Become a TechRadar Insider
For photographers, designers, and content creators looking for a capable, portable machine to edit and refine their photos, the best laptops for photo editing are a must. After extensive testing of the latest models, I've selected the top performers for every budget that will make perfecting those images seamless.
With a focus on photo editing in Adobe Photoshop and Affinity, and using Lightroom for batch processing, the laptops my team of experts and I have selected deliver the performance needed to handle creative workloads, including AI tools. This, and color-accurate displays that cover sRGB or DCI-P3 gamuts for pinpoint color correction.
Right now, our top recommendation goes to the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5 Pro), with its outstanding performance in Photoshop and Lightroom, along with its superb display boasting a wide P3 color gamut for rich, accurate colors. It's a hard one to beat, but for Windows fans, the Dell XPS 16 takes the win for its outstanding Intel Panther Lake performance and exceptional OLED touchscreen for crisp details and colors.
If taking photos is part of your daily life, you'll want one of the best laptops for photo editing by your side to help you edit, design, retouch and manipulate those images – and my team and I have selected just the machines to buy.
Best laptop for photo editing overall
The MacBook Pro has long been the go-to laptop for creators of all kinds, and now with M5, it's better than ever. Specifically, we're big fans of the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro, hitting the sweet spot between performance and price – and it's a powerhouse for photo editing.
As our reviewer, Matt Hanson, rightfully claims, the 14-inch (3024 x 1964) Liquid Retina XDR display is still one of the best screens you'll find on a laptop, and that's a huge perk for photographers. Yes, its gorgeous display and design haven't seen any changes from past models, but considering its compact, premium-looking chassis and life-like colors with smooth 120Hz visuals, it's still a winner for on-the-go editing jobs.
The true highlight is the M5 chip. Now, the base M5 already offers plenty of power to breeze through photo edits, but for a seamless creative workflow that flies through the likes of Photoshop and Premiere Pro, the M5 Pro chip reigns supreme. While the M5 Max is the ultimate option, to keep the cost lower, the M5 Pro model has the performance any creator could want.
Without a major redesign, meaning port selection is still limited, there's little reason for those with a MacBook Pro with M4 to upgrade, as that still offers plenty of power. However, when it comes to editing photos, videos and everything in between, I'd recommend the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro in a heartbeat.
Read our full Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5/M5 Pro/M5 Max) review
Best budget laptop for photo editing
For the cost, the HP Victus 15 is better than it has any right to be. It comes equipped with up to a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, but what's impressive, considering the now budget price, is that this laptop sports a dedicated GPU. That's going to make creative workloads like AI photo editing or video editing a lot smoother.
The design is nice – it's an uncomplicated laptop, really – and with gaming as its main focus, the dual fans and extra air vent mean it keeps cool when you're pushing it a little harder in your workloads. We found it performed well across a range of gaming and non-gaming tasks, including photo editing, without any issues.
We clocked battery life at a little over four hours in tests, but in every other respect, we felt it was a very well-balanced and well-priced machine.
As an alternative, I'd look at the MacBook Neo, considering it's more affordable and has enough performance to handle light photo edits (and much longer battery life). But with only 8GB of RAM and fewer GPU cores on its A18 Pro chip than its iPhone 16 Pro counterpart, it can struggle to get to work on heavier workloads. The HP Victus 15 has more room to grow with more RAM and a dedicated GPU here, so it's well worth looking at.
Read our full HP Victus 15 review
Best mid-range laptop for photo editing
In case you're not in the know, gaming laptops make for capable photo-editing machines thanks to their graphics power, and the Acer Nitro V 15 delivers this in spades without emptying your wallet. For its sub-$1,000 cost, it's hard to ignore.
By pairing a dedicated RTX 5060 GPU with a surprisingly crisp and vibrant 1080p display, this gives photo editors reliable hardware for demanding tasks without overspending. In our testing, it's able to handle heavy editing tasks and big files with ease, minimizing workflow slowdowns. Plus, thanks to its combination of an Intel i7 processor and 16GB of RAM, it has enough muscle for multi-layer retouching, batch processing, or juggling large RAW files.
