Photo editing and design

Photo and design apps are lighter than video, but large files and many layers need memory.

What matters

• System memory: big files with many layers are the main load.
• A graphics chip speeds up filters, previews and zooming; integrated graphics are accepted by many of these apps.

General guidance in our own words. The figures below are the makers' published requirements.

The requirements

Which laptops meet the most of these

The 30 best of 128 listed laptops, compared with each laptop's largest memory option. Memory and graphics memory only. The operating system is not checked: many of these apps and games run only on Windows or only on macOS, so open the source link before you rely on a ranking. The graphics class and processor each maker names are in the source links too.