You have approx. £3000 to spec up a new Macbook Pro for Photoshop & Lightroom use, with occasional video editing. Screen has to be 16" and storage will be 1TB SSD... Where do you invest the rest? 32GB RAM, upgrade GPU etc...?
Hedley Member ![]() 197 posts Likes: 2 Joined Apr 2008 Location: UK More info | Jun 08, 2020 09:40 | #1 You have approx. £3000 to spec up a new Macbook Pro for Photoshop & Lightroom use, with occasional video editing. Screen has to be 16" and storage will be 1TB SSD... Where do you invest the rest? 32GB RAM, upgrade GPU etc...? _______________
LOG IN TO REPLY |
John from PA Cream of the Crop 10,640 posts Likes: 1270 Joined May 2003 Location: Southeast Pennsylvania More info | Jun 08, 2020 10:06 | #2 I believe late model MacBook Pros have soldered in RAM chips making it essentially impossible to add or change the RAM. I’m inclined therefore to suggest the RAM upgrade. Having said that I have no in-depth experience with Apple products.
LOG IN TO REPLY |
davesrose Title Fairy still hasn't visited me! 4,388 posts Likes: 829 Joined Apr 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA More info | Jun 08, 2020 10:31 | #3 The standard config for that price should be good for photography and video work: MacBook Pro 16: i9 processor, 32GB RAM, ATI Radeon Pro 5500, 1TB SSD. Canon 5D mk IV
LOG IN TO REPLY |
Jun 08, 2020 10:49 | #4 The US Store has a bunch of refurb 16". I always check there first. Might save a few pounds. R6 | 7D II | iPhone 12 Pro | 60D | M10
LOG IN TO REPLY |
John from PA Cream of the Crop 10,640 posts Likes: 1270 Joined May 2003 Location: Southeast Pennsylvania More info | Jun 08, 2020 11:07 | #5 davesrose wrote in post #19075663 ![]() The standard config for that price should be good for photography and video work: MacBook Pro 16: i9 processor, 32GB RAM, ATI Radeon Pro 5500, 1TB SSD. The Apple Store (https://www.apple.com …3ghz-8-core-processor-1tb
LOG IN TO REPLY |
John from PA Cream of the Crop 10,640 posts Likes: 1270 Joined May 2003 Location: Southeast Pennsylvania More info Post edited 9 months ago by John from PA. | Jun 08, 2020 11:09 | #6 gossamer88 wrote in post #19075667 ![]() The US Store has a bunch of refurb 16". I always check there first. Might save a few pounds. There is a refurb 15.4 inch available at https://www.apple.com …4f272bf652c37db96c1410f24
LOG IN TO REPLY |
davesrose Title Fairy still hasn't visited me! 4,388 posts Likes: 829 Joined Apr 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA More info Post edited 9 months ago by davesrose. | Jun 08, 2020 11:37 | #7 John from PA wrote in post #19075673 ![]() The Apple Store (https://www.apple.com …3ghz-8-core-processor-1tb ![]() You're looking at Apple's site. If you look at retailers, you will see my quoted specs are what you get preconfigured for $3049 USD: Canon 5D mk IV
LOG IN TO REPLY |
Not sure what I'm missing, but same spec on the 16" newer version is no different in price. Is the GPU much better on that refurb model or something? _______________
LOG IN TO REPLY |
davesrose Title Fairy still hasn't visited me! 4,388 posts Likes: 829 Joined Apr 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA More info Post edited 9 months ago by davesrose. (4 edits in all) | John's quote does have a different graphics card: ATI's Pro Vega 20, compared to the 16" new price that includes ATI Radeon 5500M. The 5500 is actually a bit newer and faster with benchmarks. The pro cards are more for compatibility/stability with 3D animation/video. Since your goals are photography and video, the 5500 should be good. The 16" also has a newer 8 core i-9 (compared to 6 core) with same max turbo speed at 4.8GHZ. Canon 5D mk IV
LOG IN TO REPLY |
John from PA Cream of the Crop 10,640 posts Likes: 1270 Joined May 2003 Location: Southeast Pennsylvania More info | Jun 08, 2020 12:38 | #10 Hedley wrote in post #19075690 ![]() Not sure what I'm missing, but same spec on the 16" newer version is no different in price. Is the GPU much better on that refurb model or something? Are your Apple UK prices similar to those on this side of the pond?
LOG IN TO REPLY |
gossamer88 "something else" ![]() More info Post edited 9 months ago by gossamer88. | Jun 08, 2020 12:38 | #11 Looks like the US Store has a lot more options than the UK's one model only. R6 | 7D II | iPhone 12 Pro | 60D | M10
LOG IN TO REPLY |
Jun 08, 2020 13:42 | #12 8 TB SSD more useful than 32 gig ram. Storage is what is always the reason someone gets a new computer from my experience. At least with the iMac you can upgrade your RAM yourself but not with the notebooks. 1Dx, 10D 28-70 L 2.8, 70-200 L 2.8 III, 50 1.4, 28 2.8
LOG IN TO REPLY |
davesrose Title Fairy still hasn't visited me! 4,388 posts Likes: 829 Joined Apr 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA More info | The MacBook Pro with i9 has more cores though....you need more RAM for each core. I find I don't need a large main drive with my MacBook, because I can buy 2TB SSD drives that are fast via thunderbolt 3. 16GB is fine for photography tasks, but I have seen benchmarks of video rendering being faster with 32GB (as CPU cycles get maxed out with 16GB). At the time I got my MacBook 15.6, it was more expensive to get 32GB in a config available at Best Buy. So instead, I did get the 8 core i9 with 16GB. I figured that while I would use it for some video work, it wouldn't matter if it wasn't the fastest. Video apps and Maya are stable on my 16GB MacBook....but if I was shopping for a new one now, I'd side with best speed specs (and 32GB has better speed). It also can depend on software. I've noticed I have another program for video encoding. While the specs of my MacBook are better than a PC laptop I have, the laptop is a lot faster at rendering h.265 because the software has better support for NVidia graphics cards. Canon 5D mk IV
LOG IN TO REPLY |
Storage not an issue in this case, and certainly not the reason for the upgrade. I don't store much on my editing machine generally and am rarely at 50% capacity. _______________
LOG IN TO REPLY |
The UK store has plenty of combinations but they're not thrown at you until you hit 'buy'... Then you have all the choices to make _______________
LOG IN TO REPLY |
![]() | x 1600 |
y 1600 |
Log in Not a member yet?
Register to forums
Registered members may log in to forums and access all the features: full search, image upload, follow forums, own gear list and ratings, likes, more forums, private messaging, thread follow, notifications, own gallery, all settings, view hosted photos, own reviews, see more and do more... and all is free. Don't be a stranger - register now and start posting! |
| ||
Latest registered member is Sonechka 842 guests, 253 members online Simultaneous users record so far is 15144, that happened on Nov 22, 2018 |