There are trade-offs. The keyboard area gets noticeably warm when put under pressure, and battery life only lasts up to five hours, so it’s hard to squeeze a full workday unplugged. As a gaming laptop at this price, these aren't too surprising, but worth noting for photographers who require a portable machine for working on the move.
For editors who want more graphics power and aren’t chasing pro-level screens (just connect it to one of the best monitors for home working instead), the Nitro V 15 strikes a practical, wallet-friendly balance.
Read our full Acer Nitro V 15 review
Best photo editing laptop for portability
Looking for an ultra-sleek, powerful laptop with long-lasting battery life to let you edit photos no matter where you are? The 13-inch MacBook Air is hands-down the machine for you - now made even better with its mighty M5 chip.
From its bright and vivid 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display to its excellent M5 performance across the board, you can expect to blaze through heavy-duty photo edits and file transfers. It's now more than capable of blitzing through complex edits in photo-editing apps like Photoshop, and with advantages like 512GB base storage, Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, and stronger AI capabilities (unlike the M4 model), it's hard to beat at its price.
Speaking of, while it is $100 more expensive than the previous M4 model, you'll still find the MacBook Air for a lot less during a sale, even going under the M4 MacBook Air's starting price. Even better, in our battery tests, it lasted over 15 hours, meaning this machine can get you through a whole workday of heavy edits, and beyond.
The 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 was already an ultraportable triumph for photographers, so anyone who already owns one won't see the huge benefit the M5 chip delivers (considering there's no real design change, too). But for those who have yet to get their hands on Apple's popular laptop, the M5-equipped MacBook Air is as good as it gets when it comes to ticking all the right boxes for on-the-move creative power.
Read our full Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) review
Best Windows alternative to MacBook for photo editing
The Dell XPS 16 steps confidently into the role of Dell’s flagship all-rounder, offering creative professionals a truly impressive package. In hands-on workflow tests, the 3K touch OLED display is an absolute wonder, as its color accuracy and deep contrast make photo editing and video work a pleasure, with images that actually pop off the screen.
Beyond the screen, the XPS 16 backs up its premium feel with high-end hardware. The Intel Core Ultra X7 processor and 32GB of fast RAM keep Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop running snappily, even with heavy multi-layer edits and batch exports. Even better, our battery test showed it last a whopping 17 hours, which is more than enough to keep your worry-free of charging during those long photo-editing sessions.
This is a premium machine, through and through, so you can bet you'll be paying a large chunk of change for it. It's certainly worth it, as it will last photographers years to come, but be prepared to pay. It's also a shame that port selection is streamlined: you get three Thunderbolt 4 ports, but there’s no built-in SD card reader or HDMI, which means carrying a dongle or dock for some workflows.
Despite that, it's hard to deny the XPS 16 is an accomplished creative laptop, delivering a beautiful 3K OLED display and robust performance that make it a top Windows pick for photo and, yes, even video work. For most creators wanting a MacBook alternative with proven hands-on results, Dell's XPS 16 is a very easy recommendation.
Read our full Dell XPS 16 review
Best photo editing laptop for creative professionals
We were already big fans of the previous iteration of the Asus ProArt P16 – and it's still worth picking up if you want a laptop suited to photo editing and video editing. But the latest version is even better, now sporting an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, ideal for mixed media content creation.
In fact, it's so good that our avowed Apple fan and creative professional, Alastair, loved it so much he seriously considered making the switch from MacBook Pro to the ProArt P16. And it's not hard to see why, given that, like Apple's content creation machine, this one is targeted to anyone professionally editing photos and videos.
In our own tests, we organized photo files using Adobe Bridge, and while rendering thumbnails from a Sony Alpha 7 IV wasn't as fast as we'd like, opening images in Photoshop was. We experienced no problems with auto-alignment and blending for focus stacking, and packing and transferring those images was also pretty speedy.
