ergonomics that's specifically great for stylus input – giving you far more potential angles for the screen than a simple clamshell laptop. This is an excellent option for graphic designers, digital artists, or pen-based photo editors.
Changing from the studio mode to using a stylus is obviously ideal for digital artists. There are RAM options from 16GB to 64GB. And along with those 13th Gen CPUs from Intel, you get a choice of Intel Xe graphics or an Nvidia RTX 4060 and RTX 2000 Ada professional GPUs, so there's plenty of power here, even if that does make for slightly bulky proportions.
Of course, if it's just the performance you want, you can get it for less from other laptops – but you'd have to give up the drawing and input abilities that make this such a great pick for image editors and other creative pros in the first place.
Here's our full Surface Laptop Studio 2 review.
Also tested
Some of the laptops we have reviewed come very close to beating out the laptops above when it comes to performance and fit for Photoshop. As you'll see from the linked reviews, they often score high in our tests. So here are some other great options, should you not find what you're looking for above...
How to choose a laptop for Photoshop
Photoshop is a creative application beloved by photographers and digital artists alike thanks to its varied toolset and wide range of features. It's far from the most demanding piece of software available, but it’s certainly one of the beefiest for photo editing. This means not every laptop can do a decent job of running it, but there are a few things to look out for when buying a laptop specifically for Adobe Photoshop.
Firstly, you’ll want a modern processor. Both Intel and AMD list CPUs in numerical order regarding power, and the rule is generally ‘the bigger, the better’, so a 9th-generation Intel i5 won’t perform tasks as efficiently as an 11th-generation Intel i9. We recommend at least a 9th generation Intel i5 or a Ryzen 5 3600.
Memory (also known as RAM) is also important, so look for a minimum of 8GB (though 16GB is preferred), and even a dedicated graphics card if your budget can stretch to it.
A laptop with a large SSD storage drive is also recommended, as it means you can keep all the photos you’re editing on the device, while the speed of an SSD (compared to a slower traditional hard drive) means you can load up and edit the photos in a matter of seconds.
Because you’ll be spending lots of time working on your laptop, you’ll want to make sure it’s comfortable to use, so the trackpad and keyboard need to be well built, without adding too much bulk to the laptop. If you’re going to need a laptop for Photoshop to edit photos while travelling, a thin and light laptop should be your priority.
A 2-in-1 laptop can also be very advantageous, as it combines the fluid editing benefits of a graphics tablet with your laptop, though these tend to be less powerful than a larger, design-optimised laptop.
New developments have also appeared in recent months too, with more 4K OLED displays appearing on laptops specifically created with photographers and creatives in mind. An OLED screen will provide rich, deep blacks and beautiful colours, so while they might be expensive, it’s worth every penny to get one if you can splash the cash.
How we test laptops for Photoshop
When we test laptops for Photoshop, all-round performance is pretty important. For starters, a high-quality screen with decent resolution makes all the difference, though the bigger you go, the more you compromise portability.
With that in mind, we consider factors including pixel density, colour accuracy, contrast and more, to decide how well a screen performs for image editing. As for CPU and GPU performance, to an extent it will depend on your precise workflows, for instance the filters and effects you use, how critical each element is. Modern chips tend to be known quantities. However, laptop performance even with the same specs can vary wildly due to thermal properties. So, we test for both processor and graphics performance to make sure you'll get the grunt the specs imply. Every laptop on this list has gone through the following benchmark tests as a minimum:
• Cinebench R23/2024 - this assesses the performance of a computer's CPU and GPU using real-world 3D rendering tasks
• Geekbench 5/6 - this tests the CPU's processing power, both by using a single core for a single task at a time as well as all the CPU's core to see its ability to multitask
• PCMark 10 - this test assesses a computer’s ability to run all everyday tasks from web browsing to digital content creation, testing app launch speeds, 3D rendering and even battery life
Storage performance is important, too, especially when dealing with big batches of large images. So, we still test sequential throughput and random access to make sure you've got plenty of bandwidth for heavier workflows.
We also assess ergonomics, build and usability, including keyboard quality, chassis rigidity, trackpad response and more to build up a practical picture of how well a laptop performs in the real world rather than merely benchmarks.
Finally, battery life is critical for every laptop and it's also a measure by which different models can differ dramatically, both from each other and from the manufacturer claims. So, we pay close attention to real-world battery life each laptop delivers.
FAQs
What laptop do most photographers use?
This is entirely down to the personal preferences of each photographer. Many choose MacBook Pro devices, as they are some of the best-optimized laptops on the market for creative professionals. Windows-based laptops and 2-in-1 devices have come a long way, but Apple still reigns as the top choice.
This is thanks to a mix of great optimisation, long-lasting battery life, and that beloved Apple ecosystem, making it much easier to use other Apple devices together, such as a MacBook Pro alongside and iPad tablet.
Of course, if you don’t have a bunch of other Apple devices lying around in your home, Windows hardware is still a fantastic option for photographers and digital editors alike, especially if you’re not experienced using macOS. Apple also has yet to release a true 2-in-1 device or convertible laptop, which gives Windows an advantage for folks looking to leave a graphic drawing tablet at home and instead use a stylus directly with their laptop.