November 13: We expect Apple's newest release, the MacBook Pro M4 to enter this list – we are in the process of reviewing it and will decide after our full testing process is complete.
The best laptops for animation need to boast some pretty powerful specs and solid design decisions to keep pace with the needs of modern animators, but they don't come cheap, so making the right choice is essential. Whether you're a professional, amateur or entry-level animator, it's worth investing in the right machine for your craft.
We've assembled this list of top-class devices to help you choose, looking out for powerful processors, solid graphics cards and ample RAM capable of running demanding animation software such as Blender, Maya, and AdobeAfter Effects. We've tested every model against industry standard benchmarking tests as well as our own experience to make sure they all fit the bill, while also looking out for other important aspects like a vibrant display with accurate colour reproduction, plenty of storage space for large files, and a reliable battery life for working on the go.
The ASUS ProArt P16 is our top choice today for animators. This Windows laptop is a fast worker, has a beautiful OLED screen and the famous ASUS Dial, which can help when scrubbing through animation timelines or fine-tuning brush sizes. Read more below
If you're looking to keep your spend under a grand, this premium 2-in-1 laptop has a rather lovely 13.3-inch OLED touch screen, complemented by a powerful 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM for smooth multitasking. Read more
When we tested this sleek device, we found it to be one of the new generation of gaming laptops that don't look like gaming laptops, aka the holy grail for creatives. Perfect for power and portability, this gaming laptop is a creative's dream. Read more
We think the M3 Pro or Max MacBook Pro 16 is the best MacBook for animation overall. We found that runs even the most demanding animation programs with ease, it has a large bright screen and battery life is outstanding. Read more
A fantastic MacBook Pro alternative, this 16” laptop offers powerful performance with sleek design. With a gorgeous 3.2K mini LED display and a dedicated AI processing chip, the disappointing battery life is the only dent in its armour. Read more
If you want a large laptop for animation, this mobile workstation from Dell is super-powerful. It's heavy, and there's no 4K display, but if you want a beast there isn't a better Dell option. Read more
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✅ You want top-tier performance: Its powerful components deliver fantastic speed for animation. ✅ You value colour accuracy: Its 4K OLED screen with 100% P3 coverage ensures your animations look flawless. ✅ You want innovative controls: The ASUS Dial offers intuitive control in a variety of creative software.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You're on a budget: Unsurprisingly, a laptop this powerful comes at a premium price. ❌ You need a high refresh rate: With just a 60Hz display, ultra-smooth motion isn't on offer here.
The bottom line
🔎 The ASUS ProArt P16 packs a powerful CPU, paired with a stunning 4K OLED touchscreen that makes it a fantastic choice for animators who like using a touchscreen. ★★★★½
Need to know: With its 16-inch OLED touchscreen and highly capable components, the the ASUS ProArt P16 is our top choice today for animators seeking a powerful and versatile laptop. Featuring handy AI-powered like StoryCube and MuseTree in its ProArt Creator Hub, workflows and file organisation is a breeze.
Design: Despite its powerful components, the ProArt P16 maintains a relatively slim profile and weighs around 5.3 pounds, making it reasonably portable for on-the-go animators. It also boasts a stunning 16-inch 4K OLED touchscreen display with 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, ensuring vibrant and accurate colors crucial for animation work - though it is prone to smudging. Our reviewer also enjoyed using its innovative ASUS Dial: a physical control that allows for precise adjustments in creative applications, which is very handy when scrubbing through animation timelines or fine-tuning brush sizes.
Performance: This Windows laptop is a fast worker, thanks to an Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics, providing ample power for rendering complex animations and running demanding software smoothly. The laptop's 32GB of RAM and spacious 2TB SSD storage further enhance its performance and multitasking capabilities. Our reviewer was especially impressed with the results of our standard Handbrake test, where we encode a 10-minute 4K animation.
Battery: Considering its power-hungry components, we were fairly impressed that the ASUS ProArt P16 still offers up to 10 hours of usage on a single charge.
Price: While its £/$3,000 might seem lofty, considering how capable it is that's a pretty fair price. Plus, it has enough going for it to last even a demanding professional several years, holding its own against the likes of the MacBook Pro M3 Max in our benchmarking tests - and even outdoing it in some.
