As the world moved on from pen and paper to digital devices, using the power of technology to modernize almost every facet of our civilization, artists now have a multitude of options available to them. These days, "art" has transcended the physical plane as many are jumping to digital art platforms like animations, digital drawings, photo and video editing, photography, graphics design and so much more. To help these very talented individuals with their craft, we're going to go over some of the very best laptops for artists.
Not only that, but we'll also be targeting various niches such as the best laptop for art and photography, and the best laptop for artists on a budget, etc.
Hopefully we'll be able to satisfy most users with enough power and useful features to make things that much more intuitive as you're creating your masterpiece. But before we get to that, let's go over if you were better off with a tablet rather than the best laptops for drawing for your day to day use.
Minimum System Requirements
As you can see from the above stated specs, the best laptop for artists need not be a super powered, number crunching machine. In fact, I'd say this is a pretty humble setup that a number of budget productivity or mid-range gaming laptop is specced with. For those looking for cheap laptops for art students, good news for you since this means you can get a relatively cheap laptop to draw on a laptop without breaking the bank. Let's take a minute to go through the minimum stated system requirements to get a better understanding of what to looking for.
Display
First up, one of the most important aspects of a laptop, especially so for artists is going to be the display. Considering that you're going to be looking at your display about 90% of the time when you're using a laptop or drawing, it's safe to say you're going to want to invest in a bit extra on this spec.
Laptops for artists should come with at least a Full HD resolution which translates to a 1920 x 1080 resolution. This should be considered a base, as any less than this, you're really not getting your money's worth especially for a laptop for drawing or laptop for digital art. What's the point of creating beautiful, vibrant art pieces if you're looking at it at a HD (or God forbid, lesser than) display. A Full HD resolution makes your digital art truly pop with a great combination of clarity, vibrancy, and sharpness.
Processor
For the processor, you're going to want to ensure you're finding something with sufficient power to support all the art software you're using on the laptop.
We're going to advise finding a base processor of an 8th Generation Intel Core i5 as this is the minimum if you want to have a laptop that lasts you reliably for more than a few years. Anything less than that, and you're bound to run into problems like freezing or crashes when using CPU & GPU intensive programs like Photoshop, video editing software, etc. Either way, it's a good move to have a better processor than you'd normally need just in case you do need that extra performance in the future.
RAM/ Storage
To supplement the processor's performance, it's probably a good idea to get matching RAM and storage capacities to boot. Considering that digital art, photos and RAW files take up quite a bit of resources on you laptop, you're gonna want to make sure it can keep up with the work you do. RAM is a huge bottleneck and can often fail to load things as fast, or smooth with long load times on detailed and huge files.
With that in mind, we're going to recommend you find a laptop with at least 8GB of RAM to ensure somewhat reliable performance. To be honest, if you've got the cash, it wouldn't hurt to invest a little extra in this department either. And of course, to store all your masterpieces and intricate drawing patterns, you're gonna need some storage to store it all. As such, we're going to recommend a 256GB SSD storage capacity as a base in our search. Again, never hurts to have a little extra space to store your all your drawing and digital art locally.
Graphics Card
And now onto probably the most important part of a laptop for digital artists and others using visually intensive software and programs (i.e. gamers), the graphics card. Now for the graphics card you're going to want to ensure you've got a good bang for your buck GPU that can handle whatever task you need it to. Some will perform better than others, but if you were set on a truly 'budget' affordable laptop, we're going to advise a base GPU spec of an integrated graphics card. This equates to plenty of cards out there, but you're going to want to find one that was released fairly recently.
GPUs like the Intel UHD Graphics, Graphics Intel Iris Plus, AMD Radeon Vega, are all fairly capable in their own right. It really depends on what kind of work you're going to be using it for. For normal drawing and such, you should fine, but for intensive editing, graphic design, etc. best to opt for a better GPU.
Recommended System Requirements
Now that we've gone through the base specs to look for, let's take a look at what we'd recommend for those looking for the best laptops for drawing around. These recommendations are going to be hit or miss for some of the best laptops for drawing on the list, but we'll try and match up as many as possible.