All things considered, it's a powerful laptop – although I'd recommend using the DialPad, which offers a much better experience when adjusting brush size, dodging and burning, and similar tasks.
Of course, what really stands out here is that 4K OLED display with a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and Pantone Validation. A 3K model is also available, but for photo editing, opt for the 4K version. Overall, if you're working across mediums, this is an ideal laptop for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, as well as Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
Read our full Asus ProArt P16 H7606 review
Best laptop for AI photo editing
Gaming laptops are always a good pick for multimedia creators, and the Razer Blade 16 (2025 edition) is the pick of the bunch. Thanks to its dedicated GPU, which runs from the RTX 5060 up to 5090 depending on configuration, it's going to breeze through creative workloads, particularly if you're using AI tools like Denoise and Generative Fill in your photo editing workflow.
In our tests, this laptop showed best-in-class performance pretty much across the board. Computing Editor, Christian, noted in his review that "if you're hoping to use this laptop for professional creative work, it won't let you down."
The design is pure Razer – all black and sleek – with a stunning OLED QHD+ display that reaches 100% DCI-P3 with Calman Verified color profiles for greater color accuracy.
It's an expensive laptop, as you'd expect considering it's armed with top-end specs like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor. But if your budget allows, the Razer Blade 16 is perfect for creative work and play,
Read our full Razer Blade 16 (2025) review
Best laptop for photo editing and retouching
The Asus Zenbook Duo is a superb two-in-one that's perfect for creators looking for extra screen real estate (it has two 14in touchscreen OLED displays), and the stylus makes it ideal for more hands-on retouching of photos. There's also a clip-on wireless keyboard if you need the more traditional setup.
It's powered by the H-series Intel Core Ultra 9 chip (the 185H or 285H, depending on configuration), which means it'll cut through more complicated workloads like AI editing and batch editing. Testing this machine out, we found it excels at all but the most demanding tasks – expect some thermal throttling if you're performing heavier CPU-based workloads. For day-to-day photo editing, though, this shouldn't be an issue.
The big issue here is two-fold. One, Windows 11 isn't really built for touch – although software like Photoshop will be fine. And learning the quirks of the touch gestures does prove a slight learning curve. Still, overall performance was great, and even the battery lasted over eight hours on a single charge, which is a surprise for a dual-screen OLED with a high-performance CPU under the hood.
Read our full Asus Zenbook Duo review
Best laptops for photo editing compared
Model | Screen size | Resolution | Color gamut |
|---|---|---|---|
16 inches | 3456 x 2234 | Wide color P3 | |
15.6 inches | 1920 x 1080 | 100% sRGB | |
15.6 inches | 1920 x 1080 | 100% sRGB | |
13.6 inches | 2560 x 1664 | Wide color P3 | |
16 inches | 3200 x 2000 | 100% DCI-P3 | |
16 inches | 3840 x 2400 | 100% DCI-P3 | |
16 inches | 2560 x 1600 | 100% DCI-P3 | |
Dual 14 inches | 2880 x 1800 | 100% DCI-P3 |
Frequently asked questions
What specs does my photo editing laptop need?
The answer really depends on the images you're editing.
Editing photos is processor-intensive, so it's worth investing in a laptop with a good processor to help keep your workflow smooth.
It's worth opting for a H-series processor where you can (the H stands for 'high performance'), and I'd consider it essential if you're undertaking heavier workloads or using a lot of AI editing tools.
Pair that with a good amount of memory (RAM) – 16GB is the minimum I'd recommend these days for a seamless experience, but the more you can get, the better it will be.
GPUs aren't as important as choosing the right CPU for flawlessly running photo editing apps – but try to avoid any integrated systems, like the Iris Xe.
I've included a table below with the minimum, recommended, and best specs to choose.
