The best laptops for music production may cost a bit more, but you’ll save time and money overall because they’ll let you work quickly and efficiently, with a minimal chance of being held up by stuttering, freezing or crashing.
You won’t need an absolute top-spec CPU, but a current-gen Intel or AMD chip plus at least 16GB of RAM is advisable. Also, a decent sized high resolution screen of 14 inches or bigger is beneficial for viewing timelines, toolbars and other workflow tools in audio editing applications.
Below, you’ll find our list of the best laptops for music production for you to choose from. We’ve curated this list using our expertise, industry contacts and extensive review experience. We’ve taken into account everything from power and memory to screen size and portability. To learn more about our review process, see our guide to how we test laptops, PCs and workstations.
While these laptops are all great for music production, you might want to compare them with other creative laptops, especially if you’re a jack-of-all-trades. If so, don’t miss our guides to the best laptops for video editing, as well as the best laptops for animation. Or, if you want a laptop that transforms into a tablet, try our picks of the best 2-in-1 laptops for creatives.
Quick list
Here, we’ve summed up the most important bits about our top picks of laptops for music production. Simply click on ‘read more below’ to get even more information, including links to our reviews.
01. MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
The MacBook Pro 14 remains our top choice for music production. The latest M3 model with the 14-inch screen is faster than ever and provides the ideal combination of power and compact form factor for musicians and producers alike to record the album of their, and their fans’, dreams. There’s also a new more affordable base model with the non-Pro M3 chip
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Not everyone needs all the power of a MacBook Pro, and not everyone has the budget for a MacBook Pro. The solution in both cases is simple: the MacBook Air. The new M2 processor makes sure you have enough oomph to record that guitar riff in the highest possible quality…
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If you prefer a big-screen laptop for your music-production adventures, they don’t come much better, or bigger, than the Dell XPS 17. We reviewed the 9710 model and loved it, and things seem to have only improved with the latest iteration, the 9730 version.
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MacBooks are a lot of music producers’ favourite for a good reason, they’re easy to use and offer lots of power. But if you feel like the options above are a bit too bulky, the older 13-inch model of the MacBook Pro can still be bought online and offers most of the MacBook Pro upsides at a lower cost.
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05. ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16
If you’re a gamer who likes to pull double duty with some music production, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 offers the best of both worlds. It’s a great gaming laptop that also offers portability and a features set that perfectly suits music production. It doesn’t look hugely subtle, but maybe you don’t want that anyway.
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06. Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Look, not everyone is a fan of MacBooks, or maybe you prefer or need to work within a Windows ecosystem. Those desires are all met and then some with the updated Surface Laptop Studio 2 from Microsoft, a laptop that combines power, portability and style to suit any music production.
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The best laptops for music production in full
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Best overall laptop for music production
The MacBook Pro 14-inch remains our top pick as the best laptop for music production, especially now that’s it’s been updated with the new M3 chip. While all this power requires a big budget, there is now a new base model with a non-Pro M3 chip that’s more affordable than ever, but loses one of the three Thunderbolt ports including in the Pro and Max models.
Anyway, if you require a lot of power from a compact laptop, a screen that is going to allow you to see your creative work in all its glory, will last all day and is super-portable, you’d be hard pushed to find a better option than the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
The other consideration is personal style. If you work on the go a lot and work in creative software regularly, even an M1 MacBook Air handles many tasks with ease. But once you’ve experienced this more powerful machine, you’d very likely choose the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro every for demanding music production. Whether it’s the overall design and build quality, the added connectivity it offers or the unrivalled software support for pro-level music-production applications, it really is a fabulous machine.
Read all the details of our in-depth review of the previous-gen and very similar Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M2, 2023) to find out more about why we rate this laptop so highly..
Best value laptop for music production
Granted, Apple may not be the first company you think of when you read the word ‘value’. But the new-for-2022 MacBook Air actually offers fantastic value for money for music producers. It’s significantly cheaper than the MacBook Pro 14 above, and even many Windows-based alternatives, but still offers a stylish thin and light design and excellent performance thanks to its new M2 chip.
Even though it’s not got the immense grunt of the MacBook Pro, this is still a fantastic laptop for music production, and can run any application the more expensive MacBook Pro can.
Another benefit is that the MacBook Air is fanless. This means it’s silent when in use, which is a huge bonus if you’re recording via microphones. It doesn’t offer a huge amount of ports, however, so you’ll probably need to invest in a dock. Read our full MacBook Air (M2, 2022) review for further details. And if you still feel like you’re stretching your budget a little too much, the 2020 M1 MacBook Air is still available and can be found with a healthy discount more frequently now that it’s been superseded.