Screen: 13.3" diagonal FHD WLED-backlit touch screen (1920 x 1080)
Storage: 1 TB PCIe SSD
Ports: 1 x USB Type-C (Power, Display, Data), 2 x USB Type-A, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x SD media card, 1 x AC Smart Pin, 1 x 3.5mm combo jack
Reasons to buy
+
2-in-1 design
+
Bang & Oulfsen speakers
+
OLED screen
+
Exceptional battery performance
Reasons to avoid
-
No stylus dock
-
Disappointing storage space
-
Can feel clunky when in tablet mode
Buy it if
✅ You're on a budget: While it's not the most powerful, its approachable price point makes it a solid choice. ✅ You value versatility: The HP Envy x360 can be used as both a tablet and a laptop. ✅ You want a beefy battery: Offering up to 17 hours and 30 minutes of battery life, the HP Envy x360 is great for long shifts.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You need maximum power: As a budget option, the HP Envy x360 can't deliver like a more premium workhorse. ❌ You value neat ergonomics: With no dedicated pen storage and the fixed keyboard, it can be a little clunky in tablet mode.
The bottom line
🔎 The HP Envy x360 is a sleek 2-in-1 laptop and tablet combination with a 360-degree hinge and touchscreen capabilities. Packing a 12th generation Intel Core i7 processor and with a generous 16GB of RAM it's a solid budget choice for animation ★★★★½
Need to know: If you're looking to keep your spend under a grand, the HP Envy x360 stands out as a premium 2-in-1 laptop that's very capable and versatile, making it a solid choice for animation on a relatively limited budget. Its rather lovely 13.3-inch OLED touchscreen is complemented by a powerful 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM for smooth multitasking.
Design: With its 360-degree hinge, this laptop smoothly transforms its 13.3-inch OLED screen from laptop to tablet mode in no time, offering excellent versatility. The lack of dedicated pen storage and the attached keyboard add up to a slightly clunky tablet experience, however.
Performance: While the 512GB SSD storage capacity is limited, you get a generous array of ports, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, and a headphone jack. The included tilt pen facilitates pen input (excellent for animators), and the Bang & Olufsen speakers enhance the multimedia experience.
Battery: During our testing, we were very impressed to see the marketing claims of up to 17 hours and 30 minutes of battery life proved true. Of course, peak performance settings will drain it faster, but the HP Envy x360 can comfortably last a full working day and beyond on one charge. Plus, its fast charging means you can recover roughly 50% battery in just 45 minutes.
Price: There are a few configurations with this machine, starting at $1219.23 / £1099.99, which is excellent value for a device that can operate both as a laptop and a tablet in one and deliver decent power.
✅ You need a portable powerhouse: Offering both performance and portability, it's a great option for nomadic animators. ✅ You want a great screen: The 2.8K OLED display offers sharpness and excellent color accuracy. ✅ You value battery life: For a high-performance gaming laptop, over eight hours battery life is impressive.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You prefer a larger screen: Its 14-inch display might be too small for detailed animation work. ❌ You're on a budget: High-end performance comes at a high-end price, making the HP Omen Transcend 14 pretty pricey. ❌ You need upgradability: While it's robust enough to last a few years, you won't be able to upgrade this laptop for longevity.
The bottom line
🔎 HP Omen Transcend 14 is an excellent workstation for the nomadic animator who values both power and portability. Its OLED display and long battery life (well, for a performance laptop) are great, but the smaller screen size may not suit all. ★★★★½
What you need to know: The brand-new-for-2024 HP Omen Transcend 14 is a sleek, relatively lightweight bundle of portable, powerful joy. When we tested it, we appreciated that it's another in a new generation of gaming laptops that don't look like gaming laptops; aka the holy grail for creatives.
Design:The 14-inch OLED screen is a joy, with 500 nits peak brightness (sounds average but the OLED tech makes it seem brighter) even in HDR mode. And it's got the trendy 16:10 aspect ratio, too, all without falling into the classic "gamer aesthetic" which can be offputting in professional environments. Plus, at just 1.63kg and 1.79cm thickness, it's highly portable - especially considering the level of performance it offers.
Performance: The top-spec model is magnificently powerful for the size, price and build, achieving some excellent benchmarks during our testing across creative tasks from 3D to photo editing – all of which you might need in your animation workflow. The AI tech is to thank for that, as it gives a boost to the already capable combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 4070 graphics. Multitasking is smooth, owing to its 32GB of RAM, too.
Battery: Despite all that power, the battery life was ample. We got around seven and a half hours with a moderately heavy workflow.
