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But with so many laptops on the market, what does that look like in practice?
Best laptop for animation overall
1.
This is because, unlike many other laptops, this MacBook Pro doesn’t throttle performance when on battery.
Our benchmarks also showed that loading times were excellent.
you’re free to upgrade the specs on the M2 Pro model up to 32GB memory.
Still popular programs like After Effects recommend at least 32 GB of RAM.
Still, some animation programs like CelAction2D are only designed for Windows.
Read our fullApple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) review.
Best Windows laptop for animation
2.
Whether you buy the original or its successor, both “Studios” feature theNVIDIARTX 2000 series of cards.
At 14.4 inches the display is not amazingly large for displaying your animated creations.
The 1TB NVMe SSD is the ideal size for storing both your animation software and creations.
At just under 2 kilos it’s also ideal for animators who want to design on the go.
During our review, we complained about the lack of legacy ports.
Read our fullMicrosoft Surface Laptop Studio review.
Best laptop for animation and gaming
3.
Razer Blade 16 (2023)
TheRazerBlade series are actually high-end gaming laptops.
Unlike the MacBook, this laptop comes with anIntelCPU.
The Blade 16 is actually highly customizable.
In other words it can handle both4K120Hz (UHD+) and 1080p 240Hz (FHD) content natively.
The Razer Blade 16 can be customized with a variety of graphics cards.
High processing power is also assured by maxing out the DDR5 RAM to 32GB.
Naturally powering a high-end graphics card is a drain on the battery.
Read our fullRazer Blade 16 (2023) review.
Best laptop for animation: FAQs
What laptops are compatible with animation software?
There’s almost always a ‘system requirements’ page.
If you use accessories like a drawing tablet, double check that these are supported too.
For instance, theminimum requirements for CelAction2Dare 8 GB of RAM and an Intel i5 CPU.
Although animation relies mainly on graphics, the GPU will be pretty useless without a good CPU.
Ample video memory (VRAM) on the GPU is essential for smoothly handling large textures and complex scenes.
For 2D animation, we recommend Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon 560.
Any other card with +4GB of VRAM will also be enough.
When working on 3D animation, look for Nvidia RTX 2050 to 3050Ti.
Nvidia Quadro is also an option, but it won’t make much difference.
Going for any other card with more than 8 GB of VRAM will also do.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) are recommended for animation work due to their faster read/write speeds.
Additionally, consider external storage options or cloud backups to ensure ample space for your growing animation library.
Display quality and color accuracy
A high-quality display is crucial for accurate color representation and detailed visual editing.
Touchscreen and stylus support
Some animators prefer the flexibility of working directly on the screen with a stylus.
Consider a laptop with touchscreen functionality and stylus support if you enjoy drawing and sketching directly on your animations.
This feature can enhance your workflow, allowing for more natural input and precise control over your animations.
