When it comes to high-performance and portability, only the best mobile workstation will do. These laptops excel at powering through intensive workloads like 3D modeling and high-resolution video editing - and they do it all without breaking a sweat. With over 1800 laptops and MacBooks reviewed by us, these are the stand-out devices for when you need power on the go.
My team and I have tested all the best workstations and best business laptops. And in my experience, the best mobile workstations should combine the benefits of both - offering flawless performance and the ultimate in productivity.
For that reason, the MacBook Pro 16-inch powered by the M4 Pro is my top pick for most people. it's beautifully designed, robustly built, and capable of tackling almost any complex workload. But there are no shortage of contenders. I've rounded up the top-rated mobile workstation models right here, suitable for a range of budgets and uses.
The best mobile workstation overall
The MacBook Pro M4 Pro 16-inch (2024) is another massive leap for Apple Silicon, cementing itself as the cream of the crop for Apple's workstation laptops. It combines sleek design with unparalleled performance. This powerhouse is driven by Apple's latest M4 Pro chipset and is only outpaced by the M4 Max chipset. However, the M4 Pro is so good that the cost is only worth it to those who somehow find themselves pushing the M4 Pro chip, which is incredibly hard to do.
This workstation is purpose-built for demanding professionals who need cutting-edge speed and efficiency, all in a portable workstation that still looks great.
With up to 64GB of unified memory, up to 8TB of storage, advanced CPU and GPU cores, a ProMotion Liquid Retina display, and a full 16-inches of real estate, this MacBook is incredibly hard to beat as a portable workstation. To make things even better, Apple offers this computer in their Space Black finish, which is absolutely gorgeous.
Read our full Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro, 2024) review.
The best mobile workstation on a budget
No matter what you’re looking for in a computer, the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) can probably handle it. That’s thanks to Apple’s in-house M1 Pro and M1 Max (if you choose to upgrade) that can blaze through any application you can think of.
The Pro comes with an incredible display that'll eliminate the need to plug into an external monitor, as well as plenty of ports, including next-gen Thunderbolt 4 ports. Even in 2024, and with the M4 chips just released, the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips are still dominating tasks that you throw at them, ripping through creative files, crushing heavy coding, and absolutely killing it everywhere else. It's impressive for how old this computer is getting, but it's still runni strong.
The laptop's also large and heavy, so you'll want to check out the 14-inch MacBook Pro unless you really need the larger screen and longer battery life.
Read our full MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2021) review.
You could save on Apple products with our Apple promo codes.
The best mobile workstation for designers and gamers
The Razer Blade 14 (2024) is a remarkably powerful mobile workstation designed to appeal to the mobile gamers and designers who need high performance in a compact package with a bit of gamer design. It's equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, outputting impressive performance across all creative workflows such as video editing, photo editing, graphic design, 3D rendering, and some gaming for when the workday is over (or just beginning if you are a professional gamer).
The 14-inch QHD+ display with 240Hz refresh rate is fantastic for producing vibrant, color-accurate visuals, making it perfect for those creative professionals who care about spending the extra money on a machine that cares as much as they do. It's pretty slim and lightweight, made from aluminum, promoting portability and durability.
Naturally, no computer can be perfect. The Razer Blade 14 (2024) could have a better battery, and we wish it had an SD Card reader. However, for the price and the overall performance, I think we can handle a dongle like the rest of the laptop world.
Read our full Razer Blade 14 (2024) review.
The best 2-in-1 mobile workstation
There are very few laptops more powerful than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8. The 2-in-1 workhorse is encased in aluminum, making it a robust option for any commute. True, the design of the ThinkPad Yoga series hasn't undergone much change over the years, but it's a tried-and-true design, so we can't really complain.
We've had the opportunity to test several ThinkPads over the years, and without fail, every time, we're left suitably impressed. The Gen 8 is no different. We found it fast, with a crisp 16:10 screen and an impressively comfortable keyboard built for constant use. For the latest model, you can check out our Lenovo Thinkpad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 business laptop review, but we found it didn't quite match up to the previous generation.