Price: This level of performance doesn't come cheap; the HP Omen Transcend 14 costs $1,599.99/£1,449 for the base model and $1979.99/£1,799 for the model we tested.
Owing to its high end specs, it's predictably pricey
★★★★
Design
Excellent portability, but a small monitor for creatives
★★★★
Performance
A highly capable machine that packs a punch
★★★★★
Battery life
"Only" 8 hours, but impressive for such a powerful machine
★★★★
The best MacBook for animation
(Image credit: Future)
04. MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023)
A fast, powerful laptop with excellent battery life
Our expert review:
Specifications
CPU: Apple M3 Pro/M3 Max
Graphics: Up to 40-core
RAM: Up to 95GB (unified memory)
Screen: 16.2-in 3456x2234 Liquid Retina XDR
Storage: Up to 8TB
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent performance
+
Great battery life
+
Solid, reliable build quality
Reasons to avoid
-
Aimed at 3D, not 2D creatives
-
Limited upgrade options
Buy it if
✅ You prize beautiful design: Nobody doers it quite like Apple, and you'll be the envy of your colleagues with the sleek 2023 MacBook Pro ✅ You value battery life: During our battery tests, this model impressed us with its 10-hour runtime. ✅ You want high performance: Armed with Apple's powerful M3 chip, this is a highly capable machine.
Don't buy it if:
❌ Your animation software doesn't run on Macs: While compatibility is better than it once was, some software is still Windows exclusive. ❌ You're on a budget: Laptops for animation run on the pricier side; MacBooks are even more expensive than most.
The bottom line
🔎 MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) has a lot to offer; from impressive performance thanks to Apple Silicon to excellent battery life, topped off with a high-quality 16.2-inch display. ★★★★½
What you need to know: Whether you are working on a short animation film, or find yourself rendering an 8K animation sequence for a major studio, we think the MacBook Pro M3 Pro, and in particular the M3 Max, is the best MacBook for animation. With the M3 Max configuration that we tested, the MacBook Pro 16 handles high-end animation programs with ease. It comes in 14- and 16-inch versions, both offering an M3 Max chip configuration if you need even more power.
Design: Clad in the classicly sleek and svelte chassis Apple is known for, the MacBook Pro 16 M3 is gorgeous. The liquid retina XDR display is wonderful for any kind of creative work , with excellent colour accuracy, brightness and contrast. Our own tests vouched for Apple's claim that the brightness of 1000 nits can be taken up to 1600 nits for HDR content, and we found the brightness enough to overcome glare throughout our testing.
Performance: With up to 128GB RAM, 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU, there is an option for even the most performance-hungry animator. We tested it Cinema 4D, Blender and DaVinci Resolve, and projects felt super smooth. If you opt for the M3 Max configuration, it's an absolute beast of a machine.
Battery: During our testing, we were impressed by the 10 hours we squeezed from the MacBook Pro M3, even while using demanding 3D software. The 100-watt-hour battery promises up to 22 hours of media playback.
Price: Starting at $1,499/£1,499, this MacBook offers good value for money albeit at a high price, and you will need to pay more for the maximum configuration, including the M3 Max chip.
Ports: HDMI 2.1, USB-C Full Function, USB-C Intel Thunderbolt 4.0, 3.5mm headphone jack, a full-sized SD card reader, two USB-A 3.2 ports.
Reasons to buy
+
Extremely powerful
+
Highly portable
+
Exceptional battery life
+
Robust, sleek design
Reasons to avoid
-
Limited ports
Buy it if
✅ You want a crisp, expansive display: The 16-inch screen is beautiful, with plenty of real-estate for animation. ✅ You like AI: If you're ready to jump on board the AI train, this machine's AI tools and optimisations are a big draw. ✅ You need a powerful workhorse: For heavier workflows, this powerhouse is near unmatched.
Don't buy it if
❌ You need long battery life: Especially if you often animate on the road, the batrtery life will disappoint. ❌ You're on a budget: While it's comparable to its competition, this laptop is still pretty pricey.
The bottom line
🔎 Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i gen 9 is a rival to the devices that top our best for animation list, let down mostly by its disappointingly short battery life. Otherwise, it will impress with its gorgeous display, ample power and excellent AI features that boost power and optimise your workflow. ★★★★½
What you need to know: It's a close call between the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i gen 9 and our overall top pick, the ASUS ProArt P16. In our review, we called it a 'must-have' for creatives, especially thanks to its beautiful display combined with the AI-boosted CPU - and the fact that it's a little more affordable than some of its similarly-specced competition. Plus, it features some useful AI tools, too.
