I would have thought either the higher end Dell (XPS13) or Lenovo (X1 Carbon Series) would be fit for purpose. The XPS13 is extremely well regarded in that category.
Kind of depends how you use them - do people carry them much? Do you need much raw power? I would have thought that a laptop like that would still be very usable now.
Indeed.
I use a 17" laptop myself because while it’s a touch bigger, it also makes it much easier to see the screen under low lighting conditions, such as in a band situation where selecting the appropriate sample to trigger is probably quite important…
I also use it as the centre of my studio, along with a touch screen 2nd monitor; touchscreen acts as the mixer and laptop screen acts as timeline.
I realise that I could use a dedicated pc in the studio, with a Maschine or Ableton Push 2 to trigger and tablet to view/find but that would cost me more…
And if you want smaller ones they do sell those as well
If Dell made an XPS17 I would buy one for sure. That would be the best of both worlds, a 17" 4K screen in a 15" form factor. They don’t, however, so market research must indicate this would be a small market niche. (and it would be pretty expensive)
I use an xps15 without the 4k screen for work. Nice bit of kit.
only downside is the dearth of ports and connectivity, so had to get the usb-c docking station which is expensive but worth imo