Connectivity is good - to the left, you'll find an HDMI, USB-A, and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports. To the right, there is a headphone jack and a second USB-A port. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 are built-in, with a 5G option available for the ultimate mobile workstation. All in all, our tests revealed a portable powerhouse - but performance this good comes at an admittedly high price.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 review.
The best mobile workstation for business
The Dell Precision 5690 is a sleek, powerful, and portable workstation designed to meet the high demands of professionals in the business world. Whether you are running complex code, complex simulations, dancing between multiple resource-intensive apps, or something similar, this workstation has you covered with its Core i9 processor.
The 15.6-inch 4K OLED display also provides clarity and accurate colors, making it great for visual-heavy tasks. You could video edit and take care of some photo editing, too, though this computer is more designed for the not-so-graphic intensive work and is more designed for more traditional business work.
Read our full Dell Precision 5690 review.
The best mobile workstation desktop-replacement
The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is a wonderful powerhouse workstation that combines desktop-level performance with the fantastic portability of a laptop.
Designed for even some of the heaviest workloads, this machine is powered by an Intel Core i9-13950HX processor and NVIDIA RTX A5500 graphics, ensuring seamless performance for tasks like 3D modeling, video editing, software development, coding, web design, and other hefty business use cases.
The 16-inch UHD+ display makes using this computer as visually pleasant as it is powerful. This display offers brilliant colors and visuals all on a fairly large display, especially for a portable workstation designed to replace a full desktop.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7.
The best mobile workstation for portability
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is a wildly lightweight, ultraportable workstation that does not sacrifice power for its incredible mobility. It's equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 165U Processor and up to 32GB of RAM, making it possible to tackle any business task you throw at it. It's perfect for professionals on the go who need to keep up their productivity thanks to its lightweight design.
The one downside to this computer is that while it's incredible for traditional business tasks, it does not have a high-quality screen or an impressive GPU, meaning that you're not going to want to edit videos or photos on this guy. But for traditional business, non-media tasks, and projects, this computer is an incredible option.
Note: the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is in our hands and is currently in review.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12.
How to choose the best mobile workstation for you
- We asked Anu Herranen, Director of New Product Introduction, Advanced Compute and Solutions at HP Inc, how to choose a workstation.
"There are a couple of basic questions you need to ask yourself before choosing a workstation. The first is simply to think about the work you need it to support. Do you need fantastic graphics performance, or to analyze huge data sets in hours, rather than days? Do you need to be able to do a range of tasks concurrently? Which applications or operating system are you relying on?
The next step is to think more broadly about how and where you will use your workstation. Are you always in the field, therefore need a lightweight device, combined with great battery life? Or like so many of us today, do you need something that you can use at home, but doesn’t take up much space so you’re able to hide it away when not working? What audio experience do you need? Do you need to be able to work collaboratively?
Reliability is another key factor in choosing a workstation PC. Imagine that you are in a hospital environment analyzing CT scans: your computer needs to run 24/7 all year round and must never fail. Likewise, a NASA astronaut in a space station cannot ever take the risk of having their computer fail due to system crashes, component breakdowns and sluggish performance.
Some have undergone hundreds of thousands of hours of extensive testing under extreme conditions, where frequency, voltage and temperature are varied in such a way that it goes beyond what one could call normal operating conditions."
How we test the best mobile workstations
✅ More than 1,800 laptops, Chromebooks, and MacBooks reviewed
✅ 15 years of product testing
✅ Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
✅ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech
Our team of experts have tested a range of business-use devices from the best MacBook Pro and the best Lenovo ThinkPad laptops to the best laptops for video editing.
When evaluating the performance of any machine, including the best mobile workstations, we looked at how the workstations run different types of applications — from graphics-heavy programs and apps like the best video editing software to large data sets.
We analyzed numerous specs, like CPU, RAM, graphics, and storage, to determine what kinds of users the workstation would be best suited for. We considered how many connectivity ports the workstation had, whether the fan was noisy, and if the laptop would get hot with prolonged use.
Another key area we assessed was the laptop’s portability and battery life. Having already tested the best rugged laptops, we were looking for machines that were reliability robust but sleek and light enough to carry on the commute. So, we assessed size, weight, and design of all mobile workstations to find the ones best suited to the professional lifestyle.
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