If you are a photographer, videographer, writer, or all-around creative who is constantly traveling or on the road, you know the importance of having powerful and capable travel laptops as your work companion. The need for a laptop that can do everything — from responding to emails to editing photos — is vital, especially when it can do it all at fast, reliable speeds.
So here are the best travel laptops (both Apple Macbook and Windows PC options), all with compact, lightweight features, top internal performance specs, and modern, external designs that are beautiful yet durable. All of these are built for work on the road.
Apple 13” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar ()
The Apple MacBook Pro has been a go-to choice for creatives around the world for years now, due to its high performance, speed, beautiful Retina display, build quality, and its customizable, powerful features, catering to any creative use or function.
The Apple 13” MacBook Pro features customizable 8th-generation Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 processors, RAM memory up to 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory, and internal storage up to 2TB of SSD, making it customizable and powerful enough for any creative or work needs on the road.
In addition to the power, the Apple 13” MacBook Pro features a beautiful Retina display, with “True Tone,” which allows for easy and accurate color grading and editing, along with the intuitive Touch Bar, which adds to the function and control of this laptop.
The Apple 13” MacBook Pro is a fantastic, high-performance laptop, and due to it’s 13-inch portable size, it’s the perfect work companion while on the road. For years now, it has been highly regarded as one of the best laptops on the market, and that continues into 2020.
Apple MacBook Air 13″ with Retina Display ()
If you’re looking for an incredibly lightweight, portable laptop that still packs a performance punch, then the Apple MacBook Air 13″ laptop is a fantastic choice for your on-the-go lifestyle.
The new thinner and lighter MacBook Air 13” laptop features Apple’s newest technology and features, like a brilliant Retina Display, Force Touch trackpad, the new generation keyboard, and TouchID, but also features customizable storage, memory, processing power, and 12-hour, all day battery life, all in a laptop body that weighs 2.75 pounds.
So the Apple MacBook Air 13″ is lightweight and portable, feature-heavy, and powerful enough for most users that need a feature-heavy laptop that won’t weigh them down.
Apple 12″ MacBook ()
The Apple 12″ MacBook has a new, ultra-compact design makes it Apple’s lightest, thinnest laptop ever. And, with Apple’s beautiful Retina display, all-day battery life, plenty of memory and storage built in, and a seventh-generation Intel® Core™ m3 processor that handles multiple tasks with ease, Apple 12″ MacBook is a super portable and functional travel laptop for work on the road, and at a fantastic price.
Dell XPS 13 Notebook Computer ()
Dell XPS 13 Laptop is the smallest of the Dell XPS lineup, highly regarded as one of the best laptops on the market today. It is compact, small, but incredibly mighty, with some of the best performance features you can find in a laptop.
The Dell XPS 13 features 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor, an Intel® Iris Graphics Card, up to 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x RAM memory, and up to 512 GB of SSD storage, making it incredibly powerful and capable of handling any creative or work-related task.
However, Dell wanted the XPS series to stand out on the outside as well and it certainly does, with high-quality, durable materials that are as sturdy as they are sophisticated, and are designed to last.
Finally, the Dell XPS 13 was built for users to see vividly and hear dynamically, with a beautiful, 4K Ultra HD+ display built with Corning® Gorilla® Glass, to make it impact- and scratch-resistant, as well as a rich speaker performance, allowing for the user to get the most out of their laptop experience.
It’s true, the Dell XPS series offers one of the most impressive laptops on the market, and with the tiny yet mighty Dell XPS 13, you get power and portability in one beautifully designed laptop, built to handle any work you have on the road.
Microsoft 13.5″ Surface Laptop 3 ()
Microsoft’s laptop series is a seriously powerful lineup, now with the new Microsoft 13.5″ Surface Laptop 3, that rivals many of the top competitors, and is the most powerful Microsoft laptop to date.
Microsoft fans who already love the Microsoft interface will most definitely love the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3, but this ultra-portable and powerful laptop has enough features to get anyone to take a serious look, all in a modern, elegant design and sleek, touchscreen display, all under three pounds.
The Surface Laptop 3 features 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor, an Intel® Iris Graphics Card, up to 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x RAM memory, and SSD storage, with all-day power, at 11.5 hours of battery life, making it a reliable and powerful laptop for your work and travel needs.
Finally, the Surface Laptop 3 was built with USB-C™ and USB-A ports for connecting to modern displays and more, with the ability to now charge other accessories on-the-go, making it a fantastic laptop to create, connect, and travel with, as a top laptop for your work, wherever life takes you.
HP Pavilion x360 14″ HD Touchscreen 2-in-1 Laptop ()
The HP Pavilion x360 14″ HD Touchscreen 2-in-1 laptop is the only 2-in-1 on this list, which means it offers a level of versatility that is very intriguing to creatives, with a tablet function for editing and drawing, and a touchscreen laptop function for everyday work, at a fantastic price point.
However, the HP Pavilion x360 14″ 2-in-1 laptop is not just versatile. It also packs the performance features that are needed for efficient work on the road, built with a Quad-Core 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor and advanced Intel® UHD integrated graphics card, making it fast and equipped to handle even the most complex creative programs.
HP Pavilion x360 14″ 2-in-1 laptop provides a fantastic combination of performance, versatility, and affordability that makes it an attractive option for anyone searching for their next travel laptop.
