Top Pick for the Best Laptop for Music Production From Music Editors | One PC Panda

Whether you’re looking to get into the music industry or you’re already an established artist, your laptop will be your go-to tool when it comes to making and recording music. However, with thousands of different models on the market, it can be difficult to determine which one would be best suited for your needs. That’s why we asked a community of Music Editors to share their top pick for the best laptop for music production and here’s what they had to say...

Best pick: Apple MacBook Pro M1

If Apple’s M1 Pro chip seems overly powerful, that’s because it is—at least compared to chips used in other laptops. The MacBook Pro M1 includes 16 CPU cores and a 16-core GPU, which Apple claims makes it faster than most laptops on market today. Add 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD and an additional 4TB storage drive and you have one beastly laptop ideal for most tasks—particularly those related to audio/video editing and music production.

Though it’s not cheap, if you want a MacBook specifically for music production, then there is no question that Apple’s Macbook Pro deserves a spot on your shortlist. It can easily handle midi sequencing and audio processing from plugins and synths. You can even run virtual instruments (VST or AU) within plugin hosts like Maschine or Bitwig without issue. The Macbook M1 Pro also runs smoothly with my VST instrument collection including Native Instruments Komplete 11 Ultimate and Logic X.

The first major point is that you are not going to find a better DAC than what Apple has built into its MacBook Pro. Because it’s a real Cirrus Logic chip, when compared to software audio processing or inferior chipsets in other laptops, Apple’s laptop delivers higher audio resolution across more frequencies and lower noise levels.

First Runner-Up: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is a flagship laptop that’s sure to be great for production of all types. It’s hard to beat a strong performer like an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, 40 GB 3200MHz RAM, and RTX 3070 video card in such a powerful machine. The Zephyrus is also one of our top choices because it offers just about everything you could want from a gaming laptop.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is capable of handling pretty much any music production task you throw at it. Plus, it’s a good-looking machine that doesn’t compromise on power in order to achieve its low-profile design. It also features an impressive battery life and comes with several useful software packages.

We were also impressed with how well it performed on our projects. The audio quality was crisp and clear when using industry-standard DAWs like FL Studio, Pro Tools, and Cubase. It handled multi-track recording, multitrack mixing, EQing, and mastering perfectly. We could even load several instances of some of our favorite VST plugins without any noticeable performance degradation.

Second Runner-Up: Lenovo Legion 7

This laptop is particularly well-suited to work with production programs and DAWs. It has an excellent keyboard, plenty of ports, a decent trackpad and a great display. However, it’s not quite as good as some of its competitors in terms of performance when working with music software. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for something that’s designed specifically to help you create music at home or on the go, then it could be just what you need.

In terms of specs, it’s well-equipped with a 17.3-inch screen and comes with AMD’s 8-core Ryzen 7 5800H processor. It also boasts 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. In addition, it offers ports that will make connecting to an external monitor or MIDI keyboard a breeze. With regards to performance, it runs smoothly when working with programs like Logic Pro X and Ableton Live.

Third Runner-Up: ASUS TUF F17

The ASUS TUF F17 is no slouch with music production software, scoring well on speed benchmarks like Cinebench R15 and on boot-up times. The company’s laptops have made our list of top picks for musicians before, and it’s not hard to see why: The laptop scored well in performance with DAW. Its screen didn’t fare as well, but that was expected given its price point.

The TUF F17 is proving to be an excellent choice if you’re on a tight budget and still want to run your music production software smoothly. The laptop gives you an Intel Core i7-11800H Processor, GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe SSD, screen size 15.6 Full HD (1920x1080) 144Hz 7ms display.

Conclusion

In addition to Macs, we asked music editors which laptops are best for audio editing and production. Unsurprisingly, Apple laptops were a popular choice (what else would you expect from our fellow music lovers?). However, editors also mention that there are many other excellent options available in different price ranges. 

Do you agree with our music editors' picks? Or do you have another favorite laptop for music production that isn't on our list? Let us know in a comment below.