Graphic design on the M1 Air?

[austyn23]

Hi to all!

Searching for a backup and travel machine (main is a iMac 2017 i5 / 8gb / Radeon Pro 575).

I use: Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, XD, Figma (+ browser and sometimes Excel and Powerpoint).

No video edition, no animation (after effects, etc) and I won´t use an external display.

I´m waiting for the 14 inch MBP but the Air is a lot cheaper I think; Amazon has a great discount now but is the 8G RAM option and 512 SSD. If I need the 16 RAM option I have to go with Apple (and pay 500€ more).

Thanks!

 

[Shirasaki]

You will better be served with more RAM that’s for sure, despite the high price tag. I dunno how resource intensive those 3D modelling software is but I believe more RAM is always better.

However, if your current workflow in 8GB of RAM is serviceable, going for 8GB might also be ok. Just to know that RAM can’t be upgraded later on (unlike your iMac) and there is no external RAM to fall back to.

 

[Smellmet]

I'm interested in this thread as I'm a graphic designer looking to make a purchase in the coming months so I can do my job from home. My work machine is a 2017 4.2GHZ i7 iMac with 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD and Radeon Pro 575. I'm looking at getting an M1 Air with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD as the specs on this doesn't seem to differ all that much from the much more expensive Pro Model. I'd be looking to use Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator, no 3D or video editing using an external monitor. On paper I think this would be up to the task and comparable to the iMac I use but I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.

 

[austyn23]

I'm interested in this thread as I'm a graphic designer looking to make a purchase in the coming months so I can do my job from home. My work machine is a 2017 4.2GHZ i7 iMac with 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD and Radeon Pro 575. I'm looking at getting an M1 Air with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD as the specs on this doesn't seem to differ all that much from the much more expensive Pro Model. I'd be looking to use Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator, no 3D or video editing using an external monitor. On paper I think this would be up to the task and comparable to the iMac I use but I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.

We are alone on this my friend.

I´ll buy a refurbished Air with 16gb and 1TB (the one with 8 Core GPU).

For the same price there is an M1 Macbook pro with 16 and 512. But I don´t want the touchbar and the 1TB is always welcome.

My main iMac has an i5 and 8gb of ram and never lags; so the Air should be even better.

Would update this thread after some weeks of daiy design work.

 

[norinradd]

I'm a little late to this party but as an owner of a Macbook Air 16Gb/512 since Dec 2020 it has been a great experience so far apart from an occasional connection issue waking from sleep when connected to the monitor. I mostly do packaging design, so primarily Illustrator with some Photoshop and InDesign. I use it on the go and to drive a Samsung CRG9 49 monitor via a Caldigit t3 plus. Now that most of the Adobe applications are M1 native I've had no complaints about the performance. I can only compare it to my previous mac which was a late 2013 27 iMac i7 3.5 with 16Gb ram and gtx780. Hope that helps

 

[jmoore5196]

My M1 Air (16GB/1TB) lags occasionally while running InDesign or Photoshop, which could as easily be attributed to Adobe's unceasing 'if it works, screw with it' software update practices as to the M1 itself.

My desktop is a 2019 i9 iMac with double the RAM, and it doesn't lag.

I sold an i9 16" MBP to fund the MBA, and I wish I had the 16" back. Despite the arm-bending weight, the machine itself is far more capable than the MBA.

 

[jagolden]

Personal opinion.
I don’t know jack about Air or M1 ( or whatever Apple wants to call their dubious silicon), but if you need to do real, productive GD on the road and a home office, get a 16”er. Also as much ram as you can stuff it with. 16” is not too much to carry.
Many discount ram in favor of ssd’s, but I)ll go for the screen acreage and ram first. My home set up is similar to yours but I upped it to 64gig, no regrets.
Travel, I use a 12.9 iPP.

