Mac for photo editing

[olley]

Youngest daughter is a photographer and retoucher for Isawitfirst in Manchester, she has been using a old Windows laptop for her own private work but its struggling, if she buys a MAC she can get a login from work to use Creative cloud, so its got to be a MAC not a Windows PC.

Whats the minimum she should be looking for secondhand/new, she has around a £1000 to spend courtesy of her poor pensioner parents.

 

[scotjimland]

Hi Ian.. I would look for a MacBook Pro, 15" Retina display with i7 Intel processor, with decent memory at least 16gb , better with 32gb , and 250gb SSD
Mid 2014 or later

I am going to ask this question on an excellent MacBookPro FB group.. will get back the answer .

 

[Jim]

An i5 processor is OK for photo manipulation. I'd say more important for performance would be to buy her an SSD scratch disk and as much RAM as the machine will take. A fast dedicated scratch disk and extra ram are absolutely key to smooth photoshop processing. And we all know your rich enough, and it is Christmas, come on spoil that girl

 

[olley]

An i5 processor is OK for photo manipulation. I'd say more important for performance would be to buy her an SSD scratch disk and as much RAM as the machine will take. A fast dedicated scratch disk and extra ram are absolutely key to smooth photoshop processing. And we all know your rich enough, and it is Christmas, come on spoil that girl

Rich enough? We are so poor we have a justgiving page to buy the xmas turkey.

Had to google scratch disks, so how would you use one on a MAC laptop do they just plug in like USB?

 

[scotjimland]

start another justgiving page ..

The Apple (UK) refurbished site is worth a look. The stuff is as good as new,
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refur...gEyZzazb1NNtPc-LM02PdPb0BniWe62tg2oqUWjkW2gcU

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[olley]

Thanks Jim, surprising how little you get for your money compared to a PC, especially considering they use some of the same components. Not knocking them, just an observation.
How easy is it to upgrade the SSD or Memory?

 

[scotjimland]

How easy is it to upgrade the SSD or Memory?

I've read about people upgrading the SSD .. but most will say that memory is not a DIY job.. Apple don't like you playing inside.. lol

Officially, it is not possible for an end user to upgrade the storage after purchase. However,`...>>>

Broken Link Removed


as Jim said, the i5 is more than capable for photo editing, , that is what I have in both of mine.. but I'm not a heavy photo editor, I use Adobe Elements.. hence suggesting i7 ..

 

[DBK]

It is generally accepted Adobe applications like Photoshop run better on Mac products but they do work on Windows machines - I use them quite a lot on my PC. My Christmas avatar was done in Photoshop on a PC.

If she can get an Adobe Cloud ID from her work then it should work on a PC or Windows laptop. I'm fairly sure it is platform independent. My ID let's me install Lightroom Mobile on my Android tablet for example.

But a Mac would be better if only because that is what they will be using at her work.

 

[scotjimland]

Had to google scratch disks, so how would you use one on a MAC laptop do they just plug in like USB?

yes, either using either USB 3 or the Thurnderbolt 2, which is faster..

check what ports the MacBook has before buying an SSD , 2014 on will have both USB 3 and Thunderbolt 2

I have small portable Lacia SSD 250gb that is powered from the Macbook via the Thunderbolt port ..used for back-ups and as a scratch disc for Adobe.

 

[scotjimland]

I am going to ask this question on an excellent MacBookPro FB group.. will get back with the answer .

consensus of opinion is basically what Jim and I suggested.

i7 processor would be best, but an i5 is more than adequate, 8 - 16gb ram and 256 gb SSD .. look for a refurbished 2015 retina

screen size is down to her .. to reduce costs, you could also look at a refurbished 13in MacBook Air.

My MacBook Pro, is Mid 2014, 13 inch, i5 - 2.6 GHz , 16gb DDR3 memory, 250GB SSD

and that runs very fast, no lag or waiting when processing photos in Adobe

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JohnH]

I purchased a refurbished Macbook nearly 10 years ago. I replacd the disk drive with an ssd before passing it to my son. It is still going strong.
It won’t update to the latest update of MacOS but he’s not bothered.
Had a look at the current refurbished Macs and these seem like a good buy for a little over the £1000 budget.
An ssd drive connected via usb-c and the ability to connect to a tv for a larger display.
Job done.