Component | Minimum | Recommended | Best |
CPU | Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 5, Apple M4 | Intel Core Ultra 7, AMD Ryzen 7, Apple M4 Pro | Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, Apple M4 Max |
GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 |
RAM | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB |
What's color coverage and which one should I choose for my laptop?
There are three main color gamuts, so you'll want to check which one the screen of your chosen laptop supports. The higher the percentage, the more distinctive color shades it will display.
sRGB is the standard color gamut, well-suited for online content like social media posts.
DCI-P3 is a wider gamut than sRGB and is the standard for cinematic and HDR content.
Adobe RGB also spans a wider range of green and cyan tones than sRGB, and is best for accurately printing photographs.
Finally, check whether the display is calibrated to Delta E < 2 – this ensures total color accuracy, so what you see on the screen is reflected in the photos you export.
In our experience, the best MacBook Pro laptops have some of the top screens for any content creation, and if you need a second display, there are always the best monitors for photo editing.
Check out the table below for more help.
Use | Minimum recommendation |
Digital and online content | 100% sRGB |
Video and photo editors shooting in 4K | 95% DCI-P3 or above |
Print photography | 90% Adobe RGB or above |
What operating system is better for photo editing - Windows or Mac?
It depends on the software you use, but the most popular choice for photo editing, Photoshop, is compatible with both macOS and Windows laptops. Check the system requirements of your chosen app.
In our experience, we tend to find MacBooks best suited for all-around content creation – there's a reason why they're favored by those in the creative sector, after all. But using an Apple laptop for photo editing is by no means a necessity.
How to choose the best laptop for photo editing
Choosing the ideal photo editing laptop requires navigating through a maze of technical jargon to identify key features that align with your creative workflow. Whether you're using Adobe Creative Suite or one of the best Adobe Photoshop alternatives and the best Adobe Lightroom alternatives, the specifications of your laptop should support intensive photo editing software without compromising performance.
Like graphic design laptops (and generally unlike video editing laptops), photo editing laptops need a robust processor, as most photo editing tasks are CPU-intensive. A durable mobile workstation or business laptop can serve well, provided it has a high-quality FHD display with excellent contrast and brightness, along with appropriate color gamut coverage like DCI-P3.
RAM is crucial for handling complex photo editing projects, and while the GPU might not be as critical for photo editing alone, it becomes essential for tasks like 3D modeling and running the best video editing software, which can sometimes find itself in your workflow when you least suspect it.
A color-accurate IPS display with high contrast, brightness, and a wide color gamut is ideal. Fast SSD storage is necessary for quick file access and ample storage space, and a sufficient number of ports ensures you can connect all your devices without needing an additional docking station.
While MacBooks are popular among photographers for their performance and display quality, Windows laptops offer competitive features and better upgradability at similar price points.
How we test the best laptops for photo editing
✅ More than 1,800 laptops, Chromebooks, and MacBooks reviewed
✅ 18 years of product testing
✅ Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
✅ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech
We've tested hardware built for a range of creative industries and professions. This includes the best video editing laptops, best laptops for graphic design, best laptops for writers, and best laptops for music production.
When we test laptops that are good for photo editing, we're assessing factors such as performance, portability, display type, value for money, and overall design. And using Photoshop and Lightroom are key parts of any laptop test we undertake - alongside other creative software, such as Premiere Pro and Da Vinci Resolve. This allows us to see how well each device handles day-to-day photo editing, and whether they're suitable for inclusion in this guide.
Photo editors can often be resource-intensive, especially when working on large, complex projects. So, we test each to see how well they perform when running photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop. Laptops designed for photographers should have no trouble with the industry-standard editing tool.
Creative workflows are unique – so we evaluate each on the individual merits and how well they meet the expectations of their intended users. For example, the Dell XPS 13 will be ideal for users editing images on the go, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro is much more suited to those who need a creative powerhouse.
See what goes into our tests in how we test laptops and desktops: our reviewing process explained.
Get in touch
- Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
- Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
- Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly
Today's deals on the best photo editing laptops
