Best upgrades for Photoshop power use?

[Marci]

I'm buying a new 15 inch Macbook Pro. I travel a lot and need it to do Photoshop wherever I go. I work with very large multi layer files. Speed is very important. What would be the best upgrades to get?

 

[hardax]

In this order:
1. Extra Ram
2. Larger SSD
3. Upgraded Processor

 

[johnhurley]

Shoot get one with 2 TB ssd and 32 gb of RAM ...

If budget is really not relevant then get the fastest/highest number of core cpu also.

 

[Marci]

[automerge]1571275444[/automerge]

Shoot get one with 2 TB ssd and 32 gb of RAM ...

If budget is really not relevant then get the fastest/highest number of core cpu also.

Not what I said
[automerge]1571275667[/automerge]

In this order:
1. Extra Ram
2. Larger SSD
3. Upgraded Processor

What about graphics card?

 

[hardax]

Dedicated GPU for sure (for the dedicated ram) but Photoshop doesn’t use GPU power for as much as you’d think or hope. Mostly for some effects calculations etc. is about it. Creative Cloud in general is kind of disappointing as far as GPU acceleration is concerned other than Premier and After Effects from what I’ve researched.

 

[pcd213]

Hey Marci, just to let you know based on your last post, if you're tied down to buying the 15" model because you want a 15" with function keys, they're really not in great availability. You'll almost definitely need to buy a used model. So you probably won't be able to find something that's spec'd out like you want it.

 

[Marci]

Hey Marci, just to let you know based on your last post, if you're tied down to buying the 15" model because you want a 15" with function keys, they're really not in great availability. You'll almost definitely need to buy a used model. So you probably won't be able to find something that's spec'd out like you want it.

Yea I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I really don't want to buy a five year machine so I may just have to get an external keyboard or some other workaround that was suggested which I don't quite understand.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

Yea I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I really don't want to buy a five year machine so I may just have to get an external keyboard or some other workaround that was suggested which I don't quite understand.

Yes it's what I did, got the magic keyboard for function keys because of the SAP GUI

 

[dwig]

Heavy Ps Use and Portability do not play well together, period. Any successful mix will be a compromise.

I'm a heavy Ps user. My day job involved using Ps to edit large image files for an art photographer. I frequently work with files too large for the old PSD format in pixel count and/or file size on disk and have to use PSB Large Document format to do my work. For me, efficient Ps work requires (in order):

1. mouse, not a trackpad
2. at least a 27" monitor
3. full sized keyboard with numeric keypad
4. fast SSD drives
5. as much RAM as I can get
6. fastest i7 that I can get

I'm currently stuck working remotely because of my wife's medical issues. I find using my little MS Surface Go with an external full keyboard and 27" second monitor and an older PS CS4 much more functional than any 15" notebook without externals. Reliable use of easy keyboard shortcuts (full keyboard), precise cursor positioning (mouse), and good visibility (large monitor) and critical to efficient work.