There is always this war among Windows and Mac when it comes to the best laptop for music production. Funny enough, the thing that makes a great music production laptop is what it has to offer.
Unlike for gaming and movie production, it is quite easy picking the needed laptop for music production. Nevertheless, there are some very important things that you need to consider before settling for a piece.
The first thing you must consider is the stability and endurance of the laptop as it will definitely be working for long hours. The performance and ability to handle very complex and demanding music production software are also things to consider.
Because of these, you would need to have a system that has a very good RAM, a good processor, and a good storage.
You will find out that not all the laptops on the list come with perfect speakers. As far as I am concerned, laptop speaker performance is one of the last things you should worry about when looking for the best laptop for production because what you will keep using is either a professional headset or speaker. That is the only way you can get an accurate audio reproduction.
Best Laptop For Music Production
5 Best Laptops For Music Production For Both Professionals and Amateurs
Apple 15″ MacBook Pro, Retina
One laptop that many people have come to agree as one of the most recommended laptops for music production is the MacBook Pro Retina. And yes, I agree too.
Various versions of these Apple laptops have always returned very efficient music production not only because of their abilities to handle broad VST, but also because they keep you covered in almost every other way possible.
With a 15-inch IPS Retina display, the MacBook Pro MPTT2LL/A comes with a Quad-core i7 Processor, a 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage. What this essentially speaks is raw performance when you blend its RAM and the SSD.
Looking at the screen size and its 2880 x 1800 resolution, it is large enough for more than one software at a time, and definitely, multitasking with this piece is just a wink.
The advantage of getting and working with high-end music production app is another benefit that comes with this.
One thing, however, that you will expect from this laptop is that it is not cheap. Nevertheless, for now, it has no rival whether you are simply a producer or a DJ. It has a good battery life that should deliver up to 9 hours.
Features
- Screen Size: 15.4 inches
- CPU: 9 GHz Intel Core i7
- RAM: 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM
- Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
- Storage: 512GB SSD storage
- Battery Life: 9 hours.
Pros
- It has excellent performance.
- Good battery life.
- Has retina display.
- It is durable and sustainable.
Cons
- It is very expensive.
Verdict
As stated, this is simply the best laptop for music production at the moment as it delivers great features and performance. More so, it is very stable and enduring, that I must say, is worth everything it asks for.
Check Price on Best BuyASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW 4K Laptop
A lightweight laptop, the ASUS ZenBook Pro tops many others when it comes to music production mainly because of how reliable and stable it is, as well as how it responds to demanding apps.
With aesthetic completeness, the laptop is designed with 4k capabilities, and it comes with amazing speed thanks to its 16 GB RAM and 512GB SSD. More so, it features a Core i7 processor. You get to have the Thunderbolt 3 port which can transfer at a speed of 40GBPs.
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The laptop features a 15-inch screen with a resolution of 3840 by 2160. It is also a touchscreen piece that responds very well and allows for easy navigation.
Importantly, the battery life is rather good as it is able to sustain for close to 7 hours before finally running out. The keyboard is designed with a backlight so that you get to work even in the dark.
It doesn’t matter whether you need it for professional or amateur music production, once you are able to cough out the money, this is a very good piece.
Features
- Screen Size: 15.6-inch 3,840 x 2,160 touchscreen
- CPU: Intel Core i7 processor
- RAM: 16GB DDR4 RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 960M 2G
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Battery Life: Over 6 hours
Pros
- Very fast and reliable.
- It is able to handle demanding music production apps.
- Above the average battery life.
- Good keyboard with backlight.
Cons
- Designed with a glossy screen.
Verdict
Although it is not the most powerful on the list, it is a very good option if you consider its general build and performance, and the fact that it is very fast and it is able to handle demanding music production applications.
Acer Aspire VX 15
The Acer Aspire VX 15 is another gaming laptop that surprisingly comes very good for music production. It is a great laptop for music production if you are not willing to spend anything more than a thousand dollars.
With the looks of the laptop, it is rather on the pleasing side of things, and it is designed with good quality. The keyboard has a good backlight.
