Best 5 Video Editing Laptops of Year [2024]

Video editing has come a long way from being a niche hobby to a full-fledged industry, with creators, filmmakers, and content producers constantly pushing the boundaries of what can be done with digital media. Whether you’re crafting YouTube videos, editing professional documentaries, or working on high-end cinematic productions, your choice of laptop plays a pivotal role in how smoothly and efficiently you can bring your creative vision to life. In 2024, video editing laptops have evolved to offer unparalleled performance, color accuracy, and portability—key features that every editor needs in their toolkit.

Luckily, the video editing laptops available in 2024 are designed to meet these exact demands. Whether you’re looking for a workstation to handle the most taxing video editing tasks or a more lightweight option that can still deliver excellent performance on the go, there’s something for everyone. But with so many options on the market, it can be overwhelming to find the ideal machine that balances power, portability, and value.

This blog will highlight the best 5 video editing laptops of 2024—machines that are perfect for editors of all levels, from professionals working on feature films to creators looking for a reliable tool to enhance their content. These laptops represent the pinnacle of technology, offering next-gen processors, powerful graphics, and superior display quality.

First, let’s talk about performance—the core factor in choosing a video editing laptop. For smooth editing, a fast multi-core processor (Intel Core i7 or i9, or Apple’s M-series chips) is crucial, along with ample RAM (16GB or more), and powerful GPU support to accelerate rendering and real-time playback. Some laptops go the extra mile by providing dedicated graphics cards, like NVIDIA’s RTX series, designed to handle heavy workloads such as video encoding and 3D rendering without breaking a sweat.

Next up is the display, which is arguably one of the most important aspects of video editing. A laptop with a high-resolution, color-accurate screen ensures that your edits are true to life and ready for final delivery across different platforms. Whether you’re working with 4K footage or fine-tuning the smallest detail, a OLED or mini-LED display with a wide color gamut will help bring your work to life, allowing you to view every detail with crisp clarity.

In this post, we’ll explore five top laptops, each chosen for their ability to handle the full range of video editing tasks, from basic edits to complex VFX and 3D animation. These laptops are not just fast; they are reliable, feature-packed, and ready for any challenge. So, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, keep reading to discover which laptops stand out in the video editing space in 2024.Let’s dive into the best options for video editing laptops that will take your creative projects to the next level!

1. Asus ProArt P16: The Best Video Editing Laptop for Creatives

Why Choose the Asus ProArt P16?

The Asus ProArt P16 offers a comprehensive range of ports, including two USB-C, two USB-A, one HDMI, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. One of the USB-C ports supports USB 4.0, capable of transferring data at speeds up to 40 Gbps—ideal for fast file transfers when working with large video files. Additionally, the laptop’s long battery life—lasting over nine hours on a single charge—makes it reliable for extended work sessions, even with its powerful hardware.

Who Should Buy the Asus ProArt P16?

The Asus ProArt P16 is perfect for serious content creators, especially those focused on video editing. With its sharp 4K OLED display and color accuracy, it’s an excellent choice for professionals editing high-resolution photos or videos. While the laptop may run hot under heavy loads and its design is more understated than flashy, its performance and display quality make it a worthy option for anyone looking for a high-end video editing laptop.

In summary, if you’re a creative professional in need of a powerful and reliable laptop for video editing, the Asus ProArt P16 is a top contender.

2. MacBook Pro (16-inch, M4 Pro, 2024): A Top Contender Among Video Editing Laptops

The MacBook Pro has long been a gold standard among video editing laptops, known for its fast performance, high-quality display, and sleek, refined design. The latest Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M4 Pro, 2024) continues this legacy, but the competition from both Windows-based laptops and Apple’s consumer-level processors is catching up, narrowing the performance gap. Despite this, the MacBook Pro remains a powerhouse for media editing, with its accurate display, long battery life, energy-efficient performance, and near-silent fans. Plus, it offers seamless integration with the Mac ecosystem, making it an ideal choice for professionals.

Why Choose the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro for Video Editing?

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro chip is the best option for professionals who need a portable editing suite. It’s particularly valuable for those working with large video files or in time-sensitive environments where cutting down export time could result in significant savings. For users who require even more power, upgrading to the M4 Max chip offers faster performance, especially when handling more demanding tasks.

