Best Laptops for Music Production
Music production requires some serious hardware and software, so you’ll need a laptop that’s up to the task. A good set of basic hardware requirements for any laptop that wants to be used and future-proofed for music production is as follows: the laptop should have, at a minimum, a Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and an SSD. Those specs still leave a lot of laptops on the playing field, so we went ahead and narrowed the selection down to the top 9 music production laptops currently on the market.
Top best laptop for music production under 500
Apple MacBook pro – Peak professionalism
Although it’s on the front side, the 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro is a smart choice for music production, thanks to Apple’s Core Audio infrastructure and base model MacBook specs. With a technical foundation like that and unique Apple built-in benefits like Garageband, the MacBook Retina has the market cornered when it comes to Apple’s proprietary music technology. You also get a sizeable 15.4-inch screen, a comfortable keyboard, and plenty of ports, including a full-size USB, HDMI, and an SD card slot. This machine also offers a long battery life, in case you need to produce music without a charger. Key specs : CPU : 1.4GHz Intel Core i5 | RAM: 8 GB | Storage : 128 GB | GPU : Intel Iris Plus 645 Graphics | Screen : 13 inches Credit: Portable Mag
Dell XPS 13 9370 – The workhorse
It would be difficult to find many more stylish and attractive laptops than this one. Granted, the Dell XPS 13 9370 has the raw hardware and power to handle each and every one of your music production needs, but it’s also designed to provide one of the thinnest, thinnest, and most mobile experiences (thanks to its excellent battery life) in the market. It even manages to fit a beautiful 13.3-inch screen, almost borderless in its tiny form. If you have big goals for your music production but don’t have much room to achieve those ambitions, this laptop is an obvious choice. However, please note that XPS 13 9370 speakers produce a metallic sound, Key Specs : CPU: Intel Core i7-8550U | RAM: 8 GB | Storage: 256 GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Display: 13.3 inches (1920 × 1080) | Weight: 2.65 pounds Credit: Laptop Mag
Razer Blade Stealth
The Razor Blade Stealth is a laptop that’s ideal for taking your music production with you anywhere, anytime, as it is the best laptop for music production its durable yet lightweight aluminum body means it can survive a bit of oomph while weighing just 3 pounds. Combine that strong yet lightweight build with Razor Blade Stealth’s Core i7-8550 processor and a super-sharp 13.3-inch touchscreen, and you’ve got a laptop that’s not only designed to handle all your music software at once, but it is also capable of allowing you to mix your music directly with your fingertips. All in all, it’s a fantastic laptop for music creators. Key Specs : CPU: Intel Core i7-8550U CPU | RAM: 16 GB | Storage: 512 GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Display: 13.3 inches (3840 x 2160) | Weight: 2.8 pounds Credit: Laptop Mag
HP Specter 13 (8th Gen Core)
Combining beautiful product design with an ultra-small, air-tight construction, not a shred of space is wasted on the HP Specter 13. It is lightweight, strong, and perfect for a variety of compute-intensive tasks, meaning that production Compact and Mobile Music is child’s play with one of these bad boys. However, it has a relatively dim screen and lacks the battery life, so keep those difficulties in mind when deciding whether the Specter 13’s size benefits are positive enough to outweigh the negatives. Key Specs : CPU: Intel Core i7-8550U CPU | RAM: 8 GB | Storage: 256 GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Display: 13.3 inches (1920 x 1080) | Weight: 2.4 pounds Credit: Portable Mag
Lenovo IdeaPad 720S
As one of the more affordable laptops on this list, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is more than capable of handling moderately intensive music production, all for a very low price. The IdeaPad 720S also features a great set of JBL-tuned speakers and adjustable Dolby Audio settings, making customizing the laptop for the perfect audio experience an easy task. And it has a bright, colorful, rich 14-inch screen, to boot. Key Specs : CPU: Intel Core i5-7200U | RAM: 8 GB | Storage: 256 GB | GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, Intel HD 620 | Screen: 14 inches (1920 x 1080) | Weight: 3.29 pounds Credit: Laptop Mag
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin
The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin has everything you need for effective music production. It offers a slim build, strong hardware, and fantastic sound quality. Such sound quality is the result of the laptop’s superior speaker system, as well as Nahimic’s built-in audio software, which allows you to analyze how you listen to your music on the Stealth Thin. Overall, this laptop is a very smart choice for tackling music production. Plus, the GS65 Stealth Thin makes viewing your work easier, as its premium 15.6-inch display has a 144-hertz refresh rate, meaning frustrations like screen tearing and latency issues should be distant and scarce when working on this laptop. Key specs : CPU: 3.9 GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor | RAM: 16 GB | Storage: 512 GB | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | Display: 15.6 inches (1920 x 1080) | Weight: 4.1 pounds Credit: Portable Mag
