13" and keep iMac, or 15" MBP and sell iMac

[Fitch80]

Need some advice. I currently have a base model 2012 15" rMBP and a base model 2014 27" 5k iMac. Looking to upgrade the rMBP to one of the new ones. But I can't decide if I should keep my iMac and just get a 13" MBP, or if I should sell the iMac as well and get a 15" MBP with the 4GB GPU and one or two LG UltraFine 4k displays.

My usage:
- Photo editing in Lightroom at home and on the road.
- Some 4k video editing (mostly at home)
- General web surfing and youtube watching both on the road and at home
- Gaming (mostly at home)(The Long Dark, Kerbal Space Program, Transport Fever(when out))

The reason I'm looking at a 13" MBP is to not have to drag around the 15" MBP. Smaller and lighter = easier when traveling. But it's not a deal breaker.
The reason I'm considering selling both the MBP and the iMac is not having to have two different Lightroom catalogs for instance(or having the catalog on a external hard drive. Just one machine to do it all. But the concern with this solution: is the MBP is powerful enough for to run at least one 4k monitor and a game like Transport Fever on it at at least 1080p? With some kind of stream on the MBPs 15" screen. Or editing a 5 min 4k video in Final Cut Pro on the 4k LG without to much lag?

Can't decide which option to go for. Love my iMac, so will I miss it if I sell it? Or will the new 15" outshine my 2 year old iMac. iMac has QC 3,5 CPU, 8 GB ram and 2GB GPU. New MBP I'm considering has QC 2,7 CPU, 16GB ram and 4GB GPU. Less ghz processor but newer gen.

 

[Isamilis]

Please note, for heavy task, iMac has better ventilation system than MBP. If I were you, I would prefer two machine, as they can be backed up each other.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Upgrade the memory on your iMac. 32 GB.

 

[ignatius345]

I've done it both ways. For years, I had a series of Mac laptops (Powerbooks, iBooks, Macbooks) that I'd dock at home to a secondary monitor, external keyboard, hard drives and all that. It worked, but it was always messy, always kludgy.

Now I have a setup a bit like your present one (2014 5k iMac and, in my case, just a MacBook Air) -- and I really really like having a stationary "home base" machine that I don't have to plug in every night.

It's just a much cleaner setup and there's less time spent plugging and unplugging crap all the time. If I need to run out the door, the Air is just sitting there in my bag ready to go. Maybe I might open it up and let it sync iCloud and Dropbox stuff but that's really it. And the whole time that iMac is also attached to Ethernet and on my desk and synched up and also ready to go.

And sometimes I just want to pick up the Air in the kitchen or living room and do a few things real quick. If it was all wired up in my office I'd be way less likely to go in, eject the Time Machine and Media drives, unplug the power and monitor... ugh. Life's too short. I guess Thunderbolt would do all this better, conceivably with one cable -- but it's still not going to be as frictionless as just picking up your secondary "satellite" laptop.

Long story short: one machine can certainly do both things, but for me it's never been worth all the wrangling of wires and whatnot.
[doublepost=1478556436][/doublepost]

Upgrade the memory on your iMac. 32 GB.

Yes. I got mine up to 24GB but it's still SO much faster. I guess I could bump it up to 32GB, but honestly I'm not feeling pinched for RAM at all.

 

[Maccotto]

I've done it both ways. For years, I had a series of Mac laptops (Powerbooks, iBooks, Macbooks) that I'd dock at home to a secondary monitor, external keyboard, hard drives and all that. It worked, but it was always messy, always kludgy.

Now I have a setup a bit like your present one (2014 5k iMac and, in my case, just a MacBook Air) -- and I really really like having a stationary "home base" machine that I don't have to plug in every night.

It's just a much cleaner setup and there's less time spent plugging and unplugging crap all the time. If I need to run out the door, the Air is just sitting there in my bag ready to go. Maybe I might open it up and let it sync iCloud and Dropbox stuff but that's really it. And the whole time that iMac is also attached to Ethernet and on my desk and synched up and also ready to go.

And sometimes I just want to pick up the Air in the kitchen or living room and do a few things real quick. If it was all wired up in my office I'd be way less likely to go in, eject the Time Machine and Media drives, unplug the power and monitor... ugh. Life's too short. I guess Thunderbolt would do all this better, conceivably with one cable -- but it's still not going to be as frictionless as just picking up your secondary "satellite" laptop.

Long story short: one machine can certainly do both things, but for me it's never been worth all the wrangling of wires and whatnot.
[doublepost=1478556436][/doublepost]
Yes. I got mine up to 24GB but it's still SO much faster. I guess I could bump it up to 32GB, but honestly I'm not feeling pinched for RAM at all.

How you worked with lightroom? I speak when you worked with 2 different computers (Imac+macbook air)

 

[ignatius345]

How you worked with lightroom? I speak when you worked with 2 different computers (Imac+macbook air)

No, I never have. I'm not a professional photographer, so I've just stuck with iPhoto (now "Photos") which is basically fine for my hobbyish usage.

There must be some decent syncing solutions for Lightroom though, right? Can it work with Dropbox?

(edit: just found this thread. I'm sure there's more out there... http://www.lightroomforums.net/thre...d-other-settings-between-two-computers.25879/)

 

[Maccotto]

The lightroom problem is the catalog sharing.
Lightroom need 1 catalog for 1 computer but you can share what do you want with mobile versions (ios/android).
With 2 computer you can do only this:
1) main catalog in desktop
2) temporary catalog (ad example last wedding) into macbook until you don' finish your work and move the photos as catalog to desktop.

Is a bad road but its necessary if one man want work with lightroom.

1 only computer mean 1 only catalog and work only into this (you can use external harddisk for backup old photos and avoid privacy problems)