Display
The display on your laptop for digital art should still try and retain the Full HD (1920 x 1080) spec we stated above. You'll most often see specs stated like this: "15.6-inch FHD IPS Touch Screen Laptop" so that's what you should aim for. But if you do have some extra cash in hand, you could opt for an even better, crisper, vibrant display panel like a 4K resolution display. Keep in mind though that laptops that feature a 4K display often have quite a substantial cost solely for the display upgrade.
Not a necessity, but definitely nice to have for those looking for a truly premium laptop for artists. Another thing to keep in mind about the display is going to be the screen size and screen-to-body ratio, but these choices are mainly up to you. We'll go a bit more in-depth as we go along the list.
Processor
The processor is the biggest determinant of performance on your laptop, and if you needed it for some intensive drawing and work sessions, this is going to be integral to the process. First off, we're sticking with our earlier recommendation of an Intel Core i5 base spec, but take things up a notch to get better performance.
However, an 8th Gen processor definitely shouldn't be your first choice, anything above this generation and a quad-core processor should be plenty of performance for drawing and other digital art software. Try to get something as recent as possible, like a 10th/11th Generation Intel Core i7 and you'll be sitting pretty for a quite a while. All of this really depends on your budget and what you're looking for, but that's what we think is the best option for a laptop for artists.
RAM
Anytime you're looking to buy a laptop or computer hardware, just keep this in the back of your head: More RAM is ALWAYS better than not having enough. You should get as much RAM as your budget allows for because you'll be thanking yourself in the long run. The more and more projects, programs, and apps you have on your laptop, the longer it'll take for all these things to load up. Overtime you're bound to run into slow downs and crashes simply because your RAM can't keep up.
We're going to recommend a 16GB RAM capacity for those looking for a laptop for drawing as this is a pretty solid capacity that covers your bases sufficiently. With a 16GB (or more) capacity, you don't have to think about things as you're multi-tasking heavy files and programs in your day-to-day activities. Not to mention design software, photography editing tools and such need quite a bit of RAM to run efficiently.
Storage
The storage your laptop is a slightly more flexible spec to search for, and as such we're going to recommend finding at least a 512GB SSD storage capacity. This is a good combination of storage capacity and price, but honestly, again, if you've got the money, you could always use more internal storage. Unless you're the type to save your projects and digital art on a cloud platform, you're going to need your internal storage space. Plus, having an SSD as your main internal storage unit will make things load up much faster, as well as a faster start up time. A win all around if you ask me.
Graphics Card
Here's where things get a little more intensive as you're going to want to truly invest in this spec if you want a long-term solution for all your digital art and photography needs. A GPU is an absolute necessity for most of these kinds of programs where you're working with something visual on screen. For 2D illustrations and such, not so much, but for working with graphics, editing software and similar, you're going to need it.
As such, we're recommending you find a dedicated GPU like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, NVIDIA GeForce RTX, etc. These will make the process much smoother and it's helpful if you were the type to play some video games every now and then. The easiest way to ensure this is finding a mid-range gaming laptop, but doing so and you'll miss out on the accessible drawing capability with an active pen on a convertible laptop. Really depends on what you're looking for. Best not to cut corners if you were a student, art teacher, or someone that makes a living off digital art.
Now that we've gone through most of the features you're going to need out of the best laptops for artists, let's check out a few extra features that'll complement it very well.
Other Features To Look For
Battery Life
A long battery life makes for super versatile laptops that work the way you need it to, rather than working around what your laptop needs. I'm sure many of you have experienced the righteous pain in the butt that is having to get up, put your laptop on charge, and walk away for a bit. Or you know, sit at your workstation where you definitely (maybe?) don't do your best drawing. Besides that of course, a long battery life makes for a great addition to an already powerful laptop. The better specs you have, the more power it's going to consume. Mitigate this by finding laptops with battery life upwards for 8-9 hours.
