Best Laptops for After Effects
After Effects is a post-production film making tool for creating visual effects and motion graphics.
Laptop Requirements for After Effects
The system requirements are light; nearly any new laptop will work for running AE.
Most media laptops meet the RAM requirement of 16gb.
Windows System Requirements
Minimum:
- Processor: Intel® 6th Generation or newer CPU, or AMD Ryzen™ 1000 Series or newer CPU Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2) support required Windows on Arm: Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor
- Operating System: Windows 11 v24H2 Windows on Arm: Windows 11 v24H2 (OS Build 26100.2033)
- Memory (RAM): 16 GB of RAM
- Graphics Processing Unit: Windows with NVIDIA GPU: GPU must be of the Maxwell generation or newer and have at least 4GB of GPU memory Windows with Intel or AMD GPU: Discrete GPU with at least 4GB GPU memory and support for OpenCL Windows on Arm: Qualcomm Adreno GPU driver 31.0.121.1 or later Note Learn about requirement specifics for Advanced 3D renderer. Starting with release 25.6, OpenCL 2.0 is required. Support for OpenCL 1.2 and earlier versions has been discontinued.
- Storage space: 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (will not install on removable flash storage) Additional high-speed drive for media
Recommended:
- Processor: Intel® 11th Gen or newer CPU with Quick Sync – or AMD Ryzen™ 3000 Series / Threadripper 3000 series or newer CPU Windows on Arm: Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor
- Operating System: Windows 11 v24H2 or later
- Memory (RAM): 16 GB of RAM for HD media 32 GB or more for 4K and higher
- Graphics Processing Unit: 8 GB of GPU Memory
- Storage space: Fast internal SSD for app installation and cache Additional high-speed drive(s) for media
Best Windows Laptops for AE
These laptops meet the recommended system requirements and let you use the software to its full extent without stutter.
13″
ASUS ROG Flow Z13
Runs 80% of new games on recommended 8060S GPU2026 model64 GB RAMThin2-in-1 laptop
16″
ASUS TUF F16
F16Fi7
Runs 70% of new games on recommended RTX 5060 GPU2026 model16 GB RAMi7 CPUIPS screen
15″
MSI Cyborg 15
B2295
Runs 70% of new games on recommended RTX 5060 GPU16 GB RAM
16″
ASUS ROG Strix G16
Runs 70% of new games on recommended RTX 5060 GPU2026 model16 GB RAMi7 CPU
15″
MSI Katana 15 HX
KAT15HXB14810
Runs 70% of new games on recommended RTX 5060 GPU2025 model16 GB RAMi7 CPUHigh resolution
15″
MSI Katana 15 HX
Katana15B14016
Runs 80% of new games on recommended RTX 5070 GPU2025 model32 GB RAMi9 CPUHigh resolution
16″
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5-2025 16″
83JN0019US
Runs 50% of new games on recommended RTX 5050 GPU2025 model16 GB RAMThin120hz screen
Gigabyte GAMING A16 CWHI3US894SH
GAMING A16 CWHI3US894SH
Runs 80% of new games on recommended RTX 5070 GPU2025 model16 GB RAMi7 CPU
16″
Gigabyte AERO X16 Copilot
AERO X16 4PHN4USC64AH
Runs 80% of new games on recommended RTX 5070 GPU2026 model32 GB RAMAMD CPUHigh resolution
16″
HP Omen 16
TPN-Q305
Runs 70% of new games on recommended RTX 5060 GPU2026 model32 GB RAMAMD CPUIPS screen
18″
Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI
Runs 90% of new games on recommended RTX 5070 Ti GPU2026 model32 GB RAMIPS screenHigh resolution
15″
HP HyperX OMEN 15″
D5FW5UAABA
Runs 50% of new games on recommended RTX 5050 GPU2026 model16 GB RAMAMD CPUIPS screen
Budget Windows Laptops for AE
These cheaper options meet the minimum system requirements stated by the developer. You may experience slowness in some parts of the software.
16″
Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 16″
Yoga
2026 modelTrusted brand16 GB RAMThin2-in-1 laptopTouchscreen
15″
Dell Inspiron 15″
2026 modelTrusted brand16 GB RAMTouchscreenAMD CPU
ACEMAGIC Mini
M5
2026 model16 GB RAMLightweightAMD CPUHigh resolution
13″
Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 /Tablet 13″
ZHX-00001
2025 model16 GB RAMThin2-in-1 laptopTouchscreen
12″
Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 /Tablet 12″
EP2-33670
2025 model16 GB RAM2-in-1 laptopTouchscreenLightweight
16″
Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 16″
RM
2025 modelTrusted brand16 GB RAMThin2-in-1 laptopTouchscreen
Updated on October 10, 2026.
These recommendations are based on technical details and requirements. We can't guarantee that the app will run on every laptop.
Updated October 12, 2026