Graphic design is a challenging job. It’s more than just your skill set; the right laptop is equally essential. The computer should be powerful enough to help you move smoothly through graphic design software and portable enough to be easily transported.
When it comes to laptop power and performance, there are multiple direct contributors. A state-of-the-art processor doesn’t mean you can easily handle your graphic design work.
Laptops must be equally good at handling visually intensive tasks, meaning a sound graphics card, enough screen real estate, and sharpness to help display everything in the right colors.
Adequate RAM size and modern, fast SSD storage are also crucial for excellent, error-free performance overall.
For a great and impressive laptop for graphic design, you need to buy a computer with all the compartments or sections that meet the job requirements and hit the correct codes with it.
So, if you want a good laptop for graphic design in the United Kingdom, we are here to help you. In this guide, we review the best models available online.
1. Apple MacBook Pro
The Apple brand has a great reputation for producing excellent smartphones and laptops. The Macbook is already the best and best-selling laptop series. Moreover, thanks to Apple’s uniquely designed M1 chip, the Apple Macbook has become one of the best laptops for creative applications and graphic design.
Suppose you are a professional graphic designer or a graphic design student looking for one of the best laptops to help you use multiple high-end graphic design applications and software without freezing issues. In that case, it is best to go with Apple Macbook Pro.
With the integration of M-series chips, the laptop’s overall speed and battery performance have also increased. According to manufacturers and consumer reports, laptops can now easily last around 20 hours.
This latest chip has a 10-core processor, 3.7 times faster than last year’s Apple model, and a 32-core GPU with 13 times more graphics processing performance. The nano-sized chip also integrates a neural engine that accelerates machine learning performance by 11 times.
Regarding other essential features, the model we chose comes preloaded with 16 GB of memory. If you need to work with high-end apps and programs, you can use larger RAM capacities up to 64 GB, but since the RAM is integrated into the motherboard, you can’t upgrade the RAM after you buy the laptop.
As for storage, several variants are available, ranging from 256 GB SSDs to 1 TB SSDs. You can choose 512 GB SSD storage for graphic design applications and programs and 1 TB to store many videos and files, pushing the price graph.
Don’t forget the screen resolution the laptop offers: The computer with the Apple-designed M1 chip features a 14.2-inch display that provides an ultra-impressive, clear image and allows you to distinguish even the slightest difference in color and vibrancy, which makes it crucial for graphic design and creative applications.
The Liquid Retina XDR display offers an extremely high dynamic range: 1600 nits peak brightness while maintaining 1000 nits brightness, allowing you to see every detail.
It also features a 1080p HD webcam, a studio-quality microphone system, and a six-speaker audio system for participating in online classes and business meetings.
This model would be an ideal choice for graphic design professionals and students. Yes, it’s expensive, but it is worth it, and you get the tools you need for graphic design.
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2. MSI Creator 15 Professional Laptop
If you are a professional graphic designer looking for a beast that will meet the high-end professional needs of your tasks, look no further, you have the right choice; the Creator 15 professional laptop designed by MSI is equipped with all the nuts and bolts that Professionals demand. Not only for graphic designers, but this high-end laptop is also suitable for professional video editing, gaming, 3D rendering, and modeling.
Take a deeper look at what kind of power this model offers, and I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as I was.
An octa-core processor powers this model. A 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor with a turbo boost can clock up to 5.1 GHz. In short, this processor makes it easy to run modeling, design, editing, and many other applications without freezing, overheating, or lags.
What sets this product apart is its display: The 15.6-inch UHD OLED display with a resolution of 3840X2160 pixels allows you to see all your designs and models in more detail. The bezels are small, so the overall viewing experience is breathtaking.
The display’s anti-glare coating significantly reduces glare. In addition, this coating also helps reduce eye strain. The display captures a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, making HDR400 an excellent choice for creative professionals and gamers.
The real power of a powerful gaming notebook is in the graphics card. This product flexes muscles thanks to the 8 GB RTX 2070 graphics card. This ultra-powerful graphics card helps you move smoothly through all your demanding tasks, including graphic design work.
And it’s not just the size that matters, but also the storage space: 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. Moreover, this product offers expandable RAM and storage, unlike the competitors listed above. You can increase the RAM size and storage space as you wish.
The keyboard is just as impressive as the laptop. The keyboard supports backlighting, which is ideal for those who have to work in dark areas. The keyboard supports backlighting and is suitable for working in dark places.
