Shopping for a new laptop is a tough task. With the sheer number of options, it’s easy to fall into choice paralysis, where making a final decision feels impossible. If you’re a creative type who needs a laptop for a very specific purpose — in this case, video editing — the stakes are even higher. Make the wrong choice, and it will really come back to bite you. You’ll find yourself with a laptop that doesn’t perform and end up in a deep financial hole.
To find the best video editing laptops, we reached out to Denver McQuaid, a creative marketing strategist who is also a seasoned VFX artist and video editor with a large following on Instagram and TikTok.
In an email conversation with Mashable, McQuaid walked us through the process of shopping for a great laptop for video editing. There was one clear winner — the new M4 MacBook Air. Still, it’s not the only laptop we have to recommend.
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What makes a video editing laptop “good”?
With so many laptops offering wildly different features, it’s important to narrow down which ones matter the most. In McQuaid’s opinion, there are three qualities that a good video editing laptop absolutely needs: Speed, solid battery life, and a good display size.
Having a laptop that can process tasks quickly and efficiently is paramount for video editing. “[Speed] can be achieved in many ways,” said McQuaid, “including RAM, hard drive write speeds, processor clock speed, and graphics rendering.” Battery life is pretty self-explanatory — the less time you spend charging, the more time you’ll have to actually work on your projects. When it comes to display size, McQuaid said the more you can see, the better. “I edit on a 13-inch [laptop], but often with an external monitor.” He travels for work, so he uses a more lightweight laptop with a smaller screen, though he recommends newer editors go bigger. “I don’t regret it, but more screen space is always nice to have.”
What are the best laptops for video editing?
Like we already said up top, the MacBook Air was the clear winner as the best video editing laptop for most people (and if you want to splurge, you can pick up an M4 Pro). (Are you surprised? Probably not.) While the latest M4 MacBook Air is your best bet, McQuaid told us that even older MacBooks will do the trick. He uses a 2019-era MacBook Pro that predates even the M1 chip, and it still works just fine for his needs. “MacBooks have some drawbacks, but the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion,” McQuaid told Mashable. “The MacBook OS is more user-friendly and ideal for transferring files from computer to phone, or vice versa, especially iPhones.”
Of course, we realize that not everyone wants to jump into the Apple ecosystem, so we have recommendations from outside the famous fruit company. Check out our picks below, all chosen with vigorous hands-on testing and expert advice.
