Well as we all know, Ableton is one of the top software which is currently been used in the industry. If you are a music producer, a composer, or just even a beginner you might have come across this name for at least once in your career.
In the entire music industry, Ableton Live is known as a Digital Audio Workstation, and not all the laptops can run this software with ease. Ableton is one such software using which you can get most of your production works sorted such as composing, recording, mixing, editing, and a lot more altogether.
Well so that should be the exact reason why you are over here, are you looking for the laptop which runs perfectly without any lags? Are you in general looking out for the best performing laptop?
Well, that is exactly why we are over here, I am going to suggest to you the best available laptop in the market which is highly recommended for all your professional music production works.
Luckily I’ve got our team members who personally know people from the music industry, and they’ve been actively using Ableton. So these are our suggestion for the best laptop for Ableton.
But before we go towards the list of best laptops for Ableton you need to know what is the official system requirements.
Minimum System Requirement For Ableton Live 10 & 11Windows:
- Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, or Windows 11
- Processor: Intel® Core
2 Duo processor. Intel® Core i5 processor/ or or AMD multi-core or faster recommended - Memory (RAM): 8GB RAM or more recommended
- Display: 1366×768 display resolution
Mac:
- Operating system: OS X 10.11.6 or later (see compatibility notes on macOS Mojave here)
- Processor: Intel core i5 or Apple M1 Chip
- Memory (RAM): 8GB RAM or more recommended
- Display: 1280×800 display resolution
Note:- This is the official minimum system requirements for Ableton Live 10 which you can check on its official website.
Quick Overview Of Best Laptops For Ableton Live
Best Laptops For Ableton Live – Top 10 Picks
1. Acer Nitro 5 – Best Affordable Laptop For Ableton
Display:
The Acer Nitro 5 series has been one the best-loved laptops out there, this laptop sports a 15.6 inch Full HD IPS display with 80% screen to body ratio. The thing which I liked the most about this notebook is that the screen has a 144Hz refresh rate which is useful for gaming but not for music production.
Specs:
What’s interesting about this laptop are the specs, this laptop is powered by the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H processor which is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD. Being into music production, you would always need to store files offline, hence these faster SSD’s are going to make your work even faster.
I think this is a decent combination of specs, with 8GB of RAM you can pretty much have a smooth multitasking experience, if you still think this isn’t sufficient, Acer is providing a dedicated 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card too. Out of the box, memory and storage both have an empty slot for future upgrades.
Other Features:
This being a notebook, there are two advantages. One is that it is so compact that you can easily carry it around, and two this laptop provides up to 8 hours of battery on a single charge. This is useful because people in this field want to work in a calm environment, where they might not find a power source at times.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Nitro 5
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i5-10300H Processor
RAM8GB RAM
Hard Disk256GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB
Operating SystemWindows 10
Display15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Display
Weight5.07 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 8 Hours
Check Price On Amazon2. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 – Best Budget Laptop For Ableton
Though this is a gaming laptop, there is a reason why I am recommending this laptop to you. Well, we all know how heavy the Ableton software is, it’s live and the plugins make it a compulsion for the software to use more powerful resources.
Display:
As the name suggests, this Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is a laptop that sports a 15-inch full HD IPS bezel-less display.
Specs:
Now talking about the power, this laptop is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H H series processor which is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD. What makes this laptop more powerful is the dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB graphic card. This adds more value to the laptop and makes it one of the best laptops to run Ableton on.
Other Features:
What’s more, it has an Advanced Thermal system which keeps the system cool while you are working on Ableton or heavy work for a long. Out of the box, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 comes with latest Windows 11 home, hence you can chill and take a back seat as Windows 11 will be taking care of your security.
Being a gaming laptop this Lenovo laptop gives you around 6 hours of battery backup on mixed usage which is amazing. Never the less, this being a gaming laptop if you ever feel bored at your work, you can always play games on your laptop.
Hardware Specifications Of Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Gaming Laptop
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 5600H Processor
RAM8GB RAM
Hard Disk256GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB
Operating SystemWindows 10
Display15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Display
Weight6.89 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 8 Hours
Check Price On Amazon3. Dell G15 5510 Gaming Laptop – Best Value For Money Laptop
You often see most of the gaming laptops are overpriced for the specs which they offer, but that isn’t the case with the Dell G15 5510.