Portability
Something that goes hand in hand with your laptop's battery life, the portability aspect is also important. It's not as big of a deal as some of the other specs/features, but it's great appreciated when you find laptops that are just so easy to handle and bring along for your day-to-day activities. A portable laptop would most likely include a smaller form factor, a great screen-to-body ratio, and a lightweight body. This makes it waaaay easier to bring around when you're going for classes, to meetings, at the library, to a café, and back home on your commute. It's understated how important this is (especially on the back). It's a quality-of-life upgrade that I think many can appreciate, especially when you don't have to compromise on the internal performance.
Convertible, 2-in-1 Laptop
This is probably going to be the most important decisions when looking for a laptop for drawing. Many devices like the Lenovo Yoga, Microsoft Surface Pro 7 and Microsoft Surface Go have a touch screen display and convertible modes. These laptops are known as 2-in-1 laptops or convertible laptops thanks to the transforming form factor. You can pair the touch screen on a convertible laptop with something like an Active Pen or Surface Pen and use it as tablet to draw and navigate the UI.
Do I need to explain how this would be useful for drawing and digital art? Pretty self explanatory if you ask me. Most of these laptops also come with smaller form factors with an uncompromising spec sheet. It's more than likely to handle all your drawing and artist needs, so consider a convertible laptop as your main choice if this is something you've been looking for.
Now that we've gone through everything we need to know, let's get straight into the list of the best laptops for artists to find the right drawing companion for you!
Tablet vs Laptop
Theoretically, yes, a tablet can do pretty much everything a laptop for digital art can, but it does have its limitations. For users solely looking for a device or laptop to draw digital art, you could consider a tablet like the iPad Pro or Samsung Tab S7. But for art students or other forms of digital artists, I'd wholly recommend finding something a little more worth the money with added power and functionality.
A 2-in-1 laptop like the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Lenovo Flex, Microsoft Surface Go, etc. would translate well since you can get the best of both worlds, a tablet and a laptop. If you were looking for the best laptops for art students, or a budget laptop for art then you're probably going to want a laptop not only for your art but also for everyday classes, assignments, etc. I'd even recommend finding a best laptop for art teachers for those teaching the classes as there are some software, features and things you just can't do on a tablet. Cover your bases sufficiently and you should be good.
For photographers, graphic designers and other artists I'd probably still recommend finding a good laptop like the LG Gram, Lenovo Yoga, or similar laptops with a little extra graphic processing power. If you were still keen on a tablet to handle all your digital art needs however, I'd advise finding a decent laptop and having a tablet as secondary device. This at the very least lets you have the option of that extra bit of power and versatility that having a laptop brings to the table. Another important factor we're going to need to discuss is whether you should be looking at Apple or Windows enabled laptops.
MacOS vs Windows
Now for the most part, you're going to be well equipped with either operating system from Apple and Microsoft. Many graphic designers and video/image editors use the impressive array of Apple hardware and MacOS as their work machine. But this makes you limited for choice, and also you're going to be paying quite a premium for the hardware. Otherwise though, Apple's macOS is an attractive option especially for those who are used to the software and UI. There's a bunch of great built-in features, solid security, powerful performance and a great looking UI that many are chomping at the bit for. However, there are no options in their laptop lineup with a 2-in-1 laptop, so if that was something you're looking for best look into some great Windows 10 enabled laptops.
Laptops like the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Lenovo Yoga and Lenovo Flex serve quite well as a laptop for artists thanks to the convertible laptop form factor. More often than not, you also can use the convertible laptop in multiple different modes, and still retain that classic laptop utility when you need it. Windows is no longer the clunky, outdated, unfashionable operating system it once was. These days Windows 10 is fast, intuitive and has plenty of useful features you can take advantage of. When it comes down to it though, everyone will have a different answer to this question. The best laptop for artists could be either or really, and depending on your budget and preferences you probably already have an operating system of choice.
Now that we've gone through which operating system to look for, let's take a look at what we'd recommend be the minimum and recommended system requirements to look for in the best laptops for artists available.
