7 Best Laptops for Web Design & Development in 2023

As a professional web designer/developer or a college student who has just started a career, you need a reliable laptop that can help you do the job fast.

Some people consider web design and web development the same, but that is not the case. They use different software and focus on different tasks. There is some overlap, but if you’re just starting out, make sure to know what kind of platforms you’ll be using.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need a very expensive laptop, but let’s not jump ahead.

In this article, we’ll cover the best laptops for web design and development and also what you need to pay attention to when buying one.

Sounds good? Let’s dive in, then.

Minimum & Recommended System Requirements

Web design and development have slightly different requirements, but both can be done on our minimum system requirements. Coding and designing will go smoother with our recommended laptop components.

To recap, midrange Intel or AMD CPU, at least 16GB of RAM and dedicated GPU will be a solid choice for most. Especially so if you’re creating WebVR or WebGL apps, use Photoshop or 3D software.

Top 7 Laptops for Web Design & Development

Let’s count down our top picks for the best laptops for web design and development. We included a good variety of laptops with both higher-end and budget models.

1. Thin & Light Powerhouse: LG Gram 16

LG Gram 16

• CPU: 2.1GHz Intel Core i7 1260P
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Display: 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
• GPU: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050
• Battery: Up to 13 hours

$949.99

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If, besides performance, you value portability — few machines can match the LG Gram series. This laptop for web design and development is super portable, powerful — and equipped with a great display.

LG Gram laptops are known for their long battery lives and ultralight weight. Take LG Gram 16 — this 16” laptop lasts good 12-13 hours on a single charge and weighs only 2.83 lbs. That’s the same weight as the 13” MacBook Air!

Gram runs on a 12th Gen. i7 and a dedicated RTX 2050. In performance tests, this combo does well with web design and development tasks. It’s a strong mid-road choice that will stay relevant for a few years to come.

Plus, with a gorgeous, hi-res 16” WQXGA display that also happens to be very color-accurate, it feels awesome to work in Figma, WordPress, or Dreamweaver.

And there’s more than enough storage for all your projects — 1TB of fast SSD, to be precise.

I also like the fact that the chassis is military-grade. You’d think from a thin laptop like this that it’s going to be quite flimsy, but it’s actually ok.

To be fair, the design does look somewhat outdated, at least to me.

More importantly, because of the thin profile, Gram can get hot with super-intensive tasks, so make sure you get a cooling pad.But, overall, for this price, you get one of the best 16” laptops for web design and development, that’s great for professionals and commuters.

2. Apple’s Premier Choice: MacBook Pro M2 16

MacBook Pro M2 16

• CPU: 3.5GHz Apple M2 12-Core
• RAM: 16GB DDR5
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 16.2-inch Retina XDR (3456 x 2234)
• GPU: Integrated Apple 19-Core
• Battery: Up to 15 hours

$2,199.99

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MacBooks have long been a popular choice among web designers and developers. The newest MacBook Pro M2 brings crazy good performance, ridiculous display, and epic battery life.

Apple’s latest M2 chip does wonders with web design software. The Pro glides across the most popular apps, and does so without a glitch.

Moreover, with a wonderful 16.2” XDR Retina display, it feels great to work on this thing. Macbook is among the few laptops on which I can effortlessly work for hours and feel no eye strain.

I’m also enjoying the battery life on this thing. You can realistically expect 15-16 hours of work, which makes up whole two workdays. 

Plus, at 4.8 lbs, Pro M2 is one of the lighter 16” laptops — though it’s no LG Gram.

Unlike previous Macbooks, Apple (finally) decided to add all the good ports to Pro M2: HDMI, 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, SD card reader, and they also returned the Mag Safe. Bye, bye, dongle!

In terms of storage, this Macbook has 512GB SSD, which will probably be enough for some, especially when combined with iCloud. However, if you work on super-complex and demanding projects, I’d reconsider the storage, since you can’t upgrade.

And of course, Macs are pricey. But for the price you pay, you get a laptop for web design and development that might even last a decade. 