 

[austyn23]

I'm a little late to this party but as an owner of a Macbook Air 16Gb/512 since Dec 2020 it has been a great experience so far apart from an occasional connection issue waking from sleep when connected to the monitor. I mostly do packaging design, so primarily Illustrator with some Photoshop and InDesign. I use it on the go and to drive a Samsung CRG9 49 monitor via a Caldigit t3 plus. Now that most of the Adobe applications are M1 native I've had no complaints about the performance. I can only compare it to my previous mac which was a late 2013 27 iMac i7 3.5 with 16Gb ram and gtx780. Hope that helps

View attachment 1827751

WOW, nice setup, thanks for your post.

 

[austyn23]

My M1 Air (16GB/1TB) lags occasionally while running InDesign or Photoshop, which could as easily be attributed to Adobe's unceasing 'if it works, screw with it' software update practices as to the M1 itself.

My desktop is a 2019 i9 iMac with double the RAM, and it doesn't lag.

I sold an i9 16" MBP to fund the MBA, and I wish I had the 16" back. Despite the arm-bending weight, the machine itself is far more capable than the MBA.

Maybe you can sell the Air and go for the rumored new 16 inch...

 

[austyn23]

Personal opinion.
I don’t know jack about Air or M1 ( or whatever Apple wants to call their dubious silicon), but if you need to do real, productive GD on the road and a home office, get a 16”er. Also as much ram as you can stuff it with. 16” is not too much to carry.
Many discount ram in favor of ssd’s, but I)ll go for the screen acreage and ram first. My home set up is similar to yours but I upped it to 64gig, no regrets.
Travel, I use a 12.9 iPP.

Thanks for your input.

The AIR is for working when traveling (1 or 2 times a year). Is not my main working machine, for that I have the iMac and I will upgrade the iMac maybe next year if there is a new one with M1.

I know that a powerful MBP + external display can be a good combination, but:

• I didn´t find a nice 5K display as good as the iMac (just the LG and is too expensive).
• I prefer having 2 working machines in case one of them suffer any problem.

 

[austyn23]

I'm interested in this thread as I'm a graphic designer looking to make a purchase in the coming months so I can do my job from home. My work machine is a 2017 4.2GHZ i7 iMac with 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD and Radeon Pro 575. I'm looking at getting an M1 Air with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD as the specs on this doesn't seem to differ all that much from the much more expensive Pro Model. I'd be looking to use Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator, no 3D or video editing using an external monitor. On paper I think this would be up to the task and comparable to the iMac I use but I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this.

I finally bought the 8 cores / 16 ram / 1 TB Air from the refurbished store.

I been working the last days on the Air, leaving the iMac on the side, to see if it´s good... and yes, it´s good. So much faster opening apps and working on them, always all open (Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, XD, Figma, Keynote, Numbers and Chrome with 5 to 10 tabs).

The screen is small (of course), but as I mention, is my second / traveling / backup machine. I won´t pay 3000 dls for the 16 inch MBP just for the screen size. Sadly the old 15 inchs have the butterfly keyboard... if not I would go with a nice 2017/2019 used one just for the screen size.

I will use it intensively in this return period of 14 days; I let you know if I have any problem. Now the iMac is the old haha but I will update it next year when they came out with the M1 version (or the name it will have).

 

[Smellmet]

I finally bought the 8 cores / 16 ram / 1 TB Air from the refurbished store.

I been working the last days on the Air, leaving the iMac on the side, to see if it´s good... and yes, it´s good. So much faster opening apps and working on them, always all open (Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, XD, Figma, Keynote, Numbers and Chrome with 5 to 10 tabs).

The screen is small (of course), but as I mention, is my second / traveling / backup machine. I won´t pay 3000 dls for the 16 inch MBP just for the screen size. Sadly the old 15 inchs have the butterfly keyboard... if not I would go with a nice 2017/2019 used one just for the screen size.

I will use it intensively in this return period of 14 days; I let you know if I have any problem. Now the iMac is the old haha but I will update it next year when they came out with the M1 version (or the name it will have).

To be honest it's not a purchase I'm looking at very soon, I'm just eying up my options. I'm currently running an HP laptop which is around 6 years old, which just about suits my needs for browsing and my music library. I am starting to do some more working from home however, and that machine simply won't cost the mustard for that, I'm currently having to cart my iMac home 2 days a week which is a bit of a pain, but needs must.