With ample I/O ports, including Type-C and Thunderbolt 3, this is such a great machine that there is no better choice than the MSI Creator 15. The only downside to this model is its high price.
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3. Dell XPS 13
The XPS series designed by Dell and Apple’s Macbook series are considered the biggest competitors in the laptop world.
Both have very powerful laptops that are best sellers.
If you don’t like Apple’s macOS and are looking for an equally powerful Windows laptop for graphic design, look at the Dell XPS 13 laptop.
This laptop perfectly blends power, performance, portability, and good looks. Its portability means students and business people can easily carry it around. Meanwhile, it packs the right amount of power to quickly get through any demanding task.
It is a 13-inch laptop with a 13.4-inch screen with a 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution. The main feature of this laptop is its minimal bezels. The bezels seem almost nonexistent, creating a more comprehensive, more extensive viewing experience without squeezing into a larger-sized screen. The display supports touch operation, has an anti-reflective surface, and has a brightness of 500 nits.
The latest processors power the Dell XPS 13 to support the display of graphic design applications. It is powered by an 11th-generation Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor that offers up to 4.8 GHz clock speeds with Turbo Boost. This laptop is equipped with an Intel Xe graphics card with shared memory to make it equally impressive for visually intensive operations.
The graphics card isn’t as powerful as MSI Creator’s RTX-2070, but it’s a head-turner for graphic design-related tasks. We noticed no lag or freezing issues, and it ran smoothly.
Other essential features include 512GB of SSD storage. The NVME 2 SSD storage is expandable with additional slots to expand the overall system storage. 512GB of storage is more than enough for a graphic designer unless you store a lot of videos or files that take up storage space.
The same can be said for RAM. 16GB of RAM is ideal for the needs of any professional. The RAM is expandable if you want to go further and feel that you need more than the 16GB of RAM you are given for your everyday day-to-day business needs.
The laptop battery support is a tough competition for the rival Macbook Pro. This laptop stays ahead of the Macbook in many areas, as you can see with your own eyes. But there are also areas where the Macbook is ahead head-to-head.
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4. ROG Zephyrus G14
ASUS laptops are now available ASUS is a brand known for producing high-quality gaming laptops. This particular laptop is suitable for those traveling for work or study. This laptop is compact and lightweight and packs just the right amount of power inside a metal chassis.
A Ryzen processor powers this model, the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor, which can be boosted to a clock speed of 4.4 GHz with Turbo Boost.
The processor is one of many things this laptop excels at. It has a dedicated graphics card. This model is equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max Q graphics card with 6 GB of dedicated space, providing just the right amount of power to handle all your graphic design applications and programs.
Awe-inspiring is the display. This model features a 14-inch FHD IPS display. The best feature of the display is the 120 HZ refresh rate. The crisp, clear, and bright display helps you see even the smallest detail on the screen, suitable for work and entertainment.
Memory and storage will fundamentally impress you when you look at the price of this model, with 16GB of RAM and a massive 1TB SSD storage capacity.
It has a backlit display for easy typing in dimly lit areas and a fully customizable display with RGB lighting that lets you tailor it to your video games and personal preferences.
Excellent battery life of 10-12 hours on a single charge is also impressive. But remember that the RTX 2060 graphics card on the FHD display means heavier graphics cards will drain the battery faster.
One minor drawback we found with this laptop is the webcam. A premium gaming laptop could have an HD webcam, but this laptop has no webcam.
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5. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
If you are a graphic design student looking for a laptop that will help you with your graphic design work, watching movies, and doing homework, opt for the Surface Laptop 3 by Microsoft.
It’s a Microsoft self-developed laptop, so check the model’s build quality, and you can also read reviews to learn about the build and overall quality. This model is one of the best laptops packed with the right amount of power and a sleek look.
I was surprised to see multiple variants of the same model. These models range from 13-inch to 15-inch screen size and have numerous RAM and storage.
AMD Ryzen powers the model we chose. I chose the Ryzen 7 processor for performance and power, the other option was the Core i7, but I chose the AMD Ryzen 7 processor.
And the 15-inch screen is standard, perfect for most content creation. Storage is also 512GB SSD, and if you need more or not that much, you can choose something else; for RAM, I recommend at least 8GB RAM for graphic designers, but this model comes with 16GB RAM.
As for battery backup, despite the FHD screen, it has a best-in-class battery with 11 hours of battery backup, useful for taking to university or business meetings.
It should also be noted that it is a reasonably light laptop. It looks stylish and is compact enough to be easily transported without burden.
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