New MacBook Pro - is the spec of the 13" enough?

I will be looking to replace my current 15" MacBook Pro soon. [b]Choosing anything other than a MacBook is not an option, so please, no posts telling me what I can get for half the money by going down the Windows path![/b];) The price difference between the 13" and the 15" is horrendous, so am contemplating down-sizing to the 13" version. The smaller screen is not an issue as I use an external 27" screen for all photo processing. My question is, will 8GB RAM be sufficient, or should I upgrade to 16GB? IS the spec generally good enough for my needs? The laptop is only used for normal day-to-day internet surfing, plus photo editing using ACR/Bridge/PS CC. I found this: [quote]What is the Macbook Pro 13 good for? – Web browsing, office work (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), social media, e-mails – Listening to music as well watching TV/movies from local files or streaming. – Audio/photo/video editing. [b]Are you a pro working with heavy files and demanding programs? You may want to consider the more powerful Macbook Pro 15.[/b][/quote] and this: [quote][b]The Macbook Pro 13 can handle most workloads, except for the most demanding audio, photo, video and 3D editing, which run more smoothly on the more powerful Macbook Pro 15, which is equipped with a six or eight core CPU, up to 32GB of RAM and a dedicated graphic card.[/b][/quote] Does 'normal' PS use come under hte category "heavy files and demanding programmes" and "the most demanding photo editing"? Opinions and thought from those of you who are more pc-savvy than I am, please:)

I will be looking to replace my current 15" MacBook Pro soon.

Choosing anything other than a MacBook is not an option, so please, no posts telling me what I can get for half the money by going down the Windows path!

The price difference between the 13" and the 15" is horrendous, so am contemplating down-sizing to the 13" version.
The smaller screen is not an issue as I use an external 27" screen for all photo processing.

My question is, will 8GB RAM be sufficient, or should I upgrade to 16GB? IS the spec generally good enough for my needs? The laptop is only used for normal day-to-day internet surfing, plus photo editing using ACR/Bridge/PS CC.
I found this:


Quote:What is the Macbook Pro 13 good for?

– Web browsing, office work (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), social media, e-mails
– Listening to music as well watching TV/movies from local files or streaming.
– Audio/photo/video editing. Are you a pro working with heavy files and demanding programs? You may want to consider the more powerful Macbook Pro 15.


and this:


Quote:The Macbook Pro 13 can handle most workloads, except for the most demanding audio, photo, video and 3D editing, which run more smoothly on the more powerful Macbook Pro 15, which is equipped with a six or eight core CPU, up to 32GB of RAM and a dedicated graphic card.


Does 'normal' PS use come under hte category "heavy files and demanding programmes" and "the most demanding photo editing"?

Opinions and thought from those of you who are more pc-savvy than I am, please

I have never used a Mac so am no help there but I had a Windows machine with 8Gb Ram some time back - before CC - and it couldn't handle my full frame images. So I would say it is not enough if you wish CC to process your images without having to keep reloading. I will acknowledge that some of my processing includes a great number of layers - at least that is what I wanted - but the computer seized up so often it was extremely frustrating and I did lose a lot of work. Plus the smaller screen may mean that you would need a separate monitor - don't know how good your eyesight is. Are there no other alternatives?

I have never used a Mac so am no help there but I had a Windows machine with 8Gb Ram some time back - before CC - and it couldn't handle my full frame images. So I would say it is not enough if you wish CC to process your images without having to keep reloading. I will acknowledge that some of my processing includes a great number of layers - at least that is what I wanted - but the computer seized up so often it was extremely frustrating and I did lose a lot of work. Plus the smaller screen may mean that you would need a separate monitor - don't know how good your eyesight is. Are there no other alternatives?

Thanks for the answer - I forgot to mention that I use an external 27" screen for processing, so screen size is not a problem here. Have amended my original post to include that. However, I do wonder if there is a difference between a Mac and a windows machine when it comes to how much RAM it needs to work decently? I don't know....

Thanks for the answer - I forgot to mention that I use an external 27" screen for processing, so screen size is not a problem here. Have amended my original post to include that.

However, I do wonder if there is a difference between a Mac and a windows machine when it comes to how much RAM it needs to work decently? I don't know....

Malc, I have moved over to Mac and recently purchased an iMac. I was advised in the shop that 8GB would suffice (I had been looking at 16GB) and I have to say that I have had no issues whatsoever working with LR and PS on RAW files, TIFF etc. Whether it makes a difference being on the MacBook, I wouldn't know. Cheers D

Malc, I have moved over to Mac and recently purchased an iMac. I was advised in the shop that 8GB would suffice (I had been looking at 16GB) and I have to say that I have had no issues whatsoever working with LR and PS on RAW files, TIFF etc. Whether it makes a difference being on the MacBook, I wouldn't know.

Cheers
D

Thanks, Daryl. Good to hear that you have not experienced any problems, however, I wonder if there is, as you hint at, a difference on the MacBook with its different spec. (I considered an iMac, but will stick with the Book as it fits my needs better. i.e. portability.)

Thanks, Daryl. Good to hear that you have not experienced any problems, however, I wonder if there is, as you hint at, a difference on the MacBook with its different spec.
(I considered an iMac, but will stick with the Book as it fits my needs better. i.e. portability.)