3. Versatile 2-in-1 Laptop: Dell Inspiron 7425

Dell Inspiron 7425

• CPU: 2.3GHz AMD Ryzen 5 5625U
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 14-inch FHD Touch (1920 x 1080)
• GPU: Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 7 Graphics
• Battery: Up to 7 hours

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Perhaps you think your laptop for web design and development should be touchscreen, and inexpensive at that. Well, check out Dell Inspiron.

The Inspiron comes with a 14” touchscreen display that’s very responsive and makes the work all the more interactive — and interesting. Since it’s a convertible, you can flip it into tent mode and do all the web development tasks that way.

I also think it’s great that Dell opted for 16GB RAM. This future-proofs the laptop, and ensures there are no lags as you’re creating your new masterpiece.

The elegant chassis weighs only 3.7 lbs, which I found pretty good for this price range. In fact, since this is a 14” laptop, it’s pretty easy to pack and carry around.

I was able to get around 6-7 hours of battery life, which is ok-ish for most people — I’d still bring a charger, though.

As for the internals, the laptop runs on a capable Ryzen 5 processor and an integrated GPU. This is a good combo for low-to-mid tasks, but the integrated GPU might be a bit of a bottleneck with more complex projects.

Also, if you plan on working with larger files, I’d upgrade the original 512GB to at least 1TB.

Overall, for this price, Inspiron is a rare touchscreen laptop for web design and development that offers so much more: good portability, strong RAM, and modern design.

4. Solid Coding, Design & Gaming Performance: Acer Nitro 5

Acer Nitro 5

• CPU: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5-12500H
• RAM: 8GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
• GPU: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
• Battery: Up to 6 Hours

$693.00

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If you’re a web designer/developer by day, and unhinged gamer at night (or vice versa), then Acer Nitro 5 is one laptop you should check out.

Nitro 5 is a proven veteran of AAA arenas, but it can do more than “just” gaming. With a great i5 processor and a strong, dedicated GPU, this laptop zaps through web design and development workload like it’s nothing.

The laptop’s display comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, which is awesome for gaming, but doesn’t mean much in terms of web design. It is a hi-res, high-quality 15.6” panel though.

I’m a sucker for Nitro’s design — any true gamer would appreciate the sleek, polished chassis and red-backlit keyboard. Additionally, the keyboard is very comfy to type on.

As for portability, Nitro is, like most gaming laptops, on the heavier side. 5.5 lbs isn’t unreasonable for this sort of power, but do take that into account if you’re often out and about.

More importantly, I was able to get 5-6 hours of battery life — which is very good for gaming, but kinda meh for productivity. So a charger is a must.

The main concern is the RAM, though. 8GB is a good starting point, but I’d upgrade to at least 16GB as soon as possible.

However, Nitro 5 is one of the strongest laptops on this list, performance-wise. If you mainly work/game at home and don’t mind upgrading the RAM, it’s an excellent choice.

Watch our Acer Nitro 5 Review

This YouTube review was created by the Not Just Laptops team. The specs may slightly differ from the laptop in the article.

5. Great Value with 17″ Touchscreen: HP 17

HP 17

• CPU: 1.7GHz Intel Core i7-1255U
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 17.3-inch HD+ (1600 x 900)
• GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
• Battery: Up to 7 hours

$789.00

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Many web design and development projects require a large display and interactivity. For those who like to look at things from another perspective, HP 17 is an interesting choice.

Packing a 12th Gen. i7 and Intel Iris, HP 17 is a great laptop for web design and development. Coupled with 16GB RAM, this machine easily handles most of the light-to-mid tasks without a hiccup. The only bottleneck concerns GPU-intensive tasks because of the integrated graphics card.

And then there’s the display — a gorgeous, 17.3” touchscreen panel with high resolution. The screen is very responsive, and great to look at.

I also like the design of the HP 17. The elegant, sleek chassis easily fits into any environment, and won’t raise any brows. The body does weigh 5.4 lbs, which might be a little too much for some, but honestly, what’d you expect from a 17” laptop?

