Calling all musical artists! Whether you plan on creating the sickest bass drops or just some chill lo-fi jams, you’re going to need a solid laptop to get the job done. There are a few key things you need to look out for when choosing a laptop for music production. A high-quality processor is absolutely vital for smooth recording performance, and a decent amount of RAM will allow you to juggle multiple plugins and tracks simultaneously. Portability is a huge factor, too—if you’re taking your show on the road to a local wedding or all the way to Ibiza, you’ll need something that is easy to carry around.
If you’re not sure which laptop is right for you, don’t worry. The experts here at PCWorld have tested a ton of laptops and we have rounded up the best picks specifically for music production.
Also, check out our best laptops roundup, where you will find an even bigger selection of models at a range of prices and for a variety of needs!
Updated 04/4/2023: We’ve added the HP Dragonfly Pro as our choice for the best MacBook alternative. Read more about this new pick in the summary below.
Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED – Best overall
Pros
- Beautiful 4K OLED display
- Long battery life
- Useful DialPad tool
Cons
- Design lacks flair
- Lackluster webcam
If you’re looking for a good all-arounder, the Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is a good bet, as it ticks a lot of boxes. For one, the 4K OLED display is superb. Not only does it produce crisp images, but it’s also a good option for those who suffer from eye strain and tension headaches. If you spend endless hours looking at a screen as you edit and mix tracks, you might as well invest in one with a crystal-clear picture. The VivoBook also packs a serious punch when it comes to processing power.
The Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU is plenty fast enough for basic music production needs and everyday use. This laptop is also packing 32GB of memory and a whopping 1TB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage. That’s plenty for firing up multiple applications and storing audio files. There are a couple drawbacks you should be aware of: The webcam isn’t great (not surprising) and the fingerprint reader can have a mind of its own. Overall, however, the VivoBook Pro is a fantastic machine that any musician or DJ would love.
Acer Swift 3 SF316-51 – Best budget option
Pros
- Solid chassis and build quality
- Large, attractive 16-inch 1080p screen
- Enjoyable keyboard and touchpad
- USB-C with charging and DisplayPort
Cons
- Webcam, microphone, and speakers don’t impress
- Intel processor falls behind AMD alternatives
- Disappointing battery life
- Lots of bloatware
If you’re working with a limited budget, the Acer Swift 3 is a great option. It has an Intel Core i7-11370H with four cores, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. That’s a good amount of power and space for most music production tasks. The build quality is solid, the keyboard is comfortable to use, and the display delivers “rich, lifelike color.” The one knock we have against this machine is the battery life. Unfortunately, the laptop died after about five hours. That’s the type of result we’d expect from a gaming laptop, which drains easily due to the power-sucking components. That said, if you don’t mind sticking close to an outlet, than this a good budget buy for most musicians.
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Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 – Best battery life </h3>
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Large, high-contrast OLED screen </li>
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Fantastic battery life </li>
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Top-notch 12th-gen Core performance </li>
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Average keyboard </li>
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Webcam doesn’t quite deliver as expected </li>
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Fingerprint reader needed re-authentication </li>
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Tons of additional apps </li>
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Best Prices Today:
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<a class="product-chart-item__pricing-details--link" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=111346X1569483&url=https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/galaxy-book2/buy/?link=galaxy-book2-pro-360&xcust=2-2-727351-6-633207-11290&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" target="_blank" data-vars-product-name="Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360" data-vars-product-id="633207" data-vars-category="Laptops" data-vars-manufacturer-id="11290" data-vars-manufacturer="Samsung" data-vars-vendor="Samsung" data-vars-po="" data-product="633207" data-vars-link-position-id="003" data-vars-link-position="Product Chart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/galaxy-book2/buy/?link=galaxy-book2-pro-360" rel="nofollow">$1549.99 at Samsung</a> </span>
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<div class="product-content">If you’re an on-the-go musician, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 offers incredible battery life as well as a versatile 2-in-1 design. When we put this laptop through our battery rundown test, it lasted a total of 14 hours. That’s pretty rad, right? In addition to the awesome battery life, you’re also getting a high-contrast 15.6-inch OLED screen and zippy performance thanks to its 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor. The model we reviewed came equipped with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s plenty sufficient for running multiple applications and working with uncompressed audio files. Although we weren’t super impressed with the keyboard or webcam, we feel the pros far outweigh the cons, especially where performance and battery life are concerned.
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Read our full
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Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 review </a>
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