Why I like to recommend this flagship Home windows laptop computer to creatives over the MacBook Professional

Asus’ ProArt collection consists of smooth laptops with high-end {hardware} for creatives. On the high of the road is the brand new AMD-powered ProArt P16, which exudes energy and efficiency with a smooth, all-black kind issue, big trackpad with Asus’ proprietary DialPad, and an excellent show. 

I had an opportunity to go hands-on with the ProArt P16 a number of months in the past and located it to be a extremely succesful machine with quite a lot of uncooked energy. Nonetheless, it additionally requires some customization and optimization to get essentially the most out of it. Earlier than I contact on that, let’s check out the {hardware}.

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The ProArt P16 has 32GB of reminiscence, an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, and a 12-core, 24-thread chip with a 50 TOP NPU. This sturdy core powers the system’s artistic endeavors, whether or not video enhancing, utilizing superior animation or graphic design applications, or just multitasking with a handful of various apps and dozens of browser tabs.

Top-of-the-line elements of this laptop computer, nonetheless, is its show. The five hundred-nit, 3840 x 2400 decision AMOLED touchscreen show delivers a crisp, vibrant image with a shiny, premium coating. Powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, it options DLSS 3 (Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling) and help for ray tracing.

Though it may possibly ship a superb gaming expertise, it is held again a bit by the 60Hz refresh price, which is a part of the give-and-take of the system’s general characteristic set. Asus’ resolution to restrict the refresh price is disappointing, however it retains the value level low and solidifies its supposed use case as a creator-first machine. 

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In that vein, it comes with a stylus that feels exact and responsive, particularly on the graceful, shiny show, which seems like a clean canvas beckoning you to sketch on. The pen on this laptop computer is sweet sufficient for artists and designers to make use of severely, as all too usually, they’re both too laggy or too barebones to justify utilizing. Right here, nonetheless, it is snappy and responsive and comes with numerous capabilities that work in tandem with the DialPad to energy customizable, single-click actions. 

I additionally respect that this laptop computer is not a 2-in-1. Convertible laptops are sometimes pressured to modify to pill mode if you wish to use them with a stylus, as urgent on the show in laptop computer mode pushes it down until you help it together with your hand. 

The ProArt P16 was designed with this in thoughts, because the show locks into place at its furthest angle. As an alternative of folding again from the stress of the pen, it stays upright with a beneficiant diploma of bend. Simply understand that pushing again too arduous will end result within the entrance of the system lifting off the desk. 

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The Asus DialPad is one other distinctive characteristic that creatives will like to tinker with. If you have not seen it earlier than, it is a small, raised wheel on the trackpad that may be personalized to activate completely different settings, like altering brush sizes in Photoshop or chopping, pausing, or rewinding in CapCut or Premiere. The DialPad’s small bodily dimension makes activating and scrolling by the “wheel” quick and simple, particularly for widespread options.

My solely gripe in regards to the DialPad was that it took a minute to arrange. It got here disabled on the laptop computer out of the field, requiring me to activate it with a particular gesture on the trackpad that is not apparent until you look it up (you press the icon within the high proper nook of the trackpad, then shortly slide diagonally down towards the center of the trackpad). As one in all this laptop computer’s premier options, would not it make sense to a) have it work out of the field and/or b) characteristic a straightforward setup tutorial?

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As soon as it was activated, nonetheless, I shortly grew to become a fan. I like how granular you can also make the customizations, and it is helpful even past artistic use instances. In reality, I discovered that a number of the most useful instances have been in productiveness apps and within the browser, enabling fast features throughout the workday for frequent actions. 

The opposite Asus applications that include the laptop computer are helpful to various levels, to not point out that they have been fairly gradual to fireplace up. Asus’ “Muse Tree,” for instance, took an unexpectedly very long time to put in and get going. I had an opportunity to go hands-on with this app beforehand, and though it is a very cool concept, I am nonetheless on the fence relating to its usefulness. 

The high-end and satisfying keyboard has completely silent keys. Equally, the trackpad is very large, extending from the keyboard to the sting of the system, and has a velvety matte texture. One draw back is that I had some hassle getting it to perform at a excessive capability in a very chilly workplace. In case your palms are on the chilly facet, you may expertise some gradual responses. 

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This might probably be adjusted with optimization, which is the opposite huge factor I would like to say about this laptop computer. In my expertise, Asus laptops reply significantly effectively to optimization settings throughout the board. The ProArt P16 is an ideal instance of this; completely different profiles or settings parameters can drastically have an effect on efficiency, starting from battery life to hurry and responsiveness.

This additionally applies to Home windows updates, significantly relating to demanding workloads. After I first fired up this laptop computer, for instance, its efficiency was noticeably worse till I went by the collection of Home windows updates for the OS, up to date drivers, and adopted up with the checklist of updates within the MyAsus app. 

The P16’s efficiency improved after I up to date it, and it was then optimized additional as soon as I bought used to the DialPad and configured the trackpad and energy profiles. 

All of that is to say that the ProArt P16, for me, was not a laptop computer that got here able to exit of the field however fairly requires some personalization and a spotlight to get essentially the most out of it. This is applicable to its wealthy characteristic set, however it takes a second to include it into artistic workflows. Finally, it is a good factor, because it encourages innovation on the consumer’s half to interrupt out of cloned UIs and workflows that every one look the identical. 

Placing a extra concrete quantity to its efficiency, in our benchmarking exams, the ProArt P16 positioned someplace in between the M3 MacBook Professional and the M4, though it ought to be famous that it is extra on par with the M3 than Apple’s newest M4 product.  

Lastly, let’s briefly point out the battery. It is a laptop computer with a strong suite of {hardware} and a 16-inch AMOLED show, so I wasn’t anticipating a lot going into my testing. Nonetheless, I used to be pleasantly stunned at how strong the battery is, particularly when listening to power-saving settings. 

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I simply bought over 10 hours of battery life with regular use and intermittent high-demand duties. Nonetheless, with intensive artistic duties and heavy multitasking, you’ll be able to anticipate round seven hours earlier than connecting to an outlet. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

If you happen to’re in search of a strong laptop computer with strong {hardware} and a wealthy, dynamic characteristic set, I like to recommend the Asus ProArt P16 as a strong alternative for superior creators who wish to problem the established order and revel in tinkering with customization settings to maximise artistic output. 

Nonetheless, if you happen to’re in search of an out-of-the-box artistic powerhouse, I like to recommend the Apple M3 or M4 MacBook Professional. It has all of the highly effective {hardware} able to deal with artistic duties and could not probably be simpler to arrange. If you happen to just like the ProArt P16 however need one thing a bit extra accessible, Asus’ ProArt PZ13 is a extra compact model at nearly half the value. 

This text was initially revealed on December 6, 2024, and was up to date on June 26, 2025.