With HP, you’d get around 6-7 hours of battery life. In most scenarios, this is ok-ish, but bear in mind that you’d have to bring a charger to the office for a full workday — which adds further to the weight.

HP laptops are known for their compact decks and keyboards, and HP 17 is no exception. A wonderfully comfy keyboard with a numpad sits wonderfully in the bottom part.

For this price, HP 17 is quite the looker and a great touchscreen laptop for web design and development.

6. Best Budget Option: Acer Aspire 5

Acer Aspire 5

• CPU: 3GHz Intel Core i3-1115G4
• RAM: 20GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
• GPU: Integrated Intel UHD Graphics
• Battery: Up to 8 hours

$489.99

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If you’re just about to dip your toes in the world of web design and development, then Acer Aspire 5 is a proven budget laptop that will work well.

To start with, the machine sports a large, 15.6” display with pretty good color accuracy, very pleasant to look at.

Not only that, but Aspire 5 is one of the more portable laptops. I got around 8 hours of juice on a single charge, which is enough for a workday. And with only 3.64 lbs of weight, it’s practically a breeze carrying it to the office.

Furthermore, unlike some other budget laptops, Aspire 5 comes with loads of ports: HDMI, USB-C, 2 regular USB ports, and audio jack. A Thunderbolt 4 would have been nice, too.

With an 11th Gen. i3 and Intel UHD graphics, this isn’t the strongest combo among budget laptops. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is somewhat more expensive but stronger. However, when it comes to light web development tasks, Aspire will do great.

I especially like that Acer decided on a whopping 20GB of RAM. This boosts performance quite a lot, and it’s super rare to see among budget laptops.

Overall, if you’re a beginner or just entering the world of web design, this is one of the better laptops to consider.

7. High-performance Beast with Ample Storage: Lenovo V15 G3

Lenovo V15 G3

• CPU: 1.3GHz Intel Core i5-1235U
• RAM: 40GB DDR4
• Storage: 2TB SSD
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
• GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
• Battery: Up to 8 hours

$719.00

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Strong, portable, and with looots of space for your projects — just a few words to describe Lenovo’s laptop for web design and development, and why you should consider it.

Like most laptops on this list, Lenovo comes with a capable 12th Gen. Intel Core i5 and an integrated GPU. The processor can do much with web design software, but the integrated GPU can be limiting.

However, what sets this laptop apart is the RAM. With great 40GB of RAM, V15 flies across the tasks that require processing large files and opening zillion tabs (Figma, anyone?).

Not only that, but this laptop has the largest storage on the list — 2TB of fast SSD, which is more than enough for big, complex projects.

Add to that around 8 hours of battery life and only 3.71 lbs of weight, and you’ve got a very portable machine that’s easy to carry around and will last all workday. In this regard, Lenovo V15 is very similar to Aspire 5.

I also like the design — V15 looks a lot like Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3: sleek, elegant, with a great keyboard.

The display sits at 15.6” of crisp and vivid colors. However, it does have only 250 nits of brightness; great for office settings, not so great if you want to work outdoors.

For the price, Lenovo V15 offers a lot. It’s a capable laptop for web design and development that’s easily one of the top picks because of the specs, design and affordability.

Buying Guide for Laptops for Web Design & Development in 2023

For web design & development, you need a laptop that offers good processing, storage, memory, and a high-quality screen. The guide below breaks down what you should look for in the best laptop for web design.

Go With at Least a Midrange CPU

When choosing the best laptop for web development, we recommend going with the 12th or 13th generation of Intel Core i5 or i7. Core i5 is a midrange option, while i7 costs more. Core i9 is the top model, but you won’t need that much processing power.

Intel Core i3, on the other hand, is affordable, and you can work with it, but it can become a bottleneck for more demanding apps or multitasking. However, students might appreciate cheaper college laptops with lower-end CPUs.

The AMD equivalents of these processors are also recommended: AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7.

Choice of GPU Depends on Apps and Work You Do

Make sure to select a device with a dedicated GPU if you use Adobe XD or need a laptop for photo editing, or if you do extensive video editing.You can also use GPU for specific WebGL apps or in a laptop for 3D modeling.

