Creative professionals need powerful computers to do their best work. Unfortunately, this means their set-up costs can be very high.
But do not fear! If you’re creative, you can still get yourself a new computer that delivers exceptional performance at an affordable price. The solution? An i7 Windows laptop!
Ranking among the best laptop CPUs on the market, Core i7 processors outperform Core i3 and Core i5 chips in terms of performance and are more affordable and cooler than Core i9 models, making them highly preferred by graphic designers, video editors, animators. Motion graphic designers and more.
Fortunately, these days, Core i7 laptops are widely available, so you should definitely be able to find one that suits your needs.
To aid in your search, we’ve compiled a list of the 5 best Core i7 Windows laptops currently on the market. But before we dive into that, let’s take a quick look at what features you should consider when buying a Windows i7 laptop.
Table of Contents
What to look for in a laptop for creative people?
Processor: Creative applications like Adobe Premiere or Photoshop require a powerful processor, so we recommend you to choose a laptop equipped with a Core i7.
Graphics: Computers with dedicated graphics cards can greatly improve performance for graphic designers, animators, and motion graphics professionals.
RAM: At a minimum, you want to buy a laptop with 16GB of RAM. This will ensure that you experience smooth multitasking even when using resource-intensive applications.
Display: If you work with visual content, a high-resolution display with accurate color reproduction is a must.
Storage: If you regularly store large project files, we recommend you get a laptop with at least 512GB of SSD storage.
Dell XPS 13 Plus (CAD $$1,849.00 at Dell Canada)
The recently released Dell XPS 13 Plus is an exceptional all-round Core i7 laptop. This fan-favorite computer is equipped with ultra-powerful 12th Gen i7-1270P processor and boasts of several notable features. These include a slick new chassis, an upgraded 4K UHD display and Intel’s impressive Xe graphics card. What’s more, this laptop is highly customizable; You can choose to upgrade to DDR5 RAM as well as up to 2TB of storage.
HP Specter x360 (CAD $2,099.99 at HP.com)
The HP Specter x360 is a versatile two-in-one laptop that combines an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with an integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics card. Also, it has a 13.3″ full HD touch display, which makes it especially useful for designers who prefer digital drawing.
What sets the Specter apart from its competitors is its excellent battery life and lightweight design. For this reason, it’s the perfect option for creatives who find themselves working regularly while on the go.
MSI Creator M16 Laptop (CAD $1,471.00 at Amazon)
Purpose-built for content creators, the MSI Creator M16 laptop can easily meet the multitasking needs of both video editors and graphic designers. This compact yet powerful laptop features a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12650H CPU and 32GB DDR4 SDRAM – an amazing combo capable of supporting intensive media creation demands. Other notable features include a 16-inch 2K, 60Hz DCI-P3 screen and 1TB SSD storage.
Acer Swift 3 (CAD $859.99 at Amazon)
Don’t let the Acer Swift 3’s extremely affordable price tag fool you. This compact, student-friendly laptop packs enough power to support most types of creative work. For starters, it’s equipped with an exceptionally fast Intel EVO 11th Gen processor and comes with Windows 10 Home preinstalled.
As a result, you can expect lightning-fast start-up times and fairly smooth multitasking capabilities. The downside of the Acer Swift is that it only features 8GB of RAM and comes with a somewhat mediocre display.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (CAD $1,299.99 at Amazon)
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a stylish, high-performing option perfect for creatives who want a two-in-one laptop-tablet solution. This laptop builds on the highly popular Surface 5, which was released in 2021 This time, the Surface 5 comes with an upgraded 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1255U processor.
According to Microsoft, this new processor addition gives the computer a 50% performance boost over its predecessor as well as longer battery life!
i7 is an alternative to Windows laptops
AMD: Lenovo Legion 5 (AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 15.6″ FHD Display, CAD $1,499.99 at Amazon)
A standout alternative to the Windows i7 laptops listed above is the Lenovo Legion 5. This sleek laptop features an equally powerful AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor alongside a 5.6″ Full HD display. Also, it comes with a top-of-the-line NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card. For this reason, the Lenovo Legion 5 is pretty much on par with the Dell XPS 13 Plus or MSI M16 Creator laptops.
Mac: MacBook Pro 16-inch (Apple M1 Pro or M1 Max, 16.2″ Liquid Retina XDR Display, starting at CAD $3,199.00 at the Apple Store)
Of course, many designers love macOS and are willing to pay a premium for Mac products. In this case, in 2023, we recommend you do everything with the MacBook Pro 16-inch.
This powerhouse laptop is equipped with Apple’s M1 Pro or M1 Max chips, both of which deliver blazing-fast performance. Additionally, the laptop features Apple’s stunning 16.2″ Liquid Retina XDR display and can be purchased to include 32GB of unified memory.
Conclusion
Ultimately, if you’re a creative professional looking for a high-performance laptop, a Windows Intel i7 is undoubtedly a reliable choice. But when you’re shopping, be sure to consider factors beyond the computer’s processor, including its graphics, RAM, display and storage capacity.
While choosing an Intel i7 certainly narrows your options, you still have numerous choices available to you. Rest assured, the laptops on this list deliver the exceptional performance needed to produce high-quality creative work.
So, take your pick!
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