I use a 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2015. I'm not particularly techy, so I think the 2.7GHz i5 processor is standard fare, but a computer geek I used to work with advised upgrading to 16 GB of ram, which I did. I have no problems processing with Affinity Photo, quite often doing some fairly involved messing about. It seems to handle everything without problem and perfectly quickly. Hope this helps. Allan

I use a 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2015. I'm not particularly techy, so I think the 2.7GHz i5 processor is standard fare, but a computer geek I used to work with advised upgrading to 16 GB of ram, which I did. I have no problems processing with Affinity Photo, quite often doing some fairly involved messing about. It seems to handle everything without problem and perfectly quickly.

Hope this helps. Allan

[quote]I use a 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2015. I'm not particularly techy, so I think the 2.7GHz i5 processor is standard fare, but a computer geek I used to work with advised upgrading to 16 GB of ram, which I did. I have no problems processing with Affinity Photo, quite often doing some fairly involved messing about. It seems to handle everything without problem and perfectly quickly. Hope this helps. Allan[/quote] I have a sneaky suspicoin that 16GB is the safest choice - better with too much capacity than not enough.

Quote:I use a 13-inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2015. I'm not particularly techy, so I think the 2.7GHz i5 processor is standard fare, but a computer geek I used to work with advised upgrading to 16 GB of ram, which I did. I have no problems processing with Affinity Photo, quite often doing some fairly involved messing about. It seems to handle everything without problem and perfectly quickly.

Hope this helps. Allan

I have a sneaky suspicoin that 16GB is the safest choice - better with too much capacity than not enough.

It will mainly turn up as a speed sort of issue. I assume you are going for the 256G SSD as128G is a bit on the mean side. When it runs out of RAM it will try and use the hard drive, SSD are fairly fast so you should be OK. For the same amount of money could I suggest a MAC mini and an iPAD or chromebook. The Mini has a faster processor so should cope better and the other device would provide the portable features. To be honest for photo editing more RAM is better and you are compromising on the photo editing a lot. I checked apples own web site and it indicates the Air and Pro cam be bought with 16G RAM for £180 more than the 8G version. A high price for DDR3 but it could be the better value offering.

It will mainly turn up as a speed sort of issue. I assume you are going for the 256G SSD as128G is a bit on the mean side. When it runs out of RAM it will try and use the hard drive, SSD are fairly fast so you should be OK. For the same amount of money could I suggest a MAC mini and an iPAD or chromebook. The Mini has a faster processor so should cope better and the other device would provide the portable features.

To be honest for photo editing more RAM is better and you are compromising on the photo editing a lot. I checked apples own web site and it indicates the Air and Pro cam be bought with 16G RAM for £180 more than the 8G version. A high price for DDR3 but it could be the better value offering.

[quote]I assume you are going for the 256G SSD as128G is a bit on the mean side.[/quote] Yep. Have also pretty much decided on 16GB RAM as well. Don't want to go the way of mini + other device as I prefer to stick with just the MBP - personal preference, that's all.:)

Quote:I assume you are going for the 256G SSD as128G is a bit on the mean side.

Yep. Have also pretty much decided on 16GB RAM as well.
Don't want to go the way of mini + other device as I prefer to stick with just the MBP - personal preference, that's all.

I have an iMac 27" 5K Retina, originally supplied with 8GB ram. Fine and dandy for Raw files from my D300. Recently a good friend (and epz member) loaned me a Nikon D800 and Photoshop started coughing at the larger files. Bought 2x 4GB extra ram, so total now 16GB...all is well. I'm not PC savvy in the least, but had some good advice from members here. 16GB is the way forward methinks.

I have an iMac 27" 5K Retina, originally supplied with 8GB ram. Fine and dandy for Raw files from my D300. Recently a good friend (and epz member) loaned me a Nikon D800 and Photoshop started coughing at the larger files. Bought 2x 4GB extra ram, so total now 16GB...all is well.
I'm not PC savvy in the least, but had some good advice from members here.
16GB is the way forward methinks.

Wise to go with extra RAM whatever platform you're on. My previous computer coped OK but my current one has more (forget how much) but things run very welland I tend to leave LR, Affinity, Affinity Publisher and DPP (depending on what I'm doing) open at the same time.

Wise to go with extra RAM whatever platform you're on.
My previous computer coped OK but my current one has more (forget how much) but things run very welland I tend to leave LR, Affinity, Affinity Publisher and DPP (depending on what I'm doing) open at the same time.

Thanks for all the input, guys. Guess 16gb is the way to go, will have to speak to the in-house chancellor of the exchequer to negotiate on screen size...may prove to be as difficult as Brexit negotiations...

Thanks for all the input, guys.
Guess 16gb is the way to go, will have to speak to the in-house chancellor of the exchequer to negotiate on screen size...may prove to be as difficult as Brexit negotiations...

I really doubt that!!

I really doubt that!!

[quote]I really doubt that!![/quote] You haven't met mrs. salty!;)

Quote:I really doubt that!!

You haven't met mrs. salty!

I bought the wife a new MacBook 13" early last year after our old one finally gave up the ghost. It was the most basic spec available at that time and it is woefully slow for photo editing using LR and PS. If I was buying again, I'd up the RAM to 16GB (cheaper and easier to do now then to upgrade later), go for a SSD, and select the most powerful processor they do...

I bought the wife a new MacBook 13" early last year after our old one finally gave up the ghost. It was the most basic spec available at that time and it is woefully slow for photo editing using LR and PS. If I was buying again, I'd up the RAM to 16GB (cheaper and easier to do now then to upgrade later), go for a SSD, and select the most powerful processor they do...