Investing in the best laptops for music production makes quite a significant difference in your music production. Many music producers, DJs, and songwriters nowadays require more than just portable DAWs. Though the minimum requirements for music production software include: multi-core processors, 4GB RAM, and ample storage, looking for a more powerful laptop can help make your work easier.
If you need one that can run all of your software reliably, you should get laptops with enough memory and processing power to handle heavy loads. These laptops must work without breaking down mid-session and it also needs to be portable enough for on-the-go work without sacrificing sound quality or comfortability in any way. For these reasons and more, the best laptops for music production will differ from each other in many ways—but there are some things that remain constant across every option. Let’s take a look:
Apple MacBook Pro M2
PROS
- Strong, reliable performance
- Sleek and beautiful design
- A popular choice among music producers
- Great battery life
CONS
- May need to invest in cloud storage
- Expensive new model
- Few ports available
Specs:
- CPU: Apple M2
- RAM: 8 – 16 GB
- Storage: 256 GB – 1 Tb
- GPU: Apple M2
- Display: 13.3″
- OS: Mac OS
- Battery Life: up to 18 hours
Most music producers have been using the Apple Macbook Pro for their work. So, getting the Apple Macbook Pro M2, it seems like not much has changed. It still has the same software optimization, retina screens, and the iconic silver chassis that has become Apple’s default color. The M2 chip, Apple’s latest chip, provides a strong, multi-core processor that makes this one of the best laptops for music production. The reliable power of MacBooks enables you to work all day long without slowing down. Loaded with great speakers and a comfortable keyword, MacBooks becomes the most popular portable DAWs. The only thing missing would probably be a few more ports.
Apple MacBook Pro M2
Dell XPS 17
PROS
- Powerful processor
- Large screen
- Good sound system
CONS
- Expensive
Specs:
- CPU: Intel Core i7
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- Display: 17″
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- Battery Life: up to 9 hours
A high-end laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, the Dell XPS 17 makes the list of one of the best laptops for music production. Thanks to its powerful processor, large 17″ display (with 4K resolution), and good sound system, the laptop rivals that of Apple MacBooks, making for a great DAWs. The laptop also has a full HD webcam for video calling and recording, and an aluminum chassis that keeps it cool even when you’re using heavy software like Ableton Live or FL Studio—the latter being one of the most popular DAWs used by producers today.
Dell XPS 17
Apple MacBook Air M2
PROS
- Compact and lightweight
- Apple M2 chip
- Great battery life
CONS
- Fanless design
Specs:
- CPU: Apple M2
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 256 GB to 512 GB
- GPU: Apple M2
- Display: 13.6″
- OS: Mac OS
- Battery Life: up to 18 hours
If you’re looking for a powerful laptop that’s still compact and lightweight enough to take on the road, look no further than the Apple MacBook Air. The M2 model features the Apple M2 chip boasting a powerful processor for a compact laptop. The 13″ inch laptop weighs just 2.7 pounds (0.9kg), so it’s easy to carry around with you wherever you go while still offering all the power that a MacBook M2 provides.
Apple MacBook Air M2
ASUS Zephyrus G14
PROS
- Comfortable keyboard
- Up to 24 GB of RAM
- Strong, powerful specs
CONS
- Decent battery life
Specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7
- RAM: 8 – 24 GB
- Storage: 512 GB – 1 TB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
- Display: 14″
- OS: Windows 10 Home
- Battery Life: up to 10 hours
If you want a high-end gaming laptop that can also be used for music production, look no further than the ASUS Zephyrus G14. With an AMD Ryzen 7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, this laptop has the power to perform any task you throw at it. The screen size, 14″ diagonal, is large enough for multitasking and video editing but not too big to be unwieldy on your desk or lap. The battery life is great — at most 10 hours and of use per charge. Finally, t the keys on this computer feel great under your fingers, and a comfortable keyboard goes a long way for music producers.
ASUS Zephyrus G14
Surface Laptop Studio
PROS
- Strong, powerful specs
- High amount of storage and RAM
- Great battery life
CONS
- Expensive
Specs:
- CPU: Intel® Core™ i5/Intel® Core™ i7
- RAM: 16 – 32 GB
- Storage: 256 GB – 2 TB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- Display: 14.4″
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Battery Life: up to 15 hours
The Surface Laptop Studio is created to cater to those who need powerful laptops for music production. With upgradeable specs up to 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB RAM, and 2TBB SSD, you’ll have more than enough power to handle your projects. This device also has a 14.4″ display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and Windows 11 Home operating system so you can focus on what’s most important: making great music! With a stunning display and plenty of power, the Surface Laptop Studio is the most powerful and most premium laptop Microsoft offers.
Surface Laptop Studio
Choosing powerful laptops for music production is an investment
If you’re serious about your music production, you’ll want to invest in a laptop that’s powerful enough for the job. You need to be able to run multiple programs at once, have enough RAM (memory) for large projects, and have plenty of hard drive space for storing samples and virtual instruments.
In order to do all this on a laptop, it’s essential that you get one with an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor or anything equivalent. These are the fastest processors available today—a solid choice if you want your computer to handle all the tasks required of it without slowing down. The next most important thing is RAM: the more RAM a computer has, the better it will perform overall because it allows programs like Pro Tools or Logic Pro X to run more smoothly without having any lag time between tasks being performed on them.
For example: if you’re recording audio onto software like GarageBand but not using any virtual instruments at all (only using prerecorded MIDI), then there won’t be much demand placed upon either CPU power or system resources because only one program needs these things in order to function properly; however if one were going through several different steps within an app such as recording audio into its own tracks while also trying out some new plug-ins from their favorite library online then this would require more working memory from both CPUs so that everything doesn’t grind down into nothingness due solely on lack of processing power coming from either end – this means needing lots
Music production is an art form. It requires a lot of resources to create a song from scratch and make it sound good in the process. That’s why you need a powerful laptop that can handle all your needs. This list contains five of our best picks for music producers who want their own portable studio setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What kind of laptop do I need for music production?
The minimum recommended laptops specs for music production are: - a multicore core processor with i5 or i7 (at least a minimum of 2.4Ghz quad-core processor power) - at least 4GB RAM - a minimum of 500GB internal storage (HDD or SSD) - a 13″ screen