Design: Lightweight and sleek by design, its aluminium chassis and solid hinge ensure that it's durable while still being portable. The keyboard ergonomics are fantastic, but the real hero is its 2.3K HDR 16-inch display, which has 1600 Mini-LED dimming zones that make it fantastic for animation. Unlike many modern laptops, the Lenovo Yogo Pro 9i gen 9 also offers a wide array of connectivity ports including a full SD slot.
Performance: Depending on which configuration you opt for, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i gen 9 can get pretty powerful, making it plenty capable for animators. The model we tested proved plenty capable at handling heavy creative loads, and the AI-boosted CPU certainly helps in this department. Also of use is Lenovo's Creator Zone, which features AI tools specifically included with creatives in mind, from optimising your creative tools to offering generative image creation that can actually learn your personal visual style.
Battery life: Alas, the battery life is the concession made by this otherwise excellent all-rounder. In our gaming test (which emulates creative loads), we got only two hours of battery life. When streaming with a slightly dimmed screen, that upped to eight hours.
Price: The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i gen 9 starts at £1,635/$1,699, making it fairly comparable to other laptops of its class.
✅ You need display real estate: The roomy 17.3-inch display offers plenty of space for animation. ✅ You need ample power: The Intel i7 and NVIDIA RTX 3500 are plenty capable of handling demanding animation tasks. ✅ You use multiple peripherals: This machine offers a solid array of ports to support a wide range of peripherals and multi-monitor setups.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You need a portable device: It's weighty at 3.05 kg, making it ill-suited for those who work on-the-go. ❌ You're value ergonomics: The off-centre trackpad isn't for everyone, and might take some getting used to.
The bottom line
🔎 The Dell Precision 7780 packs a real punch in terms of performance, offering ample screen space for animators who essentially want a desktop PC dressed as a laptop. However, the trade-off is that it's less portable than other laptops. ★★★★½
Need to know: If you're looking for pure power and have money to spend, this Dell is a great option, marketed as Dell's most powerful mobile workstation. Designed with creative professionals in mind, this 17-inch beast has a seriously powerful GPU and upgrade options that give extremely good benchmark scores across heavy creative tasks. It will be too much power for 2D animators, but those working in 3D and with video will find it very capable.
Design: While the build quality is solid, with thoughtful inclusions like the 180-degree hinge for flexible viewing angles, this model is heavy at 3.05 kg and quite bulky, so it isn't our recommendation for mobile working. Its off-centre trackpad may prove contentious, and another drawback is there's no 4K display here, and the aspect ratio is 16:9 rather than the 16:10 often favoured by creators. But our reviewer was pleased as it means a slightly slimmer chassis – and we also thought the Full HD display looked great.
Performance: Packing an Intel Core i7-13850HX and NVIDIA RTX 3500 Ada GPU, you can expect fantastic performance from the Dell Precision 7780. During our benchmark testing, it even managed to outperform some Intel i9-equipped competitors in certain tasks.
Battery: The 93 Wh battery offers a pretty dire lifespan - we only managed three hours of creative work - so it's best to keep it near a power supply.
Price: The base configuration starts at $2,219/£2,924; so it's safe to stay this mobile workstation is a heavy investment. However, that's still good value for money; for the price, you get powerful components and an expansive display, which might be just what you need for animation work.
Ports: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm combo jack
Reasons to buy
+
Futuristic form factor
+
Powerful components
+
Fun to use
Reasons to avoid
-
Kind of expensive
-
Two screens can drain the battery
-
Picky about chargers
Buy it if
✅ You love the idea of two screens: The two displays are the obvious pull here. If you often need a monitor alongside your laptop for smoother process in your graphic design work, then this is an excellent option. Those screens are gorgeous, touchscreen and compatible, too. ✅ You like medium-high power: This can be quite powerful, but isn't quite up there with some other new laptops such as the M3 MacBook Pros.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You need an uber-long battery life: When using the two screens the battery doesn't last as long as the 12 hours we got when testing a single screen. So if you're on the go a lot and want to make the most of the displays, you'll be a bit disappointed. ❌ You want a budget option: This is not cheap.
