Laptop for Editing Photos

Virtually any laptop that can run mountain lion can also run iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, Photoshop....etc. like with other apps the amount of system resources ( CPU cores, CPU speed, memory size, separate GPU), can make a difference in the performance (execution times).

I suggest a trip to the local store where you can compare MBAs and classic MBPs. Likely retina machines will be outside the budget. You can get a 13" MBA with 2G CPU and 8M of memory with 256GB SSDS for $1700. There is an excellent chance you can find it for less this coming holiday weekend. At a minimum, get a education discount for Apple.

I think the entry level 13" MBP is a great budget solution for $1,199. You can always add more memory later. The 500GB hard drive will have plenty of room for you to load pictures, and music.

These are great laptops for high school students, and will work great with iPhoto for editing your photos.

If you get a laptop with soldered on RAM, I'd suggest maxing out on that since it wouldn't be upgradeable. Besides that, I would recommend a non-retina MBP since it's a good balance between upgradeability & low cost.

What does budget mean to you? When I was in HS my weekly allowance was something like $5...

Look at the Apple Refurbished store. the link is at the end of this post. I would go for a 15 inch screen for photos, but a lot of people like the 13. You want as much ram as the machine will take and don't pay Apple for it.

My current editing laptop is old tech and it works just fine.

2008 Aluminum MacBook Pro 17 inch
2.5 GHz core 2 Duo
6GB RAM
120gig SSD for apps
750 gig platter drive for storage.

Apple refurbished Store/MacBook Pro

Dale

shannnnen said:

I was wondering what laptop you guys thought would be best for me.

I'm currently a junior in high school, so budget is important.

Click to expand...

What kind of "editing" will you be doing? For anything otyher than simple adjustments you will need a per tablet. "Wacon" is the best. Some come bundled with software like Adobe PS Elements. If you need Elements the bundle can save you $100.

"Best of course is the new macbook with the Retina display. Not only are there more pixels but the screen is less reflective.


After that you can buy a speccial "build to order" Macbook with a "mat" screen. It costs $50 extra but the glossy screen and not so good the photo editing

Or buy just about anything, any Macbook and buy a desktop monitor from a third party so long as the monitor is not "glossy."

Aperture like sceen space so bigger is better

Lastly, you know that "best" and "budget never go well together.

Good luck to you. And indeed, let me also add as the poster above that you should definitely look in to getting a photo editing tablet. Especially with laptops, it makes retouching a lot easier since you don't have to fidget around on the trackpad.

If you're looking for an easy way to find an entry-level tablet, try this page (also in my signature): Photo Editing Tablets. You'll see some comparative shopping ideas there and descriptions of the different kinds. Some are as cheap as 30$.

Go for it, and enjoy your new laptop when you get it!