Display:
This laptop sports a 15.6 inch Full HD Anti-Glare display, and you are just going to fall in love with the sleek design which the laptop offers.
Specs:
Talking about what’s under the hood, this beast is powered by the 10th generation intel core i7-10870H processor, which is coupled with 16GB of RAM.
Our team has tested out Ableton, by running different games at the same time, the way how this laptop handles the multitasking was just stunning, it was liquid-smooth, thanks to the 16GB RAM.
At the storage front, this laptop has got 512GB SSD, you could be so chilled because you’re not going to run out of storage anytime soon. The specs just don’t end the year, Dell has also provided a dedicated 6GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 with this laptop.
Do you think this could be the best laptop in our list? Well, hang on let’s proceed to the others.
Hardware Specifications Of Dell G15 5510
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i7-10870H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk512GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD Anti-Glare Display
Weight5.39 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 5 Hours
Check Price On Amazon4. Razer Blade 15 – With Premium Build Quality
Apart from the performance of the laptop if build quality is matter for you then go with this Razer Blade 15.
The reason why I have suggested you this laptop is that it is built with aluminum frame which is rigid and durable. And this notebook is travel friendly because it is 0.81 inches thick and weighs 4.5 pounds which is easy to carry.
Display:
The screen of this laptop is a 15.6″ inch of Full HD thin bezel display with 120Hz refresh rate which offers great on-screen experience while you are working, watching movies, or gaming.
Specs:
This amazing display is paired with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics with dedicated 6GB memory which gives a performance boost while you are doing GPU intensive tasks.
Talking about the power, it features a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H six-core processor with up to 5.0GHz of max clock frequency. 256GB SSD it has got on the storage front and paired with 16GB RAM.
The best thing is that both are easy to upgrade. Moreover, it has an RGB backlit keyboard and is loaded with ample connectivity options.
Hardware Specifications Of Razer Blade 15
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i7-10870H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk256GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD Display
Weight4.5 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 4 Hours
Check Price On Amazon5. MSI GL66 11UGK-001 – High Performance Laptop For Ableton
When we talk about powerful laptops, MSI is one such company that has the potential to top the list.
Display:
This MSI GL66 11UGK-001 laptop sports a 15.6 inch 144Hz 3ms Full HD display. The screen to body ratio is good enough that you can take the full experience of this FHD display.
Specs:
Now talking about what makes this laptop powerful, this laptop is powered by the latest 11th gen intel core i7-11800H processor which is coupled with 16GB of RAM, this being a DDR4 RAM this is around 40% faster when compared to the previous DDR3 RAM. And the best thing is that this machine allows you to upgrade its RAM up to 64GB.
The list doesn’t end here, this being a gaming laptop the least expected thing is a graphic card, well MSI has got that sorted too. On the storage front, the laptop offers 512GB of SSD, and out of the box the MSI GL66 11UGK-001 runs on Windows 10.
This laptop comes with a dedicated 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, our team had an absolute bliss while working with Ableton on this laptop, the entire workflow was so smooth and the speed just could not be compared.
Other Features:
This MSI gaming machine has Cooler Boost 5 technology that provides the maximum performance even in CPU intensive tasks by keeping it cool.
Hardware Specifications Of MSI GL66 11UGK-001
Processor(11th Gen) Intel Core i7-11800H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk512GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD Display
Weight4.63 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 3.5 Hours
Check Price On Amazon6. ASUS ROG Zephyrus M15 – Thin & Portable Laptop
Let’s welcome the ROG into our list, most of you might not even know what ROG means. ROG stands for Republic Of Gamers, this is one series of the laptop which has been launched specifically for people who love gaming.
Now you might be wondering why do we have this in our list, well the reason being this is one of the most powerful laptops out there in the market.
Display:
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M15 sports a 15.6 inch Full HD display with 240Hz of high refresh rate.