The bottom line
🔎 ASUS Zenbook Duo OLED 2024 is one of our favourite laptops ever. It's not for everyone, as it is a quirky build, but it's been built with professional creatives in mind. Anyone who uses a additional monitor when at a desk should consider this beauty, which is a brilliant upgrade from the previous iteration. ★★★★★
What you need to know:The latest Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED packs powerful components with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and could easily handle animation projects in our tests - but most notable of all itstrengths is its dual-screen set-up.
Design: The most eye-catching feature of the Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED is its dual-screen setup – the upgraded 2024 model houses two 14in 2880x1800 120Hz OLED screens, as opposed to a smaller one over the keyboard as with the last model. That second screen gives you space to put apps and tools, so your main screen isn't interrupted - and you can draw on the second screen with a stylus.
Performance: Housing a powerful Intel Core Ultra processor and 32GB of RAM, this laptop is an absolute beast for multitasking, which can seriously speed up your animation workflow. Paired with its decent integrated graphics (which scored between an M1 and M1 Ultra in our benchmark testing), it's a pretty powerful machine.
Battery life: The battery life is much improved with this iteration – we saw over 12 hours of use with one screen on. The second screen sucks up the battery faster but it's not unreasonable so as long as you're near a plug point at some point in the day.
Price: Priced at £/$1,699-£/$2000 as of writing, this isn't an affordable laptop by any stretch of the imagination, but its unique features make it well worth the money in our view.
✅ You want a portable, powerful machine: This laptop is lightweight and sleek for digital nomads while still offering ample power. ✅ You value display specs: With a 16-inch 4K display and a 120Hz refresh rate, the MSI Stealth 16 has an excellent, clear display. ✅ You want a future-proofed machine: Offering NPU support for AI acceleration means this laptop can keep up with modern demands.
Don't buy it if:
❌ You're on a budget: As can be expected from a machine of its calibre, it's pricey. ❌ You need maximum RAM: 32GB might not be enough for more comprehensive animation work.
The bottom line
🔎 MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio perfectly pairs performance and portability, offering future-proofed specs that will last in the age of AI. It's excellent, therefore, for the modern digital nomad. ★★★★1/2
Need to know: If you don't want to sacrifice on power or portability, the MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V is the laptop for you. It houses an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, RTX 4090 laptop GPU, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM to handle even the most demanding creative workflows, making it excellent for animation. It's impressive, then, that it's (just) under 2kg in weight, and includes NPU technology for AI-accelerated workflows.
Design: Lightweight and slim at just 1.99kg and 19.95mm thick, we're truly impressed by how portable this high-performance laptop is. Being cased in a magnesium and aluminum alloy chassis does keep weight down, however, we'd hazard you'll want to invest in a case if you plan to work on the go, as the housing shows some flex. In terms of display, its 16-inch 4K (3840x2400) screen offers a 120Hz refresh rate for fantastic visual clarity, and the port selection is generous, including four USB-C ports, USB-A, HDMI, and a microSD card reader.
Performance: During our testing, the MSI Stealth 16 performed well in a range of environments, with Geekbench 6 benchmark scores of 11,504 for multi-core and 2,447 for single-core, while the RTX 4090 scored 160,998 in OpenCL tests. In Cinebench 2024, this laptop showed scores of 108 for single-core, 684 for multi-core, and 17,255 for GPU tests - in laymans terms, it's solidly capable for creatives.
Battery: While we did need to frequently charge this laptop during testing, and especially during intensive workloads, that's to be expected for such a powerhouse. You'll likely want to keep it plugged in most of the time, which does diminish its otherwise excellent portability somewhat.
Price: As you'd expect for such a premium device, the list price is high at $4,099.99/£3,684.97. However, that's comparable to other laptops in its class, so we think it still offers decent value for money.
Lightweight and portable, but chassis shows weakness.
★★★
Performance
Strong scores across a range of tests.
★★★★★
Battery life
Short life, but average for its class.
★★★
Also tested
The above may be our top picks for animation, but there are plenty of other options worth considering that we've also tested. Below you'll find some suggestions also well-suited for animation, which may be better suited to your particular needs and budget.
Dell Precision 5470It might not look like much, but this machine is a portable powerhouse that, on test, proved to be plenty capable of handling a range of creative tasks. Our benchmark tests put it close to a MacBook Pro M2 Pro. Read our 4.5-star review
ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED Housing a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card paired with a 14-core Intel i9 processor as well as 32GB of RAM, this machine rivals the MacBook Pro in power while keeping the price tag below £/$1,500. We love its beautiful OLED screen, however it's lacking in the battery life department. Read our 4-star review.