Also with a full HD IPS 15.6” screen, the laptop does come to offer a lot more than the bargain, considering that it has a RAM of 16GB DDR4 and a 256 GB SSD.
Apart from those, it comes with those, which obviously improve performance, it features an Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor and a dedicated 4GB display RAM which gives you more performance when running more complex music applications.
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The features make the laptop capable of running VST, but considering the storage it comes with, it may not be enough for storing large music files. For this, you can have an HDD upgrade kit for 2.5” SATA disks with 500GB, 1B, and 2TB options.
Features
- Screen Size: 15.6″
- CPU: Intel Core i7-7700HQ
- RAM: 16GB DDR4 Memory,
- Graphics: GTX 1050 Ti
- Storage: 256 GB SSD storage
- Battery Life: 6 hours.
Pros
- Comes with great features
- Above average battery life
- Strong and reliable performance.
- It is very valuable.
Cons
- You may need to have the storage upgraded.
Verdict
Even though it doesn’t pull you above the $1000 mark, it still delivers in an exceptional manner. The laptop is designed for an enthusiast gamer, but it still comes very functional for music production, even emerging as one of the most complete on the list.
ASUS VivoBook Pro N580VD-DB74T
This slim laptop is another that can serve you in an excellent manner for music production. The laptop comes strapped with good looks and performance on its shoulders.
With an aluminum build, the laptop comes with a decent quality. Falling in the line of laptops that you can call multimedia ones, it features a 15.6″ Full HD 178° Wide view touch display.
Other things such as the speaker performance and the keyboard are also great, with the keyboard being an ergonomic piece with backlight and fingerprint sensor.
It comes with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8GHz and a memory of 16GB DDR4 RAM. More so, you get to have a storage of 512GB SSD. What this means is that you get generous storage on one hand and good performance on the other.
While everything seems to be great with this laptop, it drags the feet when it comes to the battery life. It is hardly able to deliver more than three hours.
Features
- Screen Size: 15.6 inches
- CPU: Intel Core i7-7700HQ
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1050 4GB GDDR5
- Storage: 512GB SSD storage
- Battery Life: 3 hours.
Pros
- Slim and sleek design.
- Gives solid performance.
- Good multimedia laptop.
- The speaker delivers one of the best on the list.
Cons
- Poor battery life
- It is rather expensive.
Verdict
This laptop comes as one with much promise even as the battery isn’t the greatest of Acer. Its solid performance and generally top-notch features compensate much for some of the things that pull it back.
Lenovo Legion Y520
When on budget, the best laptop for music production is the Lenovo Legion Y520. Even though Lenovo designed this simple laptop for gaming, it has returned as a very great piece for music production.
The lightweight laptop features a full HD 15.6-inch display and keyboard that has a backlight. The overall design is not the one you can claim to be exceptional, even though it is still not bad.
The storage of the laptop of 256 GB SSD isn’t as large as it could have been, but considering that it is an SSD, it will deliver more speed. I don’t see any reason why you cannot upgrade its SSD just as you can also upgrade its 8 GB RAM to a max of 16 GB.
With the battery life, this delivers a life of up to 4 hours, which I don’t think is the best Lenovo could offer.
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It will accept a lot of music application including FL studio. If you are half gamer and half music producer, this is the one to make you complete. This is even as it doesn’t ask for too much.
Feature
- Screen Size: 15.6-inch 1920×1080 pixels
- CPU: Intel Core i5 processor
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 DRAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Battery Life: Around 4 hours
Pros
- Excellent overall performance.
- The speaker performance is good.
- Serves for both gaming and music production.
- Has good features for the price.
- It is cheap.
Cons
- Doesn’t have all the space in the world.
- Its display could have been better.
- Average battery performance.
Verdict
Even though this is not the most performing laptop on this list, it will serve when you are on budget more than a lot of others for music production. More than that, it is a laptop that you can use for gaming and other daily system works.
When it’s all done, it is important to understand that while music production may seem less demanding than things like gaming, it still has its needs and it is also very demanding. As such, for flawless or close to that production, it is very important to pick the best, which I have been able to provide up to five options in this review that will handle your DAW Software and other complex stuff.