Specs:
This laptop is powered by the intel core i7-10750H processor and is coupled with 16GB of RAM. What’s more interesting about this laptop is that it offers 8GB of dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card and 1TB of super-fast SSD too.
To check out the capabilities of this laptop, our team has filled 1TB of junk into the storage, and the laptop has still outperformed, thanks to the best combination of specs that made it possible.
Other Features:
Out of the box, this laptop runs on Windows 10, and on a full charge, 4 hours of battery life is what we are expecting. To optimize the performance of this machine in heavy working sessions it has ROG Intelligent Cooling Thermal System which works very well.
As you know that this is a gaming laptop and to take your gaming experience to the next level it has ROG Aura Sync System with RGB gaming keyboard.
Hardware Specifications Of ASUS ROG Zephyrus M15
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i7-10750H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk1TB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD Display
Weight4.18 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 3 Hours
Check Price On Amazon7. Alienware M15 – Best Laptop For Ableton Live
There might be one question in your mind by looking at the name of this laptop, what sort of laptop is this? What is the alien? What are you trying to say? Well before you get more confused with the name, Alienware is one such laptop series that has been launched to give tough competition to a laptop such as the ROG and Predator.
Display:
Most of you might not be knowing this, but Alienware belongs to Dell. Well so the all-new Alienware M15 sports a 15.6 inch full HD 300hz display.
Specs:
Under the hood, we’ve got the Intel Core i7-10750H Hexa Core processor which is coupled with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD. If in case you are bored at work, you can play some good games too with the help of the NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB graphics card.
Other Features:
Well if in case you exhaust the usage of the laptop, then the Advanced Thermal Technology from Alienware will make sure that it will optimize the cooling component and give you the best performance possible.
It has a few interesting features such as Next-gen Tobii eye-tracking technology which is the latest immersion to the game and its per-key RGB LED AlienFX lighting.
If you are someone who is looking for the thinnest yet a powerful laptop to run Ableton, the Alienware New M15 is the right choice for you.
Hardware Specifications Of Alienware M15
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i7-10750H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk1TB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD Display
Weight4.65 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 3 Hours
Check Price On Amazon8. Acer Predator Helios 300 – Best Overall
The Acer Predator Helios 300 can be a really good option for content creators, gamers, or anyone who requires a powerful laptop.
Display:
To start with, it sports a nice 15.6 inches display with 1920 x 1080 pixels of full HD resolution. Under the hood, this is an IPS panel screen which provides good colors and viewing angles.
Specs:
Moving on to the performance, acer has packed the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H processor inside with 8 cores and 16 threads which can easily conquer any task. This CPU is coupled with equally powerful 16GB RAM and 6GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.
In terms of storage, they have provided 512GB NVMe SSD which is going to provide the faster read and write speed. Further, it has an empty slot for expansion of memory and storage. This gaming machine runs on the Windows 10 operating system and you will get free Windows 11 upgrade out of the box.
Other Features:
Apart from that, it features AeroBlade Fan technology for efficient thermal management. Moreover, Acer boasts that it can give you up to 6-hours of battery backup on a full battery charge but we can expect around 5-hours which is also decent.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Predator Helios 300
Processor(11th Gen) Intel Core i7-11800H Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk512GB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB
Operating SystemWindows 11 Home
Display15.6 Inch Full HD IPS LED-backlit Display
Weight5.51 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 6 Hours
Check Price On Amazon9. MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-291 – Laptop With 32GB RAM
This is the second time we are including the MSI laptop in our list, the reason being both the laptops from MSI are really good, but then we also wanted to give the user the best laptop according to their budget, hence two laptops from the same brand with different pricing.
Display:
Talking about the MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-291, this laptop sports a whopping 17.3 inch 300Hz 3ms Full HD IPS display.
Specs:
Under the hood, this laptop is powered by the latest intel core i7-10875H 10th gen processor and is coupled with massive 32GB of RAM which is insane! This is the only laptop on our list which is offering 32GB of RAM.
Well, that isn’t it, this laptop also offers 8GB of dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX2070 Super graphics card along with 1TB super-fast SSD. Out of all the Windows laptops which we have tested, Ableton seems to run the best on this one.