MSI Creator Z17 HX Studio Yes, it's pricey, but that nets you a powerhouse machine with a 16:10 display which supports a stylus, making it excellent for creatives. In our benchmark testing, it handled multitask whilst running creative apps with ease, however battery life left something to be desired. Read our 4-star review
FAQs
What specs do I need in a laptop for animation?
The specs you will need in a laptop for animation will depend on what software you use, and it's always worth checking the minimum specs quoted by the developer. In many cases, thee minimum system requirements are not particularly high. For example, CelAction2D states a minimum of 8GB of RAM and an Intel i5 CPU, which is fairly standard.
There is a difference, however, between minimum and recommended. To refer to CelAction2D once more, they recommended 16GB RAM and an Intel i7 processor.
Furtherrmore, 3D animation software such as Autodesk Maya, Adobe Animate and Blender, do require significant processing power for complex calculations and renderings. So if you're using tools like this ,we'd recommend a 10th or 11th generation Intel Core i7 or i9 or AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 series H. We'd also recommend going for a laptop with a dedicated graphics card.
For 2D animation, meanwhile, we recommend at least a GPU with 4GB of VRAM. For 3D animation, 8 GB of VRAM would be preferable. As for RAM, we'd recommend at least 16GB to be able to handle multiple layers and complex character rigs and provide smooth playback. Going to 32GB is likely to provide a smoother experience for extensive rendering and simulation in 3D animation.
You'll also need enough storage space to store your animation files. Solid-state drives (SSDs) are the way to go for the best read/write speeds, and you'll probably want at least 512GB.
Finally, you'll want a display with high-resolution (at least Full HD, 1920x1080) and good colour coverage and accuracy. Some animators like a touchscreen so that they can use a stylus for drawing and sketching, although there's also the option to use a graphics tablet for this.
Are gaming laptops good for animation?
Gaming laptops are some of the most powerful machines on the market, and increasingly creatives are finding themselves investing in an RGB-clad laptop to handle their processing and rendering needs - we've even included a laptop from Razer, famed for its gaming hardware, in our selection of the best laptops for animation above. Most of the best gaming laptops will be perfectly capable of meeting an animator's needs.
Choosing the best laptop for animation for you will depend upon what type of animation, how you work and your budget. We've tested the laptops above for use with animation software, but some are more geared to professionals while others provide more portability or better value. All have the minimum requirements of a modern processor and at least 8GB of RAM (most can be configured higher than that, and would recommend going for 16GB if your budget allows it).
With the increasing popularity of GPU render engines like Redshift and Octane, you should also think about whether you will be using your GPU or CPU to render animations. For CPU rendering, you want to look for a high clock speed so the machine can animate in real time and handle the complex calculations needed to render animations.
For more complex 3D animations, you’re probably better off using your GPU, and so we’d suggest looking at laptops with a dedicated graphics card - especially if you’re going to be attempting final-quality rendering. While these will inevitably be more expensive, the drastic impact it will have on the speed of your workflow is well worth the investment.
We have tested all the laptops in this guide hands on. We run a series of benchmark tests on each device to measure power and performance, including:
• Cinebench R23/2024 - this assesses the performance of a computer's CPU and GPU using real-world 3D rendering tasks
• Geekbench 5/6 - this tests the CPU's processing power, both by using a single core for a single task at a time as well as all the CPU's core to see its ability to multitask
• PCMark 10 - this test assesses a computer’s ability to run all everyday tasks from web browsing to digital content creation, testing app launch speeds, running drawing and animation software, performing 3D rendering, and it also tests its battery life
As well as technical benchmarking, we evaluate machines in real-world situations, using animation software such as Adobe Animate and AutoDesk Maya and also push them to the limit with multiple applications running. We evaluate power, speed, display, design and build as well as value. For more details, see our article on How we test.
Erlingur is the Tech Reviews Editor on Creative Bloq. Having worked on magazines devoted to Photoshop, films, history, and science for over 15 years, as well as working on Digital Camera World and Top Ten Reviews in more recent times, Erlingur has developed a passion for finding tech that helps people do their job, whatever it may be. He loves putting things to the test and seeing if they're all hyped up to be, to make sure people are getting what they're promised. Still can't get his wifi-only printer to connect to his computer.
