MacBook Air with an External Monitor as Sole Computer?

I am looking at ordering a new Mac, and looking at a 13" MacBook Air i7 with 8GB of RAM. I was wondering if the group thought I could get away with using this as my only computer with an external monitor when I am home, and a bevy of USB Hard Drives. I would be running CS6, LR5, and Nik Plug ins...

Depends on what you expect for performance. For me a totally tricked out MB Air is hugely underpowered for CS6 and LR5, however it would probably be OK for CS5 and LR3.

If I were looking for a MB for photo editing using CS6 and LR5 (both are resource pigs), and was using an external monitor, I would be going for a MB Pro 13", 2.9GHz with a 256GB SSD as an absolute minimum spec, but would prefer the 16GB RAM I could get with a 15" model.

IMO for seamless operation of LR5 and CS6, with no laggy brushes, etc. you need a desktop with 4.0 to 4.2GHz processor, fast SSD for your OS, catalog and previews, multiple hard drives for scratch disks and 16+GB RAM. If you use that end of the scale as excellent (A+) and the MB Air as close to the bottom end of the scale (D-) you can decide how much you want to compromise performance for portability. Everybody's needs and expectations are different, so honestly as long as you make an informed decision and know what to expect there isn't a wrong answer ... after all, a desktop scores an F for portability .

It wouldn't be my first choice, then again no laptop really is.

Bob_A covered it all. As far as I'm concerned if you want a smooth and responsive experience you need a desktop. More performance for your dollar anyway. It's really about what you need and what you expect from it.

Sounds like I should pick up the 13" MacBook Pro 2.9GHz and upgrade the RAM to 16GB.

battleborn_nevada wrote in post #16223257
Sounds like I should pick up the 13" MacBook Pro 2.9GHz and upgrade the RAM to 16GB.

Not sure that you can get 16GB with the 13" version. If you can then it would be a decent choice.

If you can that sounds pretty solid. For me 8GB was just edging out not being enough a good majority of the time, and there were certainly times with my old system where it got in the way.

battleborn_nevada wrote in post #16222322
I am looking at ordering a new Mac, and looking at a 13" MacBook Air i7 with 8GB of RAM. I was wondering if the group thought I could get away with using this as my only computer with an external monitor when I am home, and a bevy of USB Hard Drives. I would be running CS6, LR5, and Nik Plug ins...

I have this MacBook Air and its performance is really tied to the software you're using. For Adobe's apps, which are cpu-tied for nearly all meaningful functions and are memory hogs, the i7 MBA 8 is a very good computer. However, if you use Aperture, Pixelmator and the Nik Suite, which heavily rely on the gpu, it is a superb processing system. It renders my 5D Mark II files in real-time and is plenty fast for moderate use. If you're doing weddings or some other photography that requires lots of batch exporting, then quad-core or more would be better. But for virtually anything else the 2013 MBA i7 is an excellent computer. It is faster than my 2010 dual-core i7 MacBook Pro with its dedicated ATI graphics card. The HD5000 gpu in the current MBA is a very nice improvement on the HD4000, the first Intel gpu that could render my 5Dii files in real-time. And the ePCI SSD is quite a bit faster than SATA SSDs.

In terms of expandability, if you buy the Apple 27" Thunderbolt display you will also get a FW800 port if you want to use that for daisy chaining external hard drives. Of course, for better performance, you can buy a USB3 hub that connects to the MBA's USB3 ports (the Thunderbolt Display only has three USB2 ports). The Apple display also gives you gigabit ethernet for your MBA as well as an additional Thunderbolt port for a second display, hard drive/SSD, or other peripherals.

I almost never take my MBP with me when I travel because the new MBA is quite a workhorse, and the weight and battery life make a huge difference for me.

Bob_A wrote in post #16223345
Not sure that you can get 16GB with the 13" version. If you can then it would be a decent choice.

The non-Retina MacBook Pros can be upgraded to 16 GB, although Apple only offers 8 GB options. In addition, one can remove the DVD drive from the MBP and install a second drive. The advantage of this is you can put in a 1.5 TB hard drive and an SSD (9.5mm) of any size available, then initialize the two drives as a single Fusion volume for maximum performance.

Tony-S wrote in post #16224182
I have this MacBook Air and its performance is really tied to the software you're using. For Adobe's apps, which are cpu-tied for nearly all meaningful functions and are memory hogs, the i7 MBA 8 is a very good computer. However, if you use Aperture, Pixelmator and the Nik Suite, which heavily rely on the gpu, it is a superb processing system. It renders my 5D Mark II files in real-time and is plenty fast for moderate use. If you're doing weddings or some other photography that requires lots of batch exporting, then quad-core or more would be better. But for virtually anything else the 2013 MBA i7 is an excellent computer. It is faster than my 2010 dual-core i7 MacBook Pro with its dedicated ATI graphics card. The HD5000 gpu in the current MBA is a very nice improvement on the HD4000, the first Intel gpu that could render my 5Dii files in real-time. And the ePCI SSD is quite a bit faster than SATA SSDs.

In terms of expandability, if you buy the Apple 27" Thunderbolt display you will also get a FW800 port if you want to use that for daisy chaining external hard drives. Of course, for better performance, you can buy a USB3 hub that connects to the MBA's USB3 ports (the Thunderbolt Display only has three USB2 ports). The Apple display also gives you gigabit ethernet for your MBA as well as an additional Thunderbolt port for a second display, hard drive/SSD, or other peripherals.

I almost never take my MBP with me when I travel because the new MBA is quite a workhorse, and the weight and battery life make a huge difference for me.

Does your MBA stumble with the Nik Collection?

My setup is a MPB 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with an external monitor and it struggles with Lightroom and with large batches in DPP. Gets along fine for my uses but I know for sure when its at its limit.

Edit: mine only has 8gigs of ram.

battleborn_nevada wrote in post #16224394
Does your MBA stumble with the Nik Collection?

Not at all. Now that Nik's Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro and (I think) Viveza use the gpu, the performance is very nice.

Tony-S wrote in post #16224507
Not at all. Now that Nik's Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro and (I think) Viveza use the gpu, the performance is very nice.

As I said, it all depends on the user and his/her expectations. A MBA would drive me nuts where I could live with a 13" MB Pro with a 2.9GHz processor and 16GB RAM if I absolutely needed to have portability.

So it looks like I can get a 13" MacBook Pro 2.9 i7 with 16GB for $1249, a 13" retina MacBook Pro i5 with 8GB RAM for $1499, or a non retina 15" MBP 2.3 i7 quad with 16GB RAM for $1599.99...

I think I can swing any of those three, just wondering if the 15" is worth the extra cash for Lightroom and CS6 work.

If you're planning to use an external display, I wouldn't get a Retina because you cannot upgrade them. The non-Retinas can be upgraded to 16 gb of RAM and you can replace the DVD with a second drive, HD or SSD, including making it a Fusion drive.

Funny how this process worked out....I came here seeking advice on a MacBook Air and yesterday picked up a 15" MacBook Pro...