Best tablets and computers for Zwift

The latest iPad Air is a surprising performer when it comes to Zwift, offering smoother graphics and more detail than quite a few laptops that are double the price. While the graphics run smoothly, i.e. don’t get jerky on a crowded group ride, you do lose a bit of detail like rider shadows and reflections. As with the Apple TV, you can only natively use Bluetooth, and if you’d like to use ANT+, you’ll need a converter. 

With an 11 or 13 inch Retina Display and a zippy chipset, the graphics are surprisingly crisp and boot times are lightning-fast. Plus with the claimed 10-hour battery life, the iPad Air won’t leave you running for a charger mid-ride. 

The iPad Pro offers the same screen size options as the iPad Air, but with an M4 chip in place of the iPad Air’s M2 chip. There are also larger storage offerings, with up to 2TB available if you’re prepared to pay for it. Even the base model doubles the Air’s capacity to 256GB. 

If you’re planning to use your iPad for other duties besides Zwifting, this might be useful as Zwift requires a minimum of 4GB of free space and the iPad Air’s 128GB is likely to soon fill up. 

The Galaxy Tab S10+’s 12.4-inch screen is bright, sharp and responsive, even with sweaty hands, and both the 256GB and 512GB models have plenty of RAM available, so the app runs smoothly — even when Watopia is crowded. 

You can up your screen real estate by heading up to the S10 Ultra with a 14.6-inch screen, a larger battery and the option to add storage, but this is an expensive option.

You can still find the Galaxy Tab S9 on sale with some useful discounts and extras available and its hardware and software should support Zwift for some time to come.

If you’re a dedicated Mac user, you can run Zwift on a MacBook or a MacBook Air. Experience varies, with newer machines able to run at higher settings, but MacBooks more than a couple of years old are likely to limit you to the lower settings in Zwift.

With Apple having switched to its M4 chip range for its latest computers, Zwift requires Mac OS 10.14.4 or higher.

The MacBook Pro starts off at a 14-inch screen size, which might be a bit small for the optimum Zwift experience. The 16-inch models will give you that bit more screen real estate than a tablet and you can perhaps justify the extra cost if you’re using your MacBook for work too. There’s always the option to hook up an external display.

Pretty much any laptop with at least 4GB of RAM and a moderate graphics card will run Zwift or any other indoor cycling app, although Zwift recommends 8GB. A lower spec may struggle to render smooth visuals, especially if the servers are busy. It’s in these aspects that gaming laptops excel if you’re looking to get the best performance on Zwift.

You can spend thousands of dollars on a top-end gaming laptop, but when it comes to bang for the buck, we like the Acer Aspire 5. With a 15.6-inch screen, it has an AMD or Intel processor and supports a 60fps refresh rate at full HD. Plus, it’s also a regular computer, so it can double up as a work or study option.

A higher-spec laptop could improve your Zwifting. With the largest tablets having a 14-inch plus screen size, a larger 16-screen laptop will give you a little more screen real estate and may not cost a lot more.

The Acer Nitro V15 also gives you a high-end graphics card, 144Hz refresh rate and AMD Ryzen 5 processor along with 16GB of RAM, upgradable to 32GB, for smooth rendering. There’s a large battery and dual cooling fans as well.

If you’re looking to jump into Zwift and already have a TV that you’ll use, Apple TV is cheaper than a computer or tablet to run the app. When Apple TV support was added to Zwift, many (including this writer) wrote it off, but the tiny black set-top box handles the load surprisingly well, offering smooth graphics, even on crowded bunch rides that cause a MacBook Pro to sweat.

You’ll be limited to two Bluetooth connections (or three if you unpair the remote), with the Apple TV capable of full trainer control. Most newer sensors are either Bluetooth only or connect via both ANT+ and Bluetooth, but if you’ve got an older ANT+-only sensor, there are workarounds as described below.

If you have a spare TV lying around in your basement, a mini PC like the Intel NUC allows you to take advantage of the screen without having to pay for display — though you will need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  The Intel NUC has about the same form factor as the Apple TV, it also offers a bit of extra computing power to render graphic details like rider shadows, reflections and sun flares. The Intel NUC also has a USB port so you can use an ANT+ stick if that better suits your indoor riding setup.

The other advantage is that it’s a computer and can run TrainerRoad or Wahoo X, and then, of course, a web browser to watch Netflix, YouTube or whatever else. NUC computers are very customisable and you can pick graphics chips, RAM and internal memory, and, the Intel Unit with 16GB of RAM and Iris Plus Graphics 655 GPU is well up to the task. 

Finally, if you want the real large screen experience while riding, a smart TV with phone mirroring will allow you to stream Zwift from your iPhone or Android phone to your television screen.

It’s a feature that’s widely available. The Samsung QN90D, for example, gives you mirroring and a range of screen sizes from 43 inches all the way up to 85 inches. 

There’s a huge amount of other tech built into the Samsung TV, including a QLED screen with 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and 100Hz refresh rate, while the ultra-slim format won’t take up too much wall space.