Other Features:
To handle heavy working sessions without heating issues it has Cooler Boost 5 features that enhance the fan airflow and keeps the system cool to the touch.
Moreover, this MSI gaming machine is VR Ready, so apart from your work, if you love to play games on your laptop then you will get amazing gaming experience. So if in case you’ve got the budget to afford this laptop, then you can blindly go for it.
Remember this laptop is your investment, and with these high-end specs, it is going to last for a longer time in the market.
Hardware Specifications Of MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-291
Processor(10th Gen) Intel Core i7-10875H Processor
RAM32GB RAM
Hard Disk1TB SSD
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
Display17.3 Inch Full HD IPS Display
Weight5.73 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 2.5 Hours
Check Price On Amazon10. Apple MacBook Pro 16 – Best MacBook For Ableton Live
Hands down here is the best laptop which you can buy for Ableton. I literally mean it, the mac it is.
Display:
The all-new Apple MacBook Pro 16 sports a 16-inch liquid retina display with 3456 x 2234 pixels resolution and it produces some rich and vibrant colors.
Specs:
This laptop is powered by the 10-core Apple M1 Pro chip which is coupled with 16GB of RAM. Well if you are wondering why the RAM is less according to the price which you are paying, this RAM in the MacBook’s is equivalent to the best available RAM in windows laptops, the reason being MacOS has been built in such a way that it comes with the best RAM management.
On the storage front, this laptop is offering 512GB of SSD which is super-fast, we were impressed with the transfer speeds too. While testing out Ableton on this laptop, we can surely say that we’ve found better performance on the MacOS when compared to windows. The MacBook also comes with Apple M1 Pro 16 core GPU.
Other Features:
Battery life is also impressive of this MacBook, as usual, gives up to 21-hours of long lasting battery backup. Apart from all this, the Touch bar is the extra perks for the ones who need it.
Hardware Specifications Of Apple MacBook Pro 16
ProcessorApple M1 Pro (10 Core) Processor
RAM16GB RAM
Hard Disk512GB SSD
GraphicsApple M1 Pro (16 Core) GPU
Operating SystemMac OS
Display16 Inch Liquid Retina XDR Display
Weight4.7 Pounds
Battery LifeUpto 21 Hours
Check Price On AmazonFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What laptop is best for Ableton Live?If you are a student or tight on a budget then the laptop should have at least an i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB or 1TB HDD, and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics card. But this configuration laptop you can’t use for a long run because it can’t handle heavy files and there is a chance it will lag.
If you have a good budget then I recommend you to buy a laptop which comes with an i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics with 4GB VRAM. This kind of powerful configuration gives you powerful performance and you can use this laptop for a long even after completing your course.
As a student or if you don’t have a budget then the i5 processor is ok but when you will start to work on some high end files then there is a chance it will slow down the machine.
And at some point, you will also irritate from this. So, if you can afford an i7 processor laptop then go with that because it can handle any kind of heavy work and multitasking with ease. And the best thing is that it will stay with you for a long and it will give you smooth working experience.
Like an i5 processor, 8GB RAM is enough if you are a beginner. But if you will do heavy multitasking with Ableton then it will lag. So again, if the budget doesn’t matter then buy a laptop with 16GB RAM.
4. Is graphics card should have in a laptop for Ableton Live?Well, the answer is yes, if you have a low budget try to get at least NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics card.
But if you have a good budget and planning to buy an i7 laptop then you will get NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or 2070 then it will enhance your overall experience and it will also give great performance.
Final Verdict
Well so here is a wrap and these are the best laptops for Ableton. Our team has closely tested all these laptops, and they tend to run Ableton without any issues. But then like we say, better the configuration, better the performance. We’ve tried to include a laptop from every sort of budget, so now you can choose one according to yours.
If you would ask me personally which is my favourite laptop of choice, then firstly I would go with the New Apple MacBook Pro 16, the reason being this runs on the macOS and it is known for smooth performance without any lags.
My second laptop of choice would be the MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-291 for the top-notch specs which the laptop has got to offer. Which is your favourite laptop? Do let us known in the comments section down below.