Best big laptop for music production
Whether you prefer Windows laptops to Macs, or don’t care and just want a large display for your music production, the Dell XPS 17 is the laptop for you.
Usually, 17-inch laptops are large and uncomfortable to carry. However, with the XPS 17, Dell has crafted a stunningly thin large screen laptop, and it’s impressively light as well. Power-wise, the XPS 17 packs up to an Intel Core i9 processor, 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU. That means that pretty much any music production software is going to run well well on this and shouldn’t suffer any performance issues at all.
It is expensive, but for many people, the premium design and performance will be worth it. See our full Dell XPS 17 review for more details.
Best small laptop for music production
The MacBook Pro 13-inch has officially been replaced by a new entry-level 14-inch model with a non-Pro M3 chip. However, this older 13-inch model is still available from many online retailers and offers lots of bang for your buck from the still-impressive M2 chip. So if your music production software is very resource-intensive, you can still be sure that everything will run quickly and smoothly. And if you’re editing video or other large files too, you’re going to be even more pleased at the fast performance of this MacBook.
The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) also benefits from delightfully long battery life. And with a 13-inch screen, it’s nice and compact, making it very portable.
That said, you may prefer a bigger screen to see your music production software’s interface in greater detail, so there’s a tradeoff to be made there. For more information, read our MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) review.
Best gaming laptop for music production
High-end gaming laptops, with their excellent processing capabilities, can sometimes be good options as laptops for music production, and the Strix Scar 16 from Asus’s Republic of Games ticks all the right boxes. It does go in rather heavily on the gamer-style with a lot of lights, so it’s not one to consider if you want something discreet, but it certainly offers the power producers need with an Intel i9 processor and a base spec of 16GB of RAM.
We were certainly impressed when we reviewed its 15-inch predecessor. We got 10 hours of video playback out of the battery, which was impressive for such a powerful machine. This 16-inch model should be even better thanks to an upgrade to 13th Gen Intel CPUs, plus uber powerful Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics. You get good connectivity options too with two USB-C ports (one Thunderbolt 4), two USB-A, HDMI, ethernet and a headphone jack. The Scottish electronic music producer Hudson Mohawke is apparently a fan of the Strix Scar, too, so you’d be in good company.
Best Windows laptop for music production
The updated Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 really shows how far Microsoft has come in laptop design. This premium device has a stunning touch screen and plenty of power beneath the hood thanks to an upgrade to Intel’s latest 13th Gen CPUs. It also offers good battery life, which will be welcome if you record or edit when you’re on the move.
As a Microsoft product, it’s also a showcase for the company’s software, especially Windows 11. Any music production app you want to use will run with ease, and the built-in speakers are also impressive considering the size of this laptop. It could do with a few more ports, but overall this is great for music production. Read our review of the OG Surface Laptop Studio to learn more about why we rate this laptop so highly.
Best big MacBook for music production
While the MacBook Pro 14-inch is the best laptop for music production in our view thanks to its convenient portable size, if you’d like a bigger screen, its 16-inch older sibling offers essentially the same specs, and slightly better battery life to boot. Some find the larger screen more comfortable for working on, especially if working on multiple tracks at once.
As with the MacBook Pro 14 at number one, this is a brilliant laptop for music production that should be able to handle even the most complex projects. It boasts excellent speakers and microphone, and plenty of ports. OK, it’s pricier than the 14-inch model. But it’s even more powerful and has absolutely stellar speakers, which is particularly relevant here. See our full review of the original M1 MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) for more details.
Best dual-screen laptop for music production
The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED offers cutting-edge components, including a recent update to a 13th generation Intel processor and up to Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics. In short, it has plenty of poke for music production workflows.
The 14-core processor and 32GB of RAM also means this is an absolute beast when it comes to all kinds of multitasking. But the real showbiz feature is the dual-screen setup – there’s a 14.5-inch 120Hz OLED main screen, which looks fantastic, and a 12.7-inch IPS display above the keyboard.
The second screen is a huge positive for content creation workflows like music production programmers as it frees up vital screen space and can be used with music production applications to provide extra control, such as sliders for mixing tracks. It gives a level of versatility that other laptops lack. Think of it as a super-charged Touch Bar, allowing you to move apps and tools to the bottom screen, giving you more space to work with on the main one. You can also use a stylus on the second screen, turning it into a great drawing tablet.
