Best Laptops for Affinity Photo in 2022

If you're an amateur or professional photographer, Affinity Photo is an essential piece of software you must have in your arsenal. But don't let that fool you – Affinity Photo works with any type of digital asset, ranging from vector images to RAW format. It's pretty amazing, if you ask me. The only issue is that Affinity Photo demands a strong laptop to keep up with all that processing power.

This guide is devoted to helping you find the perfect laptop for Affinity Photo. Here, you'll find detailed descriptions of key specs to look for, pros and cons of each laptop, and many tips for choosing a powerful yet budget-friendly laptop.

You'll even find a section of bonus tips in the end.

Deciding on a processor

A processor's job is to take all the data from your hard drive and do something with it. For most software, the most important spec is the clock speed – how many calculations it can do per second. In general, a higher clock speed is better.

Requirements

When running Affinity Photo, you should make sure that your laptop has at least a Ryzen 3 3200U. It's the minimum clock speed to use Affinity Photo well. It's enough for photo editing with low-res images and opening files quickly, but not much more than that.

If you're looking for a good middle-of-the-road laptop for Affinity Photo, then I recommend Intel Core i3-10110U. The base clock speed of 1.1 GHz is enough to edit photos and open files reasonably fast – it will feel snappy even when you're working on high-res images with lots of effects on them.

The best laptops for Affinity Photo would be any computer with an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor – preferably Intel Core i5-10210U. It has the best performance in terms of both speed and power efficiency for Affinity Photo. If you can find a laptop with this CPU, it will last longer than other laptops before its battery runs out.

The right graphics card

General applications

Affinity Photo doesn't require a dedicated graphics card, and instead uses the GPU on your system. This means that if you're using a laptop, it's probably best to choose a higher-end GPU in order to get the best performance. If you don't plan on using Affinity Photo extensively, or if you're looking for a less expensive option, an integrated GPU will be sufficient. The two GPUs I recommend are:

• Radeon R5: this is the minimum recommended GPU for Affinity Photo.
• MX450: this is the best choice if you can afford it, and you'll get improved performance over Radeon R5.

Laptops under $1000

Affinity Photo works just fine with lower-end graphics cards. If you're on a tight budget and want to stay under $1000, I recommend one of these cards:

• GeForce GTX 1650: this is the minimum recommended GPU for Affinity Photo and is good for most tasks and light gaming.
• Radeon RX 5600M: this is also a great card for most tasks but it won't handle any gaming whatsoever.

Choosing the right memory for Affinity Photo

You don't need me to tell you that Affinity Photo is a resource-hungry app. But it doesn't have a simple memory requirement like SolidWorks 2021. In fact, it doesn't have a hard memory requirement at all. It just wants a minimum of 4 GB RAM.

Minimum (8 GB)

8 GB RAM is sufficient for basic usage, and I have to admit – I've been using Affinity Photo on 8 GB for the longest time. If you're going to use this app for hobby purposes, there's no need to upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB or 32 GB, as it'll be more than enough.

Recommended (16 GB)

But if you're planning on being an active Affinity Photo user, which includes serious work and casual projects alike, 16 GB will come in handy. It should give you enough breathing room and avoid constant crashes and other performance-related issues. That's not saying that 8 GB is bad – it's just not optimal for those that want to go pro with Affinity Photo.

Best (32 GB)

I think we can all agree that 32 GB RAM is the best choice if you want to keep your new laptop around for a while and run as many programs as possible simultaneously. As of 2020, I don't know any laptops with less than 32GB of RAM, so it should be no problem finding one in 2021 as well.

What's the best storage for Affinity Photo?

What is the typical SSD capacity for a laptop?

These days, most laptops come with an SSD instead of an HDD. In general, that's a change worth celebrating. The last thing you want is to wait for your computer to load up when you're just trying to get some work done.

The average laptop has a 256 GB SSD, and there are laptops that have more than 1 TB of storage. The larger the SSD, the more expensive the laptop will be.

The perfect balance: what you need and what you can afford

If you need to work with large files and take care of your storage space, I recommend getting a laptop with a 512 GB or 1 TB SSD. If you're on a budget and don't want to spend too much money on storage space, then I recommend getting a laptop with an HDD (1 TB) and investing in an external hard drive (at least 1 TB).

The right display

Panel type

TN panels are the cheapest, so they're often found in entry-level laptops. IPS panels are much better for color accuracy and viewing angles. TN panels can be calibrated, but they will never match the quality of an IPS panel. Meanwhile, OLED panels are at the top of the ladder. Their contrast ratio is exceptional, and they usually offer excellent color accuracy as well. They're not that expensive either – just look for them in premium laptops.

Image quality

Image quality should be judged by brightness, contrast, and color accuracy. The good news is that all these metrics can be tested by just looking at a laptop's screen in person or checking reviews online. However, it's worth mentioning that you can't really compare brightness levels between displays because brightness is subjective to the environment where you use your laptop (office vs home). So if you're shopping for a new laptop display for Affinity Photo – look for IPS panels with vivid colors (preferably sRGB or Adobe RGB gamut). You can find this type of display with 300-400 nits of brightness.

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Table of Best Laptops for Affinity Photo

Laptop	Price (approx)

6 Best Laptops for Affinity Photo

Table of the Best Laptops for Best Laptops for Affinity Photo in 2022

Laptop	Price (approx)
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i	$530
Acer Swift 3 SF314-59-75QC	$580
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 9i	$960
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14	$1460
ASUS ROG Strix Scar	$2670
ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo	$4410