Performance Comparison with Other Video Editing Laptops

While the M4 Pro chip is fast, it faces tough competition from Windows video editing laptops. In our benchmarks, the MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro chip performed well but lagged behind some Windows laptops in tasks like 4K video export. In a test using Adobe Premiere Pro, the M4 Pro MacBook exported video only seconds faster than the standard M4 model, and it took nearly twice as long as the Asus ProArt P16 to complete the task. However, in other tests—such as encoding 4K video in Handbrake—the M4 Pro MacBook excelled, processing video at 99 frames per second, outpacing the Asus ProArt P16 (70 fps) and the M4-based MacBook (58 fps).

Overall, the MacBook Pro (16-inch, M4 Pro, 2024) remains a top contender in the video editing laptop category. Despite some minor performance differences, its strengths in display accuracy, battery life, and performance efficiency make it a solid choice for professionals in the media editing field.

3. HP OMEN Transcend 14 (2024): A Powerful Choice Among Video Editing Laptops

The HP OMEN Transcend 14 (2024) is a versatile video editing laptop designed for both gaming and professional workstations. Equipped with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 or Core Ultra 9 processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 to RTX 4070 discrete GPUs, this 14-inch laptop offers a powerful combination of speed and performance. With up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, it can easily handle demanding tasks like video editing, 3D rendering, and gaming.

Why the HP OMEN Transcend 14 is Ideal for Video Editing

The HP OMEN Transcend 14 features a 120Hz 2.8k OLED display, offering vibrant colors and deep contrasts that are essential for accurate video editing. The Dynamic Refresh Rate support ensures smooth visuals, although its response time may not be as fast as some other displays, resulting in mild ghosting behind fast-moving objects. This laptop also includes a 1080p webcam, Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, and a 71Wh battery, making it ideal for both editing on the go and remote collaborations.

Connectivity options include two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (one with Thunderbolt 4 support), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, providing flexibility for your video editing workflow. Plus, it offers customizable keyboard backlighting with options for either 4-zone or per-key RGB, allowing for a personalized workspace.

HP OMEN Transcend 14: Great for Gaming and Video Editing

While the HP OMEN Transcend 14 excels in gaming performance, with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs and NVIDIA 40-series GPUs that deliver smooth gaming experiences at 1080p or 1440p, it’s also a solid choice for video editing laptops. The laptop’s OLED display offers crisp visuals and excellent color accuracy for video editing, although the absence of FreeSync and G-SYNC means some screen tearing may occur during fast-paced gameplay.

Overall, the HP OMEN Transcend 14 is a well-rounded video editing laptop that balances gaming power with the high-performance features needed for professional creative work, making it an excellent choice for users who need both gaming and editing capabilities in one device.Bottom of Form

4. Dell XPS 16 (9640): A Top Choice for Video Editing Laptops in 2024

The Dell XPS 16 (9640) stands out as one of the best video editing laptops of 2024, thanks to its powerful hardware, stunning display, and excellent portability. Starting at $1,899 (with our review unit priced at $3,399), the XPS 16 introduces a sleek, modern design with a seamless touchpad and an LED touch strip that replaces the top row of function keys. While these design tweaks don’t significantly impact functionality, they offer a stylish and futuristic look.

Unmatched Performance for Video Editing

Equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, the XPS 16 is built to tackle demanding video editing tasks with ease. Whether you’re editing 4K or 8K footage, rendering complex projects, or handling real-time playback, this laptop is up to the challenge. Its robust performance ensures smooth workflows, even for the most intensive video editing processes.

Stunning 3.5K OLED Display

For video editors who rely on color accuracy and contrast, the XPS 16 offers a 16-inch 3.5K OLED display, which delivers exceptional color fidelity and vibrant visuals. OLED technology is ideal for precise color grading, making it easier to achieve perfect results. With deep blacks and vibrant hues, this display makes the XPS 16 a top pick for professionals in the video editing industry.

Long Battery Life for On-the-Go Editing

One of the standout features of the Dell XPS 16 is its impressive battery life, which is perfect for extended video editing sessions. Thanks to efficient power management, you can edit videos for hours without needing to constantly plug in, making it an excellent choice for professionals who need a video editing laptop that can keep up with their on-the-go lifestyle.

