Macbook Specs

[jaapv]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

https://www.macrumors.com/guide/how-much-mac-ram/

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Velo-city]

Echoing what’s said above - Apples M processors are really good. I use an M2max, and it’s just miles ahead of the Intel Macs I had previously. There’s not a huge amount between any M MacBook Pro in real terms for most people. 
 

Any general photo work is fine. 
 

Honestly even a MacBook Air with M is fine for photoshop / lightroom and much more. Depends if it’s your livelihood and how complex your work is of course but we’ve got Airs that just somehow seem to manage more than specs say they should.

And they’re all quiet!

If you can afford it just get as much storage space and ram as you can but personally I get the base storage and extra memory and use external storage as needed as Apple prices are insane. Then I offload raw to cloud when not working on them.  You can get an external thunderbolt 3 case for a biggish nvme m.2 much more affordably. It runs really quickly (but not quite up to internal speed) and you can have a few - but not so ideal if on the move. Tracking data gets a bit harder but that’s a trade off.

[hansvons]

12 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I buy my MBP’s as close to fully loaded as possible with the view of using them for years and years.

Exactly what I do. My actual MacBook is the first gen 16” M1 Max fully loaded, incl 64GB RAM. I'm still super happy with it. I do video from time to time. And I’m quite demanding, hate sluggishness.

My MacBook’s battery now starts to lose a little bit of its capacity. Nothing particularly worrisome, but it’s there. As a heavily used and beaten up three years old machine that is to be expected. So, at the end of 2025, I will be starting to think of a replacement. When I pull the trigger, it depends on Apple’s product cycle and availability. 

 

On 11/6/2024 at 9:10 PM, frasier089 said:

But as freelancer I always bought a very well equipped model to change earliest after 4-6years. Therefore not sure on 32/48/64 GB and M4 Pro is limited to 48 GB. 

I’m a freelancer as well. And my MacBook is essential for my work. I’d I chose the first tier M4 Max 16” with a minimum of 48GB RAM and a 2TB disc. 64GB is better—not only on paper. As photo editing and even MS Teams become more and more AI-dependend, you can't have too much power. 

A well-speced M4 Max 16” with 2TB storage and 64GB Ram is just short of 5K. That is 1K per year of use. I find that reasonable when considering how many hours I use that machine per day. 

It’s also worth noting that the resale value of these computers is astonishingly high. 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2024 by hansvons

[LocalHero1953]

6 minutes ago, hansvons said:

As photo editing and even MS Teams become more and more AI-dependend, you can't have too much power. 

I think this is the issue. Until AI came along there were a few simple rules for photo and video editing: for a PC you needed more RAM to support Adobe's addiction and a good GPU card to support Davinci Resolve. For M MacBooks, the GPU was part of the system and RAM wasn't quite so critical - my MacBook Pro M1 Pro 32Gb can handle normal photo editing slower than my 4 year old desktop PC with a separate GPU and 64Gb, but it is not too bad - I mainly use it for Lightroom CC while travelling, not as a main Lightroom Classic editor. I haven't tried the MacBook for video editing.

But now the PC is noticeably slower for Lightroom context-aware object removal, although AI Noise Reduction is still faster than many here report. Topaz Photo AI tools like Super Focus and Face Recovery are especially slow. The latest Davinci noise reduction and sharpening are very slow - I run the renders overnight.

We need some new recommendations for hardware for AI - though the latter is changing so fast that what might work now could quickly become obsolescent. 

[Simone_DF]

On 11/7/2024 at 9:54 PM, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Macs are a rip off. It’s 2024 and we still can’t get a touchscreen or pen input?? Ejecting disks??

And you won’t. Apple prefers to sell you an iPad. 
If you have an iPad, you can use the Sidecar feature and use it as a second touchscreen monitor. 
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102597

[LocalHero1953]

This thread is making me think about upgrades - to my desktop PC. It was custom built* four years ago and has since been 'edited' to increase RAM, and both replace and add more hard drives. I think it's time for a brain transplant: the highest spec CPU the motherboard can take (2 generations on, but still 2 generations behind the latest), and a near-top spec GPU (to RTX 4070 Super from 2080). The GPU should speed up video editing; as a bonus, I think it will speed up the increasing number of AI tools in Lightroom and Topaz.

 

* By a NHS consultant advertising on eBay. He did it in his spare time as an impersonal activity to take his mind of the horrors of covid in hospitals at that time.

[jaapv]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

This thread is making me think about upgrades - to my desktop PC. It was custom built* four years ago and has since been 'edited' to increase RAM, and both replace and add more hard drives. I think it's time for a brain transplant: the highest spec CPU the motherboard can take (2 generations on, but still 2 generations behind the latest), and a near-top spec GPU (to RTX 4070 Super from 2080). The GPU should speed up video editing; as a bonus, I think it will speed up the increasing number of AI tools in Lightroom and Topaz.

 

* By a NHS consultant advertising on eBay. He did it in his spare time as an impersonal activity to take his mind of the horrors of covid in hospitals at that time.

A switch to Mac Silicon works best for AI editing tools.  

[LocalHero1953]

14 minutes ago, jaapv said:

A switch to Mac Silicon works best for AI editing tools.  

Not convinced, and that would be a lot more expensive. My laptop is M1 Pro, but even at the time I bought it the 2-year older PC outperformed it.