Best Laptops for Artists
1. Dell XPS 15
Our very first laptop on the list is going to be a real heavy hitter with a solid spec sheet, stunning aesthetics, but with a hefty price tag to boot. This laptop is going to be the Dell XPS 15 and boy, is it a solid laptop to get some work done on. This Dell XPS 15 has a lot going for it, but it's most eye-catching value is going to be the stunning display. The Dell XPS 15 comes packed with a 15.6-inch Full HD+ edge-to-edge display and also comes with Display HDR 400 and Dolby Vision. The laptop also features a carbon fiber palm rest which just looks so good contrasted against the silver color scheme.
Onto the internals, the Dell XPS 15 continues it's impressive showcase. The laptop features an up-to-date 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD storage capacity. To handle all your graphically intensive tasks, the laptop uses an NIVIDA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti with a 4GB dedicated GDDR5 VRAM. Safe to say this laptop is going to be able to handle a lot of heavy processing especially with software like photo editors, graphic design and more.
A few other extras the laptop comes with that make it a great laptop includes quad-speaker setup with Waves Nx audio, Corning Gorilla Glass 6, backlit keyboard, USB-C ports, and up to 25 hours of battery life.
2. Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
The next laptop inches itself into our list with a pretty well-rounded spec sheet and great extra features to complete the package. This laptop is the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro and while the design may seem slightly outdated, I'm actually kind of into the whole rounded edges, minimalist look with the metallic grey color scheme. The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro features a 15.6"Full HD touch screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution. The 15 inch screen is built on a 36oº flip-and-fold rotating display, which means you can convert it into a tablet and use the included built-in S Pen for gesture commands. Pretty nifty considering you don't need an external stylus with one already included in the package.
The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro does comes with some solid internals albeit kind of outdated to today's standards. The laptop features an 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U processor, 16 gigs of RAM and a 256GB SSD storage space. Not bad considering this is a pretty dated laptop, but still, good enough performance out of a 2-in-1 laptop for those looking to do some drawing, sketching and light graphic design or editing work. To supplement the graphical performance, the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro comes with the AMD Radeon 540 GPU which has 2GB of dedicated VRAM.
The laptop comes with a few more extras to seal the deal including 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB Type-C port, HDMI, MicroSD card reader, a backlit keyboard, built-in S Pen stylus, and up to 12.5 hours battery life.
3. Microsoft Surface Book 3
Looking for something with a little more wow factor? Then the Microsoft Surface Book 3 might be just the right laptop to help you out during those drawing and sketching sessions. Unlike any other 2-in-1 laptop on the list, the Microsoft Surface Book 3 takes a different approach to the form factor with a detachable screen that can fully separate from the keyboard. This makes it a much more versatile laptop, with the ability to take things solely on the tablet if you wanted to. Pair it with the Surface Pen and you've got a pretty powerful sketchpad on your hands. On the display, you'll be using a 13.5-inch PixelSense touch screen with a 3240 x 2160 resolution. This is definitely one of the pricier laptops in Microsoft's Surface lineup, so if you wanted something with similar power but a little cheaper, check out the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 or previous versions.
Powering the Microsoft Surface Book 3 is a 10th Generation Intel Core i5 processor which is a quad core processor which should mean you're getting some solid performance. To support the processor the laptop comes with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD storage capacity. The graphics is where the Surface Book starts to seem a little lacking, with only an integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics powering the graphical performance. When used in conjunction with the other specs however, it should be more than sufficient for normal drawing with a Surface Pen as well as some graphic design and editing.
The Surface Book 3 has a few more tricks up its sleeve including three various modes of use: Laptop, Studio and Tablet, a Platinum color variant, dual far-field Studio Mics and Dolby Atmos audio, and up to 15.5 hours battery life.
4. HP Spectre x360 GEM Cut
The next laptop on our list could be considered the "best" laptop purely thanks to its raw performance capabilities. This HP Spectre x360 GEM Cut has a lot going for it and besides the impressive spec sheet, you're met with a stunning design aesthetic and packed to the rim with useful features. The first thing you'll notice on the HP Spectre x360 (besides the "GEM" cut corners) is the 13.3-inch Full HD IPS touch screen. The laptop also comes with the HD Active Pen to get you drawing straight out the box. Pretty great that the stylus is included with the laptop, not needing to spend some extra cash solely on a pen for drawing.
The HP Spectre x360 comes with up-to-date internal specs that really makes for a great drawing laptop. First up, the laptop uses a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, 16GB RAM capacity and 512GB of SSD storage space. In terms of graphical performance though, the laptop uses just an Intel Iris Plus Graphics GPU which isn't the best, but should net some solid performance in GPU intensive programs thanks to the rest of the spec sheet.
To complete the "best" laptop spec sheet, the HP Spectre comes with a few more great features. Some of these include Bang&Olufsen quad-speakers, SD card reader, fingerprint reader, backlit keyboard, a full array of ports, and 22 hours battery life.
5. Apple MacBook Pro
When we're talking about machines made for 'art', we'll have to mention at least one Apple laptop. This time around, it's going to be the latest Apple MacBook Pro and boy does it have a lot going for it. The variant we're showcasing here is actually the lowest specced model, so if you were looking for some extra RAM and storage you can choose those variants instead. But this MacBook Pro still has a lot to love, including the 13.3-inch Retina display which comes packed with some great on-board screen tech. Some of these include up to 500 nits of brightness, a P3 wide color gamut, and True Tone technology.
I'm sure that this is going to be considered the best mac laptop for art students since most uni kids love the Apple lineup of laptops. But that's for good reason, thanks to Apple's quality and longevity of products. Well, their laptops at least. Powering the latest MacBook Pro is Apple's M1 Chip, 8 gigs of RAM and a humble 256GB SSD capacity. The GPU also uses the M1 Chip but till now, there haven't been much negative feedback on its performance so we can be assured it's reliable. Though not too sure how drawing on this laptop will be like with the missing touchscreen capabilities.
A few more great extras you'll find on the MacBook Pro includes Apple's Touch Bar, Touch ID, backlit scissor mechanism keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 support, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, and 20 hours battery life on a single charge.
6. Acer Spin 5
Our last laptop on the list is going to be another convertible laptop with a few great performers in an outdated shell. The Acer Spin 5 may not look as 'fancy' or well designed as some of the more modern laptops on the list, but that's overshadowed by its capability, versatility, and a up-to-par spec sheet. This Acer Spin 5 comes with 13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen display which can flip and fold on itself to turn into a tablet form factor. The Acer Spin 5 also gets you an included Acer Stylus pen in the box, so again, you can get straight to work without needing to purchase an extra accessory.
Under the hood the Acer Spin 5 has a few great specs that make it a very desirable purchase considering the price tag. Powering the laptop is an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor a hefty 16GB RAM unit and 512GB SSD storage. The graphics is where the laptop is pretty lacking, with only an integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU on board. The Iris Plus Graphics or Intel Iris Xe are newer, more powerful GPUs, so if you needed the graphical power, best check out one of the other laptops on the list.
A few more special extras the Acer Spin 5 comes with includes Windows 10 Pro, fingerprint reader, backlit keyboard, a full array of ports, anti-glare display, and up to 9 hours battery life. All in all, the Spin 5 is definitely for a certain type of user and can be missing some features that not all users will appreciate. But for the price? It's a hell of a bargain.
Conclusion
We've gone through some of the very best of the best laptops for artists and now there's nothing left to do but pick just one as the ultimate digital art laptop.
Today, our winner is going to be the HP Spectre x360 GEM Cut!
This laptop is the heaviest hitter on this list and covers all your bases sufficiently. In fact, the HP Spectre x360 does all this at quite the discount from some of the other pricier laptops on the list. It has everything you could ask for: a stunning display and aesthetic around the chassis, capable performance under the hood, 2-in-1 laptop capability, and honestly, a pretty reasonable price for all this laptop has to offer.
