Best Laptop for Adobe InDesign in 2022

Over the years, [Adobe InDesign](official adobe indesign page) has become a favorite of mine. If you have a flair for design and editing, it might be a good fit for you as well. This software is absolutely indispensable for large publications – newspaper editors, printers, and graphic designers love InDesign. In fact, many designers actually end up ditching their old workflow of creating visual material with Photoshop or Illustrator and instead begin working on InDesign projects directly from scratch. It’s that useful. To help those that are interested in getting into InDesign but can’t afford a lot of expensive tools, I’ve written a comprehensive guide on the [best laptops for Adobe InDesign](the text you’re reading) to make sure your investment will be worthwhile.

[I can’t stress this enough](a quora answer on the best laptops for adobe indesign): you don’t need a lot of money to create an effective project with InDesign! That said, you do need an efficient laptop to work with your creations. These machines are affordable, capable of taking even the largest design jobs without much hassle. And I’ll break down the exact specs you should be looking for below!

First things first – let’s analyze the spec breakdown!

TL;DR

if you’re interested in getting into InDesign but can’t afford a lot of expensive tools, I’ve written a comprehensive guide on the best laptops for Adobe InDesign to make sure your investment will be worthwhile.
I can’t stress this enough: you don’t need a lot of money to create an effective project with InDesign! That said, you do need an efficient laptop to work with your creations. These machines are affordable, capable of taking even the largest design jobs without much hassle. And I’ll break down the exact specs you should be looking for below!

For this part, I’d recommend using either 2 or 4 images. It really depends on how much you want to say. If you want to emphasize the importance of choosing the right processor, for example, use two images. If you want to emphasize both processor and RAM, use four images. If you only want to mention processor, use only one image. It’s up to you!

Requirements for a Adobe InDesign laptop

Major Deciding on a graphics card

InDesign needs a powerful CPU, not a powerful GPU

The key feature of a graphics card is its video rendering capabilities. In the case of InDesign, this is hardly an issue at all. You’ll never have to worry about lag or choppy scrolling – but you might be plagued by more crashes and lags if you’re working with larger documents. InDesign doesn’t require a lot of GPU power to run smoothly. In fact, any graphics card from integrated Intel or AMD is more than enough for InDesign.

In other words, get a laptop with the best CPU possible and save your money on a dedicated graphics card.

Major How to choose the right processor for Adobe InDesign?

The power of a laptop’s processor determines the number of operations it can perform at once. To put it simply, a fast processor is able to run more programs at the same time without any hiccups. That means you can work on multiple documents, send emails, edit photos, etc. at the same time without slowing down your machine.

Requirements

Choosing the best processor for Adobe InDesign depends on what kind of laptop you’re using it on. A desktop-replacement with an i7 CPU is going to be way faster than a Chromebook with an i3 CPU. So, before deciding which laptop to buy, think about what you’ll be using it for most often and how many programs you’ll need to use simultaneously.

Recommendations

A powerful CPU doesn’t come cheap so here are my recommendations for the best processors for Adobe InDesign depending on your budget:

minimum – Intel Core i3-10110U – $350
medium – Intel Core i5-1135G7 – $650-$700
best – Intel Core i7-1185G7 – $1100-$1200

Major Picking a good memory

Minimum (8 GB)

8 GB is an absolute minimum for Adobe InDesign. You’ll be working with lots of photos, videos, and graphics. I’ve seen how performance can take a hit on even the most powerful laptops if they don’t have enough RAM.

That’s why I recommend at least 16 GB, which would make your new laptop an absolute steal for less than $2k. And if you’re running Adobe CS6 – you should know that it’s not fully compatible with 64-bit Windows, so you’ll need to stay at 32-bit (which means 8 GB or less).

Recommended (16 GB)

If you’re not on a tight budget and you’re looking for the best possible laptop for your needs – go for 16 GB. That’s what I’m doing this year – switching from my old workhorse to a shiny new laptop with 16 GB of RAM. I don’t have any regrets! It does everything I need it to do without any noticeable lag.

As for video editing, I recommend 16 GB as well – just don’t forget to install a fast SSD drive as well!

Optional requirements for a Adobe InDesign laptop

Optional Choosing the right display for Adobe InDesign

InDesign is a powerful tool for publishing. It allows you to make complex designs and produce them as print-ready files.

Key display features for InDesign

The most important display features for InDesign are:

resolution – higher resolution is a must for InDesign. For most tasks, a Full HD resolution is sufficient. But if you’re working with complex graphics, then a QHD or 4K resolution will come in handy.
panel type – IPS panels are usually a safe bet, but there are a few other options that can be suitable as well. Look for screens that have a great contrast ratio and an even backlight distribution. And remember, you’ll need to judge the panel in person to be sure of these traits.
brightness – it’s hard to find the specs of brightness on laptop displays, but if you see any with 300 cd/sq. m., they should be ok for your needs.
color accuracy – Adobe RGB color space coverage is very important for any designer who needs colors to be accurate at all times.

Optional Storage for Adobe InDesign

HDD vs. SSD

A laptop with a hard drive will be cheaper than one with an SSD. But the trade-off is that hard drives are slower and more prone to failure than SSDs. You can still buy laptops with a hard drive, but I recommend that professionals not rely on one for Adobe InDesign or any other demanding software.

Typical laptop prices by storage size

The price of a laptop with an HDD is typically cheaper, but they’re also more prone to failure. It’s best to go for an SSD if you’re buying a laptop for work – unless you don’t mind the risk of data loss or your budget doesn’t allow it.

Here are some ballpark figures on what you should expect to pay for various storage sizes:

1 TB HDD laptops are around $650-$1870, with a median price of $1,400
256 GB SSD laptops are typically found in the $500-$2,340 range, with a median price of $1,000
512 GB SSD laptops can be found in the $650-$2,340 range, with a median price of $1,400