It’s expensive, and the battery life isn’t the best, but it’s an incredible machine for creating music.
Read more in our Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED review.
The best of the rest
The Razer Blade 18 is the latest version of Razer’s top-spec laptop and it’s better than ever with a larger screen, smaller bezels and the latest Intel and Nvidia chips. It’s just a fantastic laptop for all kinds of heavy duty workflows.
That’s in no small part down to the hot new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, the fastest laptop GPU on the planet. It’s great for gaming and all kinds of tasks that lean heavily on a GPU. It’s total overkill for music production, but if you like a little gaming on the side or have other graphically intensive workflows, you’ll love this monster machine.
The huge 18-inch screen, meanwhile, provides about as much space as you’ll ever find on a laptop for mixing tools and timelines. It’s very expensive, but for your money you’re getting some of the best mobile tech available right now. Combined with a great build quality, that stunning 18-inch screen and the latest Intel 13th Gen CPUs, this is a brilliant creative workstation for people who need a lot of power.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 isn’t revolutionary in any single way, but what it does it does without fuss and with surprisingly strong performance. But it’s still highly capable for music production, and offers a budget alternative to the Studio.
There is an option of 13.5 or 15-inch screens, along with customisable RAM and storage depending on which processor you choose. For music production, which can be resource-demanding, we recommend the more powerful Ryzen processor, but even the base spec will handily take care of any light-to-medium musical tasks.
The speakers are more than serviceable too, which is a definite plus here. The lack of ports means you might have to get a dock to accompany it, though. Check out our full review of the previous-gen and very similar Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 to get a better feel for why this is a great little laptop for all kinds of tasks, including music production.
FAQs
How should I choose the best laptop for music production?
The best laptops for music production need to be powerful with a multi-core processor and plenty of RAM. This is because, as with most creative pursuits, the necessary software for music recording and production can be very demanding – especially for multi-track songs.
We’d recommend pairing this with a large SSD to give you plenty of storage space for your audio tracks – especially uncompressed ones. To ensure you don’t run out of capacity, you’ll want at least 512GB, but if you can stretch to 1TB, you’ll be thankful for the extra wiggle room.
Naturally, having good speakers is a must. Even if you opt to plug in external speakers or headphones, it’s important to listen to your track through as many different audio systems as possible to see how your frequency spectrum is represented in different setups. Plus, it makes life easier if you are often on the go and want to play your track back out loud.
Finally, you’ll want to make sure you have a good number and selection of ports on your laptop for music production so you can connect plenty of external hardware without the use of adapters. Again, this makes producing on the go less of a headache, but make sure to check the rest of your equipment first and assess which connections you’ll need, and perhaps invest in a dock.
Is Windows or Mac better for music production?
If money is no object, Mac is hands-down the way to go for producers – that’s why MacBooks occupy both the first and second spots in our guide. Compared to Windows, Mac hardware is much better, MacBooks are optimised for audio production, and the out-of-the-box software is vastly superior.
However, this comes at a cost – Windows laptops are generally far cheaper than MacBooks. If you’re on a budget, the best course of action is to think about your hardware needs, do your research on audio optimisation and hunker down with one of the Windows models we’ve listed above.
Plus, there’s at least one big perk to opting for Windows; the ability to upgrade your machine, meaning you can boost your RAM and improve your hardware to keep up with your production needs.
How much RAM do you need for music production?
The best laptops for music production must have a good amount of RAM to deliver on all of your performance needs – we’d recommend no less than 16GB, although true beginners may be able to get by with 8GB.
RAM is immediately accessible, fast working memory in your machine, and the amount of RAM you have can drastically affect performance. If you’re working with large sample libraries, doing lots of audio rendering or recording and overdubbing, you’ll want as much headroom as possible.
Advanced producers working on comprehensive orchestral tracks with heavy use of plugins and more performance-intensive software would struggle with any less than 64GB RAM.
How do we test laptops for music production?
The best laptops for music production don’t need the fastest components on the planet. But we still assess CPU and memory performance to ensure you’re getting a zippy all-round laptop for your money.
Storage is another important factor, so we test the SSD for both sequential throughput and random access performance. Granted, audio isn’t as demanding as video when it comes to bandwidth, but multiple high quality audio channels can still create a significant load.
Screen quality counts, too. We assess brightness, resolution, form factor, and contrast, and also consider a screen’s overall suitability for music applications.
Beyond music production-specific considerations, we test for broader attributes that apply to every laptop, like portability, battery life, ergonomics, keyboard and mouse quality and build quality.