You will be fine with an integrated graphic card if your weapon of choice is a lighter program, such as Sketch or Figma, to create UI/UX, web mockups, or assets for the client’s website. And pretty much all laptops can run web browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox for various tasks.

Integrated GPU will suffice if you are a backend or full-stack web developer, and you use tools such as XAMPP, MAMP (for local web servers), IDE’s such as PhpStorm, WebStorm, and Microsoft Visual Studio. You can get a laptop for programming without GPU. 

Display Size & Quality 

The screen size and quality are super important for web designers. One can never create good designs without accurate colors, details, and clarity.

When purchasing, the best screen sizes will probably be between 15.6 to 17 inches. These particular sizes tend to be neither too big nor too small. Trendy display size in the last couple of years is 16’’ with a 16:10 aspect ratio that gives you additional vertical real estate.

You can always get one or more additional screens if you need additional real estate. They are pretty inexpensive nowadays.

As for screen quality, it varies with screen type. Traditionally, you will find three types of laptop screens. These include TN Panel, IPS, and OLED. 

We recommend IPS panel displays as they offer the best display quality at a reasonable price. You will get a standard FHD resolution of 1920×1080-pixels or 1920×1200 for 16’’ models. 

The best laptops for web design will provide accurate colors, vivid details, and clear images. IPS screens can render colors accurately and have wide viewing angles, but they lack in contrast.

While TN panels compromise on quality for the price, OLED laptops can burn a hole in your pockets. If the budget allows, OLED offers unprecedented quality with high contrast and accurate, vivid colors. 

Add RAM for Speed

A laptop’s memory, or RAM, refers to the temporary storage the laptop uses to process things. More RAM enables your laptop to process tasks faster. 

Consequently, you can practice multitasking easily without lag or glitches. This is especially important if you work on larger images or videos or have multiple tabs open in your browser.

We recommend aiming for a minimum of 8GB. In 2023, 16GB would be recommended for daily use and work, while power users can go for 32GB. 

Get Enough Storage Space

Web design and development usually involve working with images and sometimes videos. These can add up quickly, so they require lots of storage.

Most new laptops come with SSD, a much faster and better option than traditional HDD. If you focus on development, you can use 256GB of SSD storage and additional cloud storage like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or others.

Designers might need more storage space because of the bigger files and projects. Go with at least 512GB, or choose laptops with 1TB of storage. Larger SSDs are known to perform better than the smaller ones.

Consider Battery Life 

If you wish to work for hours unplugged, look for something like the LG Gram or MacBook Air on our list. These offer the longest battery life.

Battery life numbers are just estimates because the actual battery life will depend on what software you are working with and how power-hungry that software is. 

If apps you run use dedicated GPU for rendering or are CPU-intensive, like photo or video editing, the actual battery life will be much shorter. 

Ergonomics

Just because your search revolves around the best computer for web development does not mean you should neglect the extras.

By extras, we don’t mean aesthetic bags or additional cables (though that would be nice!). Instead, we are talking about the comfort and feasibility a laptop offers while you work.

Laptop built quality, dimensions, and weight can play important roles in the preferred model. A quality FHD webcam, backlit keyboard, and smooth trackpad can also be important to some web developers. 

If you’d like more info before making a decision, a good laptop buying guide is always a good idea.

FAQs about Laptops for Web Design & Development

Let’s look at some of the common questions people ask when buying a laptop for web designing and development.

Verdict

Web development and design don’t require extreme features in a laptop. But, not every laptop is the best for it. Before you begin the hunt, do go through our guide on top of this page. It’ll provide you with the headstart you need.  

Here is a quick overview of the best laptops for web development reviewed above:

• If you want portability, a large screen and strong performance, check out LG Gram 16.
• For the MacBook crowd, our top pick is MacBook Pro M2 16.
• Finally, if you’re just starting out and want a solid budget option, consider Acer Aspire 5.

Do you have any recommendations or questions? Let us know below, and we’ll gladly respond!

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