Premium Build and Portability

Despite its powerful performance, the XPS 16 maintains a slim, lightweight design, crafted with premium materials. This makes it an easy laptop to carry around to shoots, meetings, or while traveling, without sacrificing power or reliability. Whether you’re working on-location or editing videos at home, the XPS 16 combines style, portability, and performance in one sleek package.

Conclusion: The Ideal Video Editing Laptop

With its high-end performance, superior display quality, and long battery life, the Dell XPS 16 (9640) is an outstanding option for professional video editors. Whether you’re handling complex editing tasks or need a laptop that combines portability with power, the XPS 16 is a highly recommended video editing laptop for 2024.

5. Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): A Solid Choice for Video Editing Laptops on a Budget

The Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) is an excellent option among video editing laptops, offering a large, high-quality display, impressive color accuracy, and Apple’s efficient M3 processor. With its 15-inch screen, the MacBook Air is perfect for editing photos and videos, providing a spacious workspace for creative tasks. Many photographers and video editors with simpler workflows should consider this model over the more expensive MacBook Pro—it’s a great way to save money while still benefiting from a powerful machine and a lighter design that’s easier to carry.

Great Performance for Lighter Workloads

The MacBook Air (15-inch, M3) is ideal for lighter video editing tasks, such as 1080p video editing, thanks to its fast M3 processor. In our tests, we found that editing on the MacBook Air is nearly as fast as on more expensive models like the MacBook Pro, making it a great choice for those looking to save money. However, if your work involves editing large, high-resolution 4K footage, the MacBook Pro remains a better option, as it offers more power, a higher-resolution display, and additional ports for professional workflows. On the other hand, the MacBook Air is 1.4 pounds lighter, making it a perfect option for video editing laptops users who prioritize portability, such as students or professionals who need a lightweight laptop for on-the-go editing.

Professionally Accurate Display for Video Editing

For video editors and photographers, the 15-inch MacBook Air delivers a fantastic display with a 2880×1864 resolution and 500 nits of brightness. While not quite as advanced as the MacBook Pro’s XDR display, it still offers excellent color accuracy—covering about 80% of the DCI-P3 color gamut—which is more than sufficient for most video editing and photo editing tasks. This display’s vibrant colors and clarity make the MacBook Air a strong contender among video editing laptops, especially for users working with content that doesn’t require HDR capabilities.

Optimize for Performance with Extra RAM

When choosing the MacBook Air (15-inch, M3), we recommend prioritizing 16GB of RAM over upgrading storage, as storage upgrades can get pricey. The base model comes with a lower storage configuration, but you can easily supplement this with external SSDs for storing large video files or projects. By using the internal storage for your operating system and applications, you’ll get the most out of your system without overpaying for additional storage capacity.

Conclusion: A Budget-Friendly Video Editing Laptop

In summary, the Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) is a fantastic video editing laptop for those who need a balance of performance, portability, and price. It’s an excellent choice for video editors, photographers, and creative professionals who work with less demanding content or lighter workflows. While it doesn’t quite match the power of the MacBook Pro for heavy-duty 4K video editing, the MacBook Air provides a more budget-friendly option without sacrificing too much in terms of display quality and processing power, making it a great addition to the video editing laptop category.

Conclusion

Choosing the right video editing laptop is a crucial decision for content creators and professionals looking to enhance their editing workflow. The five laptops highlighted in this blog represent some of the best video editing laptops available in 2024, each offering a unique blend of power, portability, and display quality to suit different editing styles and demands. From the powerhouse Apple MacBook Pro M4 with its stunning performance and color-accurate display, to the versatile Dell XPS 16 known for its robust specs and sleek design, there’s a perfect option for every video editor.

When selecting your next video editing laptop, prioritize key factors like processing power, graphics capabilities, display accuracy, and portability. Whether you’re working with 4K video or complex VFX, these video editing laptops are equipped with the necessary horsepower to handle demanding projects efficiently. Ultimately, the best video editing laptop for you will depend on your specific needs, budget, and editing software preferences. No matter which model you choose, investing in a powerful video editing laptop will not only streamline your editing process but also elevate your creative work, enabling you to bring your ideas to life with precision and clarity. Happy editing!