Edited November 9, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

Just my experience switching from an Intel Mac to a Silicon mac.

[ianforber]

I'm on the cusp of replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with a silicon Mac. I’m currently tending towards a Mac mini M4 and the Studio display. I’m thinking of this because I never take the computer out of the house (I have an iPad for that), never do any editing on the move and am slightly disappointed every time I need to replace a laptop it is because the innards are out of date and the screen is perfectly OK. So by buying a Mac mini I’m effectively adopting the principle of replacing the computer when needed but keeping the screen. Is that mad?

I'm not saying I expect to replace the computer very often but it just means not going mad on the specification. I use C1, SFX and occasionally DxOPureRaw. I keep all my files on external hard drives. My plan is for an M4, 16GB and 512GB of internal memory, the latter to aim off for future software bloat. In terms of cost, including the display, that’s roughly the same as a 16” MacBook Pro with the same/slightly better spec but about £700 more expensive than the equivalent iMac. Both of the latter, of course, go back to the approach of chucking the whole system away when it needs replacing  

If anyone has gone on a similar journey, I’d be grateful for advice. Actually, even if you haven’t gone on a similar version, chip in!

[LocalHero1953]

With a Mac mini, you don't have to worry about a battery either. You can use external drives and also update them on a different schedule to the Mac.

Edited November 17, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[Koos]

I have a MacBook pro M1 Max with 64 GB and 4 Tb. Verry happy with the machine. Came from Intel wich became often very hot with loud ventiltor

 

[didier]

1 hour ago, ianforber said:

I'm on the cusp of replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with a silicon Mac. I’m currently tending towards a Mac mini M4 and the Studio display. I’m thinking of this because I never take the computer out of the house (I have an iPad for that), never do any editing on the move and am slightly disappointed every time I need to replace a laptop it is because the innards are out of date and the screen is perfectly OK. So by buying a Mac mini I’m effectively adopting the principle of replacing the computer when needed but keeping the screen. Is that mad?

I'm not saying I expect to replace the computer very often but it just means not going mad on the specification. I use C1, SFX and occasionally DxOPureRaw. I keep all my files on external hard drives. My plan is for an M4, 16GB and 512GB of internal memory, the latter to aim off for future software bloat. In terms of cost, including the display, that’s roughly the same as a 16” MacBook Pro with the same/slightly better spec but about £700 more expensive than the equivalent iMac. Both of the latter, of course, go back to the approach of chucking the whole system away when it needs replacing  

If anyone has gone on a similar journey, I’d be grateful for advice. Actually, even if you haven’t gone on a similar version, chip in!

I went the Mac Mini route some time ago, for the same reason as you. I just chose an Eizo Screen, but consider upgrading to the M4 pro Mac Mini soon and add a second (maybe Studio display?) screen. What makes me think right now, is how much RAM, as you can’t upgrade it once you’ve bought the machine.

Didier 

[newtoleica]

I would go for 32GB RAM to be honest....

[Marc B-C]

19 hours ago, ianforber said:

I'm on the cusp of replacing my 2017 MacBook Pro with a silicon Mac. I’m currently tending towards a Mac mini M4 and the Studio display. I’m thinking of this because I never take the computer out of the house (I have an iPad for that), never do any editing on the move and am slightly disappointed every time I need to replace a laptop it is because the innards are out of date and the screen is perfectly OK. So by buying a Mac mini I’m effectively adopting the principle of replacing the computer when needed but keeping the screen. Is that mad?

I'm not saying I expect to replace the computer very often but it just means not going mad on the specification. I use C1, SFX and occasionally DxOPureRaw. I keep all my files on external hard drives. My plan is for an M4, 16GB and 512GB of internal memory, the latter to aim off for future software bloat. In terms of cost, including the display, that’s roughly the same as a 16” MacBook Pro with the same/slightly better spec but about £700 more expensive than the equivalent iMac. Both of the latter, of course, go back to the approach of chucking the whole system away when it needs replacing  

If anyone has gone on a similar journey, I’d be grateful for advice. Actually, even if you haven’t gone on a similar version, chip in!

I switched from an iMac (2018) to a 14" MacBook M1 Max with 32gb ram and 1tb memory. An Eizo cs2740 screen alongside. Whilst I too do not move the laptop much, when I do I am really pleased I took that option. I cannot see myself ever going back to a fixed unit going forward. When I do change the MacBook I will probably go for 64gb ram for future proofing. I currently have no issue with 32gb, however, and also use C1 and DxOPure Raw.

[ianforber]

Well I went for a Mac Mini M4 with 512GB and 16GB memory, matched with the Apple Studio display. It’s better than the 2017 MacBook Pro but I’m surprised it’s not devastating so. I suspect the bottleneck is that I keep my files on an external HDD rather than a SSD. I need to have a think about which sort of SSD to get to see if that makes a difference. 

[marchyman]

I keep my images on this external drive: https://shop.sandisk.com/products/ssd/portable-ssd/portable-ssd-sandisk-extreme-usb-3-2?sku=SDSSDE61-4T00-G25 with my lightroom catalog on the internal drive. Much faster than the hard disk it replaced.

[jaapv]

Just bought a nice Black Friday offer- late 2023  Mc Mini  M2 Pro with 32 GB and 1 TB refurb as new. Should last a while for postprocessing. My M1 16 GB was getting a bit